Quotes about possible
page 11

“Sometimes you meet yourself on the road before you have a chance to learn the appropriate greeting. Faced with your own possibilities, the hard part is knowing a speech is not required. All you have to say is yes.”

Pearl Cleage What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day

Source: What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day

Learning, Chance, Parting

“What condemnation could possibly be more harsh than one’s own, when self-pretense is no longer possible?”

Richard Matheson book What Dreams May Come

Source: What Dreams May Come

“Perfection is a stick with which to beat the possible.”

Rebecca Solnit (1961) Author and essayist from United States

Source: Hope in the Dark

Perfection

“By definition, you have to live until you die. Better to make that life as complete and enjoyable an experience as possible, in case death is shite, which I suspect it will be.”

Irvine Welsh book Trainspotting

Source: Trainspotting

Life, Death

“Possible reality [is obtained] by slightly bending physical and chemical laws.”

Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) French painter and sculptor

Law, Reality

“It is possible to live twenty-four hours a day in a state of love. Every movement, every glance, every thought, and every word can be infused with love.”

Thich Nhat Hanh (1926) Religious leader and peace activist

Love

“It was one of the few things he had to believe in, the possibility of beauty when faced with the reality of so much ugliness.”

Cassandra Clare (1973) American author

Source: The Last Stand of the New York Institute

Beauty, Reality

“They say when you are missing someone that they are probably feeling the same, but I don't think it's possible for you to miss me as much as I'm missing you right now”

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950) American poet

Feeling, Thinking, Sad

“It's always possible to wake someone from sleep, but no amount of noise will wake someone who is pretending to be asleep.”

Jonathan Safran Foer book Eating Animals

Variant: While it is always possible to wake a person who's sleeping, no amount of noise will wake a person who is pretending to be asleep.
Source: Eating Animals

Sleep

“To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”

Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican scholastic philosopher of the Roman Catholic Church

Variant: For those with faith, no evidence is necessary; for those without it, no evidence will suffice.

Faith, Faith

“Stories are the only enchantment possible, for when we begin to see our suffering as a story, we are saved.”

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

Suffering

“… we are custodians of deep and ancient thresholds. In the human face you see that potential and the miracle of undying possibility.”

John O'Donohue (1956–2008) Irish writer, priest and philosopher

Source: Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom

“I beg your pardon?" Robson says.

One thing Waterhouse likes about these Brits is that when they don't know what the hell you're talking about, they are at least open to the possibility that it might be their fault.”

Neal Stephenson book Cryptonomicon

Source: Cryptonomicon

Hell

“Beyond the window, some kind of small, black thing shot across the sky. A bird, possibly. Or it might have been someone's soul being blown to the far side of the world.”

Haruki Murakami book 1Q84

Source: 1Q84

World, Soul, Bird

“It's just me throwing myself at you,
romance as usual, us times us,

not lust but moxibustion,
a substance burning close

to the body as possible
without risk of immolation.”

Alice Fulton (1952) American poet

Time

“The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subject races to possess arms. History shows that all conquerors who have allowed their subject races to carry arms have prepared their own downfall by so doing.”

Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) Führer and Reich Chancellor of Germany, Leader of the Nazi Party

11 April 1942.
Disputed, Hitler's Table Talks (1941-1944) (published 1953)

History

“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive.”

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

World, Deep, Friendship, Relationship

“I was young I was so young it hurt like a knife
inside
because there was no alternative except to hide as long
as possible---
not in self-pity but with dismay at my limited chance:
trying to connect.”

Charles Bukowski (1920–1994) American writer

Chance, Hurt

“He let her get almost all the way there, just staring, before he stumbled towards her. They ended in a rush and then fell to the ground together, arms locked around each other, each holding on as tightly as possible. Niether of them said a word.”

L.J. Smith (1965) American author

Source: Dark Reunion

Way

“Your aspirations are your possibilities.”

Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer

Attitude

“I was happy. I loved the night, I loved t so much it almost hurt. In the night everything seemed possible. I wasn't sleepy at all.”

Banana Yoshimoto book Asleep

Source: Asleep

Love, Happiness, Hurt, Night

“Why do they treat us like children? they said & I said why do you treat them like adults?
& their eyes opened wide & they began to laugh & talk all at once & suddenly everything looked possible again.”

