Quotes about doing
page 98

“Normally, as long as I'm telling him what to do, he wins in a fight.”

Source: The Demigod Files

“Do you love him?"
There were only a few people in the world who could ask me such insanely personal questions without getting punched. Dimitri was one of them.”

Richelle Mead book Last Sacrifice

Source: Last Sacrifice

Love, People, World, Question

“Mad people = People who stand alone and burn.
I'm attracted to them because they give me permission to do the same.”

Susan Sontag (1933–2004) American writer and filmmaker, professor, and activist

People, Madness

“I'm an agent of Her Majesty's Secret Service. I do not dotraps.”

Ally Carter Out of Sight, Out of Time

Source: Out of Sight, Out of Time

Secret

“Christians get very angry toward other Christians who sin differently than they do.”

Philip Yancey (1949) American writer

“First of all, Iit’s all people like you. And that’s what’s so scary. you don’t know what you’re doing.”

Dave Eggers book The Circle

Source: The Circle

People

“And if we know how to light a fire, why do we carry tinder around with us?"

Because you're humans," the little one explained serenly. "You're stupid.”

Silvana De Mari book The Last Dragon

Source: The Last Dragon

Stupidity, Light

“Do they sense it, these dead writers, when their books are read? Does a pinprick of light appear in their darkness? Is their soul stirred by the feather touch of another mind reading theirs? I do hope so.”

Diane Setterfield book The Thirteenth Tale

Source: The Thirteenth Tale

Books, Hope, Soul, Sense

“If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self.”

Napoleon Hill (1883–1970) American author

Source: Think and Grow Rich: The Landmark Bestseller - Now Revised and Updated for the 21st Century

“When someone has been mean to you, why would you want to be good to them?' 'You wouldn't want to. That's what makes it hard. You do it anyway. Being good is hard. Much harder than being bad.”

Jeanne DuPrau The People of Sparks

Source: The People of Sparks

“You don't blame us for being here, do you? After all, we have no place to go. No home… Incidentally, what an excellent day for an exorcism…”

William Peter Blatty book The Exorcist

Source: The Exorcist

Home

“I am sure there is Magic in everything, only we have not sense enough to get hold of it and make it do things for us”

Frances Hodgson Burnett The Secret Garden

Source: The Secret Garden

Sense

“I do not tell lies. Mother used to say that this was because I was a good person. But it is not because I am a good person. It is because I do not tell lie.”

Mark Haddon (1962) English writer and illustrator

Lie, Personality

“We are so used to releasing words, we don't know what to do with them if they stay. No matter how many times we let them go, they come back. The words that matter always stay.”

David Levithan The Realm of Possibility

Source: The Realm of Possibility

Time

“I shift, an infinitesimal movement, towards him. It is like the leap from a waterfall. I do not know, until then, what I am going to do.”

Madeline Miller book The Song of Achilles

Source: The Song of Achilles

“For those who believe, no explanation is necessary; for those who do not believe, no explanation will suffice.”

Michio Kaku (1947) American theoretical physicist, futurist and author

Source: The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest to Understand, Enhance, and Empower the Mind

“When I hear people talk about juggling, or the sacrifices they make for their children, I look at them like they're crazy, because 'sacrifice' infers that there was something better to do than being with your children.”

Chris Rock (1965) American comedian, actor, screenwriter, television producer, film producer, and director

Children, People

“That's what I'm living on now, honey, dreams, dreams of what I used to do.”

Fannie Flagg book Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

Source: Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

Dreams

“I do not so much write a book as sit up with it, as a dying friend. I hold its hand and hope it will get better.”

Annie Dillard (1945) American writer

Source: The Writing Life

Books, Hope

“My boy, that was a TV show. I used a stunt double. I always use a stunt double. Except in love scenes. I insist on doing those myself.”

William Shatner (1931) Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, author, and film director

Love, Boy

“I am so sorry. I wish you knew even one tenth of one percent of how sorry I am…. It was my fault. Can I kill myself here, or should I do it outside, so the mess on your carpet doesn't upset your mother?”

Laurie Halse Anderson (1961) American children's writer

Source: Twisted

“There are some men in this world who are born to do our unpleasant jobs for us. Your father's one of them.”

Harper Lee book To Kill a Mockingbird

Source: To Kill a Mockingbird

Men, World

“What was that?" Jace said. "Sorry, I think I fell asleep for a moment. Do, continue with whatever mesmerizing thing you were saying.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Fallen Angels

Source: City of Fallen Angels

Thinking

“It's strange what the heart can do when the mind is giving the directions.”

Nicole Krauss The History of Love

Source: The History of Love

Heart

“Strange, what being forced to slow down could do to a person.”

