Quotes about first
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“The first thing you have to know about writing is that it is something you must do everyday. There are two reasons for this rule: Getting the work done and connecting with your unconscious mind.”

Walter Mosley (1952) American writer

“Love, genuine passionate love, was his for the first time.”

Jack London book Call of the Wild

Source: The Call of the Wild

Love, Passion, Time

“"Poor Finnick. Is this the first time in your life you haven't looked pretty?" I say.
"It must be. The sensation's completely new. How have you managed it all these years?"”

Suzanne Collins book Catching Fire

Katniss and Finnick, p. 316
Source: The Hunger Games trilogy, Catching Fire (2009)

Life, Time

“I would rather be governed by the first 2000 people in the Manhattan phone book than the entire faculty of Harvard.”

William F. Buckley Jr. (1925–2008) American conservative author and commentator

People, Books

“And I said to myself that he was the first thing that I had ever missed in my life.”

Charles Bukowski book Hollywood

Source: Hollywood

Life

“These days, Clarissa believes, you measure people first by their kindness and their capacity for devotion. You get tired, sometimes, of wit and intellect; everybody's little display of genius.”

Michael Cunningham book The Hours

Source: The Hours

People

“Learning does not make one learned: there are those who have knowledge and those who have understanding. The first requires memory and the second philosophy.”

Alexandre Dumas book The Count of Monte Cristo

Source: The Count of Monte Cristo

Understanding, Knowledge, Learning, Memory

“We'd thought that we were among the first humans to invade this basin, but humans had invaded everything, everywhere. They didn't have to walk into a place to invade it.”

John Marsden book Tomorrow, When the War Began

Source: Tomorrow, When the War Began

“I froze, shocked. (And don't try to claim that you did anything different the first time a government bureaucrat pulled a gun on you.)”

Brandon Sanderson Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians

Source: Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians

Time

“Adversity is the first path to truth.”

George Gordon Byron (1788–1824) English poet and a leading figure in the Romantic movement

Truth

“I'm not the first or the last
to stand on a hillock,
watching the man she married
prove to the world
he's a total, utter, absolute, Grade A pillock.”

Carol Ann Duffy book The World's Wife

Source: The World's Wife

World

“People who advocate simplicity have money in the bank; the money came first, not the simplicity. (from inside the cover)”

Douglas Coupland The Gum Thief

JPod (2006)
Source: The Gum Thief

Money, People

“First the colours.
Then the humans.
That’s usually how I see things.
Or at least, how I try.”

Markus Zusak book The Book Thief

Source: The Book Thief

“No, not you two. Stay here.'
'Does he just not get how unfair and sexist that is?' Eve asked. 'Men.'
'You really want to go first?'
'Of course no. But I'd like the chance toto go first.”

Rachel Caine (1962) American writer

Source: Lord of Misrule

Men, Chance

“Isn't it the moment of most profound doubt that gives birth to new certainties? Perhaps hopelessness is the very soil that nourishes human hope; perhaps one could never find sense in life without first experiencing its absurdity...”

Václav Havel (1936–2011) playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and 1st President of the Czech Republic

Quoted in Amnesty International's essay "From Prisoner to President – A Tribute"

Life, Hope, Birth, Sense

“He leaned against the door frame, ignoring the kick of adrenaline the sight of her produced. He wondered why, not for the first time. Isabelle used her beauty like she used her whip, but Clary didn't know she was beautiful at all. Maybe that was why.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Bones

Source: City of Bones

Beauty, Time

“That is the paradox of the epidemic: that in order to create one contagious movement, you often have to create many small movements first.”

Malcolm Gladwell (1963) journalist and science writer

Source: The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

“The amateur believes he must first overcome his fear; then he can do his work. The professional knows that fear can never be overcome. He knows there is no such thing as a fearless warrior or a dread-free artist.”

Steven Pressfield (1943) United States Marine

Fear

“First in, Last out.