Brian Andreas (1956) American artist

Source: Trusting Soul

Children

“In this moment, there is plenty of time. In this moment, you are precisely as you should be. In this moment, there is infinite possibility. (17)”

Victoria Moran (1950) American writer

Source: Younger by the Day: 365 Ways to Rejuvenate Your Body and Revitalize Your Spirit

Time

“It seemed like this day could go in so many directions, like a spiderweb shooting out toward endless possibilities.”

Sarah Dessen book This Lullaby

Source: This Lullaby

“That which is possible is inevitable.”

William Carlos Williams (1883–1963) American poet

“How real is any of the past, being every moment revalued to make the present possible…”

William Gaddis book The Recognitions

Source: The Recognitions

Past

“One possible reason why things aren't going according to plan is that there never was a plan.”

Ashleigh Brilliant (1933) American author and cartoonist

“They continued to watch each other from across the room, both frozen for a moment by the shadow of distant possibilities.”

Nicholas Sparks book Message in a Bottle

Source: Message in a Bottle

Distant

“In a world of unlimited possibilities, there is always the possibility that there are no possibilities.”

Margaret Weis (1948) American fantasy novelist

World

“At the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities.”

Jean Houston (1937) American writer

Laughter, Universe

“The intensity with which young people live demands that they "blank out" as often as possible.”

Maya Angelou book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Source: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

People

“The sole philosophy open to those who doubt the possibility of truth is absolute silence -- even mental.”

Jacques Maritain (1882–1973) French philosopher

Source: An Introduction to Philosophy

Truth, Silence

“In a fair fight, the don's man would almost certainly paint the walls with Locke and Calo's blood, so it stood to reason that this fight would have to be as unfair as possible.”

Scott Lynch The Lies of Locke Lamora

Source: The Lies of Locke Lamora

Fight, Painting

“[No] matter what a waste one has made of one's life, it is ever possible to find some path to redemption, however partial.”

Charles Frazier book Cold Mountain

Source: Cold Mountain

Life

“Is it possible to be totally partial?”

Steven Wright (1955) American actor and author

“What is so marvelous about living today is that it is possible to extend, like a flower, spreading petals in all directions.”

Carolyn Kizer (1925–2014) American poet

Flowers

“I think that my job is to observe people and the world, and not to judge them. I always hope to position myself away from so-called conclusions. I would like to leave everything wide open to all the possibilities in the world.”

Haruki Murakami (1949) Japanese author, novelist

People, World, Hope, Thinking

“Know the quiet place within your heart and touch the rainbow of possibility; be alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk.”

Garrison Keillor (1942) American radio host and writer

Source: The Book of Guys

Jerk, Communication, Heart

“… the opposite of love is not hate -- it's apathy. It's not giving a damn. If somebody hates me, they must "feel" something… or they couldn't possibly hate. Therefore, there's some way in which I can get to them.”

Leo Buscaglia (1924–1998) Motivational speaker, writer

Love, Hate, Way, Feeling

“I wonder if it's possible to start a new relationship without hurting someone else.”

David Levithan Boy Meets Boy

Variant: I wonder if it's possible to have happiness without it being at someone else's expense.
Source: Boy Meets Boy

Hurt

“Panic was the worst thing. When you panicked, you couldn't see possibilities. Then came despair.”

Janet Fitch book White Oleander

Source: White Oleander

Despair

“On some other world, possibly it is different. Better. There are clear good and evil alternatives. Not these obscure admixtures, these blends, with no proper tool by which to untangle the components.”

Philip K. Dick book The Man in the High Castle

Source: The Man in the High Castle

World, Evil

“For every action, there’s an infinity of outcomes. Countless trillions are possible, many milliards are likely, millions might be considered probable, several occur as possibilities to us as observers—and one comes true.”

China Miéville book The Scar

Part 6 “Morning Walker”, chapter 34 (p. 394)
Source: The Scar (2002)

“How could homosexuals possibly srew up the sanctity of marriage any worse than heterosexuals?”

