Quotes about talking
page 11

“We spent all those years talking about stuff we had in common, and the last few months noticing all the ways we were different and it broke both of our hearts.”

Nick Hornby (1957) English novelist

Way, Heart

“She could not complain about not having shoes when the person she was talking to had no legs.”

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie book The Thing Around Your Neck

Source: The Thing Around Your Neck

Shoe, Personality

“Hold thy peace, dear little Pearl!" whispered her mother. "We must not always talk in the market-place of what happens to us in the forest.”

Nathaniel Hawthorne book The Scarlet Letter

Source: The Scarlet Letter

Peace

“Kate's Speciality: Killing things, with much bloodshed. Talking trash, infuriating authority. Driving Beast Lord crazy.”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

“I mean, what do people talk about when they're married?" "Their kids, I guess." "Maybe that's all they have in common.”

Rita Mae Brown book Rubyfruit Jungle

Source: Rubyfruit Jungle

People

“We sit and talk,
quietly, with long lapses of silence
and I am aware of the stream
that has no language, coursing
beneath the quiet heaven of
your eyes
which has no speech”

William Carlos Williams book Paterson

Source: Paterson

Silence

“When I told you that I’d pray for you, what did you think I was talking about?”

Nicholas Sparks book A Walk to Remember

Source: A Walk to Remember

Thinking

“Sometimes this human stuff is slimy and pathetic… but better to feel it and talk about it and walk through it than to spend a lifetime being silently poisoned.”

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

Feeling

“Talk, talk, talk: the utter and heartbreaking stupidity of words.”

William Faulkner book Mosquitoes

Source: Mosquitoes

Stupidity, Heartbreaking

“It's so dark," she said lamely.

"You want me to hold your hand?"

Clary put both her hands behind her back like a small child.

"Don't talk down to me."

"Well, I could hardly talk up to you. You're too short.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Bones

Source: City of Bones

“Sorry," [Hamlet] said, rubbing his temples. "I don't know what came over me. All of a sudden I had this overwhelming desire to talk for a very long time without actually doing anything.”

Jasper Fforde book Something Rotten

Source: Something Rotten

Time

“The next time you try to seduce anyone, don't do it with talk, with words. Women know more about words than men ever will. And they know how little they can ever possibly mean.”

William Faulkner (1897–1962) American writer

Women, Men, Time

“Yes, you should talk," he said. "Sometimes a sad man can talk the sadness right out through his mouth. Sometimes a killin' man can talk the murder right out of his mouth.”

John Steinbeck book The Grapes of Wrath

Source: The Grapes of Wrath

Sadness

“When most of us talk to our dogs, we tend to forget that they're not people.”

Julia Glass (1956) Novelist, journalist, editor

People, Dogs, Forgetting

“Who you get, and how it works out - there's so much luck involved, as well as the million branching consequences of your unconscious choice of mate, that no one and no amount of talking can untangle it if it turns out unhappily.”

Ian McEwan book Enduring Love

Page 82.
Source: Enduring Love (1997)

“You live like this, sheltered, in a delicate world, and you believe you are living. Then you read a book (Lady Chatterley, for instance), or you take a trip, or you talk with Richard, and you discover that you are not living, that you are hibernating. The symptoms of hibernating are easily detectable: first, restlessness. The second symptom (when hibernating becomes dangerous and might degenerate into death): absence of pleasure. That is all. It appears like an innocuous illness. Monotony, boredom, death. Millions live like this (or die like this) without knowing it. They work in offices. They drive a car. They picnic with their families. They raise children. And then some shock treatment takes place, a person, a book, a song, and it awakens them and saves them from death.”

Anaïs Nin book The Diary of Anaïs Nin

The Diary of Anaïs Nin , Volume One 1931-1934
Diary entries (1914 - 1974)

Death, Children, Pleasure, Books

“Of all the crap, crap, crappy nights I've ever had in the whole of my crap life. On a scale of one to 10, we're talking… a minus 6. And it's not like I even have very high standards.”

Sophie Kinsella (1969) British writer

Life, Night

“If only these walls could talk…the world would know just how hard it is to tell the truth in a story in which everyone’s a liar.”

