Quotes by American Authors - Page 3

Knowledge does not come to us by details, but in flashes of light from heaven.
Henry David Thoreau
An educated mind is nothing but the God-given mind of a child after his parents’ and his grandparents’ generation have got through molding it. We can’t help teaching you; you will ask that of us; but we are prone to teach you what we know, and I am going, now and again, to warn you:Remember we really don’t know anything. Keep your baby eyes (which are the eyes of genius) on what we don’t know. That is your playground, bare and graveled, safe and unbreakable.
Lincoln Steffens
From a historical point of view, restricting the availability of addictive substances must be seen as a peculiarly perverse example of Calvinist dominator thought - a system in which the sinner is to be punished in this world by being transformed into an exploitable, of his cash, by the criminal/governmental combine that provides the addicitve substances. The image is more horrifying than that of the serpent that devours itself - it is once again the Dionysian image of the mother who devours her children, the image of a house divided against itself.
Terence McKenna
When I was young I was depressed all the time. But suicide no longer seemed a possibility in my life. At my age there was very little left to kill. It was good to be old, no matter what they said. It was reasonable that a man had to be at least 50 years old before he could write with anything like clarity.
Charles Bukowski
But this is deception. It’s moving very fast, and just because you can’t see and feel it, doesn’t mean it’s not the truth.
Roderick Vincent
I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.
Johnny Cash
Some people count sheep. I self-loathe.
Rainbow Rowell
In religion and politics people’s beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination, from authorities who have not themselves examined the questions at issue but have taken them at second-hand from other non-examiners, whose opinions about them were not worth a brass farthing.
Mark Twain
When you are awake, your mind is limited. When you are dreaming, your mind is unlimited. Creation is a genius. The mind is a powerful aspect to reality, but no one can truly tell you what reality is, or how reality should be. You can only tell yourself. However, what if you can tap into your mental functions, and truly blur the line to the point, that whether you are awake or asleep, your mind makes the world real? What's the difference between bending the world in your dream, and bending the world in reality? The truth is, there is no difference, when you live in imagination.
Lionel Suggs
We made it back to the airport without getting mugged, stoned, shot at, pounced on, bombed, shelled, garroted, gassed, pitched into, caught in a cross fire, sniped at, blockaded, napalmed, or trip-wired. No one even hit us with a water balloon.
Daniel Quinn
It may be in the cultural particularities of people — in their oddities — that some of the most instructive revelations of what it is to be generically human are to be found.
Clifford Geertz
I needed her to stop. Needed not to hear the pain in her voice--to see the way she was twisting the pocketbook strap. If she kept talking, she might break down and tell me everything.
Wally Lamb
The worst of it is over now, and I can't say that I am glad. Lose that sense of loss—you have gone and lost something else. But the body moves toward health. The mind, too, in steps. One step at a time. Ask a mother who has just lost a child, How many children do you have? "Four," she will say, "—three," and years later, "Three," she will say, "—four.
Amy Hempel
I'm an idealist: I don't know where I'm going but I'm on my way.
Carl Sandburg
I'm the girl nobody knows until she commits suicide. Then suddenly everyone had a class with her.
Tom Leveen
Free folk don't follow names, or little cloth animals sewn on a tunic," the King-Beyond-the-Wall had told him. "They won't dance for coins, they don't care how your style yourself or what that chain of office means or who your grandsire was. They follow strength. They follow the man.
George R.R. Martin
Who knows what adventure we might find here?" Drizzt said excitedly. "Who knows what secrets might be unveiled to us?""Adventure?" Dunkin asked incredulously, looking to the carnage along the beach, and to the zombies still frozen in the water. "Reward?" he added with a chuckle. "Punishment, more likely, though I have done nothing to harm you, any of you!""We are here to unveil a mystery," Drizzt said, as though that fact should have piqued the man's curiosity, "To learn and to grow. To live as we discover the secrets of the world about us.
R.A. Salvatore
I think that when you don't know, you should wait until you do.
Rebecca Stead
If I expect nothing of you, it will be far easier to forgive your offenses than if I place my whole world in your hands.
Richelle E. Goodrich
I promise I shall never give up, and that I’ll die yelling and laughing, and that until then I’ll rush around this world I insist is holy and pull at everyone’s lapel and make them confess to me and to all.
