Quotes about meaning
page 23

“Any humane and reasonable person must conclude that if the ends, however desireable, are uncertain and the means are horrible and certain, these means must not be employed.”

Howard Zinn (1922–2010) author and historian

Source: Passionate Declarations: Essays on War and Justice

Personality

“Just because life is hard, and always ends in a bad way, doesn't mean that all stories have to”

James Patterson book Sundays at Tiffany's

Source: Sundays at Tiffany's

Life, Way

“Children are knives, my mother once said. They don’t mean to, but they cut. And yet we cling to them, don’t we, we clasp them until the blood flows.”

Joanne Harris (1964) British author

Source: The Girl with No Shadow

For Mother, Children

“… the meaning of my thoughts started to float away from me, like leaves that fall from a tree into a river, I was the tree, the world was the river.”

Jonathan Safran Foer book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Source: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

World, Tree

“Workaholics don't actually accomplish more than nonworkaholics. They may claim to be perfectionists, but that just mean they're wasting time fixating on inconsequential details instead of moving on to the next task.”

David Heinemeier Hansson (1979) programmer, racing driver, creator of Ruby of Rails, 2012-2016 World Endurance Championship driver

Source: Rework

Time

“I do not consider it an insult, but rather a compliment to be called an agnostic. I do not pretend to know where many ignorant men are sure — that is all that agnosticism means.”

Clarence Darrow (1857–1938) American lawyer and leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union

Scopes Trial, Dayton, Tennessee (13 July 1925)

Men

“I mean, if you're asking a fellow to come out of a room so that you can dismember him with a carving knife, it's absurd to tack a 'sir' on to every sentence. The two things don't go together.”

P.G. Wodehouse book Thank You, Jeeves

Source: Thank You, Jeeves

“Long human words (the longer the better) were easy, unmistakable, and rarely changed their meanings… but short words were slippery, unpredictable, changing their meanings without any pattern.”

Robert A. Heinlein book Stranger in a Strange Land

Source: Stranger in a Strange Land

Change

“Women are more attuned to feelings than men are, and if they’re not being truthful, more often than not it’s because they think truth might hurt your feelings. But it doesn’t mean they don’t love you.”

Nicholas Sparks book At First Sight

Mayor Gherkin, Chapter 8, p. 120
Source: 2000s, At First Sight (2005)
Context: ... but what I eventually came to understand was that if a woman truly loves you, you can't always expect her to tell the truth. You see, women are more attuned to feelings than men are, and if they're not being truthful, more often than not it's because they think the truth might hurt your feelings. But it doesn't mean they don't love you.

Love, Women, Men, Truth

“I mean, is there a chance for me? To have another life after this, a better one?”

Cassandra Clare book Clockwork Angel

Source: Clockwork Angel

Life, Chance

“I am not going to change who I am. I am human and I know how to love, and be kind, and be compassionate to those who are weaker than me. Just because I have power doesn't mean I have to use it!”

Garth Nix book Superior Saturday

Source: Superior Saturday

Love, Change

“Just because we don’t see eye to eye on everything doesn’t mean we can’t be close.”

Sarah Dessen book Along for the Ride

Source: Along for the Ride

“The more wonderful the means of communication, the more trivial, tawdry, or depressing its contents seemed to be.”

Arthur C. Clarke book 2001: A Space Odyssey

Source: 2001: A Space Odyssey

Communication

“Imagination means nothing without doing.”

Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977) British comic actor and filmmaker

Imagination

“Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be.”

George Sheehan Irish footballer

Courageous, Success, Courage, Success

“Homework is a term that means grown up imposed yet self-afflicting torture.”

James Patterson (1947) American author

Source: School's Out—Forever

Affliction

“Choosers will be beggars if the begging's not their choosing," said the Dog
"What does that mean?"
"I have no idea," said the Dog”

Garth Nix book Abhorsen

Source: Lirael

Dogs, Idea

“… Sadness of not knowing enough words to [express what you mean]…”

Jonathan Safran Foer (1977) Novelist

Sadness

“Am I such a bad person for dreaming of a world that ends when I do? I don't mean the world ending with respect to me, but every set of eyes closing with mine.”

