Quotes about usual
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“I really don’t see anything romantic in proposing. It is very romantic to be in love. But there is nothing romantic about a definite proposal. Why, one may be accepted. One usually is, I believe. Then the excitement is all over. The very essence of romance is uncertainty.”

Oscar Wilde The Importance of Being Earnest

Algernon, Act I
The Importance of Being Earnest (1895)

Love, Making love

“I am impressed by what I read, by the depth of his ideas, of his message. He speaks about peace from a very original and unique perspective. We are used to hearing speeches about peace. We usually tend to leave peace in the hands of governments or political organizations. Prem Rawat speaks about peace from a different perspective—more precise, more human—and he stresses the significance of each human being in the pursuit of world peace. I find great merit in his message.”

Prem Rawat (1957) controversial spiritual leader

Dr. Díaz, Vice-Rector. Salamanca University. Salamanca, Spain. June 2003
About, 2000s

World, Peace, Idea, Reading

“Never judge yourself through the eyes of another person. Your conscience will make your own judgments. Everyone at some point in our life, attempted to impress another person. We try to evaluate, what actions or mannerisms we can display that will impress them. And our evaluations are usually incorrect. Don’t pretend to be someone you’re not.”

Gandolfo – (RJ Intindola)

1990

Life, Making love, Personality

“Anger evokes danger and usually endangers those under attack.”

Gandolfo – (RJ Intindola)

1982

Anger

“I never know when I start out. You know, I sort of know what the ending is. I know where the characters always end up, and I usually have an image of the last page before I start. I'm a big outliner. But you can't know everything and you have to be open to discovery…”

Colson Whitehead (1969) novelist

On how envisioning an ending allows him to conclude each character’s journey in “Extended interview: Colson Whitehead on writing ‘The Nickel Boys’" https://www.cbsnews.com/news/extended-interview-colson-whitehead-on-writing-the-nickel-boys/ in CBS News (2019 Jul 14)

“When you think or speak about yourself, when you say, “I,” what you usually refer to is “me and my story.” This is the “I” of your likes and dislikes, fears and desires, the “I” that is never satisfied for long. It is a mind-made sense of who you are, conditioned by the past and seeking to find its fulfillment in the future.”

Eckhart Tolle (1948) German writer

Source: Stillness Speaks (2003)

Fear, Thinking, Sense, Past

“Usually, I'm attracted by screenplays that stir my curiosity. I try to ask myself why the writer wants to tell this story.”

Gong Yoo (1979) South Korean actor

"Star actor Gong Yoo hopes his filmography can show who he is" in Yonhap https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20210414006600315 (14 April 2021)

“When we say that “the world has ended,” remember—it is usually a lie. The planet is just fine.”

N. K. Jemisin book The Stone Sky

Prologue “me, when I was I” (p. 2)
The Stone Sky (2017)

Lie, World

“I wanted to keep things as normal as possible for the trainees, so I led my usual morning class. I called it Magic Problem-Solving 101. The trainees called it Whatever Works.”

Rick Riordan book The Throne of Fire

Source: The Throne of Fire

Problem

“Your father," Luke said, "what did he say to you when you saw him? What did he promise you?"
"Oh, you know. The usual. A lifetime's supply of Knicks tickets.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Ashes

Source: City of Ashes

“My eyes are usually described as golden… and luminous.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Bones

Variant: Are you the one with the blue eyes?"
"Actually, my eyes are usually described as golden... and luminous.
Source: City of Bones

“When people are free to do as we please, they usually imitate each other.”

Eric Hoffer (1898–1983) American philosopher

Section 33
The Passionate State Of Mind, and Other Aphorisms (1955)

People

“None of the bravado he usually showed was there. I guess there was "usually" and then there was being held in the grip of a really ripped, really tall, and really pissed off Russian guy.”

Richelle Mead Vampire Academy

Source: Vampire Academy

Guy

“Usually when we hear or read something new, we just compare it to our own ideas. If it is the same, we accept it and say that it is correct. If it is not, we say it is incorrect. In either case, we learn nothing.”

Thich Nhat Hanh (1926) Religious leader and peace activist

Source: The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation

Idea, Learning, Reading

“Usually she ordered a cup of coffee and a cup of tea, as well as a brownie, propping up her sadness with chocolate and caffeine so that it became an anxiety.”

Lorrie Moore (1957) American writer

Source: Like Life

Sadness, Coffee, Tea

“Those who follow the crowd usually get lost in it.”