Nicholas Sparks book The Last Song

Source: The Last Song

Personality

“winners don't do different things, they do things differently”

Shiv Khera (1961) Indian politician

Variant: Winner dont do different but they do differently
Source: You Can Win: A Step by Step Tool for Top Achievers

“He was marrying my girl, and I couldn’t do anything about it. I just had to watch it happen, because he was my brother, because I promised..”

Jenny Han (1980) American writer

Source: We'll Always Have Summer

Girl

“I do not feel obliged in my reading. I read to be entertained and to relax, and to go into another world, not because it's good for me.”

Nora Roberts (1950) American romance writer

World, Feeling, Reading

“Religious doctrines … are all illusions, they do not admit of proof, and no one can be compelled to consider them as true or to believe in them.”

Sigmund Freud book The Future of an Illusion

Source: 1920s, The Future of an Illusion (1927), Ch. 6

“Being unheard is the ground floor of giving up, and giving up is the ground floor of doing yourself in. It’s not so much, what’s the point? It’s more like, what’s the difference?”

Mitch Albom For One More Day

Source: For One More Day

“the only thing i knew how to do was to keep on keeping on”

Bob Dylan (1941) American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and artist

Song lyrics, Blood on the Tracks (1975), Tangled Up In Blue
Variant: The only thing I knew how to do was to keep on keepin' on like a bird that flew...

“There are only two things you can do when you're dressed like Barbie Does Bondage; you can be embarrassed or you can be aggressive. Guess what my choice was.”

Laurell K. Hamilton book The Killing Dance

Source: The Killing Dance

“I do a first draft as passionately and as quickly as I can. I believe a story is valid only when it's immediate and passionate, when it dances out of your subconscious. If you interfere in any way, you destroy it.”

Ray Bradbury (1920–2012) American writer

Way, Passion, Dance

“Try a thing you haven't done three times. Once to get over the fear of doing it. Twice to learn how to do it. And a third time to figure out whether you like it or not.”

Joyce Meyer (1943) American author and speaker

Fear, Learning, Time

“Do you ever read any of the books you burn?"
He laughed. "That's against the law!"
"Oh. Of course.”

Ray Bradbury book Fahrenheit 451

Source: Fahrenheit 451

Books, Law, Reading

“Do unto others as they wish, but with imagination.”

Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) French painter and sculptor

Imagination

“There's always a way out. All you have to do is take it.”

Julie Anne Peters (1952) American writer

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

Way

“So this is how a person can come to despise himself-knowing he's doing the wrong thing and not being able to stop.”

Daniel Keyes book Flowers for Algernon

Source: Flowers for Algernon

Personality

“What good did it do to light the world on fire if she had to watch the glow alone?”

Kristin Hannah (1960) American writer

Source: Firefly Lane

World, Light

“Horace normally didn't need anyone else to save his life. He was pretty skilled at doing it for himself.”

John Flanagan (1873–1938) Irish-American hammer thrower

Source: The Emperor of Nihon-Ja

Life

“She said, 'Believe it or not, I used to be idealistic.' I asked her what 'idealistic' meant. 'It means you live by what you think is right.' 'You don't do that anymore?' 'There are questions I don't ask anymore.”

Jonathan Safran Foer (1977) Novelist

Question, Thinking

“I want to put my hand out and touch you. I want to do for you and care for you. I want to be there when you're sick and when you're lonesome.”

Edith Wharton book Ethan Frome

Source: Ethan Frome

“The freedom to do your best means nothing unless you are willing to do your best.”

Colin Powell (1937) Former U.S. Secretary of State and retired four-star general

Freedom

“Why do people want to talk to each other? I mean, what are the things people always want to find out about other people?”

Shirley Jackson book The Haunting of Hill House

Source: The Haunting of Hill House

People

“Like any man, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the promised land.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement

1960s, I've Been to the Mountaintop (1968)
Context: Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like any man, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

Life, God, People, Mountain

“God fills us with all sorts of yearnings that go against the grain of the world—but the fact those yearnings often come to nothing, well, I doubt that’s God’s doing.” She cut her eyes at me and smiled. “I think we know that’s men’s doing.”

Sue Monk Kidd (1948) Novelist

Source: The Invention of Wings

Men, God, World, Smile

“The person doing the worrying experiences it as a form of love; the person being worried about experiences it as a form of control.”

John Lanchester book Capital

Source: Capital

Love, Personality

“If there’s one thing I never do, it’s stop.”