Jack Kerouac
With you, there's always music.
Elyssa Patrick
Whatever you may be sure of be sure of this - that you are dreadfully like other people.
James Russell Lowell
Those who had seen eyes like hers before understood instantly that she was a woman who had suffered, but wore it well, with dignity and grace. Rather than dragging her down into depression, her pain had lifted her into a peaceful place. She was not a Buddhist, but shared philosophies with them, in that she didn’t fight what happened to her, but instead drifted with it, allowing life to carry her from one experience to the next. It was that depth and wisdom that shone through her work. An acceptance of life as it really was, rather than trying to force it to be what one wanted, and it never could be. She was willing to let go of what she loved, which was the hardest task of all. And the more she lived and learned and studied, the humbler she was. A monk she had met in Tibet called her a holy woman, which in fact she was, although she had no particular affinity for any formal church. If she believed in anything, she believed in life, and embraced it with a gentle touch. She was a strong reed bending in the wind, beautiful and resilient.
Danielle Steel
My name is Zia Rashid.
Rick Riordan
Anger keeps us down and hinders us from moving forward. Its power is strengthened by our longing for justice.
E'yen A. Gardner
Nobody is ready for death. If you ask Joe Blow on the street, he aint gonna tell you he thinks he'll live forever. But when the end is near you'll realize you've been believing that all along. It's like getting caught with your pants down. That's why you gotta live, little one. Yeah stop and smell them roses.
Cristina García
The fight isn't over until you win.
Robin Hobb
Love everyone unconditionally, including yourself.
Ken Keyes Jr.
Gangs have had connections to the U.S. Military in every period since the founding of the country.
Carter F. Smith
It was a love that was not a contract but an affection of the soul.
David Paul Kirkpatrick
He tugs me closer, and my ankles lock behind him. "Is it PG-13 time?
Rachel Harris
While the opportunity to improve yourself and your situation is a great thing, our striving to build perfect lives seems to have morphed into perfectionism so focused on itself that we forget about others in the world. We work so hard to build the ultimate luxury sedan, to embody society's standard of beauty, and to achieve historical scientific breakthroughs that we conveniently forget our family members in other parts of the world who must walk miles each day in their only set of clothing for the opportunity to go to school.
Holly Sprink
For our people, butterflies are a symbol of hope. It's said that if you capture one in your hands and whisper your dreams to it, it will carry them up to the heavens so that the wish can be granted.
Sherrilyn Kenyon
Remember God loves you, even when its hard to love yourself.
Todd Stocker
i carry your heart with me(i carry it inmy heart)i am never without it(anywherei go you go,my dear;and whatever is doneby only me is your doing,my darling)
E.E. Cummings
How much our society values its children can be measured by how well they are treated and protected.
Howard Markel
You’re the kind of girl who deserves way more than a one-night stand.
Tracy March
Have you ever wronged a man . . . just to do him harm? Or have you always had a reason?’Kaspar answered quickly. ‘There was always a reason.’‘There you have it,’ said Samas as he sat down. He motioned for Kaspar to fetch over a cup of water for him. ‘You would never look at yourself as “evil” no matter what the other fellow thought of what you did. It’s in our nature. And that’s the great secret of evil. It is never viewed as evil by those who perpetrate the evil.
Raymond E. Feist
You used to scream so well when you were scared, back when I lived under your bed.
Melissa Eskue Ousley
The next time you think you're perfect, try walking on water.
Ziad K. Abdelnour
The greatest achievement of humanity is the human spirit.
Kamal Ravikant
Live every day,not by spending time,but by investing all the way.
Debasish Mridha
The key to developing your intuition is developing your self-observation skills.
Laurie Nadel
It is only dogs that never bite their masters.
Thornton Wilder
Let’s all try to be fearless, sometimes we wish for the most perfect of outcomes and we arrive at the most unforgettable. Life can be scary and leave us hiding, but when we come out of hiding, we may realize, that life was the one thing that we could always count on…
Holly Hood
How did you get into the castle, Alexandre, son of Gilles Smith?” Sand shrugged. “A saint kidnapped me from his shrine and put me into a fireplace here. So I guess the answer is, a miracle of Saint Melor. Or so I think. He has not told me.” “If you are trying to antagonize him, you are doing a good job,” Perrotte whispered. Sand scuffed his shoe at her. “I’m just telling the truth!” “You’re very good at telling it in the most maddening way possible.”“Thank you?