Jonathan Safran Foer book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Source: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

World, Dreams, Personality

“… I would have let him go one finger at a time, until, without his realizing, he'd be floating without me. And then I thought, perhaps that is what it means to be a [parent] - to teach your child to live without you.”

Nicole Krauss (1974) American novelist

Parent, Time

“What does that mean know me, know me, nobody ever knows anybody else, ever! You will never know me.”

Bret Easton Ellis The Rules of Attraction

Source: The Rules of Attraction

“All I could think was that right there, in ever passing second, was the future winding itself own. Never would forever, with all its meanings, be so clear and distinct as in the true, guaranteed end of the world.”

Sarah Dessen book The Truth About Forever

Source: The Truth About Forever

World, Thinking, Future

“I don't know what you mean when you say 'the whole world' or 'generations before him.'I thought there was only us. I thought there was only now.”

Lois Lowry book The Giver

Source: The Giver

World

“Sex means nothing--just the moment of ecstasy, that flares and dies in minutes.”

Philip Larkin (1922–1985) English poet, novelist, jazz critic and librarian

Sex

“Conditions of thought, memory, and desire, persuaded by impulse and irrationality, are influenced as well by personal aesthetics and private meanings.”

Kay Redfield Jamison (1946) American bipolar disorder researcher

Source: Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide

Memory, Personality

“If my life is going to mean anything, I have to live it myself.”

Rick Riordan book The Lightning Thief

Source: The Lightning Thief

Deep, Wise, Life, Heart Touching

“I have to admit, an unrequited love is so much better than a real one. I mean, it's perfect… As long as something is never even started, you never have to worry about it ending. It has endless potential.”

Sarah Dessen book The Truth About Forever

Source: The Truth About Forever

Love, Perfection

“And after a while… I mean, how do you choose? Who gets to live? Part of life is that… well, some people have to die. My powers aren't a prescription you can get filled as needed.”

Richelle Mead Shadow Kiss

Source: Shadow Kiss

Life, People, Parting

“If you're a ghost," he said, "we mean you no disrespect. And if you're not a ghost, tell me who you are-or you soon will be one”

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

Source: The Siege of Macindaw

“Just because something doesn't last forever, it doesn't mean it wasn't meaningful while it did last. It doesn't mean it wasn't important.”

Candace Bushnell book Summer and the City

Source: Summer and the City

“But you cant shut everyone out. I mean you have to have someone to love… someone to hold on to… someone”

Hubert Selby Jr. Requiem for a Dream

Source: Requiem for a Dream

Love

“Do you know my dog's name?
[…]
"It is from an ancient word, kerberos. It means 'spotted.'"

I blinked. "You're a genuine Greek god. You're the Lord of the Underworld. And… you named your dog *Spot*?”

Jim Butcher book Skin Game

Source: Skin Game

God, Dogs

“What does it mean to pre-board? Do you get on before you get on?”

George Carlin (1937–2008) American stand-up comedian

“No healthy Christian ever chooses suffering; he chooses God's will, as Jesus did, whether it means suffering or not.”

Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) British missionary

God, Suffering

“This means nothing,” she said.
“Less than nothing,” he lied.
“I’ll hate myself later.”
“I hate myself now.”

Gena Showalter (1975) American writer

Source: The Darkest Pleasure

Hate

“There is not one big cosmic meaning for all; there is only the meaning we each give to our life, an individual meaning, an individual plot, like an individual novel, a book for each person.”

Anaïs Nin (1903–1977) writer of novels, short stories, and erotica

Source: The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1: 1931-1934

Life, Books, Personality

“Murder? You mean he's dead?"
"No. He's resting comfortably," I said. "People always sleep best with their heads at a ninety-degree angle. He looks comfortable, doesn't he?"
(Paige & Elena)”

Kelley Armstrong book Stolen

Source: Stolen

People, Sleep, Dead

“I mean putting yourself out there in the way of overwhelming happiness and knowing you're also putting yourself in the way of terrible harm. I'm scared to be this happy. I'm scared to be this extreme.”

