Quotes about doing
page 67

“sometimes it's hard to know
what to
do.”

Charles Bukowski (1920–1994) American writer

Source: You Get So Alone at Times That it Just Makes Sense

“We cannot reason ourselves out of our basic irrationality. All we can do is learn the art of being irrational in a reasonable way.”

Aldous Huxley book Island

Source: Island

Art, Way, Learning

“If we long to believe that the stars rise and set for us, that we are the reason there is a Universe, does science do us a disservice in deflating our conceits?”

Carl Sagan book The Demon-Haunted World

Source: The Demon-Haunted World : Science as a Candle in the Dark (1995), Ch. 1 : The Most Precious Thing, p. 12
Source: The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

Star, Universe, Science

“People have the right to call themselves whatever they like. That doesn't bother me. It's other people doing the calling that bothers me.”

Octavia E. Butler (1947–2006) American science fiction writer

People

“It is the beginning of wisdom when you recognize that the best you can do is chooserules you want to live by, and it's persistent and aggravated imbecility to pretend you can live without any.”

Wallace Stegner (1909–1993) American historian, writer, and environmentalist

Source: All the Little Live Things

Wisdom

“Sometimes, though, you have to do things for family, even if you'd rather not.”

Patricia C. Wrede (1953) author

Source: Across the Great Barrier

Family

“From here on out, there's just reality. I think that's what maturity is: a stoic response to endless reality. But then, what do I know?”

Carrie Fisher book Postcards from the Edge

Source: Postcards from the Edge

Thinking, Reality

“Tell him yes. Even if you are dying of fear, even if you are sorry later, because whatever you do, you will be sorry all the rest of your life if you say no.”

Gabriel García Márquez book Love in the Time of Cholera

Source: Love in the Time of Cholera

Life, Fear

“Happy the man, and happy he alone,
He who can call today his own;
He who, secure within, can say,
Tomorrow, do thy worst, for I have lived today.”

John Dryden (1631–1700) English poet and playwright of the XVIIth century

Book III, Ode 29, lines 65–68.
Imitation of Horace (1685)

Happiness

“The white cracker who wrote the National Anthem knew what he was doing. He set the word "free" to a note so high nobody could reach it. That was deliberate.”

Tony Kushner (1956) American playwright and screenwriter

Source: Angels in America, Part Two: Perestroika

“Sometimes just being still is the best thing you can do for yourself.”

Silas House (1971) American writer

Source: Eli the Good

“The thing about leaving something behind for the last time is that you rarely realize you're doing it.”

Wendy Mass (1967) American children's writer

Source: The Candymakers

Time

“Darkness may cover light, but that is not the same thing as putting it out. Whereas, to overcome darkness, all light need do is to exist.”

Cameron Dokey (1956) American writer

Source: Sunlight and Shadow: A Retelling of The Magic Flute

Light

“My son looks more like George Harrison than I do.”

George Harrison (1943–2001) British musician, former member of the Beatles

“Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service.”

Wilkie Collins book The Woman in White

Source: The Woman in White

“Criminals do not die by the hands of the law. They die by the hands of other men.”

George Bernard Shaw Man and Superman

#57
1900s, Maxims for Revolutionists (1903)
Source: Man and Superman

Men, Law

“You cannot make yourself feel something you do not feel, but you can make yourself do right in spite of your feelings.”

Pearl S. Buck (1892–1973) American writer

"My Neighbor's Son"
To My Daughters, With Love (1967)

Feeling

“If our emotional stability is based on what other people do or do not do, then we have no stability. If our emotional stability is based on love that is changeless and unalterable, then we attain the stability of God.”

Marianne Williamson (1952) American writer

Source: Enchanted Love: The Mystical Power Of Intimate Relationships

Love, God, People

“Do you want your blood to stay where it is sochar-lar?"
Tavi lifted both eyebrows at the unfamiliar word, and glanced at Varg.
"Monkey," Varg supplied, in Aleran. "And male-child."
"He called me monkey boy?" Tavi asked.”

Jim Butcher Captain's Fury

Source: Captain's Fury

Boy

“Keep doing the right. God is building character in you, and you are passing that test. Remember, the greater the struggle, the greater the reward.”

Joel Osteen (1963) American televangelist and author

Source: Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential

God

“I will not hide my tastes or aversions. I will so trust that what is deep is holy, that I will do strongly before the sun and moon whatever only rejoices me, and the heart appoints”

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet

Sun, Heart

“It is a good thing to know what it is to be poor, and a better thing if you can do it in company.”

