Quotes about timing (10000 quotes, page 52)

“There are times when those eyes inside your brain stare back at you.”

Charles Bukowski (1920–1994) American writer

Source: What Matters Most is How Well You Walk Through the Fire

Time

“There are times when the human face and body can express the yearning of the heart so accurately that you can, as they say, read them like a book. Do not abandon me.”

Diane Setterfield book The Thirteenth Tale

Source: The Thirteenth Tale

Books , Time , Reading , Heart

“All it takes,” said Crake, “is the elimination of one generation. One generation of anything. Beetles, trees, microbes, scientists, speakers of French, whatever. Break the link in time between one generation and the next, and it’s game over forever.”

Margaret Atwood book Oryx and Crake

Source: Oryx and Crake

Game , Tree , Time

“Through the lack of attaching myself to words, my thoughts remain nebulous most of the time. They sketch vague, pleasant shapes and then are swallowed up; I forget them almost immediately.”

Jean Paul Sartre book Nausea

Variant: Most of the time, because of their failure to fasten on to words, my thoughts remain misty and nebulous. They assume vague, amusing shapes and are then swallowed up: I promptly forget them.
Source: Nausea

Time , Forgetting

“Back in the time when life was easy, the Internet would have told me what I needed to know. The great thing about the Internet was it didn't care why you were asking.”

Susan Beth Pfeffer (1948) American writer

Source: This World We Live In

Life , Time

“The preface? Why would he waste time with the preface? Skip the preface and move on to the meat of the thing!”

Kenneth Oppel (1967) Canadian children's writer

Source: This Dark Endeavor

Time

“The time comes when each of us has to give up as illusions the expectations which, in his youth, he pinned upon his fellow-men, and when he may learn how much difficulty and pain has been added to his life by their ill-will.”

Sigmund Freud book Civilization and Its Discontents

Source: Civilization and Its Discontents

Life , Men , Pain , Youth

“If you've got to my age, you've probably had your heart broken many times. So it's not that difficult to unpack a bit of grief from some little corner of your heart and cry over it.”

Emma Thompson (1959) British actress and writer

Age , Time , Heart , Cry

“It gets harder all the time, Bev Shaw once said. Harder, yet easier. One gets used to things getting harder; one ceases to be surprised that what used to be hard as hard can be grows harder yet.”

J.M. Coetzee book Disgrace

Source: Disgrace

Time

“So I have. Let me hold the baby, Scarlett. Oh, I know how to hold babies. I have many strange accomplishments. Well, he certainly looks like Frank. All except the whiskers, but give him time.”

“I hope not. It’s a girl.”

Margaret Mitchell (1900–1949) American author and journalist

Source: Gone With the Wind

Hope , Girl , Time , Baby

“There are those who stay at home and those who go away, and it has always been so. Everyone can choose for himself, but he must choose while there is still time and never change his mind.”

Tove Jansson book Moominvalley in November

Source: Moominvalley in November

Home , Change , Time

“Sometimes it seems to stand still. Like you’re in a bag and you can’t get out and somebody’s always telling you that it will get better with time and time just seems to stand still and laugh at you and your pain.”

Hubert Selby Jr. Requiem for a Dream

Source: Requiem for a Dream

Pain , Time

“You're so far off base this time you can't even see the base!”

Eileen Wilks (1952) fiction writer

Source: On the Prowl

Time

“I have often spoken to you about good and evil. This has made some uncomfortable. But good and evil are present in this world, and between the two there can be no compromise. Murdering the innocent to advance an ideology is wrong every time, everywhere. Freeing people from oppression and despair is eternally right. This nation must continue to speak out for justice and truth. We must always be willing to act in their defense and to advance the cause of peace”

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

2000s, 2009, Farewell speech to the nation (January 2009)
Context: As we address these challenges – and others we cannot foresee tonight – America must maintain our moral clarity. I have often spoken to you about good and evil. This has made some uncomfortable. But good and evil are present in this world, and between the two there can be no compromise. Murdering the innocent to advance an ideology is wrong every time, everywhere. Freeing people from oppression and despair is eternally right. This nation must continue to speak out for justice and truth. We must always be willing to act in their defense and to advance the cause of peace.

People , Truth , World , Peace

“When I sleep, I dream of you, and when I wake, I long to hold you in my arms. If anything, our time apart has only made me more certain that I want to spend my nights by your side, and my days with your heart.”

Nicholas Sparks book Nights in Rodanthe

Paul Flanner, Chapter 16, p. 188
Source: 2000s, Nights in Rodanthe (2002)

Wedding , Dreams , Sleep , Time

“When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe. I am related to the earliest times, and to the latest.”

Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) 1817-1862 American poet, essayist, naturalist, and abolitionist

Fear , Music , Time

“Many invest wisely in business matters, but fail to invest time and interest in their most valued possessions: their spouses and children.”

Billy Graham (1918–2018) American Christian evangelist

Source: Nearing Home: Life, Faith, and Finishing Well

Children , Business , Time

“I try to be a careful person. Most of the time my carelessness is completely unintentional.”

David Levithan book Every You, Every Me

Source: Every You, Every Me

Time , Personality

“Time wasn't a thing you could divide easily; there was no defined middle or beginning or end. I could pretend to leave the past behind, but it would not leave me.”

Sarah Dessen book Just Listen

Source: Just Listen

Time , Past

“If the world is ending, a woman will want time to fix her hair. If the world's ending, a woman will take time to to tell a man something he's done wrong.”

Robert Jordan (1948–2007) American writer

Matrim Cauthon
(15 October 1994)
Source: The Wheel of time series by Robert Jordan

World , Time

“Max Ernst died the 1st of August 1914. He resuscitated the 11th of November 1918 as a young man aspiring to become a magician and to find the myth of his time.”

Max Ernst (1891–1976) German painter, sculptor and graphic artist

Quote in 'Some Data on the Youth of M. E., As Told by Himself' in the w:View (April 1942); also cited in Max Ernst and Alchemy (2001) by M. E. Warlick, p. 17
Max Ernst refers to his serving-period on the Western and then on the Eastern front during World War 1 (1914-1918)
1936 - 1950

Time

“Saving the world is only a hobby. Most of the time I do nothing.”

Edward Abbey (1927–1989) American author and essayist

Source: Postcards from Ed: Dispatches and Salvos from an American Iconoclast

World , Time

“The thing about mountains is that you have to keep on climbing them, and that it's always hard, but there's a view from top every time when you finally get there.”

Nancy Garden book Annie on My Mind

Source: Annie on My Mind

Mountain , Time

“.

"Most times, when I'm having sex, I'd rather be reading."
This was, I admit, a strange thing to say on a second date.
I guess I was just giving you a warning.
"Most times when I'm reading," you said, "I'd rather be having sex".”

David Levithan The Lover's Dictionary

Source: The Lover's Dictionary

Sex , Time , Reading

“Yesterday is skin on snake, to be shed many times.”

Karen Marie Moning (1964) author

Source: Beyond The Highland Mist

Time

“Cripes Miss Wilcox, they're not guns,' I said.
No, they're not Mattie, they're books. And a hundred times more dangerous.”

Jennifer Donnelly A Northern Light

Source: A Northern Light

Books , Time

“The moment I stopped spending so much time chasing the big pleasure of life. I began to enjoy the little ones, like watching the stars dancing in moonlit sky or soaking in the sunbeams of a glorious summer morning.”

Robin S. Sharma (1965) Canadian self help writer

Source: The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari: A Remarkable Story About Living Your Dreams

Life , Pleasure , Star , Time

“If I gave my mother a knitted scarf she'd be worried I was wasting my time doing stupid stuff like knitting instead of school work. Presenting a homemade knitted object to my parents was actually like handing them a detailed backlog of my idleness.”

Mindy Kaling book Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

Source: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

Stupidity , School , Parent , Time

“A loud booming noise interrupted us, and we saw a flash of light off to my right. People near the other garages screamed.

"There, you see?" asked Abe, quite pleased with himself. "A new gate. Perfect timing.”

Richelle Mead book Last Sacrifice

Source: Last Sacrifice

People , Light , Time , Perfection

“This stupid weapons-shopping idea. Last time I take dating advice from Jace.” “You let Jace plan our date?”

Cassandra Clare (1973) American author

Source: Pale Kings and Princes

Stupidity , Idea , Time

“Do you spend time with your family? Good. Because a man that doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man.”

Marlon Brando (1924–2004) American screen and stage actor

Family , Time

“I can't afford to spend my time with anyone - there's only enough left for myself”

Daniel Keyes book Flowers for Algernon

Source: Flowers for Algernon

Time

“If only we'd stop trying to be happy, we could have a pretty good time.”

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

Time , Happiness

“early is on time, on time is late, and late is unacceptable!”

Eric Jerome Dickey (1961) American author

Source: Sleeping with Strangers

Time

“Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.”

Sydney Smith (1771–1845) English writer and clergyman

Back To Work , Time

“The referee told me this league has never had a brawl of that magnitude," said Mr. Penderwick after a long, painful silence. "Of course, at the time I was pretending to be a casual passerby and not a father at all.”

