Quotes about nothing
page 36

“… nothing in the world is harder than convincing someone of an unfamiliar truth.”

Patrick Rothfuss book The Wise Man's Fear

Source: The Wise Man's Fear

“It is always better to live the truth than to live a lie. And that lie would have kept him alone forever. He may have had nearly nothing for 5 years, but now he can have everything. A boy who looks like that… Magnus.”

Cassandra Clare book Clockwork Prince

Source: Clockwork Prince

Truth, Lie, Boy

“It doesn't hurt. Nothing hurts except the small smiles and blushes that flash across the room like tiny sparrows.”

Laurie Halse Anderson Speak

Source: Speak

Smile, Hurt

“That someone can want something out of another person who gives absolutely nothing in return astounds me.”

Melina Marchetta book On the Jellicoe Road

Source: On the Jellicoe Road

Personality

“Image: An Oak Tree. The oak that resists the wind loses its branches one by one, and with nothing left to protect it, the trunk fi nally snaps. The oak that bends lives long er, its trunk grow ing wider, its roots deeper and more tenacious.”

Robert Greene book The 48 Laws of Power

Source: The 48 Laws of Power

Tree

“Mrs. Jennings was a widow, with an ample jointure. She had only two daughters, both of whom she had lived to see respectably married, and she had now therefore nothing to do but to marry all the rest of the world.”

Jane Austen book Sense and Sensibility

Source: Sense and Sensibility

World, Daughters

“Because nothing is as perfect as you can imagine it.”

Chuck Palahniuk book Choke

Source: Choke

Imagination, Perfection, Powerful

“If you had better sense you’d have learned by now that nothing thrives so well as wickedness”

Kathleen Winsor book Forever Amber

Source: Forever Amber

Sense, Learning

“Nothing is as tedious as the limping days,
When snowdrifts yearly cover all the ways,
And ennui, sour fruit of incurious gloom,
Assumes control of fate’s immortal loom”

Charles Baudelaire book Le Spleen de Paris

Source: Paris Spleen

Fate, Way

“This world has been connected… tied to the darkness… soon to be completely eclipsed… there is very much to learn… you understand so little… a meaningless effort… one who knows nothing cannot understand nothing.”

Shiro Amano (1976) Japanese manga artist

Source: Kingdom Hearts, Vol. 1

World, Understanding, Effort, Learning

“Human beings are so made that the ones who do the crushing feel nothing; it is the person crushed who feels what is happening. Unless one has placed oneself on the side of the oppressed, to feel with them, one cannot understand.”

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

Source: Lectures on Philosophy

Feeling, Understanding, Personality

“I care so much about everything that I care about nothing.”

William Saroyan (1908–1981) American writer

Source: My Heart's in the Highlands (1939)

“There is nothing more important to true growth than realizing that you are not the voice of the mind - you are the one who hears it.”

Michael Singer (1945) American landscape architect

Source: The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself

“There is a simple, logical explanation,' I said to myself. And because you never know who else is listening, I added, 'And there is nothing under the bed.'" --Dexter”

Jeff Lindsay book Darkly Dreaming Dexter

Source: Darkly Dreaming Dexter

“Quite possibly there's nothing as fine as a big freight train starting across country in early summer, Hardesty thought. That's when you learn that the tragedy of plants is that they have roots.”

Mark Helprin book Winter's Tale

Source: Winter's Tale

Learning, Summer, Training, Country

“The true writer has nothing to say. What counts is the way he says it.”

Alain Robbe-Grillet (1922–2008) 1922-2008 French agricultural engineer, filmmaker and writer

Way

“Men endured so much for war, but for peace they dared nothing.”

Olaf Stapledon (1886–1950) British novelist and philosopher

Source: The Seed and the Flower

Men, War, Peace

“Nothing in this world happens without a reason. That we are all exactly where we are supposed to be, and that the pieces of the puzzle have a tendency to come together when you least expect it.”

Jane Green (1968) British writer

Source: The Beach House

World

“Virtual sex, no matter how realistic, was really nothing but glorified, computer-assisted masturbation.”

Ernest Cline book Ready Player One

Source: Ready Player One

Sex

“Simon kept pace beside Clary for a few moments without speaking before he said, “So what did I miss? Naked dancing ladies?”
Clary thought of the male faerie‘s torn-open ribs and shuddered. “Nothing that pleasant.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Ashes

Source: City of Ashes

Dance

“Life is simple," I said. "Ale, women, sword, and reputation. Nothing else matters.”

Bernard Cornwell book The Pale Horseman

Source: The Pale Horseman

Life, Women

“There are times when parenthood seems nothing more than feeding the hand that bites you.”

Peter de Vries (1910–1993) American editor and novelist

Time

“It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder.”

Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity

War

“Nothing in the world is quite as adorably lovely as a robin when he shows off and they are nearly always doing it.”

Frances Hodgson Burnett The Secret Garden

Source: The Secret Garden

Love, World

“Whatever power I have is nothing if I can't use it to keep safe those who mean the most to me.”

Frank Beddor Seeing Redd

Source: Seeing Redd

“Don’t just stand there let’s get to it. Strike a pose, there’s nothing to it.”

Madonna (1958) American singer, songwriter, and actress

“To know is nothing at all; to imagine is everything.”

Anatole France book The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard

Savoir n'est rien, imaginer est tout.
Pt. II, ch. 2
The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard (1881)

Imagination

“Nothing of real worth can ever be bought. Love, friendship, honour, valour, respect. All these things have to be earned.”

David Gemmell (1948–2006) British author of heroic fantasy

Source: Shield of Thunder

Love, Friendship

“I could buy that she would murder me in a fit of rage, poison me out of flaming jealousy, or bomb my car out of sheer, stubborn pique. But she would never do it and feel nothing.”

Jim Butcher book Summer Knight

Source: Summer Knight

Jealousy, Cars, Feeling, Rage

“I believe in movement. I believe in that lighthearted balloon, the world. I believe in midnight and the hour of noon. But what else do I believe in? Sometimes everything. Sometimes nothing. It fluctuates like light flitting over a pond.”

Patti Smith M Train

Source: M Train

World, Light

“Nothing is static. Everything is evolving. Everything is falling apart.”

Chuck Palahniuk Fight Club

Source: Fight Club

“There's nothing so attractive as a blank slate. Take one attractive man, slap on a thick coat of daydream, and voila, the perfect man. With absolutely no resemblance to reality.”

Lauren Willig (1977) American author

Source: The Deception of the Emerald Ring

Reality, Perfection

“I'm tired of being your best friend. I'm tired of being second best. I won't settle for that anymore. It's all or nothing, Schuyler. You have to decide. Him or me.

- Oliver Hazzard-Perry”

Melissa de la Cruz book Revelations

Source: Revelations

“The greatest risk is to risk nothing at all”

Leo Buscaglia (1924–1998) Motivational speaker, writer

“To affirm that men and women are persons and as persons should be free, and yet to do nothing tangible to make this affirmation a reality, is a farce.”

Paulo Freire (1921–1997) educator and philosopher

Women, Men, Reality, Personality

“He expects nothing, she thought, because he's never had anything. And nothing was expected of him. He was free in a way she never would be.”

Cinda Williams Chima (1952) Novelist

Way

“In a world where vows are worthless. Where making a pledge means nothing. Where promises are made to be broken, it would be nice to see words come back into power.”

Chuck Palahniuk book Lullaby

Source: Lullaby

World

“With the knowledge of her aloneness came a rush of self-declaration: I will not be nothing.”

Robin McKinley Deerskin

Source: Deerskin

Knowledge

“Words, he decided, were inadequate at best, impossible at worst. They meant too many things. Or they meant nothing at all.”

Patricia A. McKillip In the Forests of Serre

Source: In the Forests of Serre

“I had no Freedom. I had nothing.”

Charles Bukowski book Ham on Rye

Source: Ham on Rye

Freedom

“If you believe in what you are doing, then let nothing hold you up in your work. Much of the best work in the world has been done against seeming impossibilities.”

Dale Carnegie (1888–1955) American writer and lecturer

World

“When you get… to the end, you see that love and family are all there is. Nothing else matters.”

Kristin Hannah (1960) American writer

Source: Firefly Lane

Love, Family

“Really-nothing is unforgivable if you truly love someone.”

Emily Giffin book Where We Belong

Source: Where We Belong

Love

“Magic is. But its power is nothing beside love.
--Prince Carrick”

Nora Roberts (1950) American romance writer

Source: Jewels of the Sun

Love

“Undoubtedly, philosophers are in the right when they tell us that nothing is great or little otherwise than by comparison.”

Jonathan Swift book Les Voyages de Gulliver

Source: Gulliver's Travels

“I can do nothing for you but work on myself… you can do nothing for me but work on yourself!”

Ram Dass book Be Here Now

Source: Be Here Now

“Boy, there's nothing worse than an inscrutable omen.”

Bill Watterson (1958) American comic artist

Boy

“Socialism is nothing but the capitalism of the lower classes.”

Oswald Spengler (1880–1936) German historian and philosopher

Source: The Hour of Decision

“For courage, there must be something at stake. I come here with nothing to lose.”

Khaled Hosseini book And the Mountains Echoed

Source: And the Mountains Echoed

Courage

“To hope for nothing, to expect nothing, to demand nothing. This is analytical despair.”

