Quotes about use
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“I used to pray to recover you.”

Sylvia Plath (1932–1963) American poet, novelist and short story writer

Source: Ariel: The Restored Edition

“I used rebellion as a way to hide out. We use criticism as a fake participation.”

Chuck Palahniuk book Choke

Source: Choke

Way

“Painful as it may be, a significant emotional event can be the catalyst for choosing a direction that serves us - and those around us - more effectively. Look for the learning.”

Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888) American novelist

Pain, Learning

“If possessing a higher degree of intelligence does not entitle one human to use another for his or her own ends, how can it entitle humans to exploit non-humans?”

Peter Singer book Animal Liberation

Source: Animal Liberation

Intelligence

“Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.”

Winston S. Churchill book The Second World War

Speech in the House of Commons, June 18, 1940 "War Situation" http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1940/jun/18/war-situation#column_60. <br class="br">The Second World War (1939–1945) <br class="br">Source: Never Give In!: The Best of Winston Churchill's Speeches <br class="br">Context: Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilisation. Upon it depends our own British life and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us now. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age, made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.

Men

“But as I guided her to my belt and then laid her down on the bed, I knew which way our path would go. Webe together forever. We had to be. There was no way that all these feelings between us could ever dim or be defeated.”

Richelle Mead book The Fiery Heart

Source: The Fiery Heart

Way, Feeling

“Remember how, back in 1990, if you used a cellphone in public you looked like a total asshole? We're all assholes now.”

Douglas Coupland book JPod

Source: JPod

“Everything that occurs out of necessity, everything expected, repeated day in and day out is mute. Only chance can speak to us. We read its message much as gypsies read the images made by coffee grounds at the bottom of the cup.”

Milan Kundera book The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Source: The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Coffee, Chance, Reading

“Our lives no longer belong to us alone; they belong to all those who need us desperately.”

Elie Wiesel book Night

Source: Night

“A concept is a brick. It can be used to build a courthouse of reason. Or it can be thrown through the window.”

Gilles Deleuze (1925–1995) French philosopher

Source: A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia

“They did it for love, and sometimes love makes us do the irrational.. even the inexcusable.”

Melissa de la Cruz book The Van Alen Legacy

Source: The Van Alen Legacy

Love

“Ghosts don't haunt us. That's not how it works. They're present among us because we won't let go of them."

"I don't believe in ghosts," I said, faintly.

"Some people can't see the color red. That doesn't mean it isn't there," she replied.”

Sue Grafton (1940–2017) American writer

Source: M is for Malice

People, Color

“Can you please crawl out your window? Use your arms and your legs, it won't ruin you”

Bob Dylan (1941) American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and artist

Source: Lyrics: 1962-2001

“Grief dares us to love once more.”

Terry Tempest Williams book Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place

Source: Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place

Love

“I deserve passion," she said. "I deserve to be loved- in every way. I deserve a man who'll give his whole heart, not the part he isn't using at the moment..”

Loretta Chase (1949) American writer

Source: Silk Is for Seduction

Love, Way, Passion, Heart

“Life is short and truth works far and lives long: let us speak the truth.”

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) German philosopher

Source: The World as Will and Representation, Vol 1

Life, Truth, Wise, Life

“Statistically the probability of any one of us being here is so small that you would think the mere fact of existence would keep us all in a contented dazzlement of surprise.”

Lewis Thomas book The Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher

"On Probability and Possibility"
The Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher (1974)
Context: Statistically the probability of any one of us being here is so small that you would think the mere fact of existence would keep us all in a contented dazzlement of surprise. We are alive against the stupendous odds of genetics, infinitely outnumbered by all the alternates who might, except for luck, be in our places.

Thinking

“Patti, did art get us?'
I looked away, not really wanting to think about it. 'I don't know, Robert. I don't know.'
Perhaps it did, but no one could regret that. Only a fool would regret being had by art; or a saint.”

Patti Smith Just Kids

Source: Just Kids

Fools, Art, Thinking

“God loved us before he made us; and his love has never diminished and never shall.”

