Quotes about doing
page 96

“My own great-grandfather, who said simply enough, "No wicked man could write such a book as this; and no good man would write it unless it were true and he were commanded of God to do so.”

Jeffrey R. Holland (1940) Mormon leader

God, Books

“Teach her that the idea of 'gender roles' is absolute nonsense. Do not ever tell her that she should or should not do something because she is a girl.
'Because you are a girl' is never reason for anything.
Ever.”

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (1977) Nigerian writer

Source: Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions

Girl, Idea

“All a poet can do today is warn.”

Wilfred Owen (1893–1918) English poet and soldier (1893-1918)

“your loved ones have been used to lure you into Kronos's traps. Your fatal flaw is personal loyalty Percy. You do not know when it is time to cut your losses. To save a friend you would sacrifice the world.”

Rick Riordan book The Titan's Curse

Source: The Titan's Curse

Love, World, Loss, Time

“forgive yourself for what you aren't able to do,
the ones who aren't able to acknowledge their ownselves are bound to fail”

Masashi Kishimoto book Naruto

Source: Naruto, Vol. 61: Uchiha Brothers United Front

Forgiveness

“you dont see me, now you do, but only if i want you to”

Scott Westerfeld (1963) American science fiction writer

“It takes a lot of energy and a lot of neurosis to write a novel. If you were really sensible, you'd do something else.”

Lawrence Durrell (1912–1990) British novelist, poet, dramatist, and travel writer

“If grace is so wonderful, why do we have such difficulty recognizing and accepting it? Maybe it's because grace is not gentle or made-to-order. It often comes disguised as loss, or failure, or unwelcome change.”

Kathleen Norris (1880–1966) American writer

Failure, Change, Loss

“And I think that you do not understand that sometimes the only choice is between acceptance and madness.”

Cassandra Clare book Clockwork Angel

Variant: Sometimes the only choice is between acceptance and madness.
Source: Clockwork Angel

Understanding, Thinking, Madness

“No summer ever came back, and no two summers ever were alike. Times change, and people change; and if our hearts do not change as readily, so much the worse for us.”

Nathaniel Hawthorne book The Blithedale Romance

Source: The Blithedale Romance

People, Change, Time, Heart

“God, of your goodness, give me yourself; you are enough for me, and anything less that I could ask for would not do you full honor. And if I ask anything that is less, I shall always lack something, but in you alone I have everything'.”

Julian of Norwich book Revelations of Divine Love

Source: Revelations of Divine Love

God

“… we
do not admire what
we cannot understand.”

Marianne Moore (1887–1972) American poet and writer

Source: Complete Poems

Understanding

“Why is it no one sent me yet one perfect limousine, do you suppose? Ah no, it's always just my luck to get one perfect rose.”

Dorothy Parker (1893–1967) American poet, short story writer, critic and satirist

Perfection

“I never resist temptation because I have found that things that are bad for me do not tempt me.”

George Bernard Shaw The Apple Cart

Source: The Apple Cart

“Do what you can on this plane to relieve suffering by constantly working on yourself to be an instrument for the cessation of suffering. To me, that's what the emerging game is all about.”

Ram Dass (1931–2019) American contemporary spiritual teacher and the author of the 1971 book Be Here Now

Game, Suffering

“So you just… left?'

Zach huffed. 'All the cool kids are doing it.”

Ally Carter Out of Sight, Out of Time

Source: Out of Sight, Out of Time

“I'm going to shoot somebody," Maddie said.
"Sawyer hates when people do that. It's a whole bunch of paperwork.”

Jill Shalvis (1963) American writer

Source: Simply Irresistible

Hate, People

“If I'd learnt one thing from travelling, it was that the way to get things done was to go ahead and do them. Don't talk about going to Borneo. Book a ticket, get a visa, pack a bag, and it just happens.”

Alex Garland book The Beach

Variant: If I'd learnt one thing from travelling, it was that the way to get things done was to go ahead and do them. DOn't talk about going to Borneo. Book a ticket, get a vida, pack a bag, and it just happens.
Source: The Beach

Books, Way, Travel

“He gets hurt by the smallest touch. It'll be okay, as long as there will finally be a day. Eventually, one day. It will be good if all our burdens would finally be released. I really hope you can do it. I hope you two can both live happily.”

