Quotes about first

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“The truth is that the first changes are so slow they pass almost unnoticed, and you go on seeing yourself as you always were, from the inside, but others observe you from the outside.”

Gabriel García Márquez (1927–2014) Colombian writer

“I try not to borrow, first you borrow then you beg.”

Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) American author and journalist

“The first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn but to unlearn.”

Gloria Steinem (1934) American feminist and journalist

“The first step towards mastering time is always to make time meaningless”

Robert Aickman (1914–1981) British fantasy and horror writer

“First of all, never buy a man a plasma TV until you're married. A lot of men once they have a plasma TV they don't need a girlfriend”

Greg Behrendt (1963) American comedian

“Never throw the first punch. If you have to throw the second, try to make sure they don't get up for a third.”

Brandon Sanderson (1975) American fantasy writer

“I want to be first. I know that’s selfish, and maybe unattainable, and maybe shallow. But I just want to come first with someone. If that’s wrong of me, so be it. I’ll be wrong. But that’s the way I feel.” (Sookie Stackhouse)”

Charlaine Harris book From Dead to Worse

“So what if man's body evolved from the monkeys? Whether he came from monkeys or fish is unimportant. The important idea is that when the body became "human" enough, the first human soul slipped into it.”

Garth Stein The Art of Racing in the Rain

“Have you ever heard of the expression, ladies first"
"Yes"
"Well, it's truer in bed than it is anywhere else.”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

“She is my first and only love. Most people know that their first love will not be their only love. But for me, she is both.”

David Levithan book Every Day

“And the heart that is soonest awake to the flowers
Is always the first to be touch'd by the thorns.”

Thomas Moore (1779–1852) Irish poet, singer and songwriter

“When your daddy walked through the house he was so big he filled it up. That was my first mistake. Not to make him leave room for me.”

August Wilson Fences

“In the instant their lips first met, there was a flicker of something almost electrical that made him believe the feeling would last forever.”

Nicholas Sparks book The Guardian

“In order for us to liberate the energy of our strength, our weakness must first have a chance to reveal itself.”

Paulo Coelho book The Witch of Portobello

“The first step in making rabbit stew is catching the rabbit.”

Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, known for his works of science fiction …

“That's the funny thing about old hurts- they just wait for new heartache to come along and then show up, just as sharp and horrible as the first day you woke up with the world changed all around you.”

Lilith Saintcrow book Strange Angels

“Unbelievable," I said. "First you wanted to hide her away to keep you alive. Now you actually want her out in the world to use her compulsion for your own psycho plans.”

Richelle Mead Shadow Kiss

“If you wish to discover the guilty person, first find out to whom the crime might be useful.”

Alexandre Dumas book The Count of Monte Cristo

“This is the first age that's ever paid much attention to the future, which is a little ironic since we may not have one.”

Arthur C. Clarke (1917–2008) British science fiction writer, science writer, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host

“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

“The poor dog, in life the firmest friend,
The first to welcome, foremost to defend.”

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

“The great challenge of the twenty-first century is to raise people everywhere to a decent standard of living while preserving as much of the rest of life as possible.”

Edward O. Wilson (1929) American biologist

“the pain of that first lost was still raw. You could deal with it, endure it, but never escape it.”

Laurell K. Hamilton book The Lunatic Cafe

“The first symptom of true love in a man is timidity, in a young woman, boldness. This is surprising, and yet nothing is more simple. It is the two sexes tending to approach each other and assuming each the other's qualities.”

Victor Hugo book Les Misérables

“[He] saw that a peculiar expression had come into his nephew's face; an expression a little like that of a young hindu fakir who having settled himself on his first bed of spikes is beginning to wish that he had chosen one of the easier religions.”

P.G. Wodehouse (1881–1975) English author

“When I first discovered the moon, he said, I gave it a different name. But everyone kept calling it the moon. The real name never caught on.”

