Quotes about timing
page 37

“No one had ever called me unnatural before, except for the time I put ketchup on a taco. But seriously, we'd been out of salsa, so what else was I supposed to do?”

Richelle Mead Blood Promise

Source: Blood Promise

Time

“Darkling I listen; and, for many a time
I have been half in love with easeful Death”

John Keats Ode to a Nightingale

Stanza 6
Poems (1820), Ode to a Nightingale
Source: The Complete Poems
Context: Darkling I listen; and, for many a time
I have been half in love with easeful Death,
Call'd him soft names in many a musèd rhyme,
To take into the air my quiet breath;
Now more than ever seems it rich to die,
To cease upon the midnight with no pain,
While thou art pouring forth thy soul abroad
In such an ecstasy!
Still wouldst thou sing, and I have ears in vain —
To thy high requiem become a sod.

Love, Death, Time

“There are times, young fellah, when every one of us must make a stand for human right and justice, or you never feel clean again.”

Arthur Conan Doyle book The Lost World

Source: The Lost World

Justice, Feeling, Time

“Time is the clarity for seeing right and wrong.”

Alan Lightman book Einstein's Dreams

Source: Einstein's Dreams

Time

“… the state of rapture I experience when I read a wonderful book
is one of the main reasons I read;
but it doesn't happen every time
or even every other time,
and when it does happen,
I am truly beside myself.”

Nora Ephron (1941–2012) Film director, author screenwriter

Books, Time, Reading

“Why do you lie" I ask her.
"To block the truth."
Fair enough.
Naomi goes on. "Where did we get it in our heads that we need truth all the time? Sometimes lies are nice, you know? You don't have to know the truth all the time. It's too exhausting.”

Rachel Cohn (1968) American writer

Source: Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List

Truth, Lie, Time

“Most good things have been said far too many times and just need to be lived.”

Shane Claiborne (1975) American activist

Variant: Most good things have already been said far too many times and just need to be lived.

Time

“I knew you'd come, Claire. I knew you would. Dear God, you took your time.”

Rachel Caine (1962) American writer

Source: Bitter Blood

God, Time

“How was it possible for the world to be so beautiful and so cruel at the same time?”

Gillian Rubinstein Tales of the Otori

Source: Across the Nightingale Floor

World, Beauty, Time

“I prefer to believe that people are good and honest and respect me enough to tell me the truth. It's not easy to find those people all the time, but they're out there.”

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

Source: Seriously... I'm Kidding

People, Truth, Time

“Different time, different place,” I said. “Things can change. People can change.”

Richelle Mead book The Golden Lily

Source: The Golden Lily

People, Change, Time

“He [Death] pulled a pure-black iPad from thin air. Death tapped the screen a few times and all Frank could think was: Please don't let there be an app for reading souls”

Rick Riordan book The Son of Neptune

Source: The Son of Neptune

Death, Soul, Thinking, Time

“Once time is lit, it will burn whether or not you're breathing it in. Even after smoke becomes air, there is the memory of smoke. I am seeing as if by the light of a match, a glimpse of my life and having it feel right.”

David Levithan The Realm of Possibility

Source: The Realm of Possibility

Life, Feeling, Light, Memory

“I think prime numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them”

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

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

Life, Thinking, Time

“If I die before I say 'I love you' it's because I didn't have the time.”

Diana Gabaldon (1952) American author

Love, Time

“I will not wait to love as best as I can. We thought we were young and that there would be time to love well sometime in the future. This is a terrible way to think. It is no way to live, to wait to love.”

Dave Eggers book What Is the What

Variant: If I ever fall in love again, I will not wait to love as best as I can. We thought we were young and that there would be time to love well sometime in the future. This is a terrible way to think. It is no way to live, to wait to love.
Source: What is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng (2006), Ch. 21, pp. 317-318
Source: What Is the What
Context: I cannot count the times I have cursed our lack of urgency. If I ever love again, I will not wait to love as best as I can. We thought we were young and that there would be time to love well sometime in the future. This is a terrible way to think. It is no way to live, to wait to love.

Love, Way, Thinking, Time

“It is a slightly arresting notion that if you were to pick yourself apart with tweezers, one atom at a time, you would produce a mound of fine atomic dust, none of which had ever been alive but all of which had once been you.”

