Quotes about meaning
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“Beware the things of this world that can mean everything or nothing.”

Adriana Trigiani (1970) American film director

Source: The Shoemaker's Wife

“When was the last time you read a book? The truth now. And picture books don't count-I mean something with print in it.”

William Goldman book The Princess Bride

Source: The Princess Bride

Truth, Books, Time, Reading

“Things change, people change, but that doesn't mean you should forget the past.”

Gail Carson Levine (1947) American writer

People, Change, Past, Forgetting

“Let them think what they liked, but I didn't mean to drown myself. I meant to swim till I sank -- but that's not the same thing.”

Joseph Conrad (1857–1924) Polish-British writer

Source: The Secret Sharer and other stories

Thinking

“people see so many movies that when they finally see one not so bad as the others, they think it's great. an Academy Award means that you don't stink quite as much as your cousin.”

Charles Bukowski (1920–1994) American writer

Source: The Last Night of the Earth Poems

People, Thinking

“Arturo Bandini: -What does happiness mean to you Camilla?
Camilla: -That you can fall in love with whoever you want to,
and not feel ashamed of it.”

John Fante book Ask the Dust

Source: Ask the Dust

Love, Feeling, Happiness

“Just because a relationship ends, it doesn't mean it's not worth having.”

Sarah Mlynowski (1977) Novelist

Source: Gimme a Call

“In the meantime, I would drink, rest, and ponder the meaning of this mob.”

Hunter S. Thompson The Rum Diary

Source: The Rum Diary

Drink

“To give up our imaginary position as the center, to renounce it, not only intellectually but in the imaginative part of our soul, that means to awaken to what is real and eternal, to see the true light and hear the true silence.”

Simone Weil book Waiting for God

Source: Waiting for God

Soul, Imagination, Light, Silence

“Sometimes new opportunity means new opposition. Not everything God asks us to do will be comfortable.”

Joyce Meyer (1943) American author and speaker

God

“When I say,, I don't mean,. I don't mean,. I don't mean,.
I want us to go back down to that root.
I want you to be the one who loves me.
I want to be the one who loves you.”

David Levithan The Lover's Dictionary

Source: The Lover's Dictionary

Love

“When you see a small change in your life it means its a huge change in personality and your trait”

Natasha Friend (1972) American writer

Source: Lush

Life, Change, Personality

“Truth only means something when it's hard to admit.”

Nicholas Sparks book The Last Song

Source: The Last Song

Truth

“You never read Spider-Man? Accepting your true identity means understanding that you are a stranger to this world. A freak, ostracized by the very people you want to help.”

Ted Dekker book Saint

Source: Saint

People, World, Understanding, Reading

“Just when I discovered the meaning of life, they changed it.”

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

Life, Change

“But Abraham, you mean I'm supposed to make stuff up!?!?
- You are creators, you make stuff up all the time!”

Esther Hicks (1948) American writer

Time

“The superior man has a dignified ease without pride. The mean man has pride without a dignified ease.”

Confucius (-551–-479 BC) Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher

Source: The Analects of Confucius

“I am your Prince and you will marry me," Humperdinck said.
Buttercup whispered, "I am your servant and I refuse."
"I am you Prince and you cannot refuse."
"I am your loyal servant and I just did."
"Refusal means death."
"Kill me then.”

William Goldman book The Princess Bride

Source: The Princess Bride

Death

“Look, Sage. I don't know much about chemistry or computer hacking or photosynthery, but this is something I've got a lot of experience with." I think he mean photosynthesis, but I didn't correct him. "Use my knowledge. Don't let it go to waste.”

Richelle Mead book The Indigo Spell

Source: The Indigo Spell

Knowledge, Thinking

“If by 'miracle kids' you mean innocent test-tube babies whose DNA was forcibly unraveled and merged with two percent avian genes, yeah, I guess that would be us," I said. "Because it's a miracle that we're not complete nut jobs and mutant disasters.”

James Patterson (1947) American author

Source: The Final Warning

Baby

“For always in her there was a dark place full of despair and a great dividing force to make meaning because there was none.”