Ann Brashares The Second Summer of the Sisterhood

Source: The Second Summer of the Sisterhood

Way, Happiness

“Maybe, you just misplaced it, you know? It's been there. But you just haven't been looking in the right spot. Because lost means forever, it's gone. But misplaced… that means it's still around, somewhere. Just not where you thought.”

Sarah Dessen book This Lullaby

Source: This Lullaby

“Aphrodite: Pfft. That's not the point. Follow your heart.
Percy: But… I don't know where it's going. My heart, I mean.”

Rick Riordan (1964) American writer

Heart

“But to mean it when I say that I want my life to count for His glory is to drive a stake through the heart of self - a painful and determined dying to me that must be a part of every day I live.”

Louie Giglio (1958) American clergy

Life, Pain, Heart, Parting

“I mean, if Beethoven had been killed in a plane crash at twenty-two, the history of music would have been very different. As would the history of aviation, of course.”

Tom Stoppard The Real Thing

Henry, Act II, scene V
Source: The Real Thing (1982)
Context: Buddy Holly was twenty-two. Think of what he might have gone on to achieve. I mean, if Beethoven had been killed in a plane crash at twenty-two, the history of music would have been very different. As would the history of aviation, of course.

Music, History

“Transition is always a relief. Destination means death to me. If I could figure out a way to remain forever in transition, in the disconnected and unfamiliar, I could remain in a state of perpetual freedom.”

David Wojnarowicz (1954–1992) American painter, photographer, writer, filmmaker, performance artist, and AIDS activist

Source: Close to the Knives: A Memoir of Disintegration

Death, Way, Freedom

“What do you want meaning for? Life is desire, not meaning.”

Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977) British comic actor and filmmaker

Source: My Life In Pictures

Wise, Life, Life

“She didn't need to understand the meaning of life; it was enough to find someone who did, and then fall asleep in his arms and sleep as a child sleeps, knowing that someone stronger than you is protecting you from all evil and all danger”

Paulo Coelho book Brida

Source: Brida

Life, Understanding, Sleep, Evil

“Lonely? I don't know. They tell me this is cold. I don't know what cold is, because I don't freeze. So I don't know what lonely means either. Bears are made to be solitary.”

Philip Pullman book Northern Lights

Source: The Golden Compass

“Apologies mean nothing if you don't mean it.”

Laurie Halse Anderson (1961) American children's writer

Source: The Impossible Knife of Memory

“The grace of God means something like: Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn't have been complete without you.”

Frederick Buechner (1926) Poet, novelist, short story writer, theologian

Life, God

“I feel my heart ache, but I've forgotten what that feeling means.”

Chuck Palahniuk book Choke

Source: Choke

Feeling, Heart

“A painting requires a little mystery, some vagueness, and some fantasy. When you always make your meaning perfectly plain you end up boring people.”

Edgar Degas (1834–1917) French artist

quote from Georges Jeanniot, in Souvenirs sur Degas (Memories of Degas, 1933)
quotes, undated

People, Painting

“Inconceivable!"
"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

William Goldman book The Princess Bride

Source: The Princess Bride

Thinking

“It means that there's only one love for everyone who exists. And when you meet that love, you know them. You know you were meant to be together, and nothing can keep you apart.”

L.J. Smith (1965) American author

Source: Night World, No. 2

Love

“Change isn't easy. Changing the way you live means changing the way you think, means changing what you believe about life. That's hard.”

Dean Koontz book One Door Away from Heaven

Geneva Davis; chapter 1, p. 8
Source: One Door Away from Heaven (2001)
Context: Change isn't easy, Micky. Changing the way you live means changing the way you think. Changing the way you think means changing what you believe about life. That's hard, sweetie. When we make our own misery, we sometimes cling to it even when we want so bad to change, because the misery is something we know. The misery is comfortable.

Life, Way, Thinking, Change

“Dialogue concentrates meaning; conversation dilutes it.”

Robert McKee (1941) American academic specialised in seminars for screenwriters

Dialogue: The Art of Verbal Action for Page, Stage, and Screen

“It's cold and it's mean spirited and I don't like it here anymore.”

Alan Moore (1953) English writer primarily known for his work in comic books

“Finding one important thing in your life doesn’t mean you have to
give up all the other important things.”

