"In fiction, beauty was run-of-the-mill."
— Eileen Favorite (The Heroines)

"Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life."
— Mark Twain

"There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate."
— Charles Dickens

"A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself."
— Josh Billings

"A person can learn a lot from a dog, even a loopy one like ours. Marley taught me about living each day with unbridled exuberance and joy, about seizing the moment and following your heart. He taught me to appreciate the simple things-a walk in the woods, a fresh snowfall, a nap in a shaft of winter sunlight. And as he grew old and achy, he taught me about optimism in the face of adversity. Mostly, he taught me about friendship and selflessness and, above all else, unwavering loyalty."
— John Grogan (Marley & Me: Love and Life with the World's Worst Dog)

"Somewhere the zebra is dancing."
— Garth Stein (The Art of Racing in the Rain)

"Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory."
— J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire)

"If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals."
— J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire)

"A story, after all, does not only belong to the one who is telling it. It belongs, in equal measure, to the one who is listening."
— Michelle Richmond (No One You Know)

"Is that a bulletproof vest? See, now that's so insulting. That's like saying I'm not smart enough to shoot you in the head."
Eddie DeChooch"
— Janet Evanovich (Seven Up)

"Truth is, I think naked men are kind of strange looking what with their doodles and ding-dong hanging loose like they do. Nevertheless, there's the curiosity thing. I guess it's another one of those car crash experiences, where you feel compelled to look even if you know you'll be horrified."
— Janet Evanovich (Seven Up)

"You always get weirdos like Edward who seem to attract women for some reason. If Edward wasn’t a fictional character and you met him in reality he is like one of those guys who would probably be an axe murderer or something."
— Stephenie Meyer (The Twilight Saga)

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe."
— Albert Einstein

"Whenever I feel the need to exercise, I lie down until it goes away."
— Robert Maynard Hutchins

"I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best."
— Marilyn Monroe

"If you don't stand for something you will fall for anything."
— Malcolm X

"I have always imagined that Paradise will be some kind of library."
— Jorge Luis Borges

"For most of history, Anonymous was a woman."
— Virginia Woolf

"Go to heaven for the climate and hell for the company."
— Mark Twain

"It is our choices, Harry, that show us who we truly are, far more than our abilities."
— J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets)

"It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt."
— Mark Twain

"No woman gets an orgasm from shining the kitchen floor. "
— Betty Friedan

"I have always been a reader; I have read at every stage of my life, and there has never been a time when reading was not my greatest joy. And yet I cannot pretend that the reading I have done in my adult years matches in its impact on my soul the reading I did as a child. I still believe in stories. I still forget myself when I am in the middle of a good book. Yet it is not the same. Books are, for me, it must be said, the most important thing; what I cannot forget is that there was a time when they were at once more banal and more essential than that. When I was a child, books were everything. And so there is in me, always, a nostalgic yearning for the lost pleasure of books. It is not a yearning that one ever expects to be fulfilled."
— Diane Setterfield (The Thirteenth Tale : A Novel)

"I had always wanted to love Eve as Denny loved her, but I never had because I was afraid. She was my rain. She was my unpredictable element. She was my fear. But a racer should not be afraid of the rain; a racer should embrace the rain. I, alone, could manifest a change around me. By changing my mood, my energy, I allowed Eve to regard me differently. And while I cannot say that I am a master of my own destiny, I can say that I have experienced a glimpse of mastery, and I know what I have to work toward."
— Garth Stein (The Art of Racing in the Rain)

"This is a rule of racing: No race has ever been won in the first corner; many have been lost there."
— Garth Stein (The Art of Racing in the Rain)

"There is no dishonor in losing the race. There is only dishonor in not racing because you are afraid to lose."
— Garth Stein (The Art of Racing in the Rain)

"He died that day because his body had served its purpose. His soul had done what it came to do, learned what it came to learn, and then was free to leave."
— Garth Stein (The Art of Racing in the Rain)

"That which is around me does not affect my mood; my mood affects that which is around me."
— Garth Stein (The Art of Racing in the Rain)

"That which you manifest is before you."
— Garth Stein (The Art of Racing in the Rain)

"Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light."
— J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)

"We often miss opportunity because it's dressed in overalls and looks like work"
— Thomas A. Edison

"How different this moment feels, for so many reasons. I tell myself that no two loves are identical - but that I don't have to compare anymore."
— Emily Giffin (Love the One You're With)

"Sometimes being a bitch is all a woman's got to hold on to."
— Stephen King (Dolores Claiborne)

"There are books full of great writing that don't have very good stories. Read sometimes for the story... don't be like the book-snobs who won't do that. Read sometimes for the words--the language. Don't be like the play-it-safers who won't do that. But when you find a book that has both a good story and good words, treasure that book."
— Stephen King

"Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad books."
— Mary Ann Shaffer (The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society)

"We read books, talked books, argued over books and became dearer and dearer to one another."
— Mary Ann Shaffer

"As I stood outside in Cow Lane, it occurred to me that Heaven must be a place where the library is open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

No ... eight days a week. "
— Alan Bradley (The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie)