Quotes about happening
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“Why is it that you’ve never got the least goddamned clue what’s happening inside your own head. Have you ever noticed this trend? Doesn’t it bug you sometimes?”

Jim Butcher book Skin Game

Source: Skin Game

“I think of how and why and what happened and the thoughts come easily, but the answers don't.”

James Frey book A Million Little Pieces

Source: A Million Little Pieces

Thinking

“I’d much rather pretend I’m
somewhere else, and any time I open
the pages of a book, that happens.”

Jodi Picoult (1966) Author

Source: Between the Lines

Books, Time

“What was that you were saying just before the food arrived? Something about me… no competition… best thing that ever happened to you…”

Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games

Source: The Hunger Games

Food

“Men forget everything; women remember everything. That's why men need instant replay in sports. They've already forgotten what's happened.”

Rita Rudner (1953) American comedian

Women, Men, Sport, Forgetting

“He did not say that because he knew that if you said a good thing it might not happen.”

Ernest Hemingway book The Old Man and the Sea

Source: The Old Man and the Sea

“Whether or not you find your own way, you're bound to find some way. If you happen to find my way, please return it, as it was lost years ago. I imagine by now it's quite rusty.”

Norton Juster book The Phantom Tollbooth

Source: The Phantom Tollbooth

Way, Imagination

“What happened between those two beings? Nothing. They were adoring one another.”

Victor Hugo book Les Misérables

Source: Les Misérables

“Faith means that it doesn't matter what happens. You can trust that somebody is watching. Trust that somebody will make it all right.”

Brandon Sanderson (1975) American fantasy writer

Source: The Hero of Ages

Faith

“Nothing made me happen. I happened.”

Thomas Harris The Silence of the Lambs

Source: The Silence of the Lambs

“Will you give the girl to me?" she said. "Will you let me try?"
He nodded, dizzy with relief. "Please, Willo. Please. Save her. It doesn't matter… what happens to me.”

Cinda Williams Chima (1952) Novelist

Source: The Gray Wolf Throne

Girl

“Everything that had happened was shockingly beautiful, enough to make you crazy.”

Banana Yoshimoto book NP

Source: NP

Beauty

“As much as we have free choice, absolute destiny is immutable. What is meant to happen does, through one measure or another.”

Jessica Bird (1969) U.S. novelist

Source: Lover Enshrined

“Everything happens for a reason, but that doesn't mean there's a point.”

Sue Grafton (1940–2017) American writer

Source: C is for Corpse

“This is not something insignificant. This is real. This is happening, and this is ours.”

David Levithan (1972) American author and editor

Source: Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist

“… the state of rapture I experience when I read a wonderful book
is one of the main reasons I read;
but it doesn't happen every time
or even every other time,
and when it does happen,
I am truly beside myself.”

Nora Ephron (1941–2012) Film director, author screenwriter

Books, Time, Reading

“You know what happens when windmills collapse into the sea? A splash.”

Bill Maher (1956) American stand-up comedian

Sea

“Comedy is tragedy that happens to other people.”

Angela Carter book Wise Children

Source: Wise Children (1991), ch. 5 (p.213).

People

“What’s the opposite of déjà vu, when you see something that hasn’t happened yet?”

“I don’t know—avant verrais?”

Jasper Fforde book Lost in a Good Book

Source: Lost in a Good Book

“Because life doesn't always happen according to a timetable or calendar. And feelings can't be scheduled.”

Jerry Spinelli (1941) American children's writer

Source: Today I Will: A Year of Quotes, Notes, and Promises to Myself

Life, Feeling

“At some point in life the world's beauty becomes enough. You don't need to photograph, paint or even remember it. It is enough. No record of it needs to be kept and you don't need someone to share it with or tell it to. When that happens — that letting go — you let go because you can.”

Toni Morrison book Tar Baby

Tar Baby (1981)

Life, World, Beauty, Painting

“Relationships are incredibly amorphous. They could get back together. They could stay friends. Who's to say what will happen in the future?”

