Quotes about thing
page 70

Source: Shantaram

“Young lovers see a vision of the world redeemed by love. That is the truest thing they ever see, for without it life is death.”

Wendell Berry (1934) author

Source: Jayber Crow

Love, Life, Death, World

“Love's a tidal wave," she says.
"Because it sweeps you off your feet?" I ask.
"No. Because it sucks you under and you drown."
"But sometimes," I point out, "it's the only thing that keeps you afloat.”

Jodi Picoult (1966) Author

Source: Between the Lines

Love

“He looked at me intently, from what seemed behind the veil of a grave experience. Then slowly and prophetically, he said the scariest thing I'd ever heard: "Because the answer to a heartfelt question, Jack, will always break your heart.”

Thomas H. Cook (1947) American writer

Source: Master of the Delta

Question, Heart

“You have to distinguish between things that seemed odd when they were new but are now quite familiar, such as Ibsen and Wagner, and things that seemed crazy when they were new and seem crazy now, like 'Finnegans Wake' and Picasso.”

Philip Larkin (1922–1985) English poet, novelist, jazz critic and librarian

“It is a brave and stupid thing, a beautiful thing, to waste one's life for love.”

Andrew Sean Greer book The Confessions of Max Tivoli

Source: The Confessions of Max Tivoli

Love, Life, Stupidity, Beauty

“You know someone's right for you when the things they don'tto say are even more important than the things they do.”

Jodi Picoult book Sing You Home

Source: Sing You Home

“The greatest truths are the simplest things in the world, simple as your own existence.”

Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) Indian Hindu monk and phylosopher

Truth, World

“Such a small thing to cause so much trouble.”

Patricia Briggs book Silver Borne

Source: Silver Borne

“Sometimes, unexpected things can happen.”

Alex Flinn book Beastly

Source: Beastly

“It’s in the act of having to do things that you don’t want to that you learn something about moving past the self. Past the ego.”

Bell Hooks (1952) American author, feminist, and social activist

Learning, Past, Moving On

“The true magic of this broken world lay in the ability of the things it contained to vanish, to become so thoroughly lost, that they might never have existed in the first place.”

Michael Chabon book The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

Source: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

World

“Clark," she said softly, "I wouldn't change you for the world.
You're sweet the way you are. The things that'll make you fail
I'll love always-- the living in the past, the lazy days and
nights you have, and all your carelessness and generosity.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald book The Ice Palace

Source: The Ice Palace

Love, World, Way, Change

“And you know, these things don't last forever.'

I know, Mandy. Nothing does.'

That's the spirit.”

Scott Westerfeld book So Yesterday

Source: So Yesterday

“Even if it’s dangerous, and painful, and so very, very lonely. One must go on fighting- It is the only honorable thing to do”

David Klass book You Don't Know Me

Source: You Don't Know Me

Pain, Fight

“Throughout history, people with new ideas—who think differently and try to change things—have always been called troublemakers.”

Richelle Mead Shadow Kiss

Source: Shadow Kiss

People, History, Idea, Thinking

“I am notorious for making impassioned speeches about things nobody cares about.”

Mindy Kaling book Why Not Me?

Source: Why Not Me?

“It’s an odd thing, happiness. Some people take happiness from gold. Or black pearls. And some of us, far more fortunate, take their happiness from periwinkles.”

Patricia A. McKillip book The Changeling Sea

Source: The Changeling Sea

Happiness, People

“Her heart was broken perhaps, but it was a small inexpensive organ of local manufacture. In a wider and grander way she felt things had been simplified.”

Evelyn Waugh book The Loved One

Source: The Loved One

Way, Heart

“My dear, I think of you always and at night I build myself a warm nest of things I remember and float in your sweetness till morning.”

Zelda Fitzgerald (1900–1948) Novelist, wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald

Thinking, Night

“I do not like odd things until I can understand them.”

Robert Jordan The Great Hunt

Source: The Great Hunt

Understanding

“Magnus placed an order with the room service, who had by now stopped questioning Mr. Bane's unusual needs for things like twenty-four plates of scrambled eggs and “”.”

Cassandra Clare (1973) American author

Source: The Rise of the Hotel Dumort

Question

“The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to someone else.”

James Patterson (1947) American author

Source: First Love

World

“A managed democracy is a wonderful thing… for the managers… and its greatest strength is a 'free press' when 'free' is defined as 'responsible' and the managers define what is 'irresponsible'.”