Marilynne Robinson Gilead

Source: Gilead

“But I always worked harder when I was up against something, or when someone assumed I couldn't succeed. That's what drove me, all those nights studying. The fact that so many figured I couldn't do it.”

Sarah Dessen book This Lullaby

Source: This Lullaby

Study, Night

“Don’t lie. You know you like to view but not to buy. I have found that I am not a space where people want to live, at least not without decorating first. And that is the stubbornness in me: I do not want to be someone’s little home.”

Jeanette Winterson book Gut Symmetries

Source: Gut Symmetries

People, Lie, Home

“I have wanted to do this," he said, "every moment of every hour of every day that I have been with you since the day I met you. but you know that. Youknow. Don't you?”

Cassandra Clare book Clockwork Prince

Source: Clockwork Prince

“Unbelievable! I said, "What would I be doing walking the streets at night as a stuffed olive- gate-crashing cocktail parties?”

Louise Rennison book Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging

Source: Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging

Night

“You're terrified of being alone. Anything you do now will be motivated by that fear. You have to stop worrying about finding love again. It will come when it comes. Get comfortable with being alone. It will empower you.”

Jonathan Tropper (1970) American writer

Source: This is Where I Leave You

Love, Fear, Motivation

“I learned not to worry so much about the outcome, but to concentrate on the step I was on and to try to do it as perfectly as I could when I was doing it.”

Steve Wozniak (1950) American inventor, computer engineer and programmer

Learning

“Do you know how hard it is to gather seventy thousand people? Especially people who are confused and scared that they might be eaten by hungry dinosaurs?”

D.J. MacHale The Soldiers of Halla

Source: The Soldiers of Halla

People

“You wouldn't think you could kill an ocean, would you? But we'll do it one day. That's how negligent we are.”

Ian Rankin book Blood Hunt

Source: Blood Hunt

Thinking

“I said breathe. Not do a fish-out of-water imitation.”

Karen Marie Moning book Darkfever

Source: Darkfever

Fish, Water

“Okay," Kincaid said. "Anyone have any questions?"

"Why do they sell hot dogs in packages of ten but hot dog buns in packages of eight?”

Jim Butcher (1971) American author

Dogs, Question

“… the only way to get a thing done is to start to do it, then keep on doing it, and finally you'll finish it,….”

Langston Hughes (1902–1967) American writer and social activist

Source: The Big Sea

Way

“It can be… difficult to to learn how the world truly is, to see it in its true shape and form… most human beings never do. Most could not bear it.”

Cassandra Clare book Clockwork Angel

Source: Clockwork Angel

World, Learning

“Let me get this straight. First you decide I'm a demon because of a power I didn't ask for and don't even understand. Then when that falls through you label me a fallen sybil and a ho. Am I missing something or do you just not like me”

Karen Chance book Touch the Dark

Source: Touch the Dark

Understanding

“Say make me, remake me. You are free to do it and I am free to let you because look, look. Look where your hands are. Now.”

Toni Morrison book Jazz

Source: Jazz

“… hate suits him better than forgiveness. Immersed in hate, he doesn't have to do anything; he can be paralyzed, and the rigidty of hatred makes a kind of shelter for him.”

John Updike book Rabbit, Run

Source: Rabbit, Run

Hate, Forgiveness

“Listen, Frank Zhang has moves. He's probably gonna turn into a kangaroo and do some marsupial jujitsu on their ugly faces.”

Rick Riordan book The House of Hades

Source: The House of Hades

“Relationships are a battle. They are a chess game. And what did I do? I just threw all my chess pieces down on the board at once, and said, "Here! Have them all!”

Sophie Kinsella book Can You Keep a Secret?

Source: Can You Keep a Secret?

Game

“A man said to a Dervish: “Why do I not see you more often?” The Dervish replied, “Because the words ‘Why have you not been to see me?’ are sweeter to my ear than the words ‘Why have you come again?”

Robert Greene book The 48 Laws of Power

Source: The 48 Laws of Power

“… and the great advantage of being a literary woman, was that you could go everywhere and do everything.”

Henry James book The Portrait of a Lady

Source: The Portrait of a Lady

“I see it all perfectly; there are two possible situations — one can either do this or that. My honest opinion and my friendly advice is this: do it or do not do it — you will regret both.”