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

Source: To All the Boys I've Loved Before

Future

“Many of the good things would never have happened if the bad events hadn't happened first.”

Suze Orman (1951) American author, television personality, motivational speaker, businesswoman, investor

Source: The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom: Practical and Spiritual Steps So You Can Stop Worrying

“You are meant to be here. There are no coincidences. It's all happening the way it was meant to be.”

Anthony Horowitz book Raven's Gate

Source: Raven's Gate

Way

“All stories are true,” Skarpi said. “But this one really happened, if that’s what you mean.”

Patrick Rothfuss book The Name of the Wind

He took another slow drink, then smiled again, his bright eyes dancing. “More or less. You have to be a bit of a liar to tell a story the right way. Too much truth confuses the facts. Too much honesty makes you sound insincere.”
Source: The Name of the Wind (2007), Chapter 26, “Lanre Turned” (p. 203)

“Of her own experience she had no memory of the thing happening; but in her instinct, which was the experience of all mothers of wolves, there lurked a memory of fathers that had eaten their new-born and helpless progeny.”

Jack London Index:London - White Fang, 1906.djvu

Source: White Fang

Memory

“Ain't that a sight? With all the things we know and learn, we still ain't touched the big mysteries -- where we come from, where we go next, why we even her. And when something truly miraculous happens, we run and hide in our caves. We deny.”

Libba Bray Going Bovine

Source: Going Bovine

Learning

“I don't think we should base so much on weight, muscles, and a good hair day, but when it happens, it's nice. It really is.”

Stephen Chbosky book The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Source: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Thinking

“Oh. "So the best way to fight you is to strip naked and attack?"
His eyes flashed with a wicked light. "Yes. You should try it and see what happens.”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Burn for Me

Way, Light, Fight

“elliptical, adj.
The kiss I like the most is one of the slow ones. It’s as much breath as touch, as much no as yes. You lean in from the side, and I have to turn a little to make it happen.”

David Levithan The Lover's Dictionary

Source: The Lover's Dictionary

Kiss

“Death doesn't really worry me that much, I'm not frightened about it… I just don't want to be there when it happens.”

Woody Allen (1935) American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, author, playwright, and musician

Variant: I'm not afraid of death; I just don't want to be there when it happens.

Death

“Life’s like that. As we grow and change, some things we’ve experienced before take on new meaning. It’ll happen for the rest of your life.”

Richelle Mead Blood Promise

Source: Blood Promise

Life, Change

“When the groundhog casts his shadow
And the small birds sing
And the pussywillows happen
And the sun shines warm
And when the peepers peep
Then it is Spring”

Margaret Wise Brown (1910–1952) American children's writer and editor

Spring, Bird, Singing, Sun

“Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer”

Jenny Han (1980) American writer

Source: The Summer I Turned Pretty

Winter, Time, Summer

“If you don't change, then what's the point of anything happening to you? It'll still be happening to an unchanged person.”

Douglas Coupland The Gum Thief

Source: The Gum Thief

Change, Personality

“Do you think I don't want him to be gone more than you do? I do. Because I need to know that I can still breathe properly when he's not around. If something happens to him, I have to know that I won't fall apart…”

Melina Marchetta book On the Jellicoe Road

Source: On the Jellicoe Road

Thinking

“You have no idea how much the last few days have meant to me," I began. "Meeting you has been the best thing that's ever happened to me.”

Nicholas Sparks book Dear John

Source: Dear John

Idea

“It's nonverbal: I need love. I need the thing that happens when your brain shuts off and your heart turns on. And I know it's around me somewhere, but I just can't feel it.”

Elizabeth Wurtzel book Prozac Nation

Source: Prozac Nation

Love, Feeling, Heart

“Then a homeless man with a dog approached us and put his hand out. This happens to be something that I have a real problem with: homeless people with pets who approach you for food when they have a perfectly delicious dog standing right there?”