Gregg Olsen (1959) American writer

Source: Envy

Truth, World

“When politicians start talking about large groups of their fellow Americans as 'enemies,' it's time for a quiet stir of alertness. Polarizing people is a good way to win an election, and also a good way to wreck a country.”

Molly Ivins (1944–2007) American journalist

People, Way, Time, Country

“I’m talking to you more than I speak with my mahmen.”
“I thought your mother was dead.”
“She is.”
“You have a very low standard for communication.”

Jessica Bird (1969) U.S. novelist

Source: Lover at Last

Communication, Dead

“Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider.”

Francis Bacon book Essays

Of Studies
Essays (1625)

Reading

“He so did not sit down and have a proper talk with her. I know it. He probably sent her a brief text, saying, Over. Sam.”

Sophie Kinsella book I've Got Your Number

Source: I've Got Your Number

“I don't want our relationship to end like this. You're one of the very few friends I have, and it hurts not being able to see you. When am I going to be able to talk to you? I want you to tell me that much, at least.”

Haruki Murakami book Norwegian Wood

Source: Norwegian Wood

Hurt

“Tell me he’s not talking to Brandon,” Claire said.
“Um… Ok. He’s not talking to Brandon.”
“You’re lying.”
“Yeah. He’s talking to Brandon. Look, let Shane do his thing, okay? He’s not as stupid as he looks, mostly.”

Rachel Caine book Glass Houses

Source: Glass Houses

Stupidity, Lying

“You weren't able to talk sense into him?"
Well, we kind of tried to kill each other in a duel to the death."
I see. You tried the diplomatic approach.”

Rick Riordan book The Sea of Monsters

Source: The Sea of Monsters

Death, Sense

“Nothing happened today. And if anything did, I’d rather not talk about it, because I didn’t understand it.”

Roberto Bolaño book The Savage Detectives

Source: The Savage Detectives

Understanding

“I am a writer of books in retrospect. I talk in order to understand; I teach in order to learn”

Robert Frost (1874–1963) American poet

Books, Understanding, Learning

“Happiness. It comes on
unexpectedly. And goes beyond, really,
any early morning talk about it.”

Raymond Carver (1938–1988) American short story author and poet

Happiness

“Have you seen them?" he asked. Arrow looked at him disinterestedly. Will frowned.
Not talking, eh?" he said. "Maybe you're a little hoarse."
He cackled breifly at his own wit.”

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

Source: Erak's Ransom

“I want to talk to you. I want to listen to you. I want to walk with you and, yes, I want you in my bed. That's what I want today. That's what I'll want in a hundred years. If you promise to be my wife forever, I will pledge myself to your happiness.”

Christina Dodd (1957) American writer

Source: Rules of Attraction

Happiness

“Hello, I'm Shellie's new boyfriend and I'm out of my mind.
If you so much as talk to her or even think her name, I'll cut you in ways that'll make you useless to a woman.”

Frank Miller book The Big Fat Kill

Source: The Big Fat Kill

Way, Thinking

“Jace likes to pretend that everyone isn’t talking about him, even when he knows they are.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Glass

Source: City of Glass

“Ah, it was a fine night, a warm night, a wine-drinking night, a moony night, and a night to hug your girl and talk and spit and be heavengoing.”

Jack Kerouac book On the Road

Source: On the Road

Girl, Drink, Wine, Night

“They [dogs] never talk about themselves but listen to you while you talk about yourself, and keep up an appearance of being interested in the conversation.”

Jerome K. Jerome (1859–1927) English humorist

Dogs, Appearance

“If you're in the room, I want to be next to you. If you're gone, I think about you. You're who I want to talk to. In a fight, I want you at my back. When we're together the sun is shining. When we're apart, everything is in shades of gray.”

James Patterson (1947) American author

Source: Fang

Thinking, Sun, Fight

“You remember our talk about purpose and meaning?" he asked me, the smile disappearing. "Well, I think this might be mine. I think this is what I was meant to do, Georgina.”

Richelle Mead (1976) American writer

Source: Succubus Revealed

Smile, Thinking

“We may talk a good game and write even better ones, but we never outgrow those small wounded things we were when we were five and six and seven.”