Jeanne Birdsall (1951) American children's writer

Source: The Penderwicks on Gardam Street

Pain , Silence , Time

“It's funny, don't you think, how time seems to do a lot of things? It flies, it tells, and worst of all, it runs out.”

Markus Zusak book Fighting Ruben Wolfe

Source: Fighting Ruben Wolfe

Thinking , Time

“I will not waste time on second thoughts. My life will not be an apology. It will be a statement.”

Andy Andrews (1959) author and corporate speaker

Source: The Traveler's Gift: Seven Decisions that Determine Personal Success

Life , Time

“Terrible errors are rarely made all at once. Usually they are performed one small misstep at a time.”

A. Lee Martinez (1973) Author

Source: A Nameless Witch

Error , Time

“At this time of year it's easy to forget the true meaning of Christianity - the lies, the corruption, the abuse.”

Banksy pseudonymous England-based graffiti artist, political activist, and painter

Time , Forgetting

“Fever jumped aside just in time to dodge the shower of urine, and stumbled into the path of a religious procession - celebrants in robes and pointed hats whirling and clapping and chanting the name of some old-world prophet”

Philip Reeve book Fever Crumb

Source: Fever Crumb

World , Time

“If there is one regret that I have had in my life, it is that I never fathered any children. There are times, when I look at what Fergus and Beryl have produced, when I consider myself fortunate, but there are also times when it breaks my heart.”

Derek Landy Skulduggery Pleasant

Source: Skulduggery Pleasant

Life , Children , Time , Heart

“It's always awkward when someone doesn't realize you're joking and devotes thought time to what you've said. Double that when the person is wearing tinfoil.”

Maureen Johnson book Let It Snow

Source: Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances

Time , Personality

“She walked on, comforted by the surf, by the one perpetual moment of beach-time, the now-and-always of it.”

William Gibson (1948) American-Canadian speculative fiction novelist and founder of the cyberpunk subgenre

Time

“There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come.”

Victor Hugo (1802–1885) French poet, novelist, and dramatist

Often attributed to Hugo as a paraphrase of a similar idea in his Histore d'un Crime (1877): "One resists the invasion of armies; one does not resist the invasion of ideas", the wording of this famous statement actually more closely resembles a passage from the relatively obscure Les Francs-Tireurs (1861) by Gustave Aimard, p. 68 https://books.google.com/books/about/Les_francs_tireurs.html?id=mKI4AQAAIAAJ:
Il y a quelque chose de plus puissant que la force brutale des baïonnettes: c'est l'idée dont le temps est venu et l'heure est sonnée.
There is something more powerful than the brute force of bayonets: it is the idea whose time has come and hour struck.
Translated into English as The Freebooters : A Story of the Texan War (1861) https://archive.org/details/freebootersstory00aima, p. 57, Ward & Lock edition
Misattributed
Variant: More powerful than the mighty armies is an idea whose time has come.

Idea , Time

“Every time you almost die, I almost die myself.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Ashes

Source: City of Ashes

Time

“Richard Nixon is a no good, lying bastard. He can lie out of both sides of his mouth at the same time, and if he ever caught himself telling the truth, he'd lie just to keep his hand in.”

Harry Truman (1884–1972) American politician, 33rd president of the United States (in office from 1945 to 1953)

Truth , Lie , Lying , Time

“Scout, I´m telling you for the last time, shut your trap or go home - I declare to the Lord you´re gettin´ more like a girl every day!”
With that, I had no option but to join them.”

Harper Lee book To Kill a Mockingbird

Source: To Kill a Mockingbird

Home , Girl , Time , Scouting

“I played a role. That is what actors do. But I played it too well. I went too far. And by the time I wanted to stop, to take a bow and leave the stage, it was too late.”

Jennifer Donnelly book Revolution

Source: Revolution

Time

“There comes a time in every life when the world gets quiet and the only thing left is your heart.”

Sarah Dessen book Just Listen

Source: Just Listen

Life , World , Time , Heart

“An Englishman thinks a hundred miles is a long way; and American thinks a hundred years is a long time”

Diana Gabaldon book Drums of Autumn

Source: Drums of Autumn

Way , Thinking , Time

“Oh, I am getting married," Raisa said sleepily. "You promised me that if I agreed to marry you, that you would make it happen." She extended her hand, the one with the ring Han had given her, and waved it under his nose. "So. It's time to pay up.”

