Quotes about down
page 17

“Everything, in the end, comes down to timing. One second, one minute, one hour could make all the difference.”

Sarah Dessen book This Lullaby

Source: This Lullaby

Time

“I was watching television and I saw how you stick your fingers in a person's eyes to slow them down."
Grandma Mazur”

Janet Evanovich Two for the Dough

Source: Two for the Dough

Grandma, Personality

“It runs in the family. And don't expect me to be ashamed. Yankees lock away loony relatives, but down here, we prop 'em up on parade floats and march 'em through the middle of town.”

Susan Elizabeth Phillips (1948) American writer

Source: Ain't She Sweet

Family

“it's colder than hell (yes) but
the blankets are thin,
and the pulled-down shades
are as full of holes as love is.”

Charles Bukowski book The People Look Like Flowers at Last

Source: The People Look Like Flowers at Last

Love, Hell

“You're dead, George. You just don't have the sense to lie down.”

Stephen King The Dark Half

Source: The Dark Half

Lie, Sense, Dead

“The Postmodernists' tyranny wears people down by boredom and semi-literate prose.”

Christopher Hitchens (1949–2011) British American author and journalist

People

“Mylife might be little and boring, but at least it’s mine - not some assembly-line, secondhand, hand-me-down life.”

Chuck Palahniuk book Rant

Source: Rant

Life

“Carter leaned toward me and brushed the hair away from the side of my face. "Don't look down then," he whispered.”

Richelle Mead (1976) American writer

Source: Succubus on Top

“Sometimes the Universe smiled. Mostly she kicked me in the face, stomped on my ribs once I fell down, and laughed at my pain, but once in a while she smiled.”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Magic Breaks

Pain, Smile, Universe

“Your scare me rather. My reflection in the glass never did that; of course, I knew it so well. Like something I had tamed… I'm going to smile, and my smile will sink down into your pupils, and heaven knows what it will become.”

Jean Paul Sartre No Exit

Source: No Exit

Smile

“Which brings me to the question of why we always 'fall' in love. One falls down steps, off ladders, into rivers and down mountains. If love is so wonderful, why don't we soar in love or climb in love?”

Judith McNaught (1944) American writer

Love, Mountain, Question

“It's just that in the Deep South, women learn at a young age that when the world is falling apart around you, it's time to take down the drapes and make a new dress.”

Karen Marie Moning (1964) author

Source: Faefever

Women, Age, World, Learning

“A life is never useless. Each soul that came down to Earth is here for a reason.”

Paulo Coelho book Manuscript Found in Accra

Source: Manuscript Found in Accra (2012), Uselessness

Life, Soul

“Settle down, Princess. It’s not my first time.”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Magic Strikes

Time, Princess

“Why is marijuana against the law? It grows naturally on our planet, serves a thousand different functions, all of them positive. To make marijuana against the law is like saying that God made a mistake. Like on the seventh day God looked down, "There it is. My Creation, perfect and holy in all ways. Now I can rest. [Gives shocked expression] Oh my Me! I left fuckin' pot everywhere. I should never have smoked that joint on the third day. Hehe, that was the day I created the possum. Still gives me a chuckle. But if I leave pot everywhere, that's gonna give people the impression they're supposed to … use it. Now I have to create Republicans."”

Bill Hicks (1961–1994) American comedian

" … and God wept", I believe is the next part of that story.
Chicago '91 (1991)

God, People, Law, Way

“Paul patted Mrs. O'Leary's snout. The living room shook —BOOM, BOOM, BOOM—which either meant a SWAT team was breaking down the door or Mrs. O'Leary was wagging her tail.
I couldn't help but smile.”

Rick Riordan book The Last Olympian

Source: The Last Olympian

Smile, Help

“Take me down to the bar! We'll drink breakfast together!”

W.C. Fields (1880–1946) actor

Drink

“I mean, five gods in one stomach—dang. That's enough for doubles tennis, including a ref. They'd been down there so long, they were probably hoping Kronos would swallow down a deck of cards or a Monopoly game.”

Rick Riordan (1964) American writer

Source: Percy Jackson's Greek Gods

God, Hope, Game

“Don't let them drag you down by rumors just go with what you believe in.”