Bill Bryson book A Short History of Nearly Everything

Pages 1-2
Source: A Short History of Nearly Everything (2003)

Time

“Arriving late was a way of saying that your own time was more valuable than the time of the person who waited for you.”

Karen Joy Fowler The Jane Austen Book Club

Source: The Jane Austen Book Club

Way, Time, Waiting, Personality

“All the hundreds of millions of people who, in their time, believed the Earth was flat never succeeded in unrounding it by an inch.”

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

People, Time

“Yet how hard most people work for mere dust and ashes and care, taking no thought of growing in knowledge and grace, never having time to get in sight of their own ignorance.”

John Muir (1838–1914) Scottish-born American naturalist and author

Source: John Muir: His Life and Letters and Other Writings

People, Knowledge, Time

“The right time is any time that one is still so lucky as to have.”

Henry James book The Ambassadors

The Ambassadors (1903), book V, ch. II.
Context: Live all you can — it's a mistake not to. It doesn't so much matter what you do in particular, so long as you have your life. If you haven't had that, what have you had?.. What one loses one loses; make no mistake about that... The right time is any time that one is still so lucky as to have.. Live!

Time

“In a dark time, the eye begins to see.”

Theodore Roethke (1908–1963) American poet

Time

“For the first time, she did want more. She did not know what she wanted, knew that it was dangerous and that she should rest content with what she had, but she knew an emptiness deep inside her, which began to ache.”

Iain Pears book The Dream of Scipio

Source: The Dream of Scipio

Time

“Why is it that every time a girl says a guy is bothering her, it's fluffed off with oh, he just likes you, as if that makes it okay?”

Kelley Armstrong book The Summoning

Source: The Summoning

Guy, Girl, Time

“If you're always on time, it implies that you never have anything better you should be doing.”

Brandon Sanderson book Mistborn: The Final Empire

Variant: If you’re always on time, it implies that you never have anything better you should be doing.
Source: Mistborn: The Final Empire

Time

“You can see where it was, years ago. Like an old woman who was once beautiful, but time has taken her beauty away.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Bones

Source: City of Bones

Beauty, Time

“The cancer of time is eating us away”

Henry Miller book Tropic of Cancer

Source: Tropic of Cancer

Time

“The longer I live, the more I realize that I am never wrong about anything, and that all the pains I have so humbly taken to verify my notions have only wasted my time!”

George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish playwright

Pain, Time

“Time is what turns kittens into cats.”

Joss Whedon (1964) American director, writer, and producer for television and film

Source: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Cats, Time

“the tired sunsets and the tired
people -
it takes a lifetime to die and
no time at
all.”

Charles Bukowski (1920–1994) American writer

People, Time

“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 would die for you. You know that. I would die without you. If it were not for you, I would be dead a hundred times over these past five years.”

Cassandra Clare book Clockwork Prince

Source: Clockwork Prince

Time, Past, Dead

“Mom and Dad were great, but being asked where I was going every time I left the house - or where I'd been every time I returned - got old quickly.”

Lauren Weisberger book The Devil Wears Prada

Source: The Devil Wears Prada

Moms, Time, Housing

“So," I (Percy) said glumly. "We're going to get a ride from your brother, huh?"
Artemis's silver eyes gleamed. "Yes, boy. You see, Bianca di Angelo is not the only one with
an annoying brother. It's time for you to meet my irresponsible twin, Apollo.”

Rick Riordan book The Titan's Curse

Source: The Titan's Curse

Boy, Time

“It's funny, when you're a child you think time will never go by, but when you hit about twenty, time passes like you're on the fast train to Memphis. I guess life just slips up on everybody. It sure did on me.”

Fannie Flagg book Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

Source: Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

Life, Thinking, Time, Training

“More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.”

Woody Allen book Mere Anarchy

"My Speech to the Graduates"
Side Effects (1980)
Variant: Mankind is facing a crossroad - one road leads to despair and utter hopelessness and the other to total extinction - I sincerely hope you graduates choose the right road
Source: Mere Anarchy

Wisdom, History, Time, Despair

“There must be a stronger foundation than mere friendship or sexual attraction. Unconditional love, agape love, will not be swayed by time or circumstances.”

Stephen Kendrick book The Love Dare

Source: The Love Dare

Love, Friendship, Time

“Never give a good politician time to pray.”

