Quotes about probability
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“He snorted. "They were probably scared."
"Scared!" For some reason, that hurt, just a little. She felt her lower lip wobble. "I'm not that bad, am I?"
"Worse," he said cheerfully. "You're hell on wheels. You're just lucky I like hot rods”

Linda Howard (1950) American writer

Source: Mr. Perfect

Hell, Hurt

“One day,' Orest said, looking at him comically, 'you will say something that is less than practical and sensible, something that is driven by no forethought and nothing but passion, and I will probably collapse with shock.”

Mercedes Lackey book Alta

Source: Alta

Passion

“If there's anything I can do- I know there probably isn't, but…"

Just be here”

Kelley Armstrong The Awakening

Source: The Awakening

“She'd ended up passing out, and sometime later, John must have gotten up to use the loo and left the light on. Probably to make sure she didn't feel lost if she woke up.
Because that's the kind of male he was.”

Jessica Bird (1969) U.S. novelist

Source: Lover Mine

Feeling, Light

“Anthony grinned at her, knowing that would probably infuriate her all the more. "My eyes have been a-wandering, as you put it, for the last nineteen years. Give them a rest, Roslynn. They settled on you and don't want to move on.”

Johanna Lindsey (1952–2019) American writer

Source: Tender Rebel

“The next minute or so was spent howling on the ceiling. Imp No.1 joined in, but he wasn't really feeling it. It shouldn't be "Who do we hate?", he thought, it really should be "whom", but this probably wasn't a good time to bring that up.”

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

Hate, Feeling, Time

“I shrug. "I'll probably mention that I'm in love with you."
He chuckles. "Only you would say that in such a I-think-I'll-wash-my-hair-tonight tone.”

Melina Marchetta book On the Jellicoe Road

Source: On the Jellicoe Road

Love, Thinking

“Clarabelle laughed like she'd just heard the funniest thing ever. "Of course you HOPE you won't die, Valkyrie! Who would HOPE to die? That's just SILLY! But you probably WILL die, that's what I'm saying. Don't you think so?”

Derek Landy (1974) Irish children's writer

Source: The Faceless Ones

Hope, Thinking

“I am convinced that there are genuine and valid levels of perception available with cannabis (and probably with other drugs) which are, through the defects of our society and our educational system, un-available to us without such drugs.”

Lester Grinspoon (1928–2020) American physician

Source: Marihuana Reconsidered

Education

“I think we got in more trouble with Aunt Tasha,ʺ said Christian. ʺShe was kind of pissed off that we didnʹt tell her what was going on. I think she probably wanted to blow up the statues herself.”

Richelle Mead book Last Sacrifice

Source: Last Sacrifice

Thinking

“It's probably best for me to work off some energy before I get you naked. I'm sure you'd like to be able to walk tomorrow.”

Sylvia Day book Bared to You

Source: Bared to You

“There is probably no more terrible instant of enlightenment than the one in which you discover your father is a man - with human flesh.”

Frank Herbert book Dune

Source: Dune

“Can you see me? All of me? Probably not. No one ever really has.”

Jeffrey Eugenides book Middlesex

Source: Middlesex

Sad

“The wicked at heart probably know something.”

Woody Allen Without Feathers

Source: Without Feathers

Heart

“There's no such thing as im-POSSIBLE, Hiccup, only im-PROBABLE. The only thing that limits us are the limits to our imagination”

Cressida Cowell book How to Cheat a Dragon's Curse

Source: How to Cheat a Dragon's Curse

Imagination

“I know I should just leave. Just go. Because there's a point where a mistake turns into a big mistake, and I should probably come to my senses before I get there.”

David Levithan (1972) American author and editor

Source: Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List

Sense

“I think, writing-wise, I am probably more of a quilter than a weaver because I just get a little scrap here and a little scrap there and sew them together.”

Rich Mullins (1955–1997) American christian musician

Thinking

“every atom in your body came from a star that exploded. and, the atoms in your left hand probably came from a different star than your right hand. it really is the most poetic thing i know about physics: you are all stardust.”

