Quotes about moment
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“The purpose of dancing isn't to end up at a particular spot on the floor. The purpose of dancing and of life is to enjoy every moment and every step, regardless of where you are when the music ends.”

Wayne W. Dyer (1940–2015) American writer

Life, Music, Dance

“Listen. Pay attention. Treasure every moment.”

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

“Just remember, anger is always your enemy. You must keep your emotions in check. The moment you lose control of them, you lose the fight every time. (Takeshi)”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: Acheron

Time, Fight, Anger

“I lost track of day and night too. My time was divided into Dimitri and not-Dimitri. He was my world. When he wasn't there, the moments were agony.”

Richelle Mead Blood Promise

Source: Blood Promise

World, Time, Night

“We have more possibilities available in each moment than we realize.”

Thich Nhat Hanh (1926) Religious leader and peace activist

As quoted in Visions from Earth (2004) by James Miller

“Then at certain moments I remember one of his words and I suddenly feel the sensual woman flaring up, as if violently caressed. I say the word to myself, with joy. It is at such a moment that my true body lives.”

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

Source: Henry and June: From "A Journal of Love"--The Unexpurgated Diary of Anaïs Nin

Feeling, Joy

“But you grab a moment, or you let it pass.”

Mitch Albom (1958) American author

The Time Keeper
Variant: But you grab a moment, or you let it pass.
He let it pass.

“Here are the shadows left behind by a thousand moments, a thousand moods, of needs traced here on the wall by men who are gone. Here is the record of their being here.”

Chuck Palahniuk book Survivor

Source: Survivor

Men, Mood

“I suddenly understood that if every moment of a book should be taken seriously, then every moment of a life should be taken seriously as well.”

Sherman Alexie book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Source: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Life, Books

“Life's not linear at all. It happens in lighting flashes. So fast you don't see those lay-you-out cold moments coming at you until you're Wile E. Coyote, steamrolled flat as a pancake by the Road Runner, victim of your own elaborate schemes.”

Karen Marie Moning (1964) author

Source: Dreamfever

Life, Light

“Any moment calledis always full of possibles.”

China Miéville book Kraken

Source: Kraken

“For a moment, staring down and realizing what I'd just done, I wanted to throw myself in after him, because surely there was no way I could go on living now.”

Richelle Mead Blood Promise

Source: Blood Promise

Way

“Certain things, certain events, seem inexplicable only for a time: up to the moment when the veil is torn aside.”

Elie Wiesel (1928–2016) writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate, and Holocaust survivor

Source: The Judges

Time

“His voice stopped and they looked for a long quiet moment into each other's eyes and between them lay the sunny lost youth that they had so unthinkingly shared.”

Margaret Mitchell (1900–1949) American author and journalist

Youth

“The purpose of the poetry is not to dazzle us with an astonishing thought, but to make one moment of existence unforgettable and worthy of unbearable nostalgia.”

Milan Kundera book Immortality

Source: Immortality

Nostalgia

“He was shaken by the overwhelming revelation that the headlong race between his misfortunes ad his dreams was at that moment reaching the finish line. The rest was darkness, 'Damn it,' he sighed. 'How will I ever get out of this labyrinth!”

Gabriel García Márquez book The General in His Labyrinth

Source: The General in His Labyrinth

Dreams

“Except, now that I don’t have a car, I can’t really make good on my birthday promise.”

Sydney thought about it for several moments. “Well. I’ve got a car.”

An hour later, I vowed I’d never make fun of that Mazda again.”

Richelle Mead book The Fiery Heart

Source: The Fiery Heart

Cars, Birthday

“The moment you know you know you know.”

David Bowie (1947–2016) British musician, actor, record producer and arranger

“Living was okay, but it wasn't the breaths people took that measured a life. It was the moments that took those breaths away that mattered the most. And Dev did that every time he looked at her. Naked or not.”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: No Mercy

Life, People, Time

“One must be drenched in words, literally soaked in them, to have the right ones form themselves into the proper pattern at the right moment.”