James Hillman (1926–2011) American psychologist

Source: Suicide and the Soul

Hope, Despair

“The truth is that nobody is owed an apology for anything. Apologies are lovely when they happen. But they change nothing. They do not reverse actions or correct damage. They are merely nice to hear.”

Augusten Burroughs (1965) American writer

Source: This Is How: Proven Aid in Overcoming Shyness, Molestation, Fatness, Spinsterhood, Grief, Disease, Lushery, Decrepitude & More. For Young and Old Alike.

Love, Truth, Change

“Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can't practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage.”

Maya Angelou (1928–2014) American author and poet

Courage, Courageous

“But what happens when her beauty is torn from her like a cover from a book? Will he care to read her then, although her pages speak of nothing but love for him?”

Pearl S. Buck (1892–1973) American writer

Love, Books, Beauty, Reading

“Sometimes we love with nothing more than hope. Sometimes we cry with everything except tears.”

Gregory David Roberts book Shantaram

Source: Shantaram

Love, Hope, Tear, Cry

“It's not when you realise that nothing can help you - religion, pride, anything - it's when you realise that you don't need any aid.”

William Faulkner book The Sound and the Fury

Source: The Sound and the Fury

Religion, Help

“Are you mad? (Artemis)
Yes, I am. Mad at this world where we are nothing to the gods. Mad at the Fates who put us here for no purpose except to toy with us for their petty amusement. I wish all of the gods were dead and gone. (Acheron)”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: Acheron

God, Fate, World, Madness

“There was no real sense of life because she had nothing to contrast it with.”

Chuck Palahniuk Fight Club

Source: Fight Club

Life, Sense

“There is nothing — absolutely nothing — half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.”

Kenneth Grahame book The Wind in the Willows

Rat, Ch. 1
Variant: There’s nothing––absolutely nothing––half so much worth doing as messing about in boats.
Source: The Wind in the Willows (1908)
Context: There is nothing — absolutely nothing — half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. In or out of ‘em, it doesn’t matter. Nothing seems really to matter, that’s the charm of it. Whether you get away, or whether you don’t; whether you arrive at your destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether you never get anywhere at all, you’re always busy, and you never do anything in particular; and when you’ve done it there’s always something else to do.

“If you fear nothing, then you are not brave. You are merely too foolish to be afraid.”

Laurell K. Hamilton book Skin Trade

Source: Skin Trade

Fear

“I miss home badly sometimes. But then I remember there's nothing left to miss anymore. I feel safer here.”

Suzanne Collins book Mockingjay

Source: Mockingjay

Feeling, Home

“One thing I've learned in all these years is not to make love when you really don't feel it; there's probably nothing worse you can do to yourself than that.”

Norman Mailer (1923–2007) American novelist, journalist, essayist, playwright, film maker, actor and political candidate

Love, Making love, Feeling, Learning

“What about you? Are you happiest and saddest right now that you've ever been?" "Of course I am." "Why?" "Because nothing makes me happier and nothing makes me sadder than you.”

Nicole Krauss The History of Love

Source: The History of Love

Cute

“She was doing it because she had nothing to lose, because her life was one of constant, day to day frustration.”

Paulo Coelho book Eleven Minutes

Source: Eleven Minutes

Life

“Politics is pointless if it does nothing to enhance the beauty of our lives.”

Howard Zinn (1922–2010) author and historian

Source: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train: A Personal History of Our Times

Beauty

“I wasn't fooled. He was avoiding looking at me. "There's nothing to talk about."
"I knew you'd say that. Actually, it was a toss-up between that and 'I don't know what you're talking about.'"
Dimitri sighed.”

Richelle Mead book Last Sacrifice

Source: Last Sacrifice

Fools

“Many people will find this book disrespectful. There is nothing amusing about being dead, they will say. Ah, but there is.”

Mary Roach book Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

Source: Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

People, Books, Dead

“Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced.”

James Baldwin book Small Great Things

Also appears in Jodi Picoult book Small Great Things
Source: In 1962 James Baldwin penned an essay titled “As Much Truth As One Can Bear” in “The New York Times Book Review”.
Context: We are the generation that must throw everything into the endeavor to remake America into what we say we want it to be. Without this endeavor, we will perish. ... Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced.

Change, Powerful

“Only after disaster can we be resurrected. It's only after you've lost everything that you're free to do anything. Nothing is static, everything is evolving, everything is falling apart.”

Chuck Palahniuk Fight Club

Source: Fight Club

“My only relief is to sleep. When I'm sleeping, I'm not sad, I'm not angry, I'm not lonely, I'm nothing.”

Jillian Medoff (1963) American writer

Source: Hunger Point

Sadness, Sleep