Chris Bohjalian (1962) American novelist

Source: Secrets of Eden

Game

“They were always like two people talking to each other in different languages. But she loved him so much, when he withdrew as he had now done, it was like the warm sun going down and leaving her in chilly twilight dews.”

Margaret Mitchell book Vom Winde verweht (1937 German edition)

Source: Gone with the Wind

Love, People, Sun

“Well, she was talking to me. That's enough to make anyone lose their temper. And I accused her of sleeping with my dad because he was the soundest evolutionary choice.”

Richelle Mead book Frostbite

Source: Frostbite

Sleep

“She's talking about herself in the third person because the idea of being who she is, of acknowledging that she is herself, is more than her pride can take.”

Sarah Kane (1971–1999) playwright from England

Idea, Personality

“Why is it so damn hard for people to talk?”

Tennessee Williams Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Source: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

People

“You can't talk your way out of a problem you behaved your way into!”

Stephen R. Covey (1932–2012) American educator, author, businessman and motivational speaker

Way, Problem

“its hard to talk when you want to kill yourself”

Ned Vizzini book It's Kind of a Funny Story

Source: It's Kind of a Funny Story

“I don't want to talk to you no more, you empty headed animal food trough wiper. I fart in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.”

Graham Chapman (1941–1989) English comedian, writer and actor

Source: Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Book): Mønti Pythøn Ik Den Hølie Gräilen

Food, Animals

“You're buying years of work, toil in the sun; you're buying a sorrow that can't talk.”

John Steinbeck book The Grapes of Wrath

Source: The Grapes of Wrath

Sun

“An average person who develops the habit of setting clear priorities and getting important tasks completed quickly will run circles around a genius who talks a lot and makes wonderful plans but gets very little done.”

Brian Tracy (1944) American motivational speaker and writer

Personality

“The Sufi way is through knowledge and practice, not through intellect and talk.”

Idries Shah (1924–1996) writer and Sufi teacher

Source: Sufi Thought and Action

Way, Knowledge

“I get tired of hearing it's a crummy world and that people are no damned good. What kind of talk is that? I know a place in Payette, Idaho, where a cook and a waitress and a manager put everything they've got into laying a chicken-fried steak on you.”

Robert Fulghum book All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

Source: All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

People, World, Cooking

“If you need to talk about your childhood, you’re safe with me. If you need to break into a million pieces, I’m right here, Lev. I’ll find them all, I’m good at details, and I’ll put you back together. You’re safe here.”

Christine Feehan American writer

Source: Water Bound

Childhood

“The next time you're mad at me, talk to me,' he said. 'Don't shut me out. I don't like playing games. And by the way, I had a great time, too.”

Nicholas Sparks book The Last Song

Source: The Last Song

Way, Game, Time, Madness

“I think of the thrill of an intelligent woman talking just to me.”

Henry Rollins (1961) American singer-songwriter

Source: Solipsist

Intelligence, Thinking

“I was very strict on that point. No devouring classmates." Jeremy rolled his eyes. "Other parents warn their kids not to talk to strangers. I had to warn mine not to eat them.”

Kelley Armstrong book Stolen

Source: Stolen

Parent

“small talk comes from small bones”

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

“Well, sometime Mr —— git on me pretty hard. I have to talk to Old Maker. But he my husband. I shrug my shoulders. This life soon be over, I say. Heaven last all ways.

You ought to bash Mr —— head open, she say. Think bout heaven later.”

Alice Walker book The Color Purple

Source: The Color Purple

Life, Way, Thinking

“When time passes, it's the people who knew you whom you want to see; they're the ones you can talk to. When enough time passes, what's it matter what they did to you?”

John Irving book The Cider House Rules

Source: The Cider House Rules

People, Time

“I like dogs. You always know what a dog is thinking. It has four moods. Happy, sad, cross and concentrating. Also, dogs are faithful and they do not tell lies because they cannot talk.”

Mark Haddon book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Source: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Happiness, Sadness, Faith, Dogs

“I find that if you just talk, your mouth comes up with stuff.”

Karl Pilkington (1972) English television personality, social commentator, actor, author and former radio producer

Fame Souvenir Program Podcast
On Biology

“Whenever I look at the ocean, I always want to talk to people, but when I'm talking to people, I always want to look at the ocean.”