Chelsea Handler book Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea

Source: Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea

People, Food, Dogs, Problem

“Learning to let go should be learned before learning to get. Life should be touched, not strangled. You’ve got to relax, let it happen at times, and at others move forward with it.”

Ray Bradbury (1920–2012) American writer

Life, Learning, Time

“Try to say nothing negative about anybody.
a) for three days
b) for forty-five days
c) for three months

See what happens to your life.”

Yoko Ono (1933) Japanese artist, author, and peace activist

Life

“Have books ‘happened’ to you? Unless your answer to that question is ‘yes,’ I’m unsure how to talk to you”

Haruki Murakami (1949) Japanese author, novelist

Books, Question

“I (Percy) set Nico on guard duty with Beckendorf and the Stoll brothers, figuring he'd be safely out of the way.
…
"What's happening?" Nico demanded, trying to climb up next to me.”

Rick Riordan book The Titan's Curse

Source: The Titan's Curse

Way

“This is what I miss, Cordelia: not something that’s gone, but something that will never happen. Two old women giggling over their tea.”

Margaret Atwood book Cat's Eye

Source: Cat's Eye

Women, Tea

“Good writing is clear. Talented writing is energetic. Good writing avoids errors. Talented writing makes things happen in the reader's mind---vividly, forcefully…”

Samuel R. Delany (1942) American author, professor and literary critic

Source: About Writing: Seven Essays, Four Letters, and Five Interviews

Error

“That word again. Happy. It’s a curse. The pursuit of happiness makes us deeply unhappy. It’s a trap. Before anything else happened, there was me in bed, thinking of who you used to be.
I don’t want you to think I forgot.”

David Levithan book Every You, Every Me

Source: Every You, Every Me

Thinking, Happiness

“I'm not bossy - I just happen to be more capable than most everyone else.”

Shannon Hale (1974) American fantasy novelist

Source: The Actor and the Housewife

“If you go to your death rather than do everything you might to prevent what is happening, you are merely committing suicide and trying to make yourself feel better about it. That is the act of a coward. It is beneath contempt.”

Jim Butcher Dead Beat

Source: Dead Beat

Death, Feeling, Suicide

“NC passed law against global warming science, therefore it's not happening. So I'm ignoring Twitter's 140-character limit, so it's not happ”

Stephen Colbert (1964) American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor

Law, Science

“Not quite what one expected, but once it happened one realized it couldn't be any other way.”

Donna Tartt book The Secret History

Source: The Secret History

Way

“There is an odd synchronicity in the way parallel lives veer to touch one another, change direction, and then come close again and again until they connect and hold for whatever it was that fate intended to happen.”

Ann Rule (1931–2015) True crime writer

Fate, Way, Change

“Happiness has got to be paid for. You're paying for it, Mr. Watson–paying because you happen to be too much interested in beauty. I was too much interested in truth; I paid too.”

Aldous Huxley book Brave New World

Variant: One can’t have something for nothing. Happiness has got to be paid for. You’re paying for it, Mr. Watson - paying because you happen to be too much interested in beauty.
Source: Brave New World

Truth, Beauty, Happiness

“The mercy of the world is you don't know what's going to happen.”

Wendell Berry (1934) author

Source: Jayber Crow

World

“I'm not the consolation prize, Dex. I'm not something you resort to. I happen to think I'm worth more than that.”

David Nicholls book One Day

Source: One Day

Thinking

“Work every day. No matter what has happened the day or night before, get up and bite on the nail.”

Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) American author and journalist

Night

“I wonder what will happen if i put a hand cream on my feet, will they get confused and start clapping?”

Ellen DeGeneres (1958) American stand-up comedian, television host, and actress

Source: Seriously... I'm Kidding

“You see that old woman? That will never happen to you. You will never grow old, and you will never die.
And it means something else too, doesn't it? I shall never ever grow up.”

Anne Rice book Interview with the Vampire

Source: Interview with the Vampire

“People to whom nothing has ever happened cannot understand the unimportance of events.”