Michael Jordan (1963) American retired professional basketball player and businessman

Source: I Can't Accept Not Trying: Michael Jordan on the Pursuit of Excellence

“And then Mircea finally let me down, only to get his hands inside the coat and push me against the wall.
“I’m dirty,” I protested.
He waggled his eyebrows. “Promise?”
“Mircea!” I laughed in spite of myself…”

Karen Chance American writer

Source: Hunt the Moon

“Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window.”

Peter F. Drucker (1909–2005) American business consultant

Light, Future, Night, Country

“I sat down next to her. Took her hand. This can work, I said. All we have to do is try.”

Junot Díaz book This Is How You Lose Her

Source: This Is How You Lose Her

“Adrian looked away from me and down to where my hand covered his. I blushed and pulled away. “Sorry” I’d probably freaked him out”

Richelle Mead (1976) American writer

“Neither a wise man or a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) American general and politician, 34th president of the United States (in office from 1953 to 1961)

As quoted in TIME magazine (6 October 1952)
1950s

History, Waiting, Future, Training

“Stay with me." As the tendrils of sleep syrup pull me down, I hear him whisper a word back, but I don't quite catch it.”

Suzanne Collins book Catching Fire

Source: Catching Fire

Sleep

“… the human spirit knows, deep down that all lives intersect.”

Mitch Albom (1958) American author

Source: The Five People You Meet in Heaven - Meniti Bianglala

“She's singing to-night to bring the chandelier down!”

Gaston Leroux book The Phantom of the Opera

Source: The Phantom of the Opera

Singing, Night

“Let go of me or slow down," she demanded as she tried to keep pace with him.
He slowed down. "I swear to God, you try the patience of a saint."
"You aren't a saint, Brodick, no matter what your mother might have told you.”

Julie Garwood (1946) American writer

Source: Ransom

God, Patience

“Isabelle tugged her tank top back down and glared at her brother. “You don’t knock now?”

“It’s my bedroom!” Alec spluttered.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Heavenly Fire

Source: City of Heavenly Fire

“And the kittykats would have to erect scaffolding and a pulley to get him down. Mind you, I wouldn't put that past them. Sometimes when they are behind the sofa supposedly purring, I think they are drilling.”

Louise Rennison (1951–2016) British writer

Source: Startled by His Furry Shorts

Thinking, Past

“When we fall in love, we hope - both egotistically and altruistically - that we shall be finally, truly seen: judged and approved. Of course, love does not always bring approval: being seen may just as well lead to a thumbs-down and a season in hell.”

Julian Barnes (1946) English writer

Source: Nothing to Be Frightened Of

Love, Hope, Hell, Season

“Even stone can be worn down with enough rain.”

Arthur Golden book Memoirs of a Geisha

Source: Memoirs of a Geisha

“She thought of Aziza's stutter, and of what Aziza had said earlier about fractures and powerful collisions deep down and how sometimes all we see on the surface is a slight tremor.”

Khaled Hosseini book A Thousand Splendid Suns

Source: A Thousand Splendid Suns

“Ideas aren't magical; the only tricky part is holding on to one long enough to get it written down.”

Lynn Abbey (1948) American writer

Idea, Parting

“Maybe humans are just the pet alligators that God flushed down the toilet.”

Chuck Palahniuk book Lullaby

Source: Lullaby

God

“Tradionally, parents made decisions for a child, because presumably they are looking out for his or her best interests. But if they are blinded, instead, by the best interests of another one of their children, the system breaks down.”

Jodi Picoult My Sister's Keeper

Source: My Sister's Keeper

Children, Parent, Decision

“So everything lets us down, including curiosity and honesty and what we love best. Yes, said the voice, but cheer up, it's fun in the end.”

Roberto Bolaño book 2666

Source: 2666

Love, Hope

“That cup of tea is definately not down your alley”

Jean Ferris (1939–2015) American children's writer

Source: Once Upon a Marigold

Tea

“No wonder studies show that women's intellectual self-esteem tends to go down as years of education go up. We have been studying our own absence.”

Gloria Steinem (1934) American feminist and journalist

Source: My Life on the Road

Women, Education, Study

“In the end, the tortures tearing the Lisbon girls pointed to a simple reasoned refusal to accept the world as it was handed down to them, so full of flaws.”

Jeffrey Eugenides book The Virgin Suicides

Source: The Virgin Suicides

World, Girl, Tear

“… and I went into the garden and lay down and looked at the stars in the sky and made myself negligible.”