Sören Kierkegaard (1813–1855) Danish philosopher and theologian, founder of Existentialism

Source: Either/Or: A Fragment of Life

“The biggest communication problem is we do not listen to understand.
We listen to reply.”

Stephen R. Covey (1932–2012) American educator, author, businessman and motivational speaker

Communication, Understanding, Problem

“I don't know what I'm doing, but my incompetence has never stopped my enthusiasm.”

Woody Allen (1935) American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, author, playwright, and musician

Variant: I have no idea what I am doing but incompetence has never prevented me from plunging in with enthusiasm.

“Do not tarry, do not stop, no matter what happens.”

Garth Nix book Abhorsen

Source: Sabriel

“Who's Evan?" Ian asked.
"Amy's boyfriend!"
"Amy, since when do you have a boyfriend?" Ian probed.
"Since!”

Gordon Korman book The Medusa Plot

Source: The Medusa Plot

“I do not need to get used to your silence. I already know it. I quite possibly love all of it.”

Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) American author and journalist

Source: The Complete Short Stories

Love, Silence

“They criticize me for harping on the obvious; if all the folks in the United States would do the few simple things they know they ought to do, most of our big problems would take care of themselves.”

Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933) American politician, 30th president of the United States (in office from 1923 to 1929)

Problem

“We do survive every moment, after all, except the last one.”

John Updike (1932–2009) American novelist, poet, short story writer, art critic, and literary critic

“Grandma said […] when you come on something that is good, first thing to do is share it with whoever you can find; that way, the good spreads out to where no telling it will go.”

Forrest Carter book The Education of Little Tree

Source: The Education of Little Tree

Way, Grandma

“In my experience, men who understand women seem to rarely want to have anything to do with them.”

Khaled Hosseini book And the Mountains Echoed

Source: And the Mountains Echoed

Women, Men, Understanding

“3. You think that looks like a heart? If you do, that's only because you've never seen scrotum.”

David Levithan book Will Grayson, Will Grayson

Source: Will Grayson, Will Grayson

Thinking, Heart

“When do I see a photograph, when a reflection?”

Philip K. Dick book A Scanner Darkly

Source: A Scanner Darkly

“What is going to happen in the course of my day that will be an improvement over lying on something very soft, underneath something very warm, wearing only underwear, doing absolutely nothing, all by myself?”

Chuck Klosterman book Downtown Owl

Source: Downtown Owl

Lying

“Do you want my input or is this just an angry tirade you need to vent? (Acheron)
Both! (Kat)
Okay, you rant and I’ll add my comments at the end. (Acheron)”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: Devil May Cry

“I have to spring a cat out of Rumelt Animal Shelter. Think of it as a prison break."

It does the trick. He laughs. "Whose cat?"

"My cat. What do you think? That I break out the cats of strangers?"

"Let me guess, she was framed. She's innocent.”

Holly Black book White Cat

Source: White Cat

Spring, Cats, Thinking, Animals

“The right to be irresponsible and stupid is something I hold very dear. And luckily it is something I do well.”

Bono (1960) Irish rock musician, singer of U2

Stupidity

“The clock always ticks. There are times you don't hear it, and there are times that you do.”

David Levithan book Every Day

Source: Every Day

Time

“Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you.”

Annie Dillard (1945) American writer

Source: The Writing Life

“Let me not then die ingloriously and without a struggle, but let me first do some great thing that shall be told among men hereafter.”

Homér Iliad

Source: The Iliad

Men

“my youth,
one time,
that time
I knew
even through the
nothingness,
it was a
celebration
of something not to
do
but only
know.”

Charles Bukowski (1920–1994) American writer

Youth, Time

“The secret of joy in work is contained in one word — excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it.”

Pearl S. Buck (1892–1973) American writer

The Joy of Children (1966)

Motivational, Secret, Joy

“Lilt pulled away. "I saw what he was doing, so I cleared a path for him. I helped him do it…" She shook her head, tears tracking the dust off her face, and turned to stare at the fallen tower. "Have we all gone mad to want this?”

Scott Westerfeld book Behemoth

Source: Behemoth

Tear, Help, Madness

“Living is the challenge. Not dying. Dying is so easy. Sometimes it only takes ten seconds to die. But living? That can take you eighty years and you do something in that time.”

Melina Marchetta book Looking for Alibrandi

Source: Looking for Alibrandi

Time

“Perhaps not willingly, but pain can make a man do things he wouldn't willingly do.”