Anne Rice (1941) American writer

Despair

“Just curious how much I'm going for these days," Leo said. "I mean, I can understand not being as pricey as Percy or Jason, maybe… but am I worth, like, two Franks, or three Franks?”

Rick Riordan The Mark of Athena

Source: The Mark of Athena

Understanding

“Nowadays silence is looked on as odd and most of my race has forgotten the beauty of meaning much by saying little. Now tongues work all day by themselves with no help from the mind.”

Toni Morrison Love

Source: Love

Beauty, Silence, Help

“Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. Their meanings can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement

Life, Heart

“You may not control life's circumstances, but getting to be the author of your life means getting to control what you do with them.”

Atul Gawande book Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End

Source: Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End

Life

“Exotic: meaning you're "desired."
For madness is seductive, sexy. Female madness.
So long as the female is reasonably young and attractive.”

Joyce Carol Oates Blonde

Source: Blonde

Madness

“For a woman who can handle herself so well in a fight, I can’t believe you got taken out by a defenseless doorjamb. (Ravyn)
Given the size of my goose egg, I would argue the defenseless part. That doorjamb has a mean left hook.(Susan)”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: Dark Side of the Moon

Fight, Parting

“…the book creates meaning, the meaning creates life.”

Roland Barthes book The Pleasure of the Text

Source: The Pleasure of the Text

Life, Books

“Good art however "immoral" is wholly a thing of virtue. Good art can not be immoral. By good art I mean art that bears true witness, I mean the art that is most precise.”

Ezra Pound (1885–1972) American Imagist poet and critic

Art

“It's strange how memory gets twisted and pulled like taffy in its retelling, how a single event can mean something different to everyone present.”

Lisa Unger book Beautiful Lies

Source: Beautiful Lies

Memory

“You are back, Cam. Which means for the first time since you left, it's okay for us to be mad at you for leaving.

- Macey”

Ally Carter Out of Sight, Out of Time

Source: Out of Sight, Out of Time

Time, Madness

“You're a monster.
Thanks. Does this mean I get a raise?
No, just a medal. The budget isn't inexhaustable.”

Orson Scott Card book Ender's Game

Source: Ender's Game

“You know something, Jacob, I'd hate to be as smart as Jonh. I mean he was really, really smart, and to be that smart means you know all the answers, and when you know all the answers there's no room for dreaming.”

Melina Marchetta book Looking for Alibrandi

Source: Looking for Alibrandi

Hate, Dreams

“There are many sources of spirituality; religion may be the most common, but it is by no means the only. Anything that generates a sense of awe may be a source of spirituality. Science does this in spades.”

Michael Shermer (1954) American science writer

Religion, Sense, Science

“The word aerobics comes from two Greek words: aero, meaning “ability to,” and bics, meaning “withstand tremendous boredom.”

Dave Barry (1947) American writer

“Sabine gave a Scoff. " I could be virtuous, if I wanted to be."
In an incredulous tone, he said, "You don't know the meaning of virtue!"
"Of course I do - it means your thong must be white.”

Kresley Cole American writer

Source: Kiss of a Demon King

“Individual words, sounds, squiggles on paper with no meanings other than those with which our imagination can clothe them.”

Jasper Fforde book The Eyre Affair

Source: The Eyre Affair

Imagination, Clothes

“And that's the thing about people who mean everything they say. They think everyone else does too.”

Khaled Hosseini book The Kite Runner

Source: The Kite Runner

People, Thinking

“We’re meant to protect each other, but not from everything. Not from
the truth. That’s what it means to love someone but let them be themselves.
-Jace Wayland”

Cassandra Clare The City of Lost Souls

Source: City of Lost Souls

Love, Truth

“The word love has by no means the same sense for both sexes, and this is one cause of the serious misunderstandings that divide them.”

Simone de Beauvoir (1908–1986) French writer, intellectual, existentialist philosopher, political activist, feminist, and social theorist

Love, Sex, Sense

“Never make fun of someone who speaks broken English. It means they know another language.”

H. Jackson Brown, Jr. (1940) American writer

“If you think that happiness means total peace, you will never be happy. Peace comes from the acceptance of the part of you that can never be at peace. It will always be in conflict. If you accept that, everything gets a lot better.”