Julian of Norwich (1342–1416) English theologian and anchoress

The Sixteenth Revelation, Chapter 86
Context: I saw full surely that ere God made us He loved us; which love was never slacked, nor ever shall be. And in this love He hath done all His works; and in this love He hath made all things profitable to us; and in this love our life is everlasting. In our making we had beginning; but the love wherein He made us was in Him from without beginning: in which love we have our beginning. And all this shall we see in God, without end.
Context: In this we shall see verily the cause of all things that He hath done; and evermore we shall see the cause of all things that He hath suffered. And the bliss and the fulfilling shall be so deep and so high that, for wonder and marvel, all creatures shall have to God so great reverent dread, overpassing that which hath been seen and felt before, that the pillars of heaven shall tremble and quake. But this manner of trembling and dread shall have no pain; but it belongeth to the worthy might of God thus to be beholden by His creatures, in great dread trembling and quaking for meekness of joy, marvelling at the greatness of God the Maker and at the littleness of all that is made. For the beholding of this maketh the creature marvellously meek and mild.
Wherefore God willeth — and also it belongeth to us, both in nature and grace — that we wit and know of this, desiring this sight and this working; for it leadeth us in right way, and keepeth us in true life, and oneth us to God. And as good as God is, so great He is; and as much as it belongeth to His goodness to be loved, so much it belongeth to His greatness to be dreaded. For this reverent dread is the fair courtesy that is in Heaven afore God’s face. And as much as He shall then be known and loved overpassing that He is now, in so much He shall be dreaded overpassing that He is now.
Wherefore it behoveth needs to be that all Heaven and earth shall tremble and quake when the pillars shall tremble and quake.

Love, God

“There's not much you need to know about the world. Except how to use a sword and trust very few.”

Melina Marchetta (1965) Australian teen writer

Source: Froi of the Exiles

World

“Love changes us, but we change how we love too.”

Holly Black book Black Heart

Source: Black Heart

Love, Change

“Are you mad? (Artemis)
Yes, I am. Mad at this world where we are nothing to the gods. Mad at the Fates who put us here for no purpose except to toy with us for their petty amusement. I wish all of the gods were dead and gone. (Acheron)”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: Acheron

God, Fate, World, Madness

“When we don’t forgive, we’re not hurting the other person. We’re not hurting the company that did us wrong. We’re not hurting God. We’re only hurting ourselves.”

Joel Osteen (1963) American televangelist and author

Source: Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential

God, Forgiveness, Hurt, Personality

“My grandmother told me that her father used to ask her a riddle: What must you break apart in order to bring a family close together?

Bread, of course.”

Jodi Picoult book The Storyteller

Source: The Storyteller

Family

“The past is always with us, for it feeds the present.”

Ruskin Bond (1934) British Indian writer

Source: A Town Called Dehra

Past

“It's all in the view. That's what I mean about forever, too. For any one of us our forever could end in an hour, or a hundred years from now. You never know for sure, so you'd better make every second count.”

Sarah Dessen book The Truth About Forever

Source: The Truth About Forever

“When we are set free from the bondage of pleasing others, when we are free from currying others'approval-then no one will be able to make us miserable or dissatisfied. And then, if we know we have pleased God, contentment will be our consolation.”

Kay Arthur (1933) International Bible teacher/four-time ECPA Christian Book Award winning author

God

“How is it possible that our parents lied to us?"

"Lets see: Santa, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter bunny, um, God. You're the prettiest kid in school. This wont hurt a bit. Your face will freeze like that…"

"Everythings going to be alright.”

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

Source: Runaways, Vol. 1: Pride and Joy

God, School, Parent, Hurt

“If most of us are ashamed of shabby clothes and shoddy furniture, let us be more ashamed of shabby ideas and shoddy philosophies”

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

Attributed to Einstein in Treasury of the Christian Faith https://books.google.com/books?id=Ll4wAAAAYAAJ&q=%22shabby+clothes%22+%22shoddy+furniture%22&dq=%22shabby+clothes%22+%22shoddy+furniture%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiS04TynqDLAhUO8GMKHUYICMkQ6AEINTAA (1949), and subsequently repeated in other books. No original source where Einstein supposedly said this has been located, and it is absent from authoritative sources such as Calaprice, The Ultimate Quotable Einstein. <br class="br">Disputed

Idea, Clothes

“Stories are able to help us to become more whole, to become Named. And Naming is one of the impulses behind all art; to give a name to the cosmos, we see despite all the chaos.”

Madeleine L'Engle (1918–2007) American writer

Source: Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art

Art, Help

“We live at home, quiet, confined, and our feelings prey upon us.”

Jane Austen book Persuasion

Source: Persuasion

Feeling, Home

“When I look back on the stuff I used to wear, I wonder why somebody didn't try to stop me. Just a friendly warning, "You may regret this," would have been fine.”

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

Source: The Funny Thing Is...

“Whatever baggage you have, use it. Conquer it. Don’t let it stop you.”

Sara Shepard (1973) Author

Source: Ruthless

“We approach the house and I wave at Jimmy.
"And if he thinks he's eating with us, he's got another thing coming," my dad says.
Jimmy approaches us and takes the shopping bags from me, looking inside them.
"Lamb roast. Am I invited?”