Brian Andreas (1956) American artist

“If you don't want to have sex, I don't want to talk about our feelings."
He scrubbed his hand through his hair, looking confused. "Well, that's for damn sure the first time a woman's ever said that to me.”

Lisa Kleypas (1964) American writer

“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

“All the world was before me and every day was a holiday, so it did not seem important to which one of the world's wildernesses I first should wander.”

John Muir (1838–1914) Scottish-born American naturalist and author

“In the spring of her twenty-second year, Sumire fell in love for the first time in her life.”

Haruki Murakami book Sputnik Sweetheart

“Okay, first thing tomorrow we hit the streets around Taccone's place. Somebody saw something.'

'I got it covered.'

'The DiMarcos might be in town.'

'Actually, they're in jail.'

'All seven of them?'

Hale shrugged. 'It was an interesting October.”

Ally Carter book Heist Society

“Your first and foremost job as a leader is to take charge of your own energy and then help to orchestrate the energy of those around you.”

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

“My name is Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered.”

Alice Sebold book The Lovely Bones

“When people first discover beauty, they tend to linger. Even if they don’t at first recognize it for what it is.”

Sherwood Smith (1951) American fantasy and science fiction writer

“This is personal, she'd said. Real. This moment was too, even if you couldn't see it at first glance. It was fake on the outside, but so true within. You only had to look, really look to tell.”

Sarah Dessen book Just Listen

“The birds of night peck at the first stars
that flash like my soul when I love you.”

Pablo Neruda book Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair

“Ironically, he'd yet to leave a good impression. First he'd spilled soda on her, next she'd seen him almost involved in a riot, and then this morning she'd believed him to be either lazy or an idiot.”

Nicholas Sparks book The Last Song

“The first part of the party of the first part shall be known in this contract as the first part of the party of the first part shall be known in this contract-- Look, why should we quarrel about a thing like this? We'll take it right out, eh?”

Groucho Marx (1890–1977) American comedian

“Bigots see something they expect and then they stop thinking about what is in front of them. It's probably how they got to be bigots in the first place.”

Jim Butcher book White Night

“Old lovers go the way of old photographs, bleaching out gradually as in a slow bath of acid: first the moles and pimples, then the shadings. Then the faces themselves, until nothing remains but the general outlines.”

Margaret Atwood book Cat's Eye

“Something he knew he had missed: the flower of life. But he thought of it now as a thing so unattainable and improbable that to have repined would have been like despairing because one had not drawn the first prize in a lottery.”

Edith Wharton The Age of Innocence

“Next time you wish to feed me poison, warn me first," Loor demanded. (The Merchant of Death)”

D.J. MacHale (1955) American television director and producer

“The big truth for men is that often we have to leave home in the first half of life before we can return home at a later stage and find our soul there.”

Richard Rohr (1943) American spiritual writer, speaker, teacher, Catholic Franciscan priest

“I gotta say"—Apollo broke the silence—"these kids did okay." He cleared his throat and began to recite: "—"

Um, yes, first class," Hermes interrupted, like he was anxious to avoid Apollo's poetry.”

Rick Riordan book The Titan's Curse

“In one word, Queequeg, said I, rather digressively; hell is an idea first born on an undigested apple-dumpling; and since then perpetuated through the hereditary dyspepsias nurtured by Ramadans.”

Herman Melville (1818–1891) American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet

“At first, writing for The New Yorker was very scary to me. I couldn't imagine anything that I would write in that typeface.”

David Sedaris (1956) American author

“Firsts are best because they are beginnings.”

Jenny Han book To All the Boys I've Loved Before

“It was one of those times you feel a sense of loss, even though you didn't have something in the first place. I guess that's what disappointment is- a sense of loss for something you never had.”

Deb Caletti (1963) American writer

“At first, it was hard to sit down and read the things that people were saying. A lot of people would've worked their way up to this position and would've gotten a thick skin over a few years' time. For me, though, all this happened in a few months.”