Natsuki Takaya (1973) Manga artist

Hope, Hurt

“How do you ever know for certain that you are doing the right thing?”

Anthony Doerr book All the Light We Cannot See

Source: All the Light We Cannot See

“How do you know your Colossus is the genuine article in the first place?

I read his mind.

I matched his DNA.

I smelled him.

I also did that.”

Joss Whedon (1964) American director, writer, and producer for television and film

Source: Astonishing X-Men, Volume 1: Gifted

Reading

“Do whatever you do intensely. The artist is the man who leaves the crowd and goes pioneering. With him there is an idea which is his life.”

Robert Henri (1865–1929) American painter

Source: The Art Spirit: Notes, Articles, Fragments of Letters and Talks to Students, Bearing on the Concept and Technique of Picture Making, the Study of Art

Life, Idea

“This made me reflect, how vain an attempt it is for a man to endeavor to do himself honor among those who are out of all degree of equality or comparison with him.”

Jonathan Swift book Les Voyages de Gulliver

Source: Gulliver's Travels

“I do not often laugh, sir, as you may perceive by the air of my countenance; but nevertheless, I retain the privilege of laughing when I please.”

Alexandre Dumas book The Three Musketeers

Source: The Three Musketeers

“I wonder how she'll make up her mind."
"Oh, that I do know." I can just catch Gale's last words through the layer of fur. "Katniss will pick whoever she thinks she can't survive without.”

Suzanne Collins book Mockingjay

Source: Mockingjay

Thinking

“Negative desires can cause no evil if you do not allow yourself to be seduced by them.”

Paulo Coelho Maktub

Source: Maktub

Evil

“In three days," he continued, "I will be your husband. I will take a solemn vow to protect you until death do us part. Do you understand what that means?"
"You'll save me from marauding minotaurs?”

Julia Quinn (1970) American novelist

Source: Romancing Mister Bridgerton

Death, Understanding, Parting

“And how do I know that the hate of death is not like a man who has lost his home when young and does not know where his home is to return to?”

Zhuangzi (-369–-286 BC) classic Chinese philosopher

Death, Hate, Home

“Those who do not know what love is
likens it to beauty
Those who claim to know what love is
likens it to ugliness
-Gin Ichimaru”

Tite Kubo (1977) Japanese manga artist

Source: Bleach, Volume 20

Love, Beauty

“learn from my miseries, and do not seek to increase your own.”

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797–1851) English novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer

Learning

“We all fear what we do not understand.”

Dan Brown book The Lost Symbol

Variant: Open your minds, my friends. We all fear what we do not understand.
Source: The Lost Symbol
Source: Who Fears Death (2010), Chapter 21, “Gadi” (p. 139)

Understanding, Fear

“Was this normalcy-predictable patterns, the certainty of doing the same thing everyday? Because if so, normalcy was about to make me freak out and start screaming.”

James Patterson (1947) American author

Source: Nevermore

“Do you know what courage is? I guess you don't. Do you know that the courage it took at that moment - to actually blow yourself away - was more than enough courage to keep on living?”

Sharon M. Draper book Tears of a Tiger

Source: Tears of a Tiger

Courage

“I loved you because there was no other place for me to go. We were married because we did not know what else to do with each other. You never knew me, nothing about me, what died inside me, what lived invisibly.”

Aleksandar Hemon The Lazarus Project

Source: The Lazarus Project

Love

“That's what people do who love you. They put their arms around you and love you when you're not so lovable.”

Deb Caletti (1963) American writer

Family, Love, People

“It's awful to be rich and mind-boggingly handsome and have women fawn over you. My heart bleeds for you. Poor dear, how do you manage?”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: On the Edge

Women, Heart

“When I read a book, I put in all the imagination I can, so that it is almost like writing the book as well as reading it - or rather, it is like living it. It makes reading so much more exciting, but I don't suppose many people try to do it.”