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

Peace, Thinking, Parting, Happiness

“Snake people do not drink milk," Kekrops said. "We are lactose intolerant reptiles."
"Me too!" Frank said. "I mean… lactose intolerant. Not a reptile. Though I can be a reptile sometimes-”

Rick Riordan book The Blood of Olympus

Source: The Blood of Olympus

People, Drink

“Sometimes it's not enough to know what things mean, sometimes you have to know what things don't mean.”

Bob Dylan (1941) American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and artist

“We create order out of chaos, beauty and meaning out of ugly randomness.”

Rick Riordan book The Throne of Fire

Source: The Throne of Fire

Beauty

“I mean, how would anyone learn anything if they weren't curious? How would scientists make discoveries? -- We all have the right to be different, don't we?”

Annette Curtis Klause (1953) American writer and librarian

Learning

“I don't talk things, sir. I talk the meaning of things.”

Ray Bradbury book Fahrenheit 451

Source: Fahrenheit 451

“Charity, if you have the means, is a personal choice, but charity which is expected or compelled is simply a polite word for slavery.”

Terry Goodkind book The Pillars of Creation

Source: The Pillars of Creation

Personality

“All we could get out of them was that they were taking us to 'Kurokuma'. We didn't know if that was a place or a person. What does it mean, by the way?'
'I'm told it's a term of great respect,' Horace said, unwilling to admit that he didn't know.”

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

Source: The Emperor of Nihon-Ja

Way, Personality

“It seemed to travel with her, to sweep her aloft in the power of song, so that she was moving in glory among the stars, and for a moment she, too, felt that the words Darkness and Light had no meaning, and only this melody was real.”

Madeleine L'Engle book A Wrinkle in Time

Source: A Wrinkle in Time

Travel, Star, Light

“What do you mean, Araluen? Death?"
Halt made a careless gesture. "The usual, I suppose: the sudden cessation of life. The end of it all. Departure for a happier place. Or oblivion, depending upon your personal beliefs.”

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

Source: The Battle for Skandia

Life, Death, Departure, Dependency

“Just because I don't deserve her doesn't mean I won't fight to keep her.”

Elizabeth Hoyt (1970) American writer

Source: To Seduce a Sinner

Fight

“I have no idea what that is, but yawn, anyway, just on principle. Eat up. Pancakes is brain food.
Apparently not grammar food.
Wow. You college girls are mean.”

Rachel Caine (1962) American writer

Source: Bite Club

Food, Girl, Idea

“I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love
If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles.
You will hardly know who I am or what I mean
But I shall be good health to you nonetheless
And filter and fibre your blood.”

Walt Whitman (1819–1892) American poet, essayist and journalist

Love, Health, Grass

“Sucking the marrow out of life doesn't mean choking on the bone.”

Tom Schulman (1950) American film director, screenwriter

Source: Dead Poets Society

Life

“Besides my great fashion sense? I play a mean harmonica.”

James Patterson (1947) American author

Source: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports

Fashion, Sense

“As soon as man began considering himself the source of the highest meaning in the world and the measure of everything, the world began to lose its human dimension, and man began to lose control of it.”

Václav Havel book Disturbing the Peace

Source: Disturbing the Peace (1986), Ch. 1 : Growing Up "Outside", p. 11

World

“Parabatai" said Jace. "It means a pair of warriors who fight together - who are closer than brothers. Alec is more than justmy best friend.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Bones

Source: City of Bones

Fight

“Etymologically, 'patient' means sufferer.”

Susan Sontag (1933–2004) American writer and filmmaker, professor, and activist

Suffering

“No… I mean, I'm sorry he… You know, said those things to you."
"It's part of being a 'good' family. Everyone's got skeletons in their closet.”

Richelle Mead Blood Promise

Source: Blood Promise

Family, Parting

“I mean that gods do not limit men. Men limit men.”

Tom Robbins book Jitterbug Perfume

Source: Jitterbug Perfume

Men, God

“Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral.”