Lawrence M. Krauss (1954) American physicist

"A Universe From Nothing" by Lawrence Krauss, AAI 2009 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ImvlS8PLIo#t=16m49s (16:50-17:23) <br class="br">Context: The amazing thing is that every atom in your body came from a star that exploded. And, the atoms in your left hand probably came from a different star than your right hand. It really is the most poetic thing I know about physics: You are all stardust. You couldn’t be here if stars hadn’t exploded, because the elements - the carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, iron, all the things that matter for evolution - weren’t created at the beginning of time. They were created in the nuclear furnaces of stars, and the only way they could get into your body is if those stars were kind enough to explode. So, forget Jesus. The stars died so that you could be here today.

Star

“I’m probably just as good a mother as the next repressed, obsessive-compulsive paranoiac.”

Anne Lamott (1954) Novelist, essayist, memoirist, activist

Source: Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year

“A classic is classic not because it conforms to certain structural rules, or fits certain definitions (of which its author had quite probably never heard). It is classic because of a certain eternal and irrepressible freshness.”

Edith Wharton (1862–1937) American novelist, short story writer, designer

Ezra Pound, ABC of Reading (1934): "Warning"
Misattributed

“In his wolf-skin he was as strong as any of them, but he was a gentle person in many ways. He'd feel so bad about failing he'd probably step aside for someone else without a fight.”

Annette Curtis Klause Blood and Chocolate

Source: Blood and Chocolate

Way, Feeling, Strong, Wolf

“I gave her a smile that I hoped conveyed something like: Hey, you know I’m on your side. Gods are such jerks! But what can you do?

Probably my expression actually conveyed: It’s not my fault! Please do not kill me!”

Rick Riordan book The Demigod Diaries

Source: The Demigod Diaries

God, Smile, Hope, Jerk

“Everyone probably thinks that I'm a raving nymphomaniac, that I have an insatiable sexual appetite, when the truth is I'd rather read a book.”

Madonna (1958) American singer, songwriter, and actress

Variant: Everyone probably thinks that I'm a raving nymphomaniac, that I have an insatiable sexual appetite, when the truth is I'd rather read a book.

Truth, Books, Thinking, Reading

“As far as I’m concerned, high school sucked when I went, and probably sucks now. I tend to regard people who remember it as the best four years of their lives with caution and a degree of pity.”

Stephen King book Guns

Source: Guns

People, School

“my feeling is that if you're not self-obsessed you're probably boring.”

Dave Eggers book A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

Variant: Still though, I think if you're not self-obsessed, you're probably boring.
Source: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

Feeling

“Jace was probably the safest boyfriend in the world since he was pretty much banned from (1) getting angry, (2) making sexual advances, and (3) doing anything that would produce an adrenaline rush.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Heavenly Fire

Source: City of Heavenly Fire

World

“Meanwhile I'll probably see him again. That's how sick I am.”

Candace Bushnell (1958) American author

“He would lie in the bed and finally, with daylight, he would go to sleep. After all, he said to himself, it is probably only insomnia. Many must have it.”

Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) American author and journalist

Source: A Clean Well Lighted Place

Lie, Sleep

“What seems natural to us is probably just something familiar in a long tradition that has forgotten the unfamiliar source from which it arose. And yet this unfamiliar source once struck man as strange and caused him to think and to wonder.”

Martin Heidegger (1889–1976) German philosopher

Nature, Thinking

“But she's a redhead, so she's probably evil, even at her tender age."

"I thought you liked redheads."

"I do. What's your point?”

Christopher Moore (1957) American writer of comic fantasy

Source: Sacré Bleu: A Comedy d'Art

Age, Evil

“If they cannot love and resist at the same time, they probably will not survive.”

Audre Lorde (1934–1992) writer and activist

Love, Time

“Simon’s love life was complicated, but there was a pang, just for a moment, for this woman talking graphic novels with him.
Ah, well. Tessa Gray, foxy nerd, was probably dating someone already.”

Cassandra Clare (1973) American author

Source: The Whitechapel Fiend

Love, Life

“The ladies here probably exchanged looks which meant, 'Men never know when things are dirty or not;' and the gentlemen perhaps thought each to himself, 'Women will have their little nonsense and needless cares.”

Jane Austen book Emma

Source: Emma

Women, Men

“Though, if you think about it, hostile, dethroned pseudodeities probably make disagreeable neighbors. You'll have to figure out something to do with him.”