Paulo Coelho book Brida

Source: Brida

Life

“So we reach into the raging chaos, and we cling to it, and we tell ourselves it has meaning, and that the world is good, and we are not evil, and we will all go home in the end.”

Anne Rice The Tale of the Body Thief

Source: The Tale of the Body Thief

World, Home, Rage, Evil

“Music is the only language in which you cannot say a mean or sarcastic thing.”

John Erskine (1879–1951) American educator

Music

“Just because you didn't put a name to something did not mean it wasn't there.”

Jodi Picoult book Handle With Care

Source: Handle with Care

“Nobody ever completely means what they say. Even when they think they're telling the truth, there's always something hidden behind their words.”

Orson Scott Card book Shadow of the Giant

Source: Shadow of the Giant

Truth, Thinking

“Trusting God completely means having faith that He knows what is best for your life. You expect Him to keep His promises, help you with problems, and do the impossible when necessary.”

Rick Warren (1954) Christian religious leader

Source: The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here for?

Life, God, Faith, Problem

“Malcolm Dresden: Son. Everyone dies alone. That's what it is. It's a door. It's one person wide. When you go through it, you do it alone." His fingers squeezed me tight. "But it doesn't mean you've got to be alone before you go through the door. And believe me, you aren't alone on the other side."”

Jim Butcher Dead Beat

Source: The Dresden Files, Dead Beat (2005), Chapter 43

Personality

“I can stand a lot! But just because I can, does that mean I must? Do I have to bear everyone’s weakness? Can I not have my own?”

Diana Gabaldon book Dragonfly in Amber

Source: Dragonfly in Amber

“I mean, I knew I wasn't a nice person, but what did I do in my past life to deserve this? I must have hit a bus full of nuns while driving a stolen car on my way to selling drugs to schoolchildren!”

Joss Whedon (1964) American director, writer, and producer for television and film

Life, Cars, Way, Past

“Now I'm a scientific expert; that means I know nothing about absolutely everything.”

Arthur C. Clarke book 2001: A Space Odyssey

Source: 2001: A Space Odyssey

“Everything means something.”

Philip Pullman book Lyra's Oxford

Source: Lyra's Oxford

“Were-Hunters are different from humans. (Ravyn)
You mean other than the fact that you live for several hundred years, can turn into animals, time travel, and wave your hand to make freaky stuff happen? (Susan)”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: Dark Side of the Moon

Travel, Time, Animals

“What’s the best part of being in Hermes cabin?
Connor: You are never lonely. I mean seriously, new kids are always coming in. So you always have someone to talk to.
Travis: Or prank.
Connor: Or pickpocket. One big happy family.”

Rick Riordan book The Demigod Files

Source: The Demigod Files

Family, Parting, Happiness

“There can be no liberty for a community which lacks the means by which to detect lies.”

Walter Lippmann (1889–1974) American journalist

Source: Liberty and the news

Communication

“I can still tend the rabbits, George? I didn't mean no harm, George.”

John Steinbeck Of Mice and Men

Source: Of Mice and Men

“"Was it weird hearing from Jace? I mean, since you found out…"
"Yes? Since I found out what? That he's a killer transvestite who molests cats?"
"No wonder that cat of his hates everyone."”

Cassandra Clare book City of Bones

Simon and Clary, pg. 472-473
Source: The Mortal Instruments, City of Bones (2007)

Hate, Cats

“She thought I was… soulful, by which I think she means that I don't say much and I always look vaguely pissed off.”

Nick Hornby book High Fidelity

Source: High Fidelity

Soul, Thinking

“Without courage all other virtues lose their meaning.”

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

Courage

“I mean if we even had a wheelbarrow, that would be something.”

William Goldman book The Princess Bride

Source: The Princess Bride

“Silence is argument carried out by other means.”

Ernesto Che Guevara (1928–1967) Argentine Marxist revolutionary

As quoted in Secrets to a Richer Life: Illuminating Wisdom from the Human Family on the 12 Ultimate Questions (2005) by Earl Ernest Guile
Variant: Silence is argument carried out by other means.