Robert A. Heinlein book The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

Source: The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

Democracy

“Did you ever dream you had a friend, Alec? Someone to last your whole life and you his. I suppose such a thing can’t really happen outside sleep.”

E.M. Forster book Maurice

Source: Maurice

Life, Dreams, Sleep

“Things can turn out differently, Apollo. That's the nice thing about being human. We only have one life, but we can choose what kind of story it's going to be.”

Rick Riordan book The Hidden Oracle

Source: The Hidden Oracle

Life

“There's no end to the absurd things people will do trying to make life mean something.”

William Wharton book Birdy

Source: Birdy

Life, People

“There had been times when he knew, somewhere in him, that he would get used to it, whatever it was, because he had learnt that some hard things became softer after a very little while.”

Nick Hornby About a Boy

Source: About a Boy (1998), Ch. 3

Time

“I'm a godmother, that's a great thing to be, a godmother. She calls me god for short, that's cute, I taught her that.”

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

Ellen DeGeneres, My Point...And I Do Have One

God

“I don’t love you as if you were the salt-rose, topaz
or arrow of carnations that propagate fire:
I love you as certain dark things are loved,
secretly, between the shadow and the soul.”

Pablo Neruda (1904–1973) Chilean poet

Source: 100 Love Sonnets

Love, Soul

“Finally the vampire released him with another groan, sitting back on his haunches. "Your blood isin power." Running his tongue over a fang, he said, "Among other things. I believe I might be high. But Iit.”

Kresley Cole American writer

Source: Dreams of a Dark Warrior

“Read – and be curious. And if somebody says to you: 'Things are this way. You can't change it' - don't believe a word.”

Cornelia Funke (1958) author

Way, Change, Reading

“What kept me sane was knowing that things would change, and it was a question of keeping myself together until they did.”

Nina Simone (1933–2003) American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist

Source: I Put a Spell on You: The Autobiography of Nina Simone

Question, Change

“I had a chance at him now. Things were a bit more even. He knew my name, I knew his. He had six years' experience, I had five thousand and ten. That was the kind of odds that you could do something with.”

Jonathan Stroud book The Amulet of Samarkand

Source: The Amulet of Samarkand

Chance

“… remember one thing only: that it's you-nobody else-who determines your destiny and decides your fate. Nobody else can be alive for you; nor can you be alive for anybody else.”

E.E. Cummings (1894–1962) American poet

Fate

“It ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.”

Niccolo Machiavelli book The Prince

Variant: It must be considered that there is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, than to initiate a new order of things.
Source: The Prince (1513), Ch. 6
Context: It ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new. This coolness arises partly from fear of the opponents, who have the laws on their side, and partly from the incredulity of men, who do not readily believe in new things until they have had a long experience of them.

Success

“I don't know. But Iknow that I'm at the stage of my life where I want, not.

I know that the first person I kissed won't be nearly as important as the last person I kiss.

And I also know better than to dream about things that can't happen.”

Jodi Picoult book Sing You Home

Source: Sing You Home

Life, Dreams, Kiss, Personality

“You see, a conflict always begins with an issue - a difference of opinion, an argument. But by the time it turns into a war, the issue doesn't matter anymore, because now it's about one thing and one thing only: how much each side hates the other.”

Neal Shusterman book Unwind

Source: Unwind

Hate, War, Time

“A Time For Prayer

"In times of war and not before,
God and the soldier we adore.
But in times of peace and all things righted,
God is forgotten and the soldier slighted."

-Rudyard Kipling”

Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) English short-story writer, poet, and novelist

God, War, Peace, Time

“And then there is Darcy. She is a woman who believes that things should fall into her lap, and, consequently, they do. They always have. She wins because she expects to win. I do not expect what I want, so I dont. And I dont even try.”

Emily Giffin Something Borrowed

Source: Something Borrowed

“How simple and frugal a thing is happiness: a glass of wine, a roast chestnut, a wretched little brazier, the sound of the sea.... All that is required to feel that here and now is happiness is a simple, frugal heart.”

Nikos Kazantzakis book Zorba the Greek

Source: Zorba the Greek (1946), Ch. 7

Happiness, Feeling, Wine, Heart

“The thing about real life is, when you do something stupid, it normally costs you.”