Hart Crane (1899–1932) American writer

“I liked you, cop. From the moment I met you. No… not the first moment. I wanted to kill you when I first met you. But then I liked you. A lot.”

Jessica Bird book Lover Revealed

Source: Lover Revealed

“I don’t think my sister is old enough to have sex.”

“V, she’s the same age you are.”

He frowned for a moment. Was she? Or had he been born first?”

Jessica Bird (1969) U.S. novelist

Source: Lover Unleashed

Age, Sex, Thinking, Sister

“Everyone had a forever, but given a choice, this would be mine. The one that began in this moment, with Wes, in a kiss that took my breath away, then gave it back - leaving me astounded, amazed, and most of all, alive.”

Sarah Dessen book The Truth About Forever

Source: The Truth About Forever

Kiss

“How long have you been drawing me?”
He sighted. A moment later his hand came to rest in her hair. His fingers twined in the strands. “My whole life.”

Cassandra Clare book Lady Midnight

Source: Lady Midnight

Life, Drawing

“Creativity occurs in the moment, and in the moment we are timeless.”

Julia Cameron book The Artist's Way

Source: The Artist's Way

“An untied shoelace can be dangerous,' he said.
'I could have tripped.'
She stared at him. A moment dragged by.
'I'm joking,' he said at last.
She relaxed. 'Really?'
'Absolutely. I would never have tripped. I'm far too graceful.”

Derek Landy (1974) Irish children's writer

Source: Playing with Fire

“One must live as if it would be forever, and as if one might die each moment. Always both at once.”

Mary Renault book The Persian Boy

Source: The Persian Boy

“For a moment, as Damon glanced toward Elena, their gazes met and something electric passed between them. It made Elena tingle all over, that look did.”

L.J. Smith (1965) American author

Source: Nightfall

“Who would then deny that when I am sipping tea in my tearoom I am swallowing the whole universe with it and that this very moment of my lifting the bowl to my lips is eternity itself transcending time and space?”

D.T. Suzuki (1870–1966) Japanese author and philosopher

Source: Zen and Japanese Culture

Universe, Time, Tea

“The beautiful is as useful as the useful." He added after a moment’s silence, "Perhaps more so.”

Victor Hugo book Les Misérables

Source: Les Misérables

Beauty, Silence

“There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in.”

Graham Greene book The Power and the Glory

Pt. I, ch. 1
The Power and the Glory (1940)

Future, Childhood

“I am not a fool, you know, although I am a woman, and have my woman’s moments.”

Thomas Hardy book Far from the Madding Crowd

Source: Far from the Madding Crowd

Fools

“When the girl sitting at the next table looked away from a moment, Dirk leaned over and took her coffee. He knew that he was perfectly safe doing this because she would simply not be able to believe that this had happened.”

Douglas Adams The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul

Source: The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul

Girl, Coffee

“I suppose that each of us may have a great moment in our life, a month, a week a year, when we are most fully what we are meant to be”

Sebastian Faulks (1953) British journalist and novelist

Life

“You are human and mortal; we are the sum of our weak moments and our strong.”

Mercedes Lackey book The Black Gryphon

Source: The Black Gryphon

Strong

“When I think of what life is, and how seldom love is answered by love; it is one of the moments for which the world was made.”

E.M. Forster book A Room with a View

Source: A Room with a View

Love, Life, World, Thinking

“Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such.”

Henry Miller (1891–1980) American novelist

“These are the moments which are not calculable, and cannot be assessed in words; they live on in the solution of memory, like wonderful creatures, unique of their own kind, dredged up from the floors of some unexplored ocean.”

Lawrence Durrell book Justine

Source: Justine

Memory

“Now is the dramatic moment of fate, Watson, when you hear a step upon the stair which is walking into your life, and you know not whether for good or ill.”

Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) Scottish physician and author

Life, Fate

“Then she smiled, and in that instant, if such a thing were possible, Pasquale fell in love, and he would remain in love for the rest of his life--not so much with the woman, whom he didn't even know, but with the moment.”