Mark Haddon book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Source: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Star

“A true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake.”

Elizabeth Gilbert book Eat, Pray, Love

Source: Eat, Pray, Love

Soul, Tear, Personality, love

“Go to Idris. You’re safer there, but don’t be trusting, and don’t let your guard down. I need you to live.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Heavenly Fire

Source: City of Heavenly Fire

“What a tragic realm this is, he reflected. Those down here are prisoners, and the ultimate tragedy is that they don't know it; they think they are free because they have never been free, and do not understand what it means.”

Philip K. Dick The Divine Invasion

Source: The Divine Invasion

Understanding, Thinking

“You'll never see the moments coming that will for ever mutilate your life-at least not until after they've mowed you down.

-Savitar”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: Acheron

Life

“All I have to be thankful for in this world is that I was sitting down when my garter busted.”

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

Source: The Portable Dorothy Parker

World

“Visions! omens! hallucinations! miracles! ecstasies! gone down the American river! Dreams! adorations! illumnations! religions! the whole boatload of sensitive bullshit!”

Allen Ginsberg book Howl and Other Poems

Source: Howl and Other Poems

Religion, Dreams

“… you have to learn where your pain is. You have to burrow down and find the wound, and if the burden of it is too terrible to shoulder, you have to shout it out; you have to shout for help… And then finally, the way through grief is grieving.”

Jane Hamilton (1957) American novelist

Pain, Way, Learning, Help

“Will stared down at his hands. "My whole life wrecked, destroyed…"

"You're seventeen," Magnus said. "You can't have wrecked a life you've barely lived.”

Cassandra Clare book Clockwork Prince

Source: Clockwork Prince

Life

“Don't wait for a light to appear at the end of the tunnel, stride down there and light the bloody thing yourself.”

Sara Henderson (1936–2005) Australian writer

Light, Appearance, Waiting

“If you don't hunt it down and kill it, it will hunt you down and kill you.”

Flannery O’Connor (1925–1964) American novelist, short story writer

“Too bad you got so bogged down in books. You've got the spirit of a warrior.”

Richelle Mead book The Golden Lily

Source: The Golden Lily

Books

“It is a common sentence that knowledge is power; but who hath duly considered or set forth the power of ignorance? Knowledge slowly builds up what ignorance in an hour pulls down.”

George Eliot book Daniel Deronda

Source: Daniel Deronda

Knowledge

“No person, trying to take responsibility for her or his identity, should have to be so alone. There must be those among whom we can sit down and weep, and still be counted as warriors.”

Adrienne Rich (1929–2012) American poet, essayist and feminist

Source: Sources

Personality

“I'll never forget my first time with you' Min said as she edged the doughnut off her finger. 'The earth moved, and then my mother asked my father who he was going down on at lunch.”

Jennifer Crusie book Bet Me

Source: Bet Me

Time, Forgetting

“It was my friend Frank, a writer in San Francisco, who finally set me straight. When asked about my new look he put down his fork and stared at me for a few moments. "A bow tie announces to the world you can no longer get an erection.”

David Sedaris (1956) American author

World

“We'd even devised the Buffy scale of life relationships: you start off wanting Xander, spend your twenties going out with Spike and setttle down with giles.”

Jenny Colgan (1972) British writer

Life

“What in the hell is going on around here?” she yelled. “Could you guys keep it down to aircraft-carrier noise?”

Rachel Caine book Glass Houses

Source: Glass Houses

Guy, Hell

“It depends. If I don't let you in, will you huff and puff and blow my house down?"
She had no idea. "I'm more of a kick the door open and cut everyone inside to ribbons kind of wolf.”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Bayou Moon

Idea, Wolf, Housing, Dependency

“She wasn't tracking down her father to learn more about him. She was tracking him down to learn more about herself.”

Brad Meltzer book The Inner Circle

Source: The Inner Circle

Learning

“You think this is going to work? This peaceful summit thing?”
“Sure,” I said. After a second, I added, “Probably.”
“Probably?”
“Maybe,” I said.
“We’re down to maybe now?”
I shrugged. “We’ll see.”

Jim Butcher book Cold Days

Source: Cold Days

Peace, Thinking

“Each day the storm clouds were opening like great purple flowers and pouring out their dark thunder. Each nightfall, the storm was laid down on their houses like a burden the day had carried.”