Cinda Williams Chima (1952) Novelist

Source: The Crimson Crown

Time

“The spirit of complaint is born out of an unwillingness to trust God with today.
Like the Israelites, it means you are spending your time looking back toward Egypt or wishing for the future all the while missing what God is doing right now.”

Priscilla Shirer (1974) American writer

God , Time , Future

“Everyone gets the time they get together, and no more.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Heavenly Fire

Variant: Everyone gets the time they get together, and no more. Maybe we're not so different that way.
Source: City of Heavenly Fire

Time

“Mac reflected on the Unseelie King and his concubine:

He’d loved her for all time
After he’d believed she was gone
Sunshine to his ice.
Frost to her fever.
I wished them forever. The Unseelie King was gone.”

Karen Marie Moning (1964) author

Love , Time

“Thalia blushed. "Hi, Lord Apollo."

Zeus's girl, yes? Makes you my half sister. Used to be a tree, didn't you? Glad you're back. I hate it when pretty girls turn into trees. Man, I remember one time—”

Rick Riordan book The Titan's Curse

Source: The Titan's Curse

Hate , Girl , Sister , Tree

“For the first time in his existence, he knew he was drowning and he wasn't thinking about survival.”

Christine Feehan American writer

Source: Water Bound

Thinking , Time

“Little minds have little worries, big minds have no time for worries.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet

Wise , Time

“He loved her because it was his nature to do so, but there were times when he could not endure her love for him. There were times when it became nothing but pure idiot mystery…”

Flannery O’Connor (1925–1964) American novelist, short story writer

Source: Everything That Rises Must Converge: Stories

Love , Nature , Time

“Creativity is the residue of time wasted.”

Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity

Time

“He threw in the towel before we were tested. Maybe because he didn't want to be tested. Maybe because he assumed we would fail. Maybe because, at the time, he just didn't love me enough.”

Emily Giffin (1972) American writer

Source: Love the One You're With

Love , Time

“You will find joy, frustration and sorrow in your quest. Never forget that friendship and loyalty are more precious than riches… Happiness can be brief, but it knows no time in the land of dreams.”

Brian Jacques (1939–2011) British fiction writer known for Redwall animal fantasy novels

Source: Pearls of Lutra

Friendship , Dreams , Time , Joy

“… because he had been waiting for someone to come back to him, so every time someone knocked on the door, he couldn't stop himself from hoping it might be that person, even though he knew he shouldn't hope.”

Jonathan Safran Foer book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Source: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Hope , Time , Waiting , Personality

“Each recognized the fact that real commitment could be proven only through the passage of time.”

Nicholas Sparks (1965) American writer and novelist

Time

“There is a dead spot in the night, that coldest, blackest time when the world has forgotten evening and dawn is not yet a promise. A time when it is far too early to arise, but so late that going to bed makes small sense.”

Robin Hobb book Assassin's Quest

Source: Assassin's Quest

World , Sense , Time , Night

“The world is full of ways and means to waste time.”

Haruki Murakami book Dance Dance Dance

Source: Dance Dance Dance

World , Way , Time

“Sometimes, reaching out and taking someone's hand is the beginning of a journey.

At other times, it is allowing another to take yours.”

Vera Nazarian (1966) American writer

Source: The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

Time

“I felt like time was a great sea, and I was floating on the back of a turtle, and no sails broke the horizon.”

Janet Fitch book White Oleander

Source: White Oleander

Time , Sea

“But all the time-no matter what she was doing-there was music.”

Carson McCullers (1917–1967) American writer

Music , Time

“I want to be as idle as I can, so that my soul may have time to grow.”

Elizabeth von Arnim (1866–1941) Australian writer

Source: The Solitary Summer

Soul , Time

“Was there only one world after all which spent its time dreaming of others?”

Philip Pullman (1946) English author

World , Dreams , Time

“Believe me, It would be better if we didn't meet again. Go back to school. Go back to your life. And next time they ask you, say no. Killing is for grown-ups and you're still a child.”

Anthony Horowitz book Stormbreaker

Source: Stormbreaker

Life , School , Time

“My greatest wish -- other than salvation -- was to have a book. A long book with a never-ending story. One I could read again and again, with new eyes and a fresh understanding each time.”

Yann Martel book Life of Pi

Source: Life of Pi

Books , Understanding , Time , Reading

“I believe in whatever gets you throught the night. […] Night is the hardest time to be alive. For me, anyway. It lasts so long, and four A. M. knows all my secrets.”

Poppy Z. Brite (1967) Novelist, short story writer, food writer

Secret , Time , Night

“A little too much anger, too often or at the wrong time, can destroy more than you would ever imagine.”

