Mya A > Mya's Quotes

“Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.”
― Roald Dahl

“To me education is a leading out of what is already there in the pupil's soul.”
― Muriel Spark, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

“I ask not for any crown
But that which all may win;
Nor try to conquer any world
Except the one within.”
― Louisa May Alcott

“I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

“I am free of all prejudice. I hate everyone equally. ”
― W.C. Fields

“I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year's fashions.”
― Lillian Hellman

“It has always seemed strange to me...The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling, are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest, are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the second.”
― John Steinbeck, Cannery Row

“Books have a unique way of stopping time in a particular moment and saying: Let’s not forget this.”
― Dave Eggers

“Everybody is identical in their secret unspoken belief that way deep down they are different from everyone else.”
― David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest

“Tired of myself longing for what I have not”
― Samuel Richardson, Clarissa, or, The History of a Young Lady

“You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, who had ever been alive.”
― James Baldwin

“When someone cries so hard that it hurts their throat, it is out of frustration or knowing that no matter what you can do or attempt to do can change the situation. When you feel like you need to cry, when you want to just get it out, relieve some of the pressure from the inside - that is true pain. Because no matter how hard you try or how bad you want to, you can't. That pain just stays in place. Then, if you are lucky, one small tear may escape from those eyes that water constantly. That one tear, that tiny, salty, droplet of moisture is a means of escape. Although it's just a small tear, it is the heaviest thing in the world. And it doesn't do a damn thing to fix anything.”
― Chase Brooks, Hello, My Love 2: First Love Deserves a Second Chance

“It’s the same with people who say, ‘Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.’ Even people who say this must realize that the exact opposite is true. What doesn’t kill you maims you, cripples you, leaves you weak, makes you whiny and full of yourself at the same time. The more pain, the more pompous you get. Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you incredibly annoying.”
― Rob Sheffield, Love Is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time

“You know, one of the tragedies of real life is that there is no background music.”
― Annie Proulx

“Nothing is more dangerous than a dogmatic worldview - nothing more constraining, more blinding to innovation, more destructive of openness to novelty.”
― Stephen Jay Gould

“One day might be different from another, but there ain't much difference when they're put together.”
― William H. Armstrong

“The past is always tense, the future perfect.”
― Zadie Smith

“We live as we dream--alone....”
― Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness

“Being a woman is a terribly difficult trade since it consists principally of dealings with men.”
― Joseph Conrad, Chance

“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”
― Rumi

“If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.”
― Will Rogers

“Never miss a good chance to shut up.”
― Will Rogers

“I was not ladylike, nor was I manly. I was something else altogether. There were so many different ways to be beautiful.”
― Michael Cunningham, A Home at the End of the World

“A word after a word after a word is power.”
― Margaret Atwood

“I was a late bloomer. But anyone who blooms at all, ever, is very lucky.”
― Sharon Olds

“My life has a superb cast, but I cannot figure out the plot.”
― Ashleigh Brilliant

“I want to know everything about you, so I tell you everything about myself.”
― Amy Hempel

“Be glad. Be good. Be brave.”
― Eleanor Hodgman Porter

“It is not enough to simply teach children to read;
we have to give them something worth reading.
Something that will stretch their imaginations-
something that will help them make sense of their own lives
and encourage them to reach out toward people
whose lives are quite different from their own.”
― Katherine Paterson

“I woke up thinking a very pleasant thought. There is lots left in the world to read.”
― Nicholson Baker, The Anthologist