Eudora Welty (1909–2001) American author

Source: The Wide Net and Other Stories

Flowers, Housing

“He slowed down a bit more. "Gaia, how do you know these things?" She shrugged. "I'm smart." "And modest, too." "Modesty is a waste of time," she pronounced. "I'll keep that in mind.”

Francine Pascal Fearless

Source: Fearless

Time

“Well, I would have struck him, but I would have had to get up. You have no notion how difficult it is to arrange skirts when sitting down; it took me five minutes together the first time.”

Naomi Novik book His Majesty's Dragon

Source: His Majesty's Dragon

Time

“There is only one reason I did not go down in flames over the Angers, and that is because I knew I had Julie in the back. Would never have had the presence of mind to put that fire out if I hadn't been trying to save her life.”

Elizabeth Wein book Code Name Verity

Source: Code Name Verity

Life, Anger

“Every word first looks around in every direction before letting itself be written down by me.”

Franz Kafka (1883–1924) author

“The problem is, hope is the thing that can’t be reined in by rules or pinned down by bitter experience. It’s a blessing and curse.”

Cinda Williams Chima (1952) Novelist

Source: Flamecaster

Hope, Problem

“I just went to work for a vampire, was scared by a spider, and got knocked down by a tanning bomb. And that’s just my day, not my week.”

Rachel Caine (1962) American writer

Source: Fade Out

“Now I felt like I was drifting, sucked down by an undertow, and too far out to swim back to the shore.”

Sarah Dessen book Dreamland

Source: Dreamland (2000)

“I hate how my past actions keep messing up my future options, Seth muttered.
Then you've started down the road to wisdom, Grandpa replied.”

Brandon Mull (1974) American fiction writer

Source: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary

Wisdom, Hate, Past, Future

“Time is a funny thing. I was always puzzled with the way a single day could stretch itself out to the point of eternity in your mind, all while years melted down into the fraction of a second.”

Gloria Naylor book Mama Day

Source: Mama Day

Way, Time

“The lion and the calf shall lie down together but the calf won't get much sleep.”

Woody Allen Without Feathers

"Scrolls".
Without Feathers (1975)

Lie, Sleep

“Tyler lies back and asks, "If Marilyn Monroe were alive right now, what would she be doing?"

I say, goodnight.

The headliner hangs down in shreds from the ceiling and Tyler says, "Clawing at the lid of her coffin.”

Chuck Palahniuk Fight Club

Source: Fight Club

“I'm tired of carrying around the weight of the world. I'm just going to lay it down now. It's my time to die, and it's your time to live. Don't mess it up.”

Sue Monk Kidd book The Secret Life of Bees

Source: The Secret Life of Bees

World, Time

“I swear on the Angel." He ducked his head down, kissed her cheek. "The hell with that. I swear on us.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Fallen Angels

Source: City of Fallen Angels

Angels, Hell, Kiss

“A gun. I had been brought down by a gun. It was practically comical. Cheaters, I thought.”

Richelle Mead book Last Sacrifice

Source: Last Sacrifice

“My favorite fantasy? You come down into my daytime resting place stark naked," he said, and I could see the gleam of his teeth as he smiled. "Oh, wait," Bill said. "That's already happened.”

Charlaine Harris Deadlocked

Source: Deadlocked

Smile, Waiting

“Anxiety, the next gumption trap, is sort of the opposite of ego. You're so sure you'll do everything wrong you're afraid to do anything at all. Often this, rather than "laziness," is the real reason you find it hard to get started. This gumption trap of anxiety, which results from over-motivation, can lead to all kinds of errors of excessive fussiness. You fix things that don't need fixing, and chase after imaginary ailments. You jump to wild conclusions and build all kinds of errors into the machine because of your own nervousness. These errors, when made, tend to confirm your original underestimation of yourself. This leads to more errors, which lead to more underestimation, in a self-stoking cycle. The best way to break this cycle, I think, is to work out your anxieties on paper. Read every book and magazine you can on the subject. Your anxiety makes this easy and the more you read the more you calm down.”

Robert M. Pirsig book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Source: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974), Ch. 26
Source: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values

Books, Way, Error, Motivation

“They all crossed into forbidden territory. They all tampered with the laws that lay down who should be loved, and how. And how much.”

