Quotes about word
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“You need to follow your own heart in light of God’s word and do what you feel is right and good for you.”

Joel Osteen (1963) American televangelist and author

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

“Say all you have to say in the fewest possible words, or your reader will be sure to skip them; and in the plainest possible words or he will certainly misunderstand them.”

John Ruskin (1819–1900) English writer and art critic

A Joy for Ever, note 6 (1857).
Context: For certainly it is excellent discipline for an author to feel that he must say all he has to say in the fewest possible words, or his reader is sure to skip them; and in the plainest possible words, or his reader will certainly misunderstand them.

“His heart is too full, and no words to release it.”

Gabrielle Zevin (1977) American writer

Source: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

Heart

“When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.”

Ansel Adams (1902–1984) American photographer and environmentalist

Attributed to Adams in: AB bookman's weekly: for the specialist book world. (1985) Vol 76, Nr. 19-27; p. 3326

Silence

“One man’s “magic” is another man’s engineering. “Supernatural” is a null word.”

Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988) American science fiction author

“We learn words by rote, but not their meaning; that must be paid for with our life-blood, and printed in the subtle fibres of our nerves.”

George Eliot book The Lifted Veil

Source: The Lifted Veil

Life, Learning

“After scolding one's cat one looks into its face and is seized by the ugly suspicion that it understood every word. And has filed it for reference.”

Charlotte Gray (1948) Canadian historian

Cats

“There is nothing more valuable than the printed word.”

Margaret Peterson Haddix (1964) American author

“There was one great tomb more lordly than all the rest; huge it was, and nobly proportioned. On it was but one word, DRACULA.”

Bram Stoker book Dracula

Source: Dracula

“I must say a word about fear. It is life's only true opponent. Only fear can defeat life.”

Yann Martel book Life of Pi

Source: Life of Pi (2001), Chapter 56, p. 178

Life, Fear

“If you do not hear music in your words, you have put too much thought into your writing and not enough heart.”

Terry Brooks (1944) American writer

Source: Sometimes the Magic Works: Lessons from a Writing Life

Music, Heart

“Dream and love are just words - until you decide to experience them”

Paulo Coelho (1947) Brazilian lyricist and novelist

Love, Dreams

“… falling in love could be achieved in a single word—a glance.”

Ian McEwan book Atonement

Source: Atonement

Love

“Does he write to you? Never a line. Does he send you a message? Never a word. It is because he loves you, poor fool, and is trying to forget you, since you are not free to listen to him or to belong to him.”

Kate Chopin book The Awakening

Source: The Awakening

Love, Fools, Forgetting

“Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.”

Jane Austen book Pride and Prejudice

Source: Pride and Prejudice

Thinking, Personality

“Years later, I learned an English word for the creature that Assef was, a word for which a good Farsi equivalent does not exist: sociopath.”

Khaled Hosseini book The Kite Runner

Source: The Kite Runner

Learning

“You ask me why I do not write something… I think one's feelings waste themselves in words; they ought all to be distilled into actions and into actions which bring results.”

Florence Nightingale (1820–1910) English social reformer and statistician, and the founder of modern nursing

Letter to a friend, quoted in The Life of Florence Nightingale (1913) by Edward Tyas Cook, p. 94

Feeling, Thinking

“It is a world of impulse. It is a world of sincerity. It is a world in which every word spoken speaks just to that moment, every glance given has only one meaning, each touch has no past or no future, each kiss is a kiss of immediacy.”

Alan Lightman book Einstein's Dreams

Source: Einstein's Dreams

World, Kiss, Past, Future

“Are you, monsieur, a man of your word?"
"It really depends upon the word," Magnus said. "There are so many wonderful words…”

Cassandra Clare (1973) American author

Source: The Runaway Queen

Dependency

“The animals have no need for speech, why talk when you are a word.”

Margaret Atwood book Surfacing

Source: Surfacing

Animals

“What's another word for thesaurus?”

Steven Wright (1955) American actor and author

“Words are worth little when the heart refuses to hear. Therefore, judge us by our works.”

Stephen R. Lawhead (1950) American writer

Heart

“I have a private theory, Sir, that there are no heroes and no monsters in this world. Only children should be allowed to use these words”

Alfred De Vigny book Stello

Source: Stello

Children, World

“Seems to me-" Lee said, feeling for the words, "seems to me the place you fight cruelty is where you find it, and the place you give help is where you see it needed….”

Philip Pullman (1946) English author

Source: His Dark Materials Trilogy: The Golden Compass / The Subtle Knife / The Amber Spyglass

Feeling, Help, Fight

“This is not a book in the ordinary sense of the word. No, this is a prolonged insult, a gob of spit in the face of art, a kick in the pants to God, Man, Destiny, Time, Love, Beauty… what you will.”