Rick Warren (1954) Christian religious leader

Variant: Unfortunately, those who follow the crowd usually get lost in it.
Source: The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here for?

“Then he asks if he can kiss me. It is a question I don’t usually like. Just do it, I always think.”

Emily Giffin Something Borrowed

Source: Something Borrowed

Question, Kiss, Thinking

“When a man says he does not want to speak of something he usually means he can think of nothing else.”

John Steinbeck book East of Eden

Source: East of Eden

Thinking

“Usually, when people get to the end of a chapter, they close the book and go to sleep. I deliberately write a book so when the reader gets to the end of the chapter, he or she must turn one more page.”

Sidney Sheldon (1917–2007) American writer

People, Books, Sleep

“Of course it's the same old story. Truth usually is the same old story.”

Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013) British stateswoman and politician

Truth

“People usually asked her if she had a belly button. Of course she had a belly button. She couldn't explain how. She didn't really want to know.”

Rick Riordan The Mark of Athena

Source: The Mark of Athena

People

“At my time of life, one knows that the worst is usually true.”

Agatha Christie Murder at the Vicarage

Source: Murder at the Vicarage

Life, Time

“You see I usually find myself among strangers because I drift here and there trying to forget the sad things that happened to me.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby

Source: The Great Gatsby

Sadness, Forgetting, Sad, Heartbreaking

“I discover myself on the verge of a usual mistake.”

Walt Whitman Song of Myself

Source: Song of Myself

“I love you. I will love you till the stars crumble, which is a less idle threat than is usual to lovers on parting.”

Robin McKinley book The Hero and the Crown

Source: The Hero and the Crown

Love, Star, Lovers, Parting

“What one person does, several people usually consider.”

Amelia Atwater-Rhodes (1984) Novelist

People, Personality

“Everything in Los Angeles is too large, too loud and usually banal in concept… The plastic asshole of the world.”

William Faulkner (1897–1962) American writer

World, Angels

“This is Ian. He's no' usually speechless. Or so well dressed."
-Conner
I shouldna wear my best clothes to meet an angel from heaven?"
-Ian
"You look very nice, I love your shirt."
-Marielle
"Thank you"
-Ian
"I have a shirt like that, too."
-Conner”

Kerrelyn Sparks (1955) American writer

Source: Vampire Mine

Love, Angels, Clothes

“Kathy was a Republican, one of those people who used the unforgivable phrase "meant to be"--usually when describing her own good fortune or the disasters that had befallen other people.”

Jennifer Egan A Visit from the Goon Squad

Source: A Visit from the Goon Squad

People

“Calf love doesn't usually survive amputation, Your Majesty.”

Megan Whalen Turner The Queen of Attolia

Source: The Queen of Attolia

Love

“Hades took off his helm. His complexion was even paler than usual. He had a bad case of helmet hair. He was sweating and nervous and blinking like he had something in his eyes. "I am Hades," he said in a squeaky voice. "I love you.”

Rick Riordan (1964) American writer

Source: Percy Jackson's Greek Gods

Love

“Inspiration usually comes during work, rather than before it.”

Madeleine L'Engle (1918–2007) American writer

The Summer of the Great-Grandmother (1974), p. 143

“Things usually make sense in time, and even bad decisions have their own kind of correctness.”

Miranda July (1974) American performance artist, musician and writer

Decision, Sense, Time

“My usual self is a very unusual self.”

Shelagh Delaney (1938–2011) English playwright

Source: A Taste of Honey: A Play

“What are you guys doing? If you anted me to take a shower, all you had to do was pay me ten bucks, like you usually do”

James Patterson (1947) American author

Source: Angel

Guy

“I won't go looking for trouble. I usually don't have too.”

Rick Riordan book The Lightning Thief

Source: The Lightning Thief

“You're fun to look at," decided Galinda.

Boq's face fell. "Fun?" he said.

I'd give a lot to achieve fun," Elphaba said. "The best I usually hope for is stirring, and when people say that they're usually referring to digestion-”

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

People, Hope

“Once again, I arrived at my usual conclusion: one must educate oneself.”

Marjane Satrapi (1969) Artist

Source: Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood

Education

“You live in a deranged age - more deranged than usual, because despite great scientific and technological advances, man has not the faintest idea of who he is or what he is doing.”