Darren Shan book Cirque du Freak

Source: A Living Nightmare

Life, Stupidity

“I can see now that it’s the little things, the small efforts, that keep a relationship going. And I know now too that in some small measure I have the power to hurt him and also the power to make it better.”

Jenny Han book P.S. I Still Love You

Source: P.S. I Still Love You

Effort, Hurt

“The secret to success is to do the common things uncommonly well.”

John D. Rockefeller (1839–1937) American business magnate and philanthropist

Secret, Success, Success, Life

“Poets knew that isolation in nature, far from people and things man-made, was good for the soul, and he'd always identified with poets.”

Nicholas Sparks book The Notebook

Source: The Notebook

People, Soul, Nature

“The really frightening thing about middle age is the knowledge that you'll grow out of it.”

Doris Day (1922–2019) American actress, singer, and animal rights activist

As quoted in Doris Day : Her Own Story (1975) as told to A. E. Hotchner

Age, Knowledge

“isn’t life a kind of corruption? A child is born, and the world sets in upon it. Taking things from it, stuffing things into it.”

Anthony Doerr book All the Light We Cannot See

Source: All the Light We Cannot See

Life, World

“Do you know what I feel about you, Devin? About us?… Dazzled, you dazzle me. You make me feel things, and want things I never knew I could have. -Cassie”

Nora Roberts (1950) American romance writer

Source: The Heart of Devin MacKade

Feeling

“Just remember that the things you put into your head are there forever, he said. You might want to think about that.
You forget some things, dont you?
Yes. You forget what you want to remember and you remember what you want to forget.”

Cormac McCarthy book The Road

Source: The Road

Thinking, Forgetting

“Once you know some things, you can't unknow them. It's a burden that can never be given away.”

Alice Hoffman (1952) Novelist, young-adult writer, children's writer

Source: Incantation

“And above all things, never think that you’re not good enough yourself. A man should never think that. My belief is that in life people will take you at your own reckoning.”

Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, known for his works of science fiction …

Life, People, Thinking

“She didn't want to know how a thing was done, but why…. Luckily, queer ones like her don't happen often.”

Ray Bradbury book Fahrenheit 451

Source: Fahrenheit 451

“Human beings are such knotted, desperate pieces of work-it's a rare thing to know one completely, to the core, and still love him.”

Dean Koontz book Your Heart Belongs to Me

Source: Your Heart Belongs to Me

Love

“If names be not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things.”

Confucius (-551–-479 BC) Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher

名不正，则言不顺
Paraphrased as a chinese proverb stating "The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their proper name."
Source: The Analects of Confucius
Source: The Analects, Chapter XIII

Truth

“Perhaps the most tragic thing about mankind is that we are all dreaming about some magical garden over the horizon, instead of enjoying the roses that are right outside today.”

Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919) American businessman and philanthropist

Dreams

“All things fade and quickly turn to myth.”

Marcus Aurelius book Meditations

Source: Meditations

“… My friend, there are some things that I cannot tell you. Some I will tell you in time; some, others will tell you; some you may never know, or you may be the first to find the answers.”

Robin McKinley book The Blue Sword

Source: The Blue Sword

Time

“SITTING TIGHT? Holing up? Waiting for answers?
Those are things I'm not good at.
Planning a massive attack against mechanical geeky-like things when i was already furious and itching to kill something?
Piece o'cake”

James Patterson book Maximum Ride

Source: Max

Waiting

“I will take a serious approach to a subject usually treated lightly, which is a nerdy thing to do.”

Benjamin Nugent (1950) American writer

Source: American Nerd: The Story of My People

“The challenge is to write about real things magically.”

Raymond Chandler (1888–1959) Novelist, screenwriter

Source: Selected Letters

“Everyone’s a believer when things are going fine. The real faith is when one becomes patient with tribulations.”

Hamza Yusuf (1958) American Islamic scholar

Faith

“In my mind, the sexiest thing in the world is the feeling that you’re wanted.”

Mindy Kaling book Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

Source: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

World, Feeling

“Most of us all walk around as if we're sleepwalking. We really don't experience the world fully, because we're half-asleep, doing things we automatically think we have to do.”

Mitch Albom Tuesdays with Morrie

Source: Tuesdays with Morrie

World, Thinking

“There may be significant things to learn about people by looking at what annoys them most.”

Alain de Botton (1969) Swiss writer

Source: How Proust Can Change Your Life

People, Learning

“I see that there will be no end to imperfection, or to doing things the wrong way. Even if you grow up, no matter how hard you scrub, whatever you do, there will always be some other stain or spot on your face or stupid act, somebody frowning.”