Marilynne Robinson Gilead

Source: Gilead

Imagination , Time , Anger

“Will I get nights of ecstasy?"
"And days. Ecstasy all the time.”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Magic Breaks

Time , Night

“The only thing they had in common was Calypso, and every time Leo thought about that he wanted to punch Percy in the face.”

Rick Riordan book The Blood of Olympus

Source: The Blood of Olympus

Time

“I refer of course to the soaring wonder of the age known as the Eiffel Tower. Never in history has a structure been more technologically advanced, materially obsolescent, and gloriously pointless all at the same time.”

Bill Bryson book At Home: A Short History of Private Life

Source: At Home: A Short History of Private Life

Age , History , Time

“From the time we're born until we die, we're kept busy with artificial stuff that isn't important.”

Tom Ford (1961) American fashion designer

Business , Time

“… the second time you see something is really thetime. You need to know how it ends before you can appreciate how beautifully it's put together from the beginning.”

David Gilmour (1946) guitarist, singer, best known as a member of Pink Floyd

Source: The Film Club: A True Story of a Father and Son

Time

“Everything that happens once can never happen again. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time.”

Paulo Coelho book The Alchemist

Source: The Alchemist (1988), p. 184; this also has been quoted as "What happens once will never happen again. But what happens twice will surely happen a third time."

Time

“I’ve lived a long time,” Magnus said. “So many years, and no, it doesn’t feel like enough. I won’t lie and say it does. I want to live on—partly because of you, Alec. I have never wanted to live so much as I have these past few months, with you.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Heavenly Fire

Source: City of Heavenly Fire

Lie , Feeling , Time , Past

“Black belt in Akihito. (Amanda)
Any other time, I'd kiss you for that. (Kyrian)”

Sherrilyn Kenyon book Night Pleasures

Source: Night Pleasures

Kiss , Time

“We live in a time of fear," Skulduggery said, "where we're too scared of upsetting the status quo to ask the questions we need to be asking.”

Derek Landy Skulduggery Pleasant

Source: Skulduggery Pleasant

Fear , Question , Time

“The only moral it is possible to draw from this story is that one should never throw the Q letter into a privet bush, but unfortunately there are times when it is unavoidable.”

Douglas Adams book The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Source: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Time , Drawing

“Magnus had heard the story of how the Nephilim were created many times. They must have forgotten to leave out the bit that said: And the Angel descended from on high and gave his chosen ones fantastic abs.”

Cassandra Clare (1973) American author

Source: The Course of True Love [and First Dates]

Angels , Time

“At some time in your life, you probably had someone believe in you when you didn't believe in yourself.”

Stephen R. Covey book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

Source: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change

Life , Time

“The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters.”

Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937) Italian writer, politician, theorist, sociologist and linguist

Loose translation, commonly attributed to Gramsci by Slavoj Žižek, presumably formulation by Žižek (see below).
Presumably a translation from a loose French translation by Gustave Massiah; strict English with cognate terms and glosses:
Le vieux monde se meurt, le nouveau monde tarde à apparaître et dans ce clair-obscur surgissent les monstres
The old world is dying, the new world tardy (slow) to appear and in this chiaroscuro (light-dark) surge (emerge) monsters.
“ Mongo Beti, une conscience noire, africaine, universelle http://www.liberationafrique.org/imprimersans.php3?id_article=16&nom_site=Lib%C3%A9ration”, Gustave Massiah, CEDETIM, août 2002 ( archive https://web.archive.org/web/20160304061734/http://www.liberationafrique.org/imprimersans.php3?id_article=16&nom_site=Lib%C3%A9ration, 2016-03-04)
“Mongo Beti, a Black, African, Universal Conscience”, Gustave Massiah, CEDETIM, August 2002
Collected in: Remember Mongo Beti, Ambroise Kom, 2003, p. 149 https://books.google.com/books?id=6YgdAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Le+vieux+monde+se+meurt,+le+nouveau+monde+tarde+%C3%A0+appara%C3%AEtre+et+dans+ce+clair-obscur+surgissent+les+monstres%22.
Original, with literal English translation (see above):
La crisi consiste appunto nel fatto che il vecchio muore e il nuovo non può nascere: in questo interregno si verificano i fenomeni morbosi piú svariati.
The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear.
Similar sentiments are widespread in revolutionary rhetoric; see: No, Žižek did not attribute a Goebbels quote to Gramsci http://thecharnelhouse.org/2015/07/03/no-zizek-did-not-attribute-a-goebbels-quote-to-gramsci/, Ross Wolfe, 2015-07-03
Misattributed
Source: Selections from the Prison Notebooks