Walker Percy (1916–1990) Southern philosophical novelist

Source: Lost in the Cosmos: The Last Self-Help Book

Age, Idea

“I'm often asked what I think about as I run. Usually the people who ask this have never run long distances themselves. I always ponder the question. What exactly do I think about when I'm running? I don't have a clue.”

Haruki Murakami book What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Source: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

People, Question, Thinking

“I usually know almost exactly how I feel. The problem is, I just can't tell anyone.”

Meg Cabot (1967) Novelist

Source: Princess in Love

Feeling, Problem

“It was so weird, because usually I was totally nervous talking to guys. But Eli was different. He made me want to say more, not less. Which was maybe not a good thing.”

Sarah Dessen book Along for the Ride

Source: Along for the Ride

Guy

“Failure is usually boring. It is the credible but unrealized threat of failure that is interesting.”

Robin D. Laws (1964) Canadian writer and game designer

Failure

“CALVIN:
As usual goodness hardly puts up a fight.”

Bill Watterson (1958) American comic artist

Fight

“The key to pursuing excellence is to embrace an organic, long-term learning process, and not to live in a shell of static, safe mediocrity. Usually, growth comes at the expense of previous comfort or safety.”

Josh Waitzkin (1976) Chess player

Source: The Art of Learning: A Journey in the Pursuit of Excellence

Learning

“Unpleasant?" he finished for her.
"Only on the days when my adoptive mother tosses me out of the house with instructions never to darken her door again. Usually, I'm remarkably good-natured. Try me on any day that doesn't end in y.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Ashes

Source: City of Ashes

Nature, Housing

“In Will's experience, when someone who ought to be afraid wasn't, the reason was rarely bravery. Usually it meant that they knew something you didn't.”

Cassandra Clare book Clockwork Angel

Source: Clockwork Angel

“What’s going on?” he demanded.
“The usual, old man,” I replied cheerily. “Danger, insane plans… you know, the stuff that runs in our family.”

Richelle Mead book Last Sacrifice

Source: Last Sacrifice

Family

“She said she usually cried at least once each day not because she was sad, but because the world was so beautiful & life was so short.”

Brian Andreas (1956) American artist

Life, World, Sadness, Beauty

“D’Artagnan: Why is Athos sitting by himself?
Aramis: He takes his drinking very seriously. Not to worry, he’ll be his usual charming self by morning.”

Alexandre Dumas book The Three Musketeers

Source: The Three Musketeers

Drink

“… sitting and waiting is one of the most miserable occupations known to man - not that it usually is known to men; women do it much more often.”

Diana Gabaldon book Dragonfly in Amber

Source: Dragonfly in Amber

Women, Men, Waiting

“Geniuses and prophets do not usually excel in professional learning, and their originality, if any, is often due precisely to the fact that they do not.”

Joseph Alois Schumpeter book Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy

Source: Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy

Learning

“He was gazing at her, the way one did when one felt one was unobserved. He had that look on his face, the look he usually got only when he was playing the violin, as if he were completely caught up and entranced.”

Cassandra Clare book Clockwork Prince

Source: Clockwork Prince

Way

“All merely graceful attributes are usually the most evanescent.”

Nathaniel Hawthorne book The Scarlet Letter

Source: The Scarlet Letter

“As usual no one's ever around when you need them.”

Tiffanie DeBartolo (1970) American writer

Source: How to Kill a Rock Star

“Where were we? I've forgotten.
He was deciding whether to cut her throat or love her forever.
Right. Yes. The usual choices.”

Margaret Atwood book The Blind Assassin

Source: The Blind Assassin

Love

“You're not going to die?"
"Not right this minute." And of course, saying something like that usually resulted in immediate dying. I braced myself for a stray meteorite falling through the roof to crush my skull.”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Magic Burns

“If you decide to just go with the flow, you'll end up where the flow goes, which is usually downhill, often leading to a big pile of sludge and a life of unhappiness. You'll end up doing what everyone else is doing.”

Sean Covey (1964) author; business executive

Source: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens: The Ultimate Teenage Success Guide

Life

“It's like in the Bible. You can't always get what you want, but if you really need something, you usually find it."
"What part of the Bible is that from?" Ig asked her. "The Gospel of Keith Richards?”

Joe Hill (1879–1915) Swedish-American labor activist, songwriter, and member of the Industrial Workers of the World

Source: Horns

Parting

“If you are drawn to the left hand path, it's usually because you've had some kind of life experience that has shocked you, awakened you.”

Nikolas Schreck American musician and writer

Life

“Everything that anyone would ever look for is usually where they find it.”