Margaret Atwood book Cat's Eye

Source: Cat's Eye

Stupidity, Way

“It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.”

John Wooden (1910–2010) American basketball coach

For Parents

“Some things were better lost than found.”

Stephen King book The Dead Zone

Source: The Dead Zone

“Human beings are millions of things in one day.”

Nick Hornby book A Long Way Down

Source: A Long Way Down

“You can be as mad as a mad dog at the way things went, you can curse the fates, but when it comes to the end, you have to let go.”

Eric Roth (1945) American screenwriter

Source: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Screenplay

Fate, Dogs, Way, Madness

“No one on earth is so boring and insignificant that he or she is not worth writing or reading about… One thing's for sure—no one but you can be the hero of your story.”

Jerry Spinelli (1941) American children's writer

Source: Today I Will: A Year of Quotes, Notes, and Promises to Myself

Reading

“None of those other things makes a difference. Love is the strongest thing in the world, you know. Nothing can touch it. Nothing comes close. If we love each other we're safe from it all. Love is the biggest thing there is.”

David Guterson book Snow Falling on Cedars

Source: Snow Falling on Cedars

Love, World

“I allowed myself to forget how totally I had fallen in love with Lestat's iridescent eyes, that I'd sold my soul for a many-colored and luminescent thing, thinking that a highly reflective surface conveyed the power to walk on water.”

Anne Rice book Interview with the Vampire

Source: Interview with the Vampire

Love, Color, Soul, Thinking

“No matter how great the talent or efforts, some things just take time. You can't produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant.”

Warren Buffett (1930) American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist

Women, Effort, Time, Baby

“As long as you have the courage to admit mistakes, things can be turned around.”

Haruki Murakami book Kafka on the Shore

Source: Kafka on the Shore

Courage

“In spite of illness, in spite even of the archenemy sorrow, one can remain alive long past the usual date of disintegration if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in intellectual curiosity, interested in big things, and happy in small ways.”

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

"A First Word" <br class="br"> A Backward Glance http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200271.txt (1934)

Happiness, Way, Change, Past

“He loved her, of course, but better than that, he chose her, day after day. Choice: that was the thing.”

Sherman Alexie (1966) Native American author and filmmaker

Source: The Toughest Indian in the World

Love

“Either things grow and change or they die.”

Kim Edwards book The Memory Keeper's Daughter

Source: The Memory Keeper's Daughter

Change

“You will learn most things by looking, but reading gives understanding. Reading will make you free.”

Paul Rand (1914–1996) American graphic designer

Understanding, Learning, Reading

“Failures plagued me. Things I had omitted or ignored, neglected. What I should have given and hadn’t. I felt the biting pang of every unfulfillment.”

Richard Matheson book What Dreams May Come

Source: What Dreams May Come

Failure

“That's the thing about being a victim; you start to think it'll happen to you on a regular basis. It's living with the reality of your own vulnerability, and it sucks.”

Dennis Lehane book A Drink Before the War

Source: A Drink Before the War

Thinking, Reality

“Though the funny thing about never being asked for anything is that after a while you start to feel like maybe you don’t have anything worth giving.”

Lev Grossman The Magician King

Source: The Magician King

Feeling

“All good things pass away.”

Philip Pullman book Northern Lights

Source: The Golden Compass

“I give myself a good cry if I need it. But then I concentrate on the good things still in my life. I don't allow myself any more self-pity than that. A little each every morning, a few tears, and that's all.”

Mitch Albom Tuesdays with Morrie

Source: Tuesdays with Morrie

Life, Tear, Cry

“I’d done the right thing. I always did. It just would have been nice if someone had noticed.”

Sarah Dessen (1970) American writer

Source: Saint Anything

“As a matter of fact, I think there are more things important in life than "relationships.”

David Nicholls book One Day

Source: One Day

Life, Thinking

“I'd take a look at my own self in the mirror and wonder how it was possible that anybody could manage such an enormous thing as being what he was.”

Ken Kesey book One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Source: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1962), Ch. 17
Context: Later, hiding in the latrine from the black boys, I'd take a look at my own self in the mirror and wonder how it was possible that anybody could manage such an enormous thing as being what he was.

“One of the tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon - instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today.”

Dale Carnegie (1888–1955) American writer and lecturer

Dreams, Nature