Carrie Underwood (1983) American country music singer

“Those big blue eyes were swimming, and he was afraid that if the first tear fell, he would break and carry her off anywhere she wanted to go.”

Nora Roberts (1950) American romance 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

“The first time I called myself a 'Witch' was the most magical moment of my life.”

Margot Adler (1946–2014) author, Neopagan, and National Public Radio reporter

“Sometimes our strengths are also our weaknesses. Sometimes to be strong you have to first be weak. You have to share your burdens; you have to lean on other people while you face your problems and yourself.”

Glenn Beck (1964) U.S. talk radio and television host

“To change ourselves effectively, we first had to change our perceptions.”

Stephen R. Covey book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

“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

“Ancient Egyptians believed that upon death they would be asked two questions and their answers would determine whether they could continue their journey in the afterlife. The first question was, 'Did you bring joy?' The second was, 'Did you find joy?”

Leo Buscaglia (1924–1998) Motivational speaker, writer

“First ask yourself: What is the worst that can happen? Then prepare to accept it. Then proceed to improve on the worst.”

Dale Carnegie (1888–1955) American writer and lecturer

“That the last two letters in her name were the first two in his, a silly thing he never mentioned to her but caused him to believe that they were bound together.”

Jhumpa Lahiri book Unaccustomed Earth

“Love does not grown on trees or brought in the market, but if one wants to be "LOVED" one must first know how to give (unconditional)LOVE..”

Kabir (1440–1518) Indian mystic poet

“Difficulties come when you don't pay attention to life's whisper. Life always whispers to you first, but if you ignore the whisper, sooner or later you'll get a scream”

Oprah Winfrey (1954) American businesswoman, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist

“… this beginning motion, this first time when a sail truly filled and the boat took life and knifed across the lake under perfect control, this was so beautiful it stopped my breath…”

Gary Paulsen (1939) American writer and musher

“The underlying point held; experience as well as common sense indicated that the most reliable method of avoiding self-extinction was not to equip oneself with the means to accomplish it in the first place.”

Iain Banks book Consider Phlebas

“To look almost pretty is an acquisition of higher delight to a girl who has been looking plain for the first fifteen years of her life than a beauty from her cradle can ever receive.”

Jane Austen book Northanger Abbey

“The Republic is a dream.
Nothing happens unless first a dream.”

Carl Sandburg (1878–1967) American writer and editor

“What we hope ever to do with ease, we must first learn to do with diligence.”

Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer

“Do this. Don't do that. Stay back in line. Where's tax receipt? Fill out form. Let's see license. Submit six copies. Exit only. No left turn. No right turn. Queue up and pay fine. Take back and get stamped. Drop dead— but first get permit.”

Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988) American science fiction author

“First comes thought; then organization of that thought, into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality. The beginning, as you will observe, is in your imagination.”

Napoleon Hill (1883–1970) American author

“All right, then, her first rule for the rest of her days: no more looking outside for definitions. She might not have any clue who she was, but better to be lost and searching than shoved into a social box by someone else.”

Jessica Bird book Lover Revealed

“I go wherever you go,' he says, launching us into the water.
This is our start. This is the moment it becomes real. We are married. We are infinite. Me and Conrad. The first boy I ever slow danced with, ever cried over. Ever loved.”

Jenny Han (1980) American writer

“He laughs. And in his laugh I hear bliss. I hear feet dancing, the rush of skirts twirling. The sound of children.
Is that the first sign of love?
You hear in the person you're destined to love the sound of those yet to be born.”

Alyson Richman (1972) American writer

“When I first read the dictionary, I thought it was a long poem about everything.”

Steven Wright (1955) American actor and author

“I have to.
I've been fighting it all night. I'm going to lose. My battle is as futile as a woman feeling the first pangs of labor and deciding it's an inconvenient time to give birth. Nature wins out. It always does.”

Kelley Armstrong book Bitten

“I've given up men. It's true. At first, I was just going to give up attorneys, but that seemed immature - and far too exclusive, so I'm playing it safe and giving up all the penis-carrying humans.”