Melina Marchetta (1965) Australian teen writer

Source: Saving Francesca

Thinking, Housing

“I guess we're even, Sadie. First, Walt and I rushed off to save you in London. Then, you and Walt rushed off to save me. The only one who got shafted on both deals was Walt. Poor guy gets hauled all over the world pulling us out of trouble”

Rick Riordan book The Throne of Fire

Source: The Throne of Fire

World, Guy

“Paper is to write things down that we need to remember. Our brains are used to think.”

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

Thinking

“Shame corrodes the very part of us that believes we are capable of change.”

Brené Brown (1965) US writer and professor

Source: I Thought It Was Just Me: Women Reclaiming Power and Courage in a Culture of Shame

Change, Parting

“That's the thing about human life--there is no control group, no way to ever know how any of us would have turned out if any variables had been changed.”

Daniel Keyes book Flowers for Algernon

Source: Flowers for Algernon

Life, Way, Change

“If Sara had been a boy and lived a few centuries ago, her father used to say, 'she would have gone about the country with her sword drawn, rescuing and defending everyone in distress. She always wants to fight when she sees people in trouble.”

Frances Hodgson Burnett A Little Princess

Source: A Little Princess

People, Boy, Fight, Country

“Don't use such strong words. It'll only make you look weak.”

Tite Kubo (1977) Japanese manga artist

Source: Bleach, Volume 01

Strong

“there are robots among us. There are also Magicians among us. I think we take turns playing each role, as a matter of fact. The Magician defines a reality-mesh and the robot lives in it. Grok?”

Robert Anton Wilson (1932–2007) American author and polymath

Thinking, Reality

“Above us our palace waits, the only one I've ever needed. Its walls are space, its floor is sky, its center everywhere. We rise; the shapes cluster around us in welcome, dissolving and forming again like fireflies in a summer evening.”

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (1956) novelist, short story writer, poet, and essayist

Source: The Palace of Illusions

Waiting, Summer

“Wouldn't it be something if we could have things we love in abudance without their losing that special attraction the want of them held for us.”

Dolly Parton (1946) American singer-songwriter and actress

Source: Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business

Love

“Our names were made for us in another century.”

Richard Brautigan (1935–1984) American novelist, poet, and short story writer

“… and clung more closely to the dear human love, from which our Father never means us to be weaned, but through which He draws us closer to Himself.”

Louisa May Alcott book Little Women

Source: Little Women

Love, Drawing

“We turn to stories and pictures and music because they show us who and what and why we are.”

Madeleine L'Engle (1918–2007) American writer

Music

“Perhaps," said the man, "you would like to be lost with us. I have found it much more agreeable to be lost in the company of others.”

Kate DiCamillo book The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

Source: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

“said the Roman poet Terence: 'Nothing human is alien to me.' The slogan of the old Immigration and Naturalization Service could have been the reverse: To us, no aliens are human.”

Christopher Hitchens (1949–2011) British American author and journalist

Source: Hitch-22: A Memoir

Nature

“We are weighed down, every moment, by the conception and the sensation of Time. And there are but two means of escaping and forgetting this nightmare: pleasure and work. Pleasure consumes us. Work strengthens us. Let us choose.”

Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867) French poet

Pleasure, Time, Forgetting

“The road is messy in the way that real life is messy. It leads us out of denial and into reality, out of theory and into practice, out of caution and into action, out of statistics and into stories—in short, out of our heads and into our hearts.”

Gloria Steinem (1934) American feminist and journalist

Source: My Life on the Road

Life, Way, Reality, Heart

“The future ain't what it used to be.”

Yogi Berra (1925–2015) American baseball player, manager, coach

When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It!: Inspiration and Wisdom from One of Baseball's Greatest Heroes, Hyperion, 2002, ISBN 0786867752, p. 159.
Paul Valery (1937): "The future, like everything else, is no longer quite what it used to be.". Translated in English in 1948 in Our Destiny and Literature.
Disputed, Misattributed

Future

“Remember, most of us got something for nothing the first time just by showing up here at birth. Now we have to qualify.”

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

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

Birth, Time

“History records that the money changers have used every form of abuse, intrigue, deceit, and violent means possible to maintain their control over governments by controlling the money and its issuance.”

James Madison (1751–1836) 4th president of the United States (1809 to 1817)

As quoted in The Story of Our Money (1946) by Olive Cushing Dwinell, p. 71; this is in an author's note following a quote by Alexander Hamilton. After the author's note there is the sentence "From Writings of Madison, previously quoted. Vol. 2, p. 14". This is apparently an editor's error since the note is clearly Dwinell's. See the talk page for more details.
Misattributed

Money, History