Haruki Murakami book Hear the Wind Sing

Source: Hear the Wind Sing

People

“… It makes me cry, I want to talk about something I am not sure I can talk about, I want to talk about the inside from the inside, I do not want to leave it
I am so happy in the silky damp dark of the labyrinth and there is no thread”

Hélène Cixous (1937) French philosopher and writer

Source: The Book of Promethea

Happiness, Cry

“talk was cheap and useless. Action was what mattered. And me, I was moving. Now, again, always.”

Sarah Dessen book What Happened to Goodbye

Source: What Happened to Goodbye

“Boo: "Go talk to her."

Callum: "About what?"

Boo: "Anything."

Callum: "You want me to walk up to her and say, 'Are you a ghost?'"

Boo: "I do that."

Callum: "I love it when you get it wrong.”

Maureen Johnson (1973) writer from the USA

Source: The Name of the Star

Love

“I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace.”

George W. Bush (1946) 43rd President of the United States

Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, D.C. http://www.hud.gov/news/speeches/presremarks.cfm (June 18, 2002) <br class="br">2000s, 2002

War, Peace

“The healing power of even the most microscopic exchange with someone who knows in a flash precisely what you're talking about because she experienced that thing too cannot be overestimated.”

Cheryl Strayed book Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar

Source: Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar

“People don't talk about anything… No, not anything. They name a lot of cars or clothes or swimming pools mostly and say how swell! But they all say the same things and nobody says anything different from anyone else.”

Ray Bradbury book Fahrenheit 451

Source: Fahrenheit 451

People, Cars, Clothes

“Look up, laugh loud, talk big, keep the colour in your cheek and the fire in your eye, adorn your person, maintain your health, your beauty, and your animal spirits, and you will pass for a fine man.”

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer

"On The Conduct of Life" (1822)

Health, Beauty, Animals, Personality

“You see, this happened a few months ago, but it's still going on right now, and it ought to make us feel ashamed when we talk like we know what we're talking about when we talk about love.”

Raymond Carver (1938–1988) American short story author and poet

Source: Where I'm Calling From: New and Selected Stories

Love, Feeling

“I talk to myself everyone once in a while. Give myself very good advice. Sometimes I even take it.”

Laurell K. Hamilton book Guilty Pleasures

Source: Guilty Pleasures

“I hear my silence talked of in every lane;
The suppression of a cry is itself a cry of pain.”

Darshan Singh (1932)

Pain, Silence, Cry

“I had no voice to talk with because she was my whole language. Without her to talk to, there was nothing to say.”

Rob Sheffield (1966) American music journalist

Variant: I had no voice to talk with because she was my whole language.
Source: Love Is a Mix Tape

“Talking is a hydrant in the yard and writing is a faucet upstairs in the house. Opening the first takes all the pressure off the second.”

Robert Frost (1874–1963) American poet

Letter to Sydney Cox (3 January 1937), quoted in Robert Frost : The Trial By Existence (1960) by Elizabeth Shepley Sergeant, p. 351, and Robert Frost and Sidney Cox: Forty Years of Friendship (1981) by William Richard Evans, p. 223
General sources
Context: Talking is a hydrant in the yard and writing is a faucet upstairs in the house. Opening the first takes all the pressure off the second. My mouth is sealed for the duration of my stay here. I'm not even going to write letters around to explain to collectors my not having had any Christmas card this year. I'm not going to explain anything personal any more.

Housing

“You're much shorter than my mom."
"Brat," she said, surprised into a giggle.
"That's no way to talk to a vampire."
"Bloodsucking brat."
"Better" he said.”

Rachel Caine (1962) American writer

Source: Ghost Town

Way, Moms

“Soon after I began working for the Professor, I realized that he talked about numbers whenever he was unsure of what to say or do. Numbers were also his way of reaching out to the world. They were safe, a source of comfort.”

Yōko Ogawa book The Housekeeper and the Professor

Source: The Housekeeper and the Professor

World, Way

“It was bewildering and humbling to keep discovering how many brave things people can fail to talk themselves out of doing.”

Rob Sheffield (1966) American music journalist

Source: Love Is a Mix Tape