Dodie Smith book I Capture the Castle

Source: I Capture the Castle

People, Books, Imagination, Reading

“If this is what you do to the winner, I'd hate to see how you treat the runner up.”

Anthony Horowitz (1955) English novelist and screenwriter

Hate

“If it is very painful for you to criticize your friends, you are safe in doing it. But if you take the slightest pleasure in it, that is the time to hold your tongue”

Alice Miller (1923–2010) Swiss psychologist

Friendship, For Friend, For Bestfriend, Pain

“I do not believe you can threaten people into goodness.” - Jem Carstairs”

Cassandra Clare book Clockwork Angel

Variant: I do not believe you can threaten people into goodness.
Source: Clockwork Angel

People

“Service is the rent we pay for being. It is the very purpose of life, and not something you do in your spare time.”

Marian Wright Edelman (1939) American children's rights activist

Business, Life, Time

“To have some deep feeling about Buddhism is not the point; we just do what we should do, like eating supper and going to bed. This is Buddhism.”

Shunryu Suzuki (1904–1971) Japanese Buddhist missionary

Source: Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice

Feeling

“The real reality is there, but everything you KNOW about “it” is in your mind and your
to do with as you like. Conceptualization is art, and YOU ARE THE ARTIST”

Gregory Hill (1941–2000) American writer and founder of Discordianism

Source: Principia Discordia ● Or ● How I Found Goddess and What I Did to Her When I Found Her: The Magnum Opiate of Malaclypse the Younger

Art, Reality

“I am a Smedry, and we do ridiculous, unexpected, eccentric things like this all the time! Ha-ha!”

Brandon Sanderson Alcatraz Versus the Shattered Lens

Source: Alcatraz Versus the Shattered Lens

Time

“I learned a little of beauty-- enough to know that it had nothing to do with truth…”

F. Scott Fitzgerald book The Beautiful and Damned

Source: The Beautiful and Damned

Truth, Beauty, Learning

“Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything good in the world.”

Helen Keller (1880–1968) American author and political activist

World

“And mostly all I have to say about these songs is that I love them, and want to sing along to them, and force other people to listen to them, and get cross when these other people don't like them as much as I do.”

Nick Hornby (1957) English novelist

Love, People, Singing

“When a man likes you, he will be interested in finding out what you like. If he makes you happy, he feels more secure. Everything men do is intended to impress women.”

Sherry Argov (1977) American writer

Source: Why Men Marry Bitches: A Woman's Guide to Winning Her Man's Heart

Women, Men, Feeling, Happiness

“A book is a version of the world. If you do not like it, ignore it; or offer your own version in return.”

Salman Rushdie (1947) British Indian novelist and essayist

Books, World

“A cat is there if you call her- if she doesn't have anything better to do.”

Bill Adler (1951) American journalist

Cats

“Ne te quaesiveris extra." (Do not seek for things outside of yourself)”

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

Source: Self-Reliance and Other Essays

“It’s easy to want peace and love in hypothetical situations—then reality sets in, and sometimes we have to do what’s ugly.”

Richelle Mead (1976) American writer

Source: Thorn Queen

Love, Peace, Reality

“Now think deeply.
What have you done with your life over the past year?
How do you feel inside?”

Sean Covey (1964) author; business executive

Source: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens: The Ultimate Teenage Success Guide

Life, Feeling, Thinking, Past

“No, sir. Go to hell sir. It's the best I can do for you sir.”

Jack London book Call of the Wild

Source: The Call of the Wild

Hell

“Hatred would have been easier. With hatred, I would have known what to do. Hatred is clear, metallic, one-handed, unwavering; unlike love.”

Margaret Atwood (1939) Canadian writer

Source: CAT'S EYE.

Love

“All you have to do, I tell myself, is keep your mouth shut and look stupid. It shouldn't be that hard.”

Margaret Atwood book The Handmaid's Tale

Source: The Handmaid's Tale

Stupidity

“She didn't love him and he didn't love her; she was like an addiction, and what they were doing had a darkness to it, a weight.”