Jess Walter book Beautiful Ruins

Source: Beautiful Ruins

Love, Life, Smile

“Breathing in, there is only the present moment.
Breathing out, it is a wonderful moment.”

Thich Nhat Hanh (1926) Religious leader and peace activist

“We shall throw him out onto the streets, I promise you he'll be gone by morning.
Oh-no, you can't mean that-
Of course I don't. But you felt better for a moment there, didn't you?”

Cassandra Clare book Clockwork Angel

Source: Clockwork Angel

“His heart was like a sensitive plant, that opens for a moment in the sunshine, but curls up and shrinks into itself at the slightest touch of the finger, or the lightest breath of wind.”

Anne Brontë book The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Source: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848), Ch. IV : The Party; Gilbert Markham about Frederick Lawrence

Heart

“Nobody's life is filled with perfect little moments. And if it were, they wouldn't be perfect little moments. They would just be normal. How would you ever know happiness if you never experience downs?”

Cecelia Ahern (1981) Irish novelist

Variant: Nobody's life is filled with perfect little moments. And if it were they wouldn't be perfect little moments. They would just be normal. ow would you know happiness if you never experienced downs?
Source: P.S. I Love You

Life, Happiness, Perfection

“He looked haggard and careworn, like a Borgia who has suddenly remembered that he has forgotten to shove cyanide in the consommé, and the dinner-gong due any moment.”

P.G. Wodehouse book Carry On, Jeeves

Source: Carry on, Jeeves

“At this moment, then, the Negroes must begin to do the very thing which they have been taught that they cannot do.”

Carter G. Woodson (1875–1950) African-American historian and writer

“Sometimes the course of our lives depends on what we do or don't do in a few seconds, a heartbeat, when we either seize the opportunity, or just miss it. Miss the moment and you never get a chance again.”

Aidan Chambers (1934) British children's writer

Source: Dying to Know You

Chance, Dependency

“I love you, Tessa, and I have loved you, almost since the moment I met you.”

Cassandra Clare book Clockwork Prince

Source: Clockwork Prince

Love

“The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire.”

Malcolm Gladwell (1963) journalist and science writer

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

Behavior, Idea

“the difference between a rebel and a patriot depends upon who is in power at the moment.”

Sidney Sheldon book The Sands of Time

Source: The Sands of Time

Dependency

“Books have a unique way of stopping time in a particular moment and saying: Let’s not forget this.”

Dave Eggers (1970) memoirist, novelist, short story writer, editor, publisher

Books, Way, Time, Forgetting

“She recognized that that is how friendships begin: one person reveals a moment of strangeness, and the other person decides just to listen and not exploit it.”

Meg Wolitzer book The Interestings

Source: The Interestings

Friendship, Personality

“But I knew the truth and that's why I was so sad. Every moment before this one depends on this one. Everything in the history of the world can be proven wrong in one moment.”

Jonathan Safran Foer book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Source: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Truth, World, Sadness, History

“The front door shut, leaving Alec sitting in the half-lit garden, alone. He closed his eyes for a moment, the image of a face hovering behind his lids. Not Jace's face, for a change. The eyes set in the face were green, slit-pupiled. Cat eyes.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Glass

Source: City of Glass

Cats, Change

“I had been my whole life a bell, and never knew it until at that moment I was lifted and struck.”

Annie Dillard book Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

Source: Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

Life

“These are the quicksilver moments of my childhood I cannot remember entirely. Irresistible and emblematic, I can recall them only in fragments and shivers of the heart.”

Pat Conroy book The Prince of Tides

Source: The Prince of Tides

Heart, Childhood

“It is difficult to know at what moment love begins; it is less difficult to know that it has begun”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882) American poet

Love

“I've had good moments scattered since then, times when I thought I was better, but that was the last day I felt triumphant.”