Silence

“We believe in the wrong things, that's what frustrates me the most. Not the lack of belief, but the belief in the wrong things. You want meaning? Well, the meanings are out there. We're just so damn good at reading them wrong.”

David Levithan (1972) American author and editor

Source: Dash & Lily's Book of Dares

Reading

“L'amor che move il sole e l'altre stelle.
"It means that love is the most powerful force in the world. That love can do anything.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Fallen Angels

Source: City of Fallen Angels

Love, World

“It's hard to be nice when the rest of the world is so mean.”

Sarah Dessen book Just Listen

Variant: Being nice wasn't as easy as it seemed especially when the rest of the world could be so mean
Source: Just Listen

World

“We overlook just how large a role we all play--and by 'we' I mean society--in determining who makes it and who doesn't.”

Malcolm Gladwell (1963) journalist and science writer

Source: Outliers: The Story of Success

“It's probably not going to lead to anything. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try. If everyone who thought they might fail didn't even try, where would we be today?”

Nicholas Sparks book Message in a Bottle

Source: Message in a Bottle

“And it is through fantasy that children achieve catharsis. It is the best means they have for taming wild things.”

Maurice Sendak (1928–2012) American illustrator and writer of children's books

Acceptance speech upon being awarded the Caldecott Medal for Where the Wild Things Are (1964), published in Newbery and Caldecott Medal Books, 1956-65, edited by Lee Kingman (1965)
Context: Certainly we want to protect our children from new and painful experiences that are beyond their emotional comprehension and that intensify anxiety; and to a point we can prevent premature exposure to such experiences. That is obvious. But what is just as obvious — and what is too often overlooked — is the fact that from their earliest years children live on familiar terms with disrupting emotions, fear and anxiety are an intrinsic part of their everyday lives, they continually cope with frustrations as best they can. And it is through fantasy that children achieve catharsis. It is the best means they have for taming Wild Things.

Children

“Most of us come to the church by a means the church does not allow.”

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

“Yeah, and Mr. Cuddles is a jealous sort. He doesn’t share us well. (Geary)
Does this mean I’ll have to fight him? (Arik)
You’d never win. Mr. Cuddles cheats. You think he’s just a pushover teddy bear, but he’s vicious, I tell you. Vicious. (Geary)”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: The Dream Hunter

Thinking, Fight, Cheating

“I don't know. Just because someone's pretty doesn't mean she's decent. Or vice versa. I'm not into appearances. I like flaws, I think they make things interesting.”

Sarah Dessen book The Truth About Forever

Source: The Truth About Forever

Thinking, Appearance

“A first kiss after five months means more than a first kiss after five minutes.”

Steve Kluger (1952) American writer

Source: My Most Excellent Year

Kiss

“I don't know what he means by that, but I nod and smile at him. You'd be surprised at how far that response can get you in a conversation where you are completely confused.”

Jodi Picoult book House Rules

Source: House Rules

Smile

“Suffer. You could say it means endure, but that's not exactly right”

E. Lockhart book We Were Liars

Source: We Were Liars

Suffering

“The advantage to being a wicked bastard is that everyone pesters the Lord on your behalf; if volume of prayers from my saintly enemies means anything, I'll be saved when the Archbishop of Canterbury is damned. It's a comforting thought.”

George MacDonald Fraser Flashman at the Charge

Source: Flashman at the Charge

“It's when people compliment you that you're in trouble. That means they expect you to keep it up.”

Ned Vizzini (1981–2013) American writer

People

“This person realizes that staying home means blowing off everyone this person has ever known. But the desire to stay in is very strong. This person wants to run a bath and then read in bed.”

Miranda July (1974) American performance artist, musician and writer

Source: No One Belongs Here More Than You

Home, Strong, Reading, Personality

“You guys looking for my dad? People are always, like, looking for him, and he's never around. Daddy is so not here. And I mean that literally and spiritually.”

Eoin Colfer (1965) Irish author of children's books

Source: The Eternity Code

People, Guy

“The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."”

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

"A Cult of Ignorance", Newsweek (21 January 1980) http://media.aphelis.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/ASIMOV_1980_Cult_of_Ignorance.pdf <br class="br">General sources <br class="br">Context: There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."

Life, Way, Democracy, Knowledge