Kim Edwards book The Memory Keeper's Daughter

Source: The Memory Keeper's Daughter

Love

“When you insist someone submit to your will, it is accomplished most easily if you give them a small victory so they can retain their dignity while they do as you insist. ~ Kahlan Mother Confessor”

Terry Goodkind book Soul of the Fire

Source: Soul of the Fire

Victory

“If the book we are reading does not wake us, as with a fist hammering on our skull, why then do we read it?”

Franz Kafka (1883–1924) author

Books, Reading

“I know you'll think this is crazy, but all I want to do is hold you, and I think that if you'll let me do that just for a few seconds, I can walk away, and never speak to you again.”

David Guterson book Snow Falling on Cedars

Source: Snow Falling on Cedars

Thinking

“Hugo is a raven, and, as such he knows many things. I, meanwhile, am Hodge Starkweathe, a professor of history, as such, I do not know nearly enough.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Bones

Source: City of Bones

History

“I swear that woman had a previous career as a death-hunter selling tragic ballads down around the Seven Dials," said Will. "And I do wish she wouldn't sing about poisoning just after we've eaten.”

Cassandra Clare book Clockwork Prince

Source: Clockwork Prince

Death, Singing

“I do not say what I feel, and people often take that for shyness, even kindness.”

Amy Bloom (1953) Fiction writer, screenwriter, social worker, psychotherapist

Source: Come to Me

People, Feeling

“Do you think we’ll be waiting long?” Valkyrie asked,
keeping her voice low.
“The last time we were in this building, we accused the
Grand Mage of being a traitor,” Skulduggery said. “Yes, I think
we’ll be waiting long.”

Derek Landy (1974) Irish children's writer

Source: The Faceless Ones

Thinking, Time, Waiting

“In the end what matters is not how good we are but how good God is. Not how much we love Him but how much He loves us. And God loves us whoever we are, whatever we’ve done or failed to do, whatever we believe or can’t.”

Desmond Tutu (1931) South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner

Love, God

“The wolf is carnivore incarnate and he's as cunning as he is ferocious; once he's had a taste of flesh then nothing else will do.”

Angela Carter (1940–1992) English novelist

Wolf

“Time is more precious than gold, more precious than diamonds, more precious than oil or any valuable treasures. It is time that we do not have enough of; it is time that causes the war within our hearts, and so we must spend it wisely.”

Cecelia Ahern (1981) Irish novelist

Source: The Gift

War, Time, Heart

“What do you think you are, for Chrissake, crazy or somethin'? Well you're not! You're not! You're no crazier than the average asshole out walkin' around on the streets and that's it.”

Ken Kesey book One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Source: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Thinking

“The first thing I do in the morning is brush my teeth and sharpen my tongue.”

Dorothy Parker (1893–1967) American poet, short story writer, critic and satirist

“Our actions are in our own hands, but the consequences of them are not. Remember that, my dear, and think twice before you do anything.”

Louisa May Alcott book Jack and Jill: A Village Story

Source: Jack and Jill

Thinking

“Don't explain. Your friends do not need it, and your enemies will not believe you”

Paulo Coelho (1947) Brazilian lyricist and novelist

Source: Economic Warfare Quotes

“The thing about lying to your parents is, you have to do it to protect them.
It’s for their own good.”

Sophie Kinsella book Twenties Girl

Source: Twenties Girl

For Parents, Lying, Parent

“Conversation would be vastly improved by the constant use of four simple words: I do not know.”

André Maurois (1885–1967) French writer

“Things are always different than what they might be… If you wait for them to change, you will never do anything.”

Henry James book The Portrait of a Lady

Source: The Portrait of a Lady

Change, Waiting

“And I guess you judge how well you're doing by how well you sleep at night… and what your dreams are like.”

Stephen King book Different Seasons

Source: Different Seasons

Dreams, Sleep, Night

“I fell in love with you. I didn't do it on purpose”

L.J. Smith (1965) American author

Variant: I'm in love with you. I think everything you do is marvelous.
Source: The Hunter

Love

“Horton, the kangaroo has sent Vlad!'
Vlad? I know two Vlads. One is a cute little bunny that brings me cookies. The other is bad Vlad. Which Vlad?'
Which one do you think?'
Bad Vlad?'
Good call.”