Henry Miller book Tropic of Cancer

Source: Tropic of Cancer (1934), Chapter One
Context: This is not a book. This is libel, slander, defamation of character. This is not a book, in the ordinary sense of the word. No, this is a prolonged insult, a gob of spit in the face of Art, a kick in the pants to God, Man, Destiny, Time, Love, Beauty... what you will.

Love, God, Books, Beauty

“An empty shell. Those were the first words that sprang to mind….. Something incredibly important -.. - had disappeared from Miu for good. Leaving behind not life, but its absence”

Haruki Murakami book Sputnik Sweetheart

Source: Sputnik Sweetheart

Life

“Besides, the normal people here wouldn’t see it. That was what “different” meant. It’s just another word for lonely.”

Lilith Saintcrow (1976) American writer

Source: Jealousy

People

“A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong, which is but saying, in other words, that he is wiser today than he was yesterday.”

Alexander Pope (1688–1744) eighteenth century English poet

Thoughts on Various Subjects (1727)

“Words are good for saying what things are, but sometimes they don't function for what things aren't.”

Colum McCann book Let the Great World Spin

Source: Let the Great World Spin

“I muttered a swear word to myself. After I heard Angel cussing like a sailor when she stubbed her toe, my new resolution was to watch my language. All I needed was a six-year-old mutant with a potty mouth”

James Patterson (1947) American author

Source: The Angel Experiment

Angels

“In the course of my life I have often had to eat my words, and I must confess that I have always found it a wholesome diet.”

Winston S. Churchill (1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Quoted by Lord Normanbrook in Action This Day: Working With Churchill. Memoirs by Lord Norman Brook (And Others) http://books.google.com/books?id=qxchAAAAMAAJ&q=%22in+the+course+of+my+life+I+have+often+had+to+eat+my+words+and+I+must+confess+that+I+have+always+found+it+a+wholesome+diet%22&pg=PA28#v=onepage (1968) <br class="br">Often misquoted as: Eating my words has never given me indigestion. http://books.google.com/books?id=vbsU21fEhLAC&q=%22Eating+my+words+has+never+given+me+indigestion%22&pg=PA486#v=onepage. <br class="br">Post-war years (1945–1955)

Life

“And so he was reading the story as if it were a spell and the words of it, spoken aloud, could make magic happen.”

Kate DiCamillo book The Tale of Despereaux

Source: The Tale of Despereaux

Reading

“Everything comes home, my mother used to say; every word spoken, every shadow cast, every footprint in the sand. It can't be helped; it's part of what makes us who we are.”

Joanne Harris book The Lollipop Shoes

Source: The Lollipop Shoes

Home, Help, Parting

“I see black light (his last words)”

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

Light

“Lips and tongues lie. But actions never do. No matter what words are spoken, actions betray the truth of everyone's heart.”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: Born of Fury

Truth, Lie, Heart

“That's what careless words do. They make people love you a little less.”

Arundhati Roy book The God of Small Things

Source: The God of Small Things

Love, People

“He lost himself in a maze of thoughts that were rendered vague by his lack of words to express them. Frowning, he tried again.”

William Golding book Lord of the Flies

Source: Lord of the Flies

“In the English language there are orphans and widows, but there is no word for the parents who lose a child.”

Jodi Picoult My Sister's Keeper

Source: My Sister's Keeper

Parent

“Other people sound flat to my ear; their words just hang in the air. But when my mother says something, the ends curl.”

Augusten Burroughs book Running with Scissors

Source: Running with Scissors

People

“When I can make
Of ten small words a rope to hang the world!
"I had you and I have you now no more.”

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

Source: Renascence and Other Poems

World

“One of the gravestones in the cemetery near the earliest church has an anchor on it and an hourglass, and the words In Hope.

In Hope. Why did they put that above a dead person? Was it the corpse hoping, or those still alive?”

Margaret Atwood book The Handmaid's Tale

Source: The Handmaid's Tale

Hope, Personality, Dead

“Now remember, Kate." Barabas leaned over to me, grinning. "You are the Consort. Be the Consort." He stretched "be" into a three-syllable word. "Think like a-"

"Open the door or I'll punch you right in the face," I growled.”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Magic Breaks

Thinking

“Many a law, many a commandment have I broken, but my word never.”

Walter Scott (1771–1832) Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet

Law

“Girl, he wants to dip you in Frosted Flakes and have you for breakfast. That's his favorite cereal, by the way." I… had no words for that.”

Gena Showalter (1975) American writer

Source: Alice in Zombieland

Way, Girl

“You will have a story in there… or a character, a place, a poem, a moment in time. When you find it, you will write it. Word after word after word after word.”

Patricia MacLachlan (1938) American writer of children's books

Source: Word After Word After Word

Time

“We had one gun, one werewolf, one poltergeist, one supercharged spell-caster, one not-so-supercharged spell-caster, and one perfectly useless necromancer, though Liz was quick to remind me that she needed me to relay her words. - Chloe”

Kelley Armstrong The Reckoning

Source: The Reckoning

“The weapons an author has at her disposal are flawed. There are words that feel shapeless and overused. Love, for example. I could write the word love a thousand times and it would mean a thousand different things to different readers.”