Merrie Haskell
I’ll be back with the sandwiches,” she said. “But I had some leftover seven-layer dip.”“Yum.” Percy dug in with a tortilla chip. “She’s kinda famous for this, guys.”Sally ruffled his hair. “There’s guacamole, sour cream, refried beans, salsa—”“Seven layers?” I looked up in wonder. “You knew seven is my sacred number? You invented this for me?”Sally wiped her hands on her apron. “Well, actually, I can’t take credit—”“You are too modest!” I tried some of the dip. It tasted almost as good as ambrosia nachos. “You will have immortal fame for this, Sally Jackson!
Rick Riordan
Perfect love is rare indeed - for to be a lover will require that you continually have the subtlety of the very wise the flexibility of the child the sensitivity of the artist the understanding of the philosopher the acceptance of the saint the tolerance of the scholar and the fortitude of the certain.
Leo Buscaglia
Henry held up his taco- formerly Vlad's- and grinned. " Little known fact, gentlemen. Tacos are the food of genius."pg248 Henry to Vlad & Joss
Heather Brewer
The summer sun was not meant for boys like me. Boys like me belonged to the rain.
Benjamin Alire Sáenz
During the last week of her father's life, Blanca stayed home with him. 'I didn't bathe. I didn't sleep. I sat in the bed with him in the living room. And we were communicating all the time. I kept thinking, and it's more beautiful in Spanish, but I wanted to bottle his breathing.
Kevin Renner
How did my world get so small?
David Levithan
Washington once advised his adopted grandson that where there is no occasion for expressing an opinion, it is best to be silent. For there is nothing more certain than that it is at all times more easy to make enemies than friends.
Ron Chernow
In a fraction of a moment we fall in love, we break up, we live out a love story that lasts until the end of time. We are soulmates, we are adversaries, we are everything. We are nothing. We are at our fullest potential of every possibility. We are supposed to cross paths for one reason or another. Sometimes we don’t know the reason until it’s far behind us.
Kate McGahan
The object of Zen is not to kill all feelings and become anesthetized to pain and fear. The object of Zen is to free us to scream loudly and fully when it is time to scream.
Francis Harold Cook
Michael and Gabriel-"Creatures of an unremembered beginning, born of light and sent to protect this place and live among men of free will. To comfort them in death and guide their souls to a new form." Angels
Jon Steele
I had depressing thoughts that the theme, even though I had thought of it, was better than I was as a writer. Henry James or Thomas Mann could easily write it, but not I. 'I'm thinking of writing it from the point of view of someone at the hotel who observes her,' I said, but this did not fill me with much hope. Then my friend, who is not a writer, suggested I try it from the omniscient author's point of view.
Patricia Highsmith
Didn't people call New Year's the loneliest night on the calender? She took comfort in knowing somewhere on the planet, someone might be as miserable as she was.
Mitch Albom
Mama stared at me not with sadness, but with pleading. She was thinner than I'd ever allowed myself to notice, looking more like a child than a woman. I wanted to believe she knew what was best for me. I wanted to believe she was like every other mother and that she loved me more than I loved her. I hoped, if I followed her wishes, I would finally make her happy.
Ami McKay
Last-Minute Message For a Time CapsuleI have to tell you this, whoever you are:that on one summer morning here, the oceanpounded in on tumbledown breakers,a south wind, bustling along the shore,whipped the froth into little rainbows,and a reckless gull swept down the beachas if to fly were everything it needed.I thought of your hovering saucers,looking for clues, and I wanted to write this down,so it wouldn't be lost forever - -that once upon a time we hadmeadows here, and astonishing things,swans and frogs and luna mothsand blue skies that could stagger your heart.We could have had them still,and welcomed you to earth, butwe also had the righteous oneswho worshipped the True Faith, and Holy War.When you go home to your shining galaxy,say that what you learnedfrom this dead and barren place isto beware the righteous ones.
Philip Appleman