Motto of the bridgeburners”

Steven Erikson book Memories of Ice

Source: Memories of Ice

“When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said "Let us pray." We closed our eyes. When we opened them, we had the Bible and they had the land.
:This quote, often attributed to Jomo Kenyatta, was first written in a fiction play published by holocaust doubter Rolf Hochhuth, in his controversial The Deputy, a Christian tragedy (1964), Grove Press, p. 144. No reference to any historical or original source was given. Other citations are found in books written by critics of religion, such as Christos Tzanetakos's "The Life and Work of an Atheist Pioneer", iUniverse; and Jack Huberman's "Quotable Atheist: Ammunition for Nonbelievers, Political Junkies, Gadflies, and Those Generally Hell-Bound" (2008), 175. No references are given.
: In Desmond Tutu: A Biography (2004) by Steven Gish, p. 101; is clarified Tutu used it as a joke which was not of him.”

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

Misattributed

Life, Books, Religion, Quotes

“The map had been the first form of misdirection, for what is a map but a way of emphasizing some things and making other things invisible?”

Jeff VanderMeer book Annihilation

Source: Annihilation

Way

“I avoid that bleak first hour of the working day during which my still sluggish senses and body make every chore a penance. I find that in arriving later, the work which I do perform is of a much higher quality.”

John Kennedy Toole A Confederacy of Dunces

Source: A Confederacy of Dunces

Sense

“Once lay down the rule that the job comes first and you throw that job open to every individual, man or woman, fat or thin, tall or short, ugly or beautiful, who is able to do that job better than the rest of the world.”

Dorothy L. Sayers (1893–1957) English crime writer, playwright, essayist and Christian writer

Source: Are Women Human? Astute and Witty Essays on the Role of Women in Society

World, Beauty

“There's no such thing as a tough child - if you parboil them first for seven hours, they always come out tender.”

W.C. Fields (1880–1946) actor

“Betrayal. That’s the first thing I feel, which is ludicrous. For there to be betrayal, there would have had to been trust first.”

Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games

Source: The Hunger Games

Feeling, Betrayal

“Here's a basic difference between Morelli and me. My first thought was always of cake. His first thought was always of sex. Don't get me wrong. I like sex… a lot. But it's never going to replace cake.”

Janet Evanovich book Eleven on Top

Source: Eleven on Top

Sex

“The presence of evil was something to be first recognized, then dealt with, survived, outwitted, triumphed over.”

Toni Morrison book Sula

Source: Sula

Evil

“In a relationship the details are everything because they remind you - just when you need to be reminded the most - why you fell in love with someone in the first place.”

Mike Gayle (1970) British author

Source: His 'N' Hers

Love

“There must always be a first," said Jem. "It is not easy to be first, and it is not always rewarding, but it is important.”

Cassandra Clare book Clockwork Princess

Source: Clockwork Princess

“I want to make sure that the first person you kiss loves you, okay?”

Stephen Chbosky book The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Source: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Love, Kiss, Personality

“No punishment has ever possessed enough power of deterrence to prevent the commission of crimes. On the contrary, whatever the punishment, once a specific crime has appeared for the first time, its reappearance is more likely than its initial emergence could ever have been.”

Hannah Arendt book Eichmann in Jerusalem

Epilogue.
Eichmann in Jerusalem (1963)

Appearance, Time

“We all have this moment, when your folks first see you as someone not growing up to be them.”

Chuck Palahniuk book Rant

Source: Rant

“I can remember my first one-night stand like it was yesterday. Well, maybe not the first. Or the second… or the fifth. I'll just begin with what I can remember and not concern myself with order.”

Chelsea Handler (1975) American comedian, actress, author and talk show host

Night

“When you reach my age, you realize you couldn't have done things very much better or much worse than you did them in the first place.”

Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, and a key figure in Spanish language literature

Age, Motivational

“Fate, at first so amenable, so reasonable, so open to negotiation, ends up by exacting a cruel revenge for happiness.”

Diane Setterfield book The Thirteenth Tale

Source: The Thirteenth Tale

Fate, Happiness, Revenge

“To be independent of public opinion is the first formal condition of achieving anything great or rational whether in life or in science. Great achievement is assured, however, of subsequent recognition and grateful acceptance by public opinion, which in due course will make it one of its own prejudices”

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel book Elements of the Philosophy of Right

Sect. 318, as translated by T. M. Knox, (1952)
Elements of the Philosophy of Right (1820/1821)

Life, Science

“The first time I saw him again, it was another year, at my college graduation. And I just knew.”