T.S. Eliot (1888–1965) 20th century English author

People, Understanding

“What nobody understood then is this: The only way that you achieve what you want and fulfill your dreams and become great is by demanding that sort of attention. You have to make it happen.”

Augusten Burroughs book Running with Scissors

Source: Running with Scissors

Dreams, Way

“My dear, I'm seldom sure of anything. Life at best is a precarious business, and we aren't told that difficult or painful things won't happen, just that it matters. It matters not just to us but to the entire universe.”

Madeleine L'Engle An Acceptable Time

Source: An Acceptable Time

Life, Pain, Business, Universe

“I did not design this game; I did not name the stakes. I just happen to like apples; and I am not afraid of snakes.”

Ani DiFranco (1970) musician and activist

Game

“The man watched him. Real life is pretty bad?

What do you think?

Well, I think we're still here. A lot of bad things have happened but we're still here.

Yeah.

You don't think that's so great.

It's okay.”

Cormac McCarthy book The Road

Source: The Road

Life, Thinking

“Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to
you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something
bigger and better than your current situation.”

Brian Tracy (1944) American motivational speaker and writer

Attitude, Courageous, Gratitude

“I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.”

Maya Angelou book Letter to My Daughter

Source: Letter to My Daughter

Motivational, Success, Deep, Inspirational

“I glanced up to see Liz and smiled. "Thank you."

"I just went along for the ride. After that happened-" She waved at Derek. "You know how blind people need Seeing Eye dogs? Well, apparently werewolves could really use Opening Door poltergeists.”

Kelley Armstrong The Reckoning

Source: The Reckoning

People, Smile, Dogs

“I don't pray because it doesn't work. Prayer doesn't fix anything. Bad things happen anyway.”

Nicholas Sparks (1965) American writer and novelist

Source: Three Weeks With My Brother

“Anything can happen in the blink of an eye. Anything at all.
One.
Two.
Three.
Blink.”

Meg Cabot (1967) Novelist

Source: Abandon

“Thank you,” Skulduggery said to her. “I fear he was about to start insulting me.”
“I couldn’t let that happen,” she said. “Your ego is a fragile and delicate thing.”
“You see? You understand me.”

Derek Landy (1974) Irish children's writer

Source: Last Stand of Dead Men

Fear, Understanding

“A man either lives life as it happens to him, meets it head-on and licks it, or he turns his back on it and starts to wither away.”

Gene Roddenberry (1921–1991) American television screenwriter and producer

"The Cage" (Star Trek first pilot), spoken by John Hoyt as "Dr. Philip Boyce" (0:06:18) <br class="br">Cited in: Dubes 52, Surviving Katrina Before and After https://books.google.nl/books?id=wyySAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA35&dq=%22A+man+either+lives+life+as+it+happens+to+him,+meets+it+head-on+and+licks+it,+or+he+turns+his+back+on+it+and+starts+to+wither+away%22&hl=nl&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjsleOa8aHLAhUFIQ8KHdVnClIQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q=%22A%20man%20either%20lives%20life%20as%20it%20happens%20to%20him%2C%20meets%20it%20head-on%20and%20licks%20it%2C%20or%20he%20turns%20his%20back%20on%20it%20and%20starts%20to%20wither%20away%22&f=false, 2014, p. 35

Life

“I loved her for so long. Our past trails behind us like a comet's tail, the future stretched out before us like the universe. Things happen. People get lost and love breaks.”

Jonathan Tropper (1970) American writer

Source: This is Where I Leave You

Love, People, Universe, Past

“He said you couldn't pretend the terrible things in life didn't happen. You can't clean it up. You keep all the refuse and the scars. It's how you learn. And try to make improvements.”

Marisha Pessl Special Topics in Calamity Physics

Source: Special Topics in Calamity Physics

Life, Learning

“Like all lawyers, I was delighted by gratitude. It happened so rarely.”

C.J. Sansom Revelation

Source: Revelation