John Grisham book The Appeal

Source: The Appeal

Marriage

“It appears that ordinary men take wives because possession is not possible without marriage, and that ordinary women accept husbands because marriage is not possible without possession”

Thomas Hardy book Far from the Madding Crowd

Source: Far from the Madding Crowd

Women, Men, Marriage, Appearance

“As long as possible live free and uncommitted. It makes but little difference whether you are committed to a farm or the county jail.”

Henry David Thoreau book Walden ou la vie dans les bois

Source: Walden

“I could not count the times during the average day when something would come up that I needed to tell him. This impulse did not end with his death. What ended was the possibility of response.”

Joan Didion The Year of Magical Thinking

Source: The Year of Magical Thinking

Death, Time

“to fight for each minute is to
fight for what is possible within
yourself,
so that your life and your death
will not be like
theirs.”

Charles Bukowski book The People Look Like Flowers at Last

Source: The People Look Like Flowers at Last

Life, Death, Fight

“My investigative technique mostly consisted of going through the list of interested parties and making as much noise as possible, until the culprit lost his patience and tried to shut me up.”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Magic Slays

Patience

“Another world is not only possible, she's on the way and, on a quiet day, if you listen very carefully you can hear her breathe.”

Arundhati Roy (1961) Indian novelist, essayist

From a speech entitled Confronting Empire http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=51&ItemID=2919 given at the World Social Forum in Porto Allegre, 28 January 2003 <br class="br">Speeches <br class="br">Variant: Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing. <br class="br">Source: War Talk

World, Way

“It is possible to be homesick for a place even when you are there.”

Don DeLillo book White Noise

Source: White Noise

“I learned you pay for your happiness. That's why I don't expect to be happy all the time. I'd rather be surprised by one moment every so often to remind me that joy is possible, even if I have to pay for it later.”

Esmeralda Santiago (1948) Puerto Rican writer and actor

Source: Conquistadora

Happiness, Learning, Time, Joy

“I have a catchphrase to describe my plot-generation technique — "What's the worst possible thing I can do to these people?"”

Lois McMaster Bujold (1949) Science Fiction and fantasy author from the USA

"Putting It Together" p. 6
The Vorkosigan Companion (2008)
Source: Cordelia's Honor

People

“You say I started out with practically nothing, but that isn't correct. We all start with all there is, it's how we use it that makes things possible.”

Henry Ford (1863–1947) American industrialist

“The possible's slow fuse is lit by the Imagination.”

Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) American poet

Imagination

“She was reaching the limits of how much its possible to change a man”

David Nicholls book One Day

Source: One Day

Change

“Confusion is a luxury which only the very, very young can possibly afford and you are not that young anymore”

James Baldwin book Giovanni's Room

Source: Giovanni's Room

“Men think that self-sacrifice is the most charming of all the cardinal virtues for women, and in order to keep it in healthy working order, they make opportunities for its illustration as often as possible. I would fain teach women that self-development is a higher duty than self-sacrifice.”

Elizabeth Cady Stanton book The Woman's Bible

The Woman's Bible (1898)
Source: The Woman's Bible: A Classic Feminist Perspective

Women, Men, Thinking

“I don't know if you have noticed this, but it is quite possible for two human beings to have a conversation in which one or both parties involved has absolutely no idea what they're talking about.”

Jeff Lindsay (1952) American playwright and crime novelist Jeffry P. Freundlich

Source: Dexter By Design

Idea

“To experience commitment as the loss of options, a type of death, the death of childhood's limitless possibility, of the flattery of choice without duress-this will happen, mark me. Childhood's end.”

David Foster Wallace book The Pale King

Source: The Pale King

Death, Loss, Childhood

“We can never possibly know what is about to happen: it is happening, each time, for the first time, for the only time.”

Carl Sandburg (1878–1967) American writer and editor

Time

“Are you out of your mind?"
It's not polite to lie to your best friend. "It's a possibility.”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Magic Bleeds

Lie

“We do not trust educated people and rarely, alas, produce them, for we do not trust the independence of mind which alone makes a genuine education possible.”

James Baldwin book Nobody Knows My Name

Source: Nobody Knows My Name

People, Education

“Philosophy? What good is that?” Isn’t it the art of saying nothing with as many words as possible?”