Ned Vizzini book It's Kind of a Funny Story

Source: It's Kind of a Funny Story

Time

“I'm just not prepared to be treated like this anymore.'
'Treated like what?'
She sighed, and it was a moment before she spoke. 'Like you always want to be somewhere else, with someone else.”

David Nicholls book One Day

Source: One Day

“He almost told her everything right then, that very moment. But you grab a moment, or you let it pass. He let it pass.”

Mitch Albom (1958) American author

Source: The Time Keeper

“To photograph is to hold one's breath, when all faculties converge to capture fleeting reality. It's at that precise moment that mastering an image becomes a great physical and intellectual joy.”

Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908–2004) French photographer

Source: Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Mind's Eye: Writings on Photography and Photographers

Reality, Joy

“I wanted my life to start - but in those rare moments when it seemed like something might actually change, panic shot through me.”

Curtis Sittenfeld book Prep

Source: Prep

Life, Change

“Pieces. Isn't that what all of life is anyway? Shards. Bits. Moments. Am I less because I have fewer, or do the few I have mean more?”

Mary E. Pearson book The Adoration of Jenna Fox

Source: The Adoration of Jenna Fox

Life

“Let me ask you something,” Simon said. “Do you find me fascinating to be around?”
“What was that?” Jace said. “Sorry, I think I fell asleep for a moment. Do, continue with
whatever mesmerizing thing you were saying.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Fallen Angels

Source: City of Fallen Angels

Thinking

“Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the mext moment”

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

“If what one finds is made of pure matter, it will never spoil. If what you had found was only a moment of light, like the explosion of a star, you would find nothing on your return.”

Paulo Coelho book The Alchemist

Source: The Alchemist (1988), p. 130.

Star, Light

“To hope means to be ready at every moment for that which is not yet born, and yet not become desperate if there is no birth in our lifetime.”

Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) American poet

The Revolution of Hope: Toward a Humanized Technology (1968)

Hope, Birth, Hope

“The art of life is to live in the present moment and to make that moment as perfect as we can by the realization that we are the instruments and expression of God himself.”

Emmet Fox (1886–1951) American New Thought writer

Life, God, Art, Perfection

“Tell me a story.
In this century, and moment, of mania,
Tell me a story.
Make it a story of great distances, and starlight.
The name of the story will be Time,
But you must not pronounce its name.
Tell me a story of deep delight.”

Robert Penn Warren (1905–1989) American poet, novelist, and literary critic

"Tell me A Story"

Time

“These roses under my window make no reference to former roses or to better ones; they are for what they are; they exist with God to-day. There is no time to them. There is simply the rose; it is perfect in every moment of its existence.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet

1840s, Essays: First Series (1841), Self-Reliance
Context: These roses under my window make no reference to former roses or to better ones; they are for what they are; they exist with God to-day. There is no time to them. There is simply the rose; it is perfect in every moment of its existence. Before a leaf-bud has burst, its whole life acts; in the full-blown flower there is no more; in the leafless root there is no less. Its nature is satisfied, and it satisfies nature, in all moments alike. But man postpones or remembers; he does not live in the present, but with reverted eye laments the past, or, heedless of the riches that surround him, stands on tiptoe to foresee the future. He cannot be happy and strong until he too lives with nature in the present, above time.
This should be plain enough. Yet see what strong intellects dare not yet hear God himself, unless he speak the phraseology of I know not what David, or Jeremiah, or Paul. We shall not always set so great a price on a few texts, on a few lives. We are like children who repeat by rote the sentences of grandames and tutors, and, as they grow older, of the men of talents and character they chance to see, —painfully recollecting the exact words they spoke; afterwards, when they come into the point of view which those had who uttered these sayings, they understand them, and are willing to let the words go; for, at any time, they can use words as good when occasion comes. If we live truly, we shall see truly. It is as easy for the strong man to be strong, as it is for the weak to be weak. When we have new perception, we shall gladly disburden the memory of its hoarded treasures as old rubbish. When a man lives with God, his voice shall be as sweet as the murmur of the brook and the rustle of the corn.

God, Time, Perfection