Anne Bishop (1955) American fiction writer

Source: Daughter of the Blood

Pain

“Anyone can be crazy. That's usually just because there's something screwed up in your wiring, you know? But suicide is a whole different thing. I mean, how much do you have to hate yourself to want to just wipe yourself out?”

Michael Thomas Ford (1968) American writer

Source: Suicide Notes

Hate, Suicide

“Do you expect sincerity in man when hypocrisy is the very keynote of human nature? We are nurtured on it; we are schooled in it, we live by it; and we rarely realize it.”

Rafael Sabatini book Scaramouche

Book 3, Chapter 16
Source: Scaramouche

School, Nature, Sincerity

“Maybe wrist corsages cut off circulation to the brain? I mean, is that why so many girls do stupid things on prom night? I was really going to have to investigate this further, I decided”

Ally Carter I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You

Source: I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You

Stupidity, Girl, Night

“Note to self:
Do not under any circumstances fall in love again.”

Cecelia Ahern book Love, Rosie

Source: Where Rainbows End

Love

“It's not funny, Jace," Alec interrupted, starting to his feet. "Are you just going to let her stand there and call me names?"

"Yes," Jace said kindly. "It'll do you good-- try to think of it as endurance training.”

Cassandra Clare (1973) American author

Thinking, Training

“I do not need to know all things. I remind myself that it is sufficient that I know what I know and know that without believing that I will always know what I know or that what I know will always be true.”

Maya Angelou (1928–2014) American author and poet

“A guy can do far far worse than surrounding himself with people who restore his faith in humanity.”

David Levithan (1972) American author and editor

Source: Dash & Lily's Book of Dares

People, Faith, Guy

“I suppose I do have one embarrassing passion- I want to know what it feels like to care about something passionately.”

Susan Orlean (1955) American journalist

Source: The Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Obsession

Feeling, Passion

“Correct morality can only be derived from what man is — not from what do-gooders and well-meaning aunt Nellies would like him to be.”

Robert A. Heinlein book Starship Troopers

Starship Troopers (1959)

“… [T]here should be a real sense of your imagination and your memories walking and woolgathering, tramping the hills, romping all over the place. Trust them. Don't look at your feet to see if you are doing it right. Just dance.”

Anne Lamott (1954) Novelist, essayist, memoirist, activist

Imagination, Sense, Memory, Dance

“Nobody tells you what you can and can't do.”

Dan Brown book Deception Point

Source: Deception Point

“This was when she asked him whether it was true that love conquered all, as the songs said. 'It is true', he replied, 'but you would do well not to believe it.”

Gabriel García Márquez book Of Love and Other Demons

Source: Of Love and Other Demons

Love

“You cannot enjoy others until you
enjoy yourself because you cannot give to others what you do not have.”

John C. Maxwell (1947) American author, speaker and pastor

Source: 25 Ways to Win with People: How to Make Others Feel Like a Million Bucks

“We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882) American poet

Source: Kavanagh: A Tale (1849), Chapter 1.

Feeling

“I do not expect the white media to create positive black male images.”

Huey P. Newton (1942–1989) Co-founder of the Black Panther Party

“Leo,” Hazel gasped, “I can’t—my arms—”
“Hazel,” he said. “Do you trust me?”
“No!”
“Me neither,” Leo admitted.”

Rick Riordan The Mark of Athena

Source: The Mark of Athena

“The rejection didn't faze him. "Fine. If I can't have you, then you do the taking. Have all of me, part of me, a small piece, whatever you want. Just please, have something.”

Jessica Bird book Lover Eternal

Variant: Fine. If I can't have you, then you do the taking. Have all of me, part of me, a small piece, whatever you want. Just please, have something.
Source: Lover Eternal

Parting

“So are you gonna cry about it like a punk, or are you gonna do something?”

Jenny Han (1980) American writer

Source: We'll Always Have Summer

Cry

“True or false, that which is said of men often occupies as important a place in their lives, and above all in their destinies, as that which they do.”

Victor Hugo book Les Misérables

Variant: What is said about men often has as much influence upon their lives, and especially upon their destinies, as what they do.
Source: Les Misérables

Men, Falseness

“Madness is always a wonderful excuse, don’t you think? For doing terrible things to other people.”

Jennifer McMahon (1968) American writer

Source: The Winter People

People, Thinking, Madness