Brandon Sanderson book The Way of Kings

Source: The Way of Kings

Art

“Kat didn't know what to say. It's good to see you too? Thanks for getting me kicked out? Is it possible you've gotten even hotter? I think I might have missed you?”

Ally Carter book Heist Society

Source: Heist Society

Thinking

“One moment several things are possible, the next moment only one happens, and the rest don't exist. Except that other worlds have sprung into being, on which the did happen.”

Philip Pullman book Northern Lights

Source: The Golden Compass

World

“To me, poetry is somebody standing up, so to speak, and saying, with as little concealment as possible, what it is for him or her to be on earth at this moment”

Galway Kinnell (1927–2014) Poet

“You want me to give her a key?" the guy asked.
"I want you to give her a possibility," she told him, looking at my necklace again. "And that's what a key represents. An open door, a chance. You know?”

Sarah Dessen Lock and Key

Source: Lock and Key

Guy, Chance

“[I]t is well to have as many holds upon happiness as possible.”

Jane Austen book Northanger Abbey

Source: Northanger Abbey

Happiness

“There is a saying that to understand is to forgive, but that is an error, so Papa used to say. You must forgive in order to understand. Until you forgive, you defend yourself against the possibility of understanding.”

Marilynne Robinson Home

Source: Home

Error, Forgiveness, Understanding

“It was possible to feel superior to other people and feel like a misfit at the same time.”

Jeffrey Eugenides book The Marriage Plot

Source: The Marriage Plot

People, Feeling, Time

“Every part of my body felt electric. My chest ached and my head throbbed with the great terrible limitless possibility of the morning, and when it came, the sky was washed white, everything was new, and I hadn't slept at all.”

Dave Eggers book What Is the What

Source: What Is the What

Parting

“No ninjas! How was that possible? Five daughters brought up at home without any ninjas! I never heard of such a thing. Your mother must have been quite a slave to your safety.”

Seth Grahame-Smith book Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Source: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Home, Daughters

“Science fiction makes the implausible possible, while science fantasy makes the impossible plausible.”

Rod Serling (1924–1975) American screenwriter

The Twilight Zone, "The Fugitive" (1962).
The Twilight Zone
Variant: Science fiction is the improbable made possible, and fantasy is the impossible made probable.
Context: It is said that science fiction and fantasy are two different things. Science fiction is the improbable made possible, and fantasy is the impossible made probable.

Science

“The romantics were prompted to seek exotic subjects and to travel to far off places. They failed to realize that, though the transcendental must involve the strange and unfamiliar, not everything strange or unfamiliar is transcendental. The unfriendliness of society to his activity is difficult for the artists to accept. Yet this very hostility can act as a lever for true liberation... Both the sense of community and of security depend on the familiar. Free of them, transcendental experiences become possible.”

Mark Rothko (1903–1970) American painter

Source: after 1970, posthumous, Abstract Expressionism, Creators and Critics', 1990, p. 167

Hostility, Travel, Communication, Sense

“Humanity? Humanity is not concerned with us. Today anything is allowed. Anything is possible.”

Elie Wiesel book Night

Source: Night

“Not everything made you stronger. It was possible to survive, yet still be crippled for your trouble. Sometimes it was okay to run away, to skip the test, to chicken out. Or at least to get some help.”

Scott Westerfeld (1963) American science fiction writer

Help

“However difficult it may be to accept what happens to us, one must understand that moments such as this give us the possibility for radical change in our behavior.”

Paulo Coelho (1947) Brazilian lyricist and novelist

Source: Warrior of the Light

Behavior, Understanding, Change

“Is education possibly a process of trading awareness for things of lesser worth? The goose who trades his is soon a pile of feathers.”

Aldo Leopold book A Sand County Almanac

“March: The Geese Return”, p. 18.
A Sand County Almanac, 1949, "January Thaw", "February: Good Oak" & "March: The Geese Return"
Source: A Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and There

Education

“I drive around the streets
an inch away from weeping,
ashamed of my sentimentality and
possible love.”