Jenny Han (1980) American writer

Source: We'll Always Have Summer

Time

“For it is only habit and memory that dulls the physical passion. Without memory, each night is the first night, each morning is the first morning, each kiss and touch are the first.”

Alan Lightman book Einstein's Dreams

Source: Einstein's Dreams

Kiss, Memory, Passion, Night

“From quiet homes and first beginning,
Out to the undiscovered ends,
There's nothing worth the wear of winning,
But laughter and the love of friends.”

Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953) writer

"Dedicatory Ode", stanza 22
Verses (1910)

Love, Home, Laughter

“Well, we can ride together for a while longer. The highway south is farther along this way. I'll be glad of some cheerful company."

"First time anyone's said that about me," Halt replied.”

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

Source: The Lost Stories

Way, Time

“Sucking at something is the first step towards being sorta good at something.”

Ryan North (1980) Canadian webcomic writer and programmer

“Yes," replied Darcy, who could contain himself no longer, "but that was when I first knew her; for it is many months since I have considered her as one of the handsomest women of my acquaintance.”

Jane Austen book Pride and Prejudice

Source: Pride and Prejudice

Women

“Knowing where the trap is—that's the first step in evading it.”

Frank Herbert book Dune

Source: Dune

“You do not know the first note of the music that moves me.”

Patrick Rothfuss book The Name of the Wind

Source: The Name of the Wind

Music

“Did you ever notice that the first piece of luggage on the carousel never belongs to anyone?”

Erma Bombeck (1927–1996) When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent le…

“It was completely fifth garde and completely silly and I loved it, because he wasn't afraid to be silly. It was like kissing him first - I could do whatever I wanted and not have to worry what he'd think of me.”

Kelley Armstrong The Gathering

Source: The Gathering

Love, Kiss, Thinking

“First your parents, they give you your life, but then they try to give you their life.”

Chuck Palahniuk (1962) American novelist, essayist

Life, Parent, For Parents

“The very first law in advertising is to avoid the concrete promise and cultivate the delightfully vague.”

Bill Cosby (1937) American actor, comedian, author, producer, musician, activist

Originally from Stuart Chase
Misattributed

Law

“Talking is a hydrant in the yard and writing is a faucet upstairs in the house. Opening the first takes all the pressure off the second.”

Robert Frost (1874–1963) American poet

Letter to Sydney Cox (3 January 1937), quoted in Robert Frost : The Trial By Existence (1960) by Elizabeth Shepley Sergeant, p. 351, and Robert Frost and Sidney Cox: Forty Years of Friendship (1981) by William Richard Evans, p. 223
General sources
Context: Talking is a hydrant in the yard and writing is a faucet upstairs in the house. Opening the first takes all the pressure off the second. My mouth is sealed for the duration of my stay here. I'm not even going to write letters around to explain to collectors my not having had any Christmas card this year. I'm not going to explain anything personal any more.

Housing

“You must remember, my dear lady, the most important rule of any successful illusion: First, the people must want to believe in it.”

Libba Bray book The Sweet Far Thing

Source: The Sweet Far Thing

People, Success

“The first rule of holes: When you're in one stop digging.”

Molly Ivins (1944–2007) American journalist

“Or perhaps it is some combination of spirit and desire, love and hope, some alchemy that we each possess and can put to use, if we first know where to look without flinching.”

Libba Bray book Rebel Angels

Source: Rebel Angels

Love, Hope

“Adrian.
He was the reason I was able to survive in this prison.
And he was also the reason I was here in the first place.”

Richelle Mead book Silver Shadows

Source: Silver Shadows

“And put me down right this minute or I'll scream bloody murder, then do the job for real!"

"I already hid all the electrical appliances, and I'm not taking a shower without locking you in the closet first.”

Susan Elizabeth Phillips book Nobody's Baby But Mine

Source: Nobody's Baby But Mine

“I meant what I said to you. I wasn't playing some kind of summer game. Everything I said was true, from the first day. EVERY GODDAMN WORD.”

Sarah Dessen book This Lullaby

Source: This Lullaby

Game, Summer

“The first time Calypso came to check on [Leo], it was to complain about the noise.
“Smoke and fire,” she said. “Clanging on metal all day long. You’re scaring away the birds!”
“Oh, no, not the birds!”