Stephen King book Under the Dome

Source: Under the Dome

Time

“Being a child at home alone in the summer is a high-risk occupation. If you call your mother at work thirteen times an hour, she can hurt you.”

Erma Bombeck (1927–1996) When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent le…

Home, Time, Summer, Hurt

“She has to agree to have me. It could take some time, but I’m confident I can trick her into it.”

Robyn Carr American writer

Source: Promise Canyon

Confidence, Time

“I realised something important: whatever is on the outside can be taken away at any time. Only what is inside you is safe.”

Jeanette Winterson (1959) English writer

Time

“I spend the rest of the afternoon trying to explain to Zoe one of the very saddest notions in love and life: sometimes the timing is wrong--and sometimes you realize the heart of the matter way to late in the game.”

Emily Giffin (1972) American writer

Source: Baby Proof

Love, Life, Way, Game

“First time's a fluke; second time's a coincidence," said Velius.
"Third time's tradition," finished Erik.”

Alethea Kontis (1976) American writer

Source: Enchanted

Time

“Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic.”

Carl Sagan book Cosmos

42 min 33 sec
Variant: A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic.
Source: Cosmos: A Personal Voyage (1990 Update), The Persistence of Memory [Episode 11]
Context: What an astonishing thing a book is. It's a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles. But one glance at it and you're inside the mind of another person, maybe somebody dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic.

Books, Time

“He was the firstborn Bridgerton of a firstborn Bridgerton of a firstborn Bridgerton eight times over. He had a dynastic responsibility to be fruitful and multiply.”

Julia Quinn (1970) American novelist

Source: The Viscount Who Loved Me

Time

“To a Young Poet

Time cannot break the bird's wing from the bird.
Bird and wing together
Go down, one feather.

No thing that ever flew,
Not the lark, not you,
Can die as others do.”

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

Source: Collected Poems

Bird, Time

“Every day I ran to that book like it was a bottle of whiskey and crawled inside because it was a world that I had at least some control over, and slowly, in time, it began to take shape.”

Craig Ferguson (1962) Scottish-born American television host, stand-up comedian, writer, actor, director, author, producer and voice a…

Source: American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot

Books, World, Time

“Smiling, I cut across the quadrangle toward the commons. I felt better about life than I had in a very long time. We could do this, Lissa and me. We could do this together.”

Richelle Mead Vampire Academy

Source: Vampire Academy

Life, Smile, Time

“I just want ambitious teenagers to know it is totally fine to be quite, observant kids. Besides being a delight to your parents, you will find you have plenty of time later to catch up.”

Mindy Kaling book Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

Source: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

Parent, Time

“Nine times out of ten, talking is a way of avoiding doing things.”

Patricia C. Wrede Dealing with Dragons

Source: Dealing with Dragons

Way, Time

“I have finished To Kill a Mockingbird. It is now my favorite book of all time, but then again, I always think that until I read another book.”

Stephen Chbosky book The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Source: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Books, Thinking, Time, Reading

“Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer”

Jenny Han (1980) American writer

Source: The Summer I Turned Pretty

Winter, Time, Summer

“It is important that you say what you mean to say. Time is too short. You must speak the words that matter.”

Kate DiCamillo The Magician's Elephant

Source: The Magician's Elephant

Time

“I hate you! (Artemis)
Oh, please don’t get my hopes up. You almost gave me a hard-on with that thought. At least tell me this time your hatred will last more than five minutes. (Acheron)”

Sherrilyn Kenyon book Dance with the Devil

Source: Dance with the Devil

Hate, Hope, Time

“When the times are a crucible, when the air is full of crisis, those who are the most themselves are the victims.”

Gregory Maguire book Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West

Source: Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West

Time

“Your best work involves timing. If someone wrote the best hip hop song of all time in the Middle Ages, he had bad timing.”

Scott Adams (1957) cartoonist, writer

Age, Time

“It'd be great to be so famous that if I murder someone, I will never, ever, ever serve any jail time, even if it's totally obvious to everyone that I did it.”

Mindy Kaling book Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

Source: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

Time

“The body shuts down when it has too much to bear; goes its own way quietly inside, waiting for a better time, leaving you numb and half alive.”