Charles Bukowski book Love Is a Dog from Hell

Source: Love Is a Dog from Hell

Love

“I was going to kill someone today. I just wasn’t sure who when I woke up this morning. I do love mornings. So full of possibilities.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Heavenly Fire

Source: City of Heavenly Fire

Love

“In the measurement world, you set a goal and strive for it. In the universe of possibility, you set the context and let life unfold.”

Benjamin Zander (1939) English conductor

Source: The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life

Life, World, Universe

“Root out the violence in your life, and learn to live compassionately and mindfully. Seek peace. When you have peace within, real peace with others is possible.”

Thich Nhat Hanh (1926) Religious leader and peace activist

Life, Peace, Learning, Peaceful

“She had made him possible. In that sense she was his god. Like God, she was neglected.”

Jeanette Winterson book The Passion

Source: The Passion

God, Sense

“All of us have darkness inside us, and at times it possesses and seduces us in ways we never thought possible.”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: Infamous

Way, Time

“There is no normal. I've never met a normal person. The concept is flawed. It implies that there is only one way people are supposed to be, and that can't possible be true. Human experience is far too varied.”

Maureen Johnson (1973) writer from the USA

Source: The Madness Underneath

People, Way, Personality

“If it's possible to send a message from heaven, I'll get one to you.”

Lurlene McDaniel (1944) American writer

Source: Don't Die, My Love

“Was that Will?" she said finally.
Henry arched one ginger eyebrow. "Perhaps he's been kidnapped and replaced by an automaton," he suggested. "It seems possible…"
For once Charlotte could only find herself in agreement.”

Cassandra Clare book Clockwork Prince

Source: Clockwork Prince

“could i have loved you better? maybe. if that's true, then i'm sorry. could i have loved you more? i don't think it's possible.”

Elizabeth Noble (1968) British novelist

Source: Things I Want My Daughters to Know

Love, Thinking

“I have always held the old-fashioned opinion that the primary object of a work of fiction should be to tell a story; and I have never believed that the novelist who properly performed this first condition of his art, was in danger, on that account, of neglecting the delineation of character — for this plain reason, that the effect produced, by any narrative of events is essentially dependent, not on the events themselves, but on the human interest which is directly connected with them. It may be possible in novel-writing to present characters successfully without telling a story; but it is not possible to tell a story successfully without presenting characters: their existence, as recognizable realities, being the sole condition on which the story can be effectively told. The only narrative which can hope to lay a strong hold on the attention of readers is a narrative which interests them about men and women — for the perfectly obvious reasons that they are men and women themselves.”

Wilkie Collins book The Woman in White

Source: Collins explaining what he calls the literary principal guiding him, in the preface of the second edition of The Woman in White. Also in Reality's Dark Light: The Sensational Wilkie Collins by Maria K. Bachman & Don Richard Cox [University of Tennessee Press, 2003, ISBN 1-572-33274-3] ( p. xiv https://books.google.com/books?id=_X8AlmIp0dwC&pg=PR14)

Women, Men, Hope, Art

“It would be possible, in theory, for life and art to be reversed.”

Jonathan Safran Foer book Everything Is Illuminated

Source: Everything Is Illuminated

Life, Art

“I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend… if you have one.""Cannot possibly attend first night; will attend second, if there is one."”

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

Night

“Everything is false, everything is possible, everything is doubtful.”

Guy De Maupassant (1850–1893) French writer

Source: Complete Works

Falseness

“Being remembered, and remembered so kindly, touched him more than he would have thought possible.”

Cassandra Clare (1973) American author

Source: The Midnight Heir

“Can a free government possibly exist with the Roman Catholic religion?”

John Adams (1735–1826) 2nd President of the United States

1820s <br class="br">Source: Letter to Thomas Jefferson (19 May 1821), published in Adams-Jefferson Letters: The Complete Correspondence Between Thomas Jefferson and Abigail and John Adams http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0807842303&id=SzSWYPOz6M8C&pg=PP1&lpg=PP1&ots=kTAZL3ImRq&dq=%22Adams-Jefferson+letters%22&sig=tVGzBe0XVhXaF2p0FQLGy4GK6bk#PRA2-PR17,M1 (UNC Press, 1988), p. 573

Religion