Rick Riordan book The House of Hades

Source: The House of Hades

Bird, Time

“I can feel a thing I cannot touch and touch a thing I cannot feel. The first is sad and sorry, the second is your heart.”

James Thurber book The 13 Clocks

Source: The 13 Clocks

Sadness, Feeling, Heart

“There's an opposite to déjà vu. They call it jamais vu. It's when you meet the same people or visit places, again and again, but each time is the first. Everybody is always a stranger. Nothing is ever familiar.”

Chuck Palahniuk book Choke

Source: Choke

People, Time

“He tapped my chest. 'Happy is here.' He tapped his own chest. 'Here.'
I looked down past my chin. 'Inside?'
'Inside.'
It was getting crowded in there. First angel. Now happy. It seemed there was more to me than cabbage and turnips.”

Jerry Spinelli book Milkweed

Source: Milkweed

Happiness, Angels, Past

“And none at all has ridden at the king's side since Aerinha, goddess of honor and flame, first taught men to forge their blades. You'd think Aerinha would have had better sense.”

Robin McKinley book The Hero and the Crown

Source: The Hero and the Crown

Men, Thinking, Sense

“The Three Oddest Words

When I pronounce the word Future,
the first syllable already belongs to the past.
When I pronounce the word Silence,
I destroy it.
When I pronounce the word nothing,
I make something no nonbeing can hold.”

Wisława Szymborska (1923–2012) Polish writer

Silence, Past, Future

“The first rule of fight club is, you don't talk about fight club.”

Chuck Palahniuk Fight Club

Source: Fight Club

Fight

“For those who are poor in happiness, each time is a first time; happiness never becomes a habit.”

Marilyn Monroe (1926–1962) American actress, model, and singer

Source: My Story

Happiness, Time

“I must have no fear of failure. It was my fear of failure that first kept me from attempting the Master Work.”

Paulo Coelho book The Alchemist

Source: The Alchemist

Fear, Failure

“When life is hard, remember - we are not the first to ask, 'Is there no other way?”

Jeffrey R. Holland (1940) Mormon leader

Life, Way

“The two important things that I did learn were that you are as powerful and strong as you allow yourself to be, and that the most difficult part of any endeavour is taking the first step, making the first decision.”

Robyn Davidson (1950) Australian writer

Source: Tracks

Decision, Strong, Learning, Parting

“When was the last time you did something for the first time?”

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

Time

“Every discussion which is made from an egoistic standpoint is corrupted from the start and cannot yield an absolutely sure conclusion. The ego puts its own interest first and twists every argument, word, even fact to suit that interest.”

Paul Brunton (1898–1981) British philosopher

Source: The Notebooks of Paul Brunton

“It always disappointed me when mortals put themselves first and failed to see the big picture—the importance of putting me first”

Rick Riordan book The Hidden Oracle

Source: The Hidden Oracle

Disappointment

“I felt the first man I slept with must be intelligent, so I could respect him.”

Sylvia Plath book The Bell Jar

Source: The Bell Jar

Intelligence

“Before she became the Girl from Nowhere-the One Who Walked In, the First and Last and Only, who lived a thousand years-she was just a little girl in Iowa, named Amy. Amy Harper Bellafonte.”

Justin Cronin The Passage

Source: The Passage Trilogy, The Passage (2010)

Girl

“Mr. Darcy was in Pride and Prejudice and at first he was all snooty and huffy; then he fell in a lake and came out with his shirt all wet. And then we all loved him. In a swoony way.”

Louise Rennison (1951–2016) British writer

Source: A Midsummer Tights Dream

Love, Way

“I know there are people who believe you should forgive and forget. For the record, I'd like to say I'm a big fan of forgiveness as long as I'm given the opportunity to get even first.”

Sue Grafton (1940–2017) American writer

Source: V is for Vengeance

People, Forgiveness, Forgetting

“Sometimes, you get things right the first time. Others, the second. But the third time, they say, is the charm.”

Sarah Dessen book Along for the Ride

Source: Along for the Ride

Time

“The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship you don't have to waste your time voting”

Charles Bukowski (1920–1994) American writer

Democracy, Time

“The first rule of hurricane coverage is that every broadcast must begin with palm trees bending in the wind.”