Jeanette Winterson book The Passion

Source: The Passion

Way, Time, Waiting

“I'm sorry," he says, "for that time I kissed you at that party and for that time at the wedding and more than anything for the thousand times that I wanted to and didn't have the guts to.”

Melina Marchetta (1965) Australian teen writer

Source: Saving Francesca

Kiss, Wedding, Time

“Things you did. Things you never did. Things you dreamed. After a long time they run together.”

Richard Ford book Canada

Source: Canada

Dreams, Time

“Other men are strong like bricks - firm, unyielding, but if you pound on them long enough, they crack. You… you're strong like the wind. Always there, so willing to bend, but never apologetic for the times when you must be firm.”

Brandon Sanderson (1975) American fantasy writer

Source: The Well of Ascension

Men, Strong, Time

“Why do they not teach you that time is a finger snap and an eye blink, and that you should not allow a moment to pass you by without taking joyous, ecstatic note of it, not wasting a single moment of its swift, breakneck circuit?”

Pat Conroy (1945–2016) American novelist

Time

“There are no tough times, hard knocks, or challenges that aren't laden with emeralds, rubies, and diamonds for those who see them through.”

Mike Dooley (1961) American writer

Time

“Learning to let go should be learned before learning to get. Life should be touched, not strangled. You’ve got to relax, let it happen at times, and at others move forward with it.”

Ray Bradbury (1920–2012) American writer

Life, Learning, Time

“Fifteen years was a long time to be stranded anywhere, particularly somewhere as mind-boggingly dull as Earth.”

Douglas Adams The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy pentalogy

Source: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Time

“My experience with Khonsu had taught me not be greedy about time. It was best to appreciate what you had and not yearn for more.”

Rick Riordan book The Throne of Fire

Source: The Throne of Fire

Time

“The man who writes about himself and his own time is the only man who writes about all people and all time.”

George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish playwright

People, Time

“The bond was so strange at times. Jill was jealous on Adrian's behalf.”

Richelle Mead book The Indigo Spell

Source: The Indigo Spell

Time

“Living was a dangerous past-time, and often quite painful—but there was also such joy in living, such beauty, things that one would otherwise never see, never experience, never know. The risk of pain and loss was a part of living.”

Jim Butcher Captain's Fury

Source: Captain's Fury

Pain, Beauty, Loss, Time

“Macey was just starting to argue when Abby asked, "What can you tell me about the gunmen?"
"They're amateurs," Hale said at the exact same time Macey told her teacher, "They're pros.”

Ally Carter (1974) American writer

Source: Double Crossed: A Spies and Thieves Story

Teachers, Time

“Because I was more often happy for other people, I got to spend more time being happy. And as I saw more light in everybody else, I seemed to have more myself. (250)”

Victoria Moran (1950) American writer

Source: Lit From Within: Tending Your Soul For Lifelong Beauty

Happiness, People, Light, Time

“Speak in extremes, it'll save you time.”

David Bowie (1947–2016) British musician, actor, record producer and arranger

Time

“Booze takes a lot of time and effort if you're going to do a good job with it.”

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

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

Effort, Time

“Ours is a culture and a time immensely rich in trash as it is in treasures.”

Ray Bradbury book Zen in the Art of Writing

Source: Zen in the Art of Writing

Time

“I've been a police officer for twenty years now and I'll tell you, pretty much every bad thing is life is a result of bad timing, and every good thing is the result of good timing.”

Gabrielle Zevin (1977) American writer

Source: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

Life, Time

“I suppose a cry does us all good at times-clears the air as other rain does.”

Bram Stoker book Dracula

Source: Dracula

Time, Cry

“I would remain nearer you for what time there is."

"Gone in one faerie sigh," she quoted.

Leather-clad fingers brushed over her short hair, rested on her cheek. "I can hold my breath.”

Holly Black (1971) American children's fiction writer

Source: Valiant

Quotes, Time

“Aside from velcro, time is the most mysterious substance in the universe. You can't see it or touch it, yet a plumber can charge you upwards of seventy-five dollars per hour for it, without necessarily fixing anything.”

Dave Barry (1947) American writer

Universe, Time

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. book Strength to Love

Strength to Love, p. 25
1960s, Strength to Love (1963)
Context: The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige and even his life for the welfare of others.

Time, Courageous, Life, Business