Margaret Wise Brown (1910–1952) American children's writer and editor

“Those who hope, by retiring from the world, to earn a holiday from human frailty, in themselves and others, are usually disappointed.”

Iris Murdoch book The Bell

Source: The Bell

World, Hope, Disappointment, Holiday

“Sin, he reflected, is not what it is usually thought to be; it is not to steal and tell lies. Sin is for one man to walk brutally over the life of another and to be quite oblivious of the wounds he has left behind.”

Shūsaku Endō book Silence

Source: Silence

Life

“Now he saw that she understood entirely too well and he felt the usual masculine indignation at the duplicity of women. Added to it was the usual masculine disillusionment in discovering that a woman has a brain.”

Margaret Mitchell book Vom Winde verweht (1937 German edition)

Source: Gone with the Wind

Women

“People who bite the hand that feeds them usually lick the boot that kicks them.”

Eric Hoffer (1898–1983) American philosopher

People

“As usual, in every scheme that worsens the position of the poor, it is the poor who are invoked as beneficiaries.”

Vandana Shiva (1952) Indian philosopher

“The spoken word converts individual knowledge into mutual knowledge, and there is no way back once you've gone over that cliff. Saying nothing was more amendable, and over time I'd come to see that it was usually your best course of action.”

Karen Joy Fowler book We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

Source: We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

Way, Knowledge, Time

“Hate Scars. I'm physically flawless-why can't everyone be? Everywhere Lothaire went, people stopped and stared. Of course, then they usually ran. Lothair Enemy of Old”

Kresley Cole American writer

Source: Dreams of a Dark Warrior

Hate, People

“Have you ever noticed that when people use the expression 'I have to say', what follows usually needn't be said?”

Richard Russo book Bridge of Sighs

Source: Bridge of Sighs

People

“Jackson has devised a game called "Real or Not Real" to help Peeta. He mentions something he thinks happened, and they tell him if it's true or imagined, usually followed by a brief explanation.”

Suzanne Collins book Mockingjay

Source: Mockingjay

Imagination, Game, Thinking, Help

“Anyone can be crazy. That's usually just because there's something screwed up in your wiring, you know? But suicide is a whole different thing. I mean, how much do you have to hate yourself to want to just wipe yourself out?”

Michael Thomas Ford (1968) American writer

Source: Suicide Notes

Hate, Suicide

“You can best serve civilization by being against what usually passes for it.”

Wendell Berry (1934) author

“Saturday morning was their unrestricted television time, and they usually took advantage of it to watch a series of cartoon shows that would certainly have been impossible before the discovery of LSD.”

Jeff Lindsay book Dexter in the Dark

Source: Dexter in the Dark

Time

“Change not only was inevitable, but usually brought its own rewards.”

Nicholas Sparks book The Last Song

Source: The Last Song

Change

“Don't worry, Otto. I'm an acquired taste. Most of my best friends had to know me for years before they could even stand my presence. I'm like mold, I usually grow on you very slowly. (Tabitha)”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Variant: she said with a smile. "I'm an acquired taste. Most of my best friends had to
know me for years before they could even stand my presence. I'm like mold, I usually grow on you very
slowly.
Source: Seize the Night

“If you're too happy about anything, fate usually gives you a good sock in the jaw and knocks you down.”

Madeleine L'Engle (1918–2007) American writer

Source: The Joys of Love

Fate, Happiness

“… this time I didn't launch into my usual tirade. Was it a memory of Krishna, the cool silence with which he countered disagreement, that stopped me? I saw something I hadn't realized before: words wasted energy.”

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

Source: The Palace of Illusions

Silence, Memory, Time

“When multiple explanations exist, the simplest is usually correct.”

Dan Brown book Deception Point

Source: Deception Point

“It's just me throwing myself at you,
romance as usual, us times us,

not lust but moxibustion,
a substance burning close

to the body as possible
without risk of immolation.”

Alice Fulton (1952) American poet

Time

“People who say they don't care what people think are usually desperate to have people think they don't care what people think.”

George Carlin (1937–2008) American stand-up comedian

People, Thinking

“From my own experience, when someone is trying very hard to get something, they don't. And when they're running away from something as hard as they can, it usually catches up with them. I'm generalizing, of course.”

Haruki Murakami book Kafka on the Shore

Variant: When someone is trying very hard to get something, they don't. And when they're running away from something as hard as they can, it usually catches up with them.
Source: Kafka on the Shore