Carl Hiaasen (1953) journalist, columnist and novelist from the United States

Tree

“He looks down at his legs as if noticing his outfit for the first time. Then he whips off his hospital gown, leaving him in just his underwear. "Why? Do you find this" - he strikes a ridiculously provocative pose - "distracting?”

Suzanne Collins book Mockingjay

Source: Mockingjay

Time

“Remember, no matter how dark the night, there is always a happy ending. But first, you have to make it through the night.”

L.J. Smith (1965) American author

Happiness, Night

“Thousands of years ago the first man discovered how to make fire. He was probably burnt at the stake he'd taught his brothers to light, but he left them a gift they had not conceived and he lifted darkness from the face of the Earth.”

Ayn Rand book The Fountainhead

Source: The Fountainhead

Light

“And of course I'm a chauvinist, but it isn't my fault."
"It isn't?"
"No, Jack was born first and I share his genes. I can't help it if he infected me inside the womb."
Briony burst out laughing. "I should have known that would be your excuse.”

Christine Feehan book Conspiracy Game

Source: Conspiracy Game

Help

“Birth, n. The first and direst of all disasters.”

Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914) American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist, and satirist

The Devil's Dictionary (1911)
Source: The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary

Birth

“The endeavor to understand is the first and only basis of virtue.”

Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677) Dutch philosopher

Understanding

“First the doctor told me the good news: I was going to have a disease named after me.”

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

Disease

“First love is only a little foolishness and a lot of curiosity.”

George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish playwright

Love

“Well, I guess I'll see you around. You're the first Shadowhunter I've ever met."
"That's too bad,"said Jace, "since all the ones you meet from now on will be a terrible letdown.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Fallen Angels

Variant: You're the first Shadowhunter I've ever met."
“That’s too bad,” said Jace, “since all the others you meet from now on will be a terrible letdown.
Source: City of Fallen Angels

“Ok," he said, "I don't like to disturb you at what I know must be a difficult and distressing time for you, but I need to know first of all if you actually realize that this is a difficult and distressing time for you.”

Douglas Adams The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul

Source: The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul

Time

“Thanks to television, for the first time the young are seeing history made before it is censored by their elders.”

Margaret Mead (1901–1978) American anthropologist

Attributed in Banned Books Week '93: Celebrating the Freedom to Read (1993) by Robert P. Doyle, p. 62
1990s

History, Time

“There are 3 reasons for why you can't beat me. First, I'm better looking than you are. Second, your blows are too light. And third, there's nothing in the world I can't tear up.”

Akimine Kamijyo (1975) Japanese manga artist

Source: Samurai Deeper Kyo, Volume 03

World, Tear, Light

“This wasn’t the first time I’d been pulled out of bed for a crucial mission. It was, however, the first time I’d been subjected to such a personal line of questioning.

“Are you a virgin?”

Richelle Mead book The Indigo Spell

Source: The Indigo Spell

Question, Time, Personality

“There is a moment—Oh, just before the first kiss, a whispered word—something that makes it worth while.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald book This Side of Paradise

Source: This Side of Paradise

Kiss

“Someday your prince will come," I assure him.
"And the first thing I'm going to say to him is, 'What took you so long?”

David Levithan Boy Meets Boy

Source: Boy Meets Boy

“Give me the storm and tempest of thought and action, rather than the dead calm of ignorance and faith! Banish me from Eden when you will; but first let me eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge!”

Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–1899) Union United States Army officer

Source: The Works Of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. Iii

Faith, Knowledge, Tree, Dead

“It was the first time I was ever in love, and I learned a lot. Before that I'd never even thought about killing myself.”

Steven Wright (1955) American actor and author

Love, Learning, Time

“If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of The Elements of Style. The first greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they’re happy.”

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

From a review of the revised edition of “The Elements of Style” by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White published in Esquire, November 1959.

Happiness

“. The language of love is like that, possessive. That should be the first warning that it's not going to encourage anyone's betterment.”

Holly Black book Black Heart

Source: Black Heart

Love

“The First Splendid Truth: To be happy, I need to think about feeling good, feeling bad, and feeling right, in an atmosphere of growth.”

Gretchen Rubin (1966) American writer

Source: The Happiness Project: Or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun

Happiness, Truth, Feeling, Thinking