Kristin Hannah book The Nightingale

Source: The Nightingale

“Nick cleared his throat. “Do not … and I mean do … not … take this the wrong way, okay?” He wrapped his arms around Ash and hugged him. “I will always be your brother,” he whispered in Ash’s ear. “And I won’t ever hate you.”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: Inferno

Hate, Way

“Nakata's empty inside… Do you know what it means to be completely empty? Being empty is like a vacant house. An unlocked, vacant house. Anybody can come in, anytime they want. That's what scares me the most”

Haruki Murakami book Kafka on the Shore

Source: Kafka on the Shore

Housing

“Something having been done just about everywhere just about always is no kind of justification for doing it now.”

Jonathan Safran Foer book Eating Animals

Source: Eating Animals

“American experience seems to suggest that people are virtually unlimited in their need to give themselves away, on various levels. Some just prefer to do it in secret.”

David Foster Wallace book Infinite Jest

Source: Infinite Jest

People, Secret

“Was it a vision, or a waking dream?
Fled is that music: — Do I wake or sleep?”

John Keats Ode to a Nightingale

Stanza 8
Poems (1820), Ode to a Nightingale

Dreams, Music, Sleep

“Well, while I'm here I'll do the work — and what's the work? To ease the pain of living. Everything else, drunken dumbshow.”

Allen Ginsberg (1926–1997) American poet

Pain

“Life is easier when you can write off others as monsters, demon, as horrible threats that must be hated and feared the thing is you can't do that without becoming them, just a little.”

Jim Butcher book White Night

Source: White Night

Life, Hate, Fear

“Do you know how an ugly woman feels? Do you know what it is to be ugly all your life and inside to feel that you are beautiful? It is very rare.”

Ernest Hemingway book For Whom the Bell Tolls

Source: For Whom the Bell Tolls

Life, Beauty, Feeling

“I do not believe that grief is ever so great that it can not be contained within.”

Judith McNaught (1944) American writer

Source: Once and Always

“If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing.”

Ayn Rand (1905–1982) Russian-American novelist and philosopher

“I love you only because it's you the one I love;
I hate you deeply, and hating you
Bend to you, and the measure of my changing love for you
Is that I do not see you but love you blindly.”

Pablo Neruda (1904–1973) Chilean poet

Love, Hate, Change

“Right. That’s the end of the line for you tonight. You’re going home, I’m seeing you safe inside, and I’m going home to hide in a closet until this blows over. I suggest you do the same.”

Rachel Caine (1962) American writer

Source: The Dead Girls' Dance

Home

“Working really hard is what successful people do…”

Malcolm Gladwell (1963) journalist and science writer

Source: Outliers: The Story of Success

People, Success

“I like a good story and I also like staring at the sea-- do I have to choose between the two?”

David Byrne book How Music Works

Source: How Music Works

Sea

“Often, I get the feeling that the story is really happening somewhere and all I'm doing is trying to work out the best way to tell it.”

Garth Nix (1963) Australian fantasy writer

Way, Feeling

“You want to know how I think art should be taught to children? Take them to a museum and say, 'This is art, and you can't do it.”

Steve Martin (1945) American actor, comedian, musician, author, playwright, and producer

Source: An Object of Beauty

Children, Art, Thinking

“If a man cannot tell what he wants to do, then he must find out what he ought to do. If desire has become complicated, then hold fast to duty.”

Julian Barnes book Arthur & George

Source: Arthur & George

“Do I, lass? Do I tempt you?”

Karen Marie Moning (1964) author

The Dark Highlander

“You exist in a place that is beyond all rules for me. Do you understand that? - JZB”

Karen Marie Moning (1964) author

Source: Shadowfever

Understanding

“Do you know how much women loathe it when guys think every show of negative emotion is tied to our menstrual cycle, like we're sheep or something?”

Laurie Halse Anderson (1961) American children's writer

Source: The Impossible Knife of Memory

Women, Guy, Thinking

“Doubt may be a poor encouragement to do anything, but it is a bad reason for doing nothing.”

George MacDonald book Lilith

Source: Lilith

“Did you read the instructions?” He shook his head. “Why, were you afraid they’d take your man card away?” “Are you going to help me or just make fun of me?” “Can’t I do both?”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Magic Rises

Reading, Help

“If you want to control someone, all you have to do is to make them feel afraid.”

Paulo Coelho book The Devil and Miss Prym

Variant: Fear again. If you want to control someone, all you have to do is to make them feel afraid.
Source: The Devil and Miss Prym

Feeling

“We are all worms. But I do believe I am a glow-worm.”

Winston S. Churchill (1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

As quoted by Violet Bonham-Carter in Winston Churchill as I Knew Him (1965), according to The Yale Book of Quotations (2006), Fred R. Shapiro, Yale University Press, p. 155 ISBN 0300107986
Post-war years (1945–1955)
Source: Never Give In!: The Best of Winston Churchill's Speeches