JaNelle > JaNelle's Quotes

“I conceive of nothing, in religion, science or philosophy, that is more than the proper thing to wear, for a while.”
― Charles Fort

“The massive grey tabby turned his sea-green eyes towards her and projected abject misery in the way only cats are capable of.”
― Darcy Coates, The Haunting of Ashburn House

“They weren’t all that different from her—teenagers who had found themselves classified as adults by virtue of too many birthdays and who were trying to fumble and bluff their way through the world without anyone realising how thoroughly underqualified they were.”
― Darcy Coates, The Haunting of Ashburn House

“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.”
― Albert Camus

“THE WORLD IS increasingly designed to depress us. Happiness isn’t very good for the economy. If we were happy with what we had, why would we need more? How do you sell an anti-ageing moisturiser? You make someone worry about ageing. How do you get people to vote for a political party? You make them worry about immigration. How do you get them to buy insurance? By making them worry about everything. How do you get them to have plastic surgery? By highlighting their physical flaws. How do you get them to watch a TV show? By making them worry about missing out. How do you get them to buy a new smartphone? By making them feel like they are being left behind. To be calm becomes a kind of revolutionary act. To be happy with your own non-upgraded existence. To be comfortable with our messy, human selves, would not be good for business.”
― Matt Haig, Reasons to Stay Alive

“Wherever you are, at any moment, try and find something beautiful. A face, a line out of a poem, the clouds out of a window, some graffiti, a wind farm. Beauty cleans the mind.”
― Matt Haig, Reasons to Stay Alive

“Why do his words get to come out all flawlessly Times New Roman, and mine are, like, Wingdings?”
― Elise Bryant, Happily Ever Afters

“Jack Kerouac wrote On the Road in three weeks, but it took J.D. Salinger like... ten years to write the Catcher in the Rye, and that book is like WAY short.”
― Elise Bryant, Happily Ever Afters

“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.”
― Charles Dickens

“I know I can't tell you what it's like to be gay. But I can tell you what it's not. It's not hiding behind words, Mama. Like family and decency and Christianity.”
― Armistead Maupin

“If you want to know who the oppressed minorities in America are, simply look at who gets their own shelf in the bookstore. A black shelf, a women's shelf, and a gay shelf.”
― Armistead Maupin

“Laugh all you want and cry all you want and whistle at pretty men in the street and to hell with anybody who thinks you're a damned fool!”
― Armistead Maupin, More Tales of the City

“I'm not sure I even need a lover, male or female. Sometimes I think I'd settle for five good friends.”
― Armistead Maupin, 28 Barbary Lane: The Tales of the City Omnibus

“Oh, Mona, we're all damned fools! Some of us just have more fun with it than others. Loosen up, dear! Don't be so afraid to cry . . . or laugh, for that matter. Laugh all you want and cry all you want and whistle at pretty men in the street and to hell with anybody who thinks you're a damned fool!”
― Armistead Maupin, More Tales of the City

“Taureans are stubborn as hell. They never want to tell you what sign they are.... But underneath that tough Taurus hide beats the heart of a hopeless romantic.”
― Armistead Maupin

“The hell of it is, I know the answer. The answer is that you never, ever, rely on another person for your peace of mind. If you do, you're screwed but good. Not right away, maybe, but sooner or later. You have to -- I don't know --you have to learn to live with yourself. You have to learn to turn back your own sheets and set a table for one without feeling pathetic. You have to be strong and confident and pleased with yourself and never give the slightest impression that you can't hack it without that certain goddamn someone. You have to fake the hell out of it.”
― Armistead Maupin, More Tales of the City

“Nobody's happy. What's happy? Happiness is over when the lights come on."
The older woman poured herself a glass of sangria. "Screw that," she said quietly.
"What?"
"Screw that. Wash your mouth out. Who taught you that half-assed existential drivel?”
― Armistead Maupin, Tales of the City

“Being gay has taught me tolerance, compassion and humility. It has shown me limitless possibilities of living. It has given me people whose passion and kindness and sensitivity have provided a constant source of strength. It has brought me into the family of man, Mama, and I like it here.”
― Armistead Maupin, More Tales of the City

“Sooner or later, though, no matter where in the world we live, we must join the diaspora, venturing beyond our biological family to find our logical one, the one that actually makes sense for us. We have to, if we are to live without squandering our lives.”
― Armistead Maupin, Logical Family: A Memoir

“My life is full of love; I designed it that way. I try to make my own experience about love and I look for kindness in others. That’s the thing I value the most: it will get you through everything.”
― Armistead Maupin

“Her apartment seemed fussier than ever, as if the doilies and tassels had taken to breeding in their unguarded moments.”
― Armistead Maupin, More Tales of the City

“if you’re going to be degenerate, you might as well be a lady about it, don’t you think?”
― Armistead Maupin, Tales of the City