Paulo Freire (1921–1997) educator and philosopher

Source: The Politics of Education (1985), Chapter 10, page 122

“I looked at Rachel. "You're not going to do anything stupid, are you? I mean…. you talked to Chiron, right?"
She managed a faint smile. "You're worried aboutdoing something stupid?”

Rick Riordan book The Last Olympian

Source: The Last Olympian

Stupidity, Smile

“The most important part of education — to teach the meaning of to know”

Simone Weil (1909–1943) French philosopher, Christian mystic, and social activist

in the scientific sense
The last statement in her notebook
Waiting on God (1950)

Education, Parting

“Weary or bitter of bewildered as we may be, God is faithful. He lets us wander so we will know what it means to come home.”

Marilynne Robinson Home

Source: Home

God, Faith, Home

“You shall not, for the sake of one individual, change the meaning of principle and integrity, nor endeavour to persuade yourself or me, that selfishness is prudence, and insensibility of danger security for happiness.”

Jane Austen book Pride and Prejudice

Source: Pride and Prejudice

Change, Selfishness, Happiness

“When I talk of taking a trip I mean forever.”

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

“Is she for real?” He paused and reconsidered. “Are you for real? Spells? Magic? I mean, don’t get me wrong. I drink blood and control people’s minds. But I’ve never heard of anything like this.”

Richelle Mead book The Golden Lily

Source: The Golden Lily

People, Drink

“What one means one day, you know, one may not mean the next. Circumstances change, opinions alter.”

Jane Austen book Northanger Abbey

Source: Northanger Abbey

Change

“The faster I write the better my output. If I'm going slow, I'm in trouble. It means I'm pushing the words instead of being pulled by them.”

Raymond Chandler (1888–1959) Novelist, screenwriter

“Nice to know I have that effect on boys. I mean, Christopher doesn't even know I exist, and Brandon Stark practically throws up when he sees me. Having my brain transplated into a supermodel's body was doing wonders for my love life.”

Meg Cabot book Being Nikki

Source: Being Nikki

Love, Life, Boy

“Writing has nothing to do with meaning. It has to do with landsurveying and cartography, including the mapping of countries yet to come.”

Gilles Deleuze (1925–1995) French philosopher

Country

“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 you just hate nights like that, when you think over every mistake you’ve made, every hurt you’ve received, every bit of meanness you’ve dealt out? There’s no profit in it, no point to it, and you need sleep.”

Charlaine Harris Dead and Gone

Source: Dead and Gone

Hate, Thinking, Sleep, Hurt

“It was an act of devotion. A little like writing or loving someone — it doesn’t always feel worthwhile, but not giving up somehow creates unexpected meaning over time.”

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

Source: It Chooses You

Love, Feeling, Time

“Genius is no more than childhood recaptured at will, childhood equipped now with man's physical means to express itself, and with the analytical mind that enables it to bring order into the sum of experience, involuntarily amassed.”

Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867) French poet

Source: The Painter Of Modern Life And Other Essays

Childhood

“There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters”

Daniel Webster (1782–1852) Leading American senator and statesman. January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852. Served as the Secretary of Sta…

A speech delivered at Niblo’s Saloon, in New York, on the 15 of March, 1837.<br>The Works of Daniel Webster, Boston, Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1851, vol. 1, p. 358 http://books.google.com/books?id=9DMOAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA358&lpg=PA358&dq=%22They+mean+to+govern+well%3B+but+they+mean+to+govern%22&source=bl&ots=oJ6IWDhF2B&sig=iYuDQMQjnHzxMjzbd6rJohrXVrQ&hl=en&ei=xqYqTKDpFML-nAeF2omjAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CCwQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=%22They%20mean%20to%20govern%20well%3B%20but%20they%20mean%20to%20govern%22&f=false. <br class="br">Context: There are men, in all ages, who mean to exercise power usefully; but who mean to exercise it. They mean to govern well; but they mean to govern. They promise to be kind masters; but they mean to be masters.

Men, Age

“Letting go doesn't mean that you don't care about someone anymore. It's just realizing that the only person you really have control over is yourself.”

Deborah Reber American writer

Source: Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul: 101 Stories of Life, Love and Learning

Moving On, Personality