Brandon Sanderson (1975) American fantasy writer

Source: The Final Empire

Hostility, Thinking

“I could probably have made the head shot from the railing, but with an unfamiliar gun, it was too risky. I didn't want to accidentally shoot the woman in the head. Killing the hostage is always frowned upon.”

Laurell K. Hamilton book The Killing Dance

Source: The Killing Dance

“It wasn't even a good note. 'If you are reading this I am probably dead.' What sort of a note is that?”

Patrick Rothfuss book The Name of the Wind

Source: The Name of the Wind

Reading, Dead

“You aren't a hero and I'm not beautiful and we probably won't live happily ever after " she said. "But we're alive and together and we're going to be all right.”

Philip Reeve Mortal Engines

Source: Mortal Engines

Beauty

“Every murderer is probably somebody’s old friend.”

Agatha Christie book The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Hercule Poirot
Source: The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920)

“Sure, this will probably end up being another in a long line of emotionally crippling misadventures… but let's try to have some fun along the way.”

Brian K. Vaughan (1976) American screenwriter, comic book creator

Way

“Listen, Frank Zhang has moves. He's probably gonna turn into a kangaroo and do some marsupial jujitsu on their ugly faces.”

Rick Riordan book The House of Hades

Source: The House of Hades

“Ragnor's important business was probably getting together to write a burn book with Raphael. Magnus could see them now, sharing a bench and scribbling happily away about Magnus's stupid hair.”

Cassandra Clare The Bane Chronicles

Source: The Bane Chronicles

Books, Stupidity, Business

“God, he was probably too young to be this old, but life had a way of being about experience, rather than calendar days.”

Jessica Bird (1969) U.S. novelist

Source: Lover at Last

Life, God, Way

“I hate it when men go to strip bars. It lowers the rest of us that know if a man has to pay to see a woman naked, he is a loser and probably should get weeded out.”

Henry Rollins (1961) American singer-songwriter

Source: Solipsist

Men, Hate

“He's probably never met a six-foot-tall hot elf-woman in a fur bikini, either”

Cassandra Clare book City of Bones

Clary to Simon, pg. 118
Source: The Mortal Instruments, City of Bones (2007)

“Indifference and pride look very much alike, and he probably thought I was proud.”

Graham Greene book The End of the Affair

Source: The End of the Affair

Indifference

“He wondered if she'd mind if he threw her down on the blanket and tore off her clothing. (..) She looked heartbreakingly innocent. Alex sighed. She'd probably mind.”

Julia Quinn (1970) American novelist

Source: Splendid

Clothes

“If you’re concerned about your health, you should probably avoid products that make health claims. Why? Because a health claim on a food product is a strong indication it’s not really food, and food is what you want to eat”

Michael Pollan (1955) American author, journalist, activist, and professor of journalism

Source: In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto

Health, Food, Strong

“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

Sad, Feeling, Thinking

“When we put things off until some future-probably mythical-Laterland, we drag the past into the future. The burden of yesterday's incompletions is a heavy load to carry. Don't carry it.”

Peter McWilliams (1949–2000) American author and civil liberties advocate

Past, Future

“Percy grunted. ‘Probably something to do with that creep Octavian. Maybe he was so bad at telling the future that he broke Apollo’s powers.”

Rick Riordan book The Blood of Olympus

Source: The Blood of Olympus

Future

“Mom told me, “It probably gets pretty lonely to be Grandma, don’t you think?” I told her, “It probably gets pretty lonely to be anyone.”

Jonathan Safran Foer book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Source: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Moms, Thinking, Grandma

“I was in the machine. My whole life. Then the machine coughed and spat me out. So I thought, OK, if I'm out, I'm out. All the way out. I was a little angry and it was probably an immature reaction. But I got used to it.”

Lee Child book One Shot

Source: One Shot

Life, Way

“Even though she had been warned, she tripped over the bike. She probably tripped because she'd been warned and was telling herself not to trip over the bike. She did that sometimes. It was often easier not to know what obstacles were in the way.”

Maureen Johnson (1973) writer from the USA

Source: The Last Little Blue Envelope

Way

“Sometimes, the loneliness probably got to be too much and anyone seemed better than no one.”