Dr. Seuss Horton Hears a Who!

Source: Horton Hears a Who!

Thinking

“I can't believe what you say, because I see what you do.”

James Baldwin (1924–1987) (1924-1987) writer from the United States

“Do not trouble yourself much to get new things, whether clothes or friends.”

Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) 1817-1862 American poet, essayist, naturalist, and abolitionist

Clothes

“But the only way never to do the wrong thing is never to do anything.”

Jim Butcher book White Night

Source: White Night

Way

“If you don't break your ropes while you're alive, do you think ghosts will do it after?”

Kabir (1440–1518) Indian mystic poet

Thinking

“I often wonder what I'd do if there weren't any books in the world.”

James Baldwin book Giovanni's Room

Source: Giovanni's Room

Books, World

“Marriage is about compromise, it's about doing something for the other person, even when you don't want to.”

Nicholas Sparks book The Wedding

Jane Lewis, Chapter 8, p. 130
Source: 2000s, The Wedding (2003)

Marriage, Personality

“Happy children do not seem to grow up to be writers.”

Piers Anthony (1934) English-American writer in the science fiction and fantasy genres

Children, Happiness

“Unfortunately, most people never observe the natural cycle of birth and death. They do not realize that for one living thing to survive, another living thing must die.”

Temple Grandin (1947) USA-american doctor of animal science, author, and autism activist

"Stairway to Heaven," Thinking in Pictures (1995), p. 202.
Source: Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism
Context: Most people don't realize that the slaughter plant is much gentler than nature. Animals in the wild die from starvation, predators, or exposure. If I had a choice, I would rather go through a slaughter system than have my guts ripped out by coyotes or lions while I was still conscious. Unfortunately, most people never observe the natural cycle of birth and death. They do not realize that for one living thing to survive, another living thing must die.

Death, People, Birth, Nature

“I can't tell them what to do!"
"Why not?" the other girl demanded. "Honestly, Clary, if you don't start utilizing a bit of your natural feminine superiority, I just don't know what I'll do with you.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Ashes

Source: City of Ashes

Girl, Nature

“The most I can do for my friend is simply to be his friend.”

Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) 1817-1862 American poet, essayist, naturalist, and abolitionist

Friendship, For Friend, For Bestfriend

“How does he do it? Live. With the fear of death every day. I don't fear death as much as I fear the thought of living.”

Julie Anne Peters (1952) American writer

Source: By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead

Death, Fear

“What else is there to do in college except drink beer or slit one's wrists?”

Bret Easton Ellis The Rules of Attraction

Source: The Rules of Attraction

Drink, Beer

“HOBBES:
All this modern technology just makes people try to do everything at once.”

Bill Watterson (1958) American comic artist

People

“Today, I demand that a film express either theor the. I am not at all interested in anything in between; I am not interested in all those films that do not pulse.”

Francois Truffaut (1932–1984) film director

Source: The Films in My Life

“We do know that no one gets wise enough to really understand the heart of another, though it is the task of our life to try.”

Louise Erdrich (1954) writer from the United States

Source: The Bingo Palace

Life, Understanding, Heart

“The oppressors do not favor promoting the community as a whole, but rather selected leaders.”

Paulo Freire book Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Source: Pedagogia do oprimido (Pedagogy of the Oppressed) (1968, English trans. 1970)

Communication

“Great teams do not hold back with one another. They are unafraid to air their dirty laundry. They admit their mistakes, their weaknesses, and their concerns without fear of reprisal.”

Patrick Lencioni (1965) American writer

Source: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable

For Team, Fear

“Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.”

Lou Holtz (1937) American college football coach, professional football coach, television sports announcer

Variant: Your talent determines what you can do. Your motivation determines how much you are willing to do. Your attitude determines how well you do it.

Attitude, Motivation

“Let come the forces of night! We will stand!"
"We will get the hell out of here is what we will do," I muttered.”

Jim Butcher book Grave Peril

Source: Grave Peril

Hell, Night