Jill Shalvis (1963) American writer

“My heart applauds inside my ears, first like a roaring crowd, then slows and slows until it's a solitary person, clapping with unbridled sarcasm.
Clap. Clap.
Clap.”

Markus Zusak (1975) Australian author

“They come first.”

Richelle Mead Vampire Academy

“Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere. Start by getting something—anything—down on paper. What I’ve learned to do when I sit down to work on a shitty first draft is to quiet the voices in my head.”

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

“Six hundred and forty fish later, the only thing I know is everything you love will die. The first time you meet someone special, you can count on them one day being dead and in the ground.”

Chuck Palahniuk book Survivor

“When we face pain in relationships our first response is often to sever bonds rather than to maintain commitment.”

Bell Hooks book All About Love: New Visions

“This is a rule of racing: No race has ever been won in the first corner; many have been lost there.”

Garth Stein The Art of Racing in the Rain

“He swept Raisa up into his arms and kissed her like it was his first, last, and only”

Cinda Williams Chima (1952) Novelist

“You're not the last of the old Jedi, Luke, you're the first of the new”

Timothy Zahn Heir to the Empire

“Be it unto you, even as you believe.

In God's economy, we believe first and then see.”

Joyce Meyer (1943) American author and speaker

“…'Goose girl, may I kiss you?' She answered by… kissing him first.”

Shannon Hale The Goose Girl

“The first thing which I can record concerning myself is, that I was born. These are wonderful words. This life, to which neither time nor eternity can bring diminution - this everlasting living soul, began. My mind loses itself in these depths.”

Groucho Marx (1890–1977) American comedian

“AT first Raoden stayed away from the library, because it reminded him of her.
Then he found himself drawn back to it—because it reminded him of her.”

Brandon Sanderson Elantris

“This is not going to be easy. I'm good at being bad, but I'm bad at being good. I don't know the first thing about good deeds.”

Neal Shusterman book Everlost

“The two things I enjoy the most about writing are the first page of a book and the last. What's in between is very hard work.”

Rachel Gibson (1961) American writer

“You have not been sticking your dirty fingers in my sauce,’’ Eve said, and pointed her wooden spoon
at him.
He quickly took the finger out of his mouth. ‘‘First off, they’re not dirty. I licked them first.”

Rachel Caine (1962) American writer

“I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974.”

Jeffrey Eugenides book Middlesex

“The subject says "I see first lots of things which dance — then everything becomes gradually connected."”

Jim Morrison (1943–1971) lead singer of The Doors

“As Lacy waited for her turn to speak on Peter's behalf, she thought back to the first time she realized she could hate her own child.”

Jodi Picoult book Nineteen Minutes

“Then what are you like, Annabel?" he shot back. "A liar, like you told me that first day? Come on. That was the biggest lie of all.”

Sarah Dessen book Just Listen

“The search for truth takes you where the evidence leads you, even if, at first, you don't want to go there.”

Bart D. Ehrman (1955) American academic

“When you graduate from college, they tell you to follow your dreams. Does anyone say you have to wake up first?”

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

“What came first – the music or the misery? Did I listen to the music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to the music? Do all those records turn you into a melancholy person?”

Nick Hornby book High Fidelity

“So you're trying to make her happy despite the fact that the reason she's unhappy in the first place is you," said Simon, not very kindly. "That seems contradictory, doesn't it?"
"Love is a contradiction," said Jace.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Fallen Angels

“She offered herself to the big, bad wolf and didn't scream when he took the first bite.”

Laurie Halse Anderson Wintergirls

“That first love. And the first one who breaks your heart. For me, they just happen to be the same person.”

Sarah Dessen book Along for the Ride

“Can you imagine, finally showing your true self to your spouse, your soul mate, and having him not like you? So that's how the hating first began. I've thought about this a lot, and that's where it started, I think.”

Gillian Flynn book Gone Girl