Gena Showalter (1975) American writer

Source: Through the Zombie Glass

Loneliness

“Do you live each day as if it's your first or your last? Either way you should probably have a diaper on.”

Ellen DeGeneres (1958) American stand-up comedian, television host, and actress

Source: Seriously... I'm Kidding

Way

“You could tell by the way he talked, though, that he had gone to school a long time. That was probably what was wrong with him.”

John Kennedy Toole A Confederacy of Dunces

Source: A Confederacy of Dunces

School, Way, Time

“From my experience, honey, if he seems too good to be true—he probably is.”

Candace Bushnell book Sex and the City

Source: Sex and the City

“I want to be a scientist who studies the ocean when I grow up. I would go out to sea, and scuba dive, and find new things, and National Geographic will hire me.”
Sure, Nudge. Probably around the time I become president.”

James Patterson (1947) American author

Source: The Angel Experiment

Study, Time, Sea

“You don't have to be stupid to be a Christian,… but it probably helps.”

Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914) American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist, and satirist

Stupidity, Help

“Nico leaned over and plucked a grape. Probably that was the guy’s entire diet for the day.”

Rick Riordan book The House of Hades

Source: The House of Hades

Guy

“Genius is an exceedingly common human quality, probably natural to most of us.”

John Taylor Gatto (1935–2018) American teacher, book author

Nature

“These flowers will be rotten in a couple hours. Birds will crap on them. The smoke here will make them stink, and tomorrow a bulldozer will probably run over them, but for right now they are so beautiful.”

Chuck Palahniuk book Survivor

Source: Survivor

Beauty, Flowers, Bird

“You look lousy,"Simon said.
Jace blinked."Seems an odd time to start an insult contest, but if you insist, I could probably think up something good”

Cassandra Clare book City of Fallen Angels

Source: City of Fallen Angels

Thinking, Time

“Mma Ramotswe sighed. 'We are all tempted, Mma. We are all tempted when it comes to cake.'

That is true,' said Mma Potokwane sadly. 'There are many temptations in this life, but cake is probably one of the biggest of them.”

Alexander McCall Smith In the Company of Cheerful Ladies

Source: In the Company of Cheerful Ladies

Life

“I know three things will never be believed - the true, the probable, and the logical”

John Steinbeck book The Winter of Our Discontent

Source: The Winter of Our Discontent

“It’s probably unfair to expect the world at large, or even most people, to see us for all we are. It is essential, however, that we see ourselves for all we are. (413)”

Victoria Moran (1950) American writer

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

People, World

“You asked me to go out with you. I know you probably changed your mind. But you should know, the answer was yes. It's always been yes when it comes to you.”

Sarah Dessen book What Happened to Goodbye

What Happened To Goodbye (2011)
Source: What Happened to Goodbye

Change

“They’re not dead,” I told the goat. “They both have pulses.” “Oh.” The goat sighed. “Well, give them a few more hours and they’ll probably be dead.” “What is wrong with you?” “Everything,” said the goat.”

Rick Riordan book The Sword of Summer

Source: The Sword of Summer

Dead

“It's just a penis, right? Probably no worse for you than smoking.”

David Sedaris When You Are Engulfed in Flames

Source: When You Are Engulfed in Flames

“For a moment, Nico felt like a little kid again. He was tempted to blurt out, That’s so cool! Even before he got into Mythomagic, he’d been obsessed with pirates. Probably that was one reason he’d been so smitten with Percy, a son of the sea god.”

Rick Riordan book The Blood of Olympus

Source: The Blood of Olympus

God, Sea

“Such wounds to the heart will probably never heal. But we cannot simply sit and stare at our wounds forever.”

Haruki Murakami book 1Q84

Source: 1Q84

Heart

“If your heads were stuffed with straw, like mine, you would probably all live in the beautiful places, and then Kansas would have no people at all. It is fortunate for Kansas that you have brains.”

L. Frank Baum book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Source: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)
Context: The Scarecrow listened carefully, and said, "I cannot understand why you should wish to leave this beautiful country and go back to the dry, gray place you call Kansas."
"That is because you have no brains" answered the girl. "No matter how dreary and gray our homes are, we people of flesh and blood would rather live there than in any other country, be it ever so beautiful. There is no place like home."
The Scarecrow sighed.
"Of course I cannot understand it," he said. "If your heads were stuffed with straw, like mine, you would probably all live in the beautiful places, and then Kansas would have no people at all. It is fortunate for Kansas that you have brains."