Jodi Picoult book The Storyteller

Source: The Storyteller

Love, Feeling, Time

“We spent our whole lives in unconsous excercise of the art of expressing our thoughts with the help of words”

Vincent Van Gogh book The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

Source: The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

Art, Help

“From his lips/Not words alone pleased her.”

John Milton book Paradise Lost

Source: Paradise Lost

“the joy of someone who had been a reader all her life, whose world had been immeasurably enlarged by the words of others.”

Anna Quindlen (1952) journalist, Novelist

Source: How Reading Changed My Life

Life, World, Joy

“It may well be that we will have to repent in this generation. Not merely for the vitriolic words and the violent actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence and indifference of the good people who sit around and say, "Wait on time."”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement

"Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution", sermon at the National Cathedral, 31 March 1968, published in A Testament of Hope (1986)
1960s
Source: A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches

People, Silence, Time, Waiting

“Never," said Gregor. "I'll never get rid of you, no matter how hard I try." It was no longer an effort to say the words. "I love you."
"I love you, too," said Luxa.
After that there was nothing left to say.”

Suzanne Collins book Gregor and the Code of Claw

Source: Gregor and the Code of Claw

Love, Effort

“you said you were going to kill rukia with your own hands… you make me sick… show me your bankai and I will crush it… I will make me beg for forgiveness on you knees… I will never let you say those words to Rukia again…
~Ichigo Kurosaki”

Tite Kubo (1977) Japanese manga artist

Forgiveness

“A new word. Bright with possibilities. A flawless pearl to turn over and over in my hand, then put away for safekeeping.”

Jennifer Donnelly A Northern Light

Source: A Northern Light

“Every word I say has chains round its ankles; every thought I think is weighted with heavy weights.”

Jean Rhys book Good Morning, Midnight

Source: Good Morning, Midnight

Thinking

“Every creature is a word of God.”

Meister Eckhart (1260–1328) German theologian

God

“hate has no literature: real fear and real hate have no words”

Gregory David Roberts book Shantaram

Source: Shantaram

Hate, Fear, Literature

“Those words, that voice, had more power over me than any phantom ever could.”

Richelle Mead (1976) American writer

Source: The Ruby Circle

“I have this strange feeling that I'm not myself anymore. It's hard to put into words, but I guess it's like I was fast asleep, and someone came, disassembled me, and hurriedly put me back together again. That sort of feeling.”

Haruki Murakami book Sputnik Sweetheart

Source: Sputnik Sweetheart

Feeling

“How furious she must be, now that she's been taken at her word.”

Margaret Atwood book The Handmaid's Tale

Source: The Handmaid's Tale

“He had this old southern idea of what a lady should be. A lady should not carry a gun and spend most of her time covered in blood and corpses. I had two words for that attitude.
Yeah, those are the words.”

Laurell K. Hamilton (1963) Novelist

Idea, Time

“You see how I try
To reach with words
What matters most
And how I fail.”

Czeslaw Milosz (1911–2004) Polish, poet, diplomat, prosaist, writer, and translator

“Why are you so sad?
- Because you speak to me in words and I look at you with feelings.”

Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) Russian writer

Sadness, Feeling

“Words. Words. I play with words, hoping that some combination, even a chance combination, will say what I want.”

Doris Lessing (1919–2013) British novelist, poet, playwright, librettist, biographer and short story writer

Hope, Chance

“Murder is such a charged word. You know how some people fixate and won't let things go? They're called cops.”

Tim Dorsey book Nuclear Jellyfish

Source: Nuclear Jellyfish

People

“I need words that mean more than they mean, words not just with height and width, but depth and weight and, and other dimensions that I cannot even name.”

Lois McMaster Bujold The Curse of Chalion

Source: The Curse of Chalion

“Sookie," Eric said. I didn't think he'd heard a word. "Yield to me."
Well, that was pretty direct.”

Charlaine Harris book Living Dead in Dallas

Source: Living Dead in Dallas

Thinking

“A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous.”

Ingrid Bergman (1915–1982) Film actress from Sweden

"Webster's Electronic Quotebase," ed. Keith Mohler, 1994

Love, Kiss, Nature, Cute

“This is one of the disadvantages of wine, it makes a man mistake words for thoughts.”

Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer

28 April 1778, p. 659 http://books.google.com/books?id=yYphdZ0abhUC&q=&quot;One+of+the+disadvantages+of+wine+it+makes+a+man+mistake+words+for+thoughts&quot;&pg=PA659#v=onepage <br class="br">Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), Vol II <br class="br">Source: The Life of Samuel Johnson LL.D. Vol 2

Wine

“Sometimes words just don't get you there… don't let you say all the stuff from deep in your heart, stuff that no dictionary has a name for.”

Bill Condon (1955) American film director

Source: A Straight Line to My Heart

Heart