Arundhati Roy book The God of Small Things

Source: The God of Small Things (1997)

Love, Law

“It interests me how we find ways to feel superior to another person, another group of people. It happens everywhere, and all the time. Whatever we call it, I think it’s the lowest part of who we are, this need to find someone else to put down.”

Elizabeth Strout (1956) American writer

Source: My Name is Lucy Barton

People, Way, Feeling, Thinking

“That the wall is coming down.”

Cassandra Clare book Clockwork Prince

Source: Clockwork Prince

“I raised my foot and deliberately stomped on the bridge. "This is my foot. I put it down. Deal with it.”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Magic Breaks

“Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I:
But when the trees bow down their heads
The wind is passing by.”

Christina Rossetti (1830–1894) English poet

Who Has Seen the Wind? http://www.repeatafterus.com/title.php?i=1191, st. 2 (1872).

Tree

“Will set his fork down and began cheerfully, in the manner of Edward Lear's”

Cassandra Clare book Clockwork Prince

Source: Clockwork Prince

“Then realization had dawned. "Oh, my God, you're the one who hurt Davis, the boy I was with. You saw us together, and you threw him down a gully. He broke both of his legs!"

"He lived?" Gaze narrowing, Lothaire had murmured, "Not for much Longer.”

Kresley Cole American writer

Source: Lothaire

God, Boy, Hurt

“My inventory of people who can save me is down to just me.”

Chuck Palahniuk book Invisible Monsters

Source: Invisible Monsters

People

“I just want to be able to stand up straight for a little while before I get cut down.”

Henry Rollins (1961) American singer-songwriter

Source: Solipsist

“You love each other – anyone can see that, looking at you – that kind of love that can burn down the world or raise it up in glory.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Fallen Angels

Source: City of Fallen Angels

Love, World

“Be careful of love. It'll twist your brain around and leave you thinking up is down and right is wrong.”

Rick Riordan book The Battle of the Labyrinth

Source: The Battle of the Labyrinth

Love, Thinking

“The Lorax: Which way does a tree fall?
The Once-ler: Uh, down?
The Lorax: A tree falls the way it leans. Be careful which way you lean.”

Dr. Seuss The Lorax

Source: The Lorax

Way, Tree

“Tell me that you don’t take that blade and drag it across your skin and pray for the courage to press down.”

Susanna Kaysen book Girl, Interrupted

Source: Girl, Interrupted

Courage

“If a love is to be unforgettable, fortuities must immediately start fluttering down to it like birds to Francis of Assisi's shoulders.”

Milan Kundera book The Unbearable Lightness of Being

pg 49
Source: The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1984), Part Two: Soul and Body

Love, Bird

“Down in the water, Octavian yelled, “Get me out of here! I’ll kill you!”
“Tempting,” Percy called down.”

Rick Riordan The Mark of Athena

Source: The Mark of Athena

Water

“I had reached up and pulled the castle of dreams down around him.”

Susan Kay (1952) British writer

Dreams

“Most men don't seem to get that telling a pissed-off woman to calm down is like throwing gunpowder on a fire.”

~ Liberty Jones”

Lisa Kleypas (1964) American writer

Source: Sugar Daddy

Men

“I don't do that kind of negativity. If you put your energy into thinking about how much the fall would hurt, you're already halfway down.”

Tana French book Broken Harbour

Source: Broken Harbour

Thinking, Hurt

“Rock'n'roll is a teenage sport, meant to be played by teenagers of all ages--they could be 15, 25 or 35. It all boils down to whether they've got the love in their hearts, that beautiful teenage spirit… -Calvin Johnson”

Michael Azerrad (1961) American musician and writer

Source: Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981-1991

Love, Age, Beauty, Sport

“You didn't realize what was passing you by until you slowed down a little bit to get a better look.”

Karin Slaughter book Undone

Source: Undone

“That was the thing to remember about all monsters, They love to frighten
people, but the minute you stare them down, they turn tail and run.”

Jeannette Walls (1960) American writer and journalist

Love, People

“Rationally speaking, blaming one's behavior on alcohol or drugs is like blaming the ladder by which you descended into a pit, or the staircase that took you down to a cellar, for what you found there.”

Graham Joyce book Some Kind of Fairy Tale

Source: Some Kind of Fairy Tale

Alcohol, Behavior

Quotes about down page 17

Quotes about down
page 17