People, Beauty

“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)

“He used to tell me, 'Do what you like to do. It'll probably turn out to be what you do best.”

Wallace Stegner book Crossing to Safety

Source: Crossing to Safety

“Well, actually it carried Cadmus. Europa fell off and died along the way, but that's not important.'
It was probably important to her.”

Rick Riordan book The Sea of Monsters

Source: The Sea of Monsters

Way

“Now, if you ask me, what’s going on is that we’re all up to here in it, and probably the most important thing is that we not yell at one another.”

Anne Lamott (1954) Novelist, essayist, memoirist, activist

“Myrnin: Have we been introduced?
Frank: Probably not. Why, you asking me out, sweetheart?
Myrnin: You’re not my type, darling.”

Rachel Caine (1962) American writer

Source: Ghost Town

“Religion is probably, after sex, the second oldest resource which human beings have available to them for blowing their mind.”

Susan Sontag book Styles of Radical Will

Source: Styles of Radical Will

Religion, Sex

“If you were smart, you'd probably spend more time stretching, he said & I said, If I were really smart, I'd probably spend more time just sitting in the shade drinking lemonade.”

Brian Andreas (1956) American artist

Drink, Time

“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

“A woman of many talents. And intelligent, too. He'd probably have to kill her soon.”

Robin Hobb (1952) American fiction writer (pseudonym)

Intelligence

“Calvin: Girls are like slugs—they probably serve some purpose, but it's hard to imagine what.
p71”

Bill Watterson (1958) American comic artist

The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes
Source: The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes: A Calvin and Hobbes Treasury

Imagination, Girl

“I'd missed Annabeth probably more than I wanted to admit.”

Rick Riordan book The Sea of Monsters

Source: The Sea of Monsters

“Saxton was indeed clear on things: Blay was still in love with Qhuinn— and probably always would be.
“Why?” he said to his lover.
“Because I want you for however long I have you.”

Jessica Bird (1969) U.S. novelist

Source: Lover Unleashed

Love, Lovers

“Don't talk to me. I'm tired and grumpy and I'll probably make fun of you.”

Ann Brashares The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Source: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

“Adamant," Doren said proudly, handing over the shield. "We fished it out of the tar pit where we found the shirt of mail."

"Probably all belonged to the same careless adventurer," Newel speculated. "Too much money, not enough talent.”

Brandon Mull (1974) American fiction writer

Source: Keys to the Demon Prison

Money, Fish

“Sorry. I have technical difficulties making it through a room without bumping into something. Thank God my clumsiness is only restricted to the ground. I’d probably kill myself diving if I was this bad underwater. (Tory)”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: Acheron

God

“You've got something to say to me, Seaweed Brain?"
"You'd probably kick my butt."
"You know I'd kick your butt.”

Rick Riordan (1964) American writer

“I wonder if the course of narcissism through the ages would have been any different had Narcissus first peered into a cesspool. He probably did.”

Frank O'Hara (1926–1966) American poet, art critic and writer

Source: Early Writing

Age

“You can clear out whatever obstacles are preventing you from living your most creative life, with the simple understanding that whatever is bad for you is probably also bad for your work.”

Elizabeth Gilbert Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear

Source: Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear

Life, Understanding

“As it is she will probably turn out to be one of these acid-faced virgins that sit behind little desks in public libraries and stamp dates in books.”

Raymond Chandler (1888–1959) Novelist, screenwriter

Books

“God's a busy guy. He don't have time to micromanage. What are the chances he heard that? It's early in the morning. He's probably having breakfast with Mrs. God.”

Janet Evanovich (1943) Novelist

Source: Motor Mouth

God, Guy, Business, Chance

“They spoke very little of their mutual feeling; pretty phrases and warm expressions being probably unnecessary between such tried friends.”

Thomas Hardy book Far from the Madding Crowd

Variant: They spoke very little of their mutual feelings: pretty phrases and warm attentions being probably unnecessary between such tried friends.
Source: Far from the Madding Crowd

Feeling