Beth > Beth's Quotes

“In order to succeed he must remain true to the feeling that had inspired him in the first place. It didn’t matter that other people would do it in a different way; in fact, this was inevitable. …. He had a different map, one made up of all the people and places he had passed.”
― Rachel Joyce, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

“In order to succeed he must remain true to the feeling that had inspired him in the first place. It didn't matter that other people would do it in a different way; in fact this was inevitable. He would keep to the roads because, despite the odd fast car, he felt safer there. It didn't matter that he had no mobile phone. It didn't matter that he had not planned his route, or brought a road map. He had a different map, and that was the one in his mind, made up of all the people and places he had passed. He would also stick to his yachting shoes because, despite the wear and tear, they were his. He saw that when a person becomes estranged from the things they know, and is a passerby, strange things take on a new significance. And knowing this, it seemed important to allow himself to be true to the instincts that made him Harold, as opposed to anyone else.”
― Rachel Joyce, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

“Failure doesn't define you. It's what you do after you fail that determines whether you are a leader or a waste of perfectly good air.”
― Sabaa Tahir, A Torch Against the Night

“There are two kinds of guilt. The kind that's a burden and the kind that gives you purpose. Let your guilt be your fuel. Let it remind you of who you want to be. Draw a line in your mind. Never cross it again. You have a soul. It's damaged but it's there. Don't let them take it from you.”
― Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes

“The field of battle is my temple. The swordpoint is my priest. The dance of death is my prayer. The killing blow is my release.”
― Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes

“Nan always said that as long as there is life, there is hope.”
― Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes

“Just because he's a good leader doesn't mean he's a good person.”
― Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes

“Perhaps I have become so accustomed to the burden of secrets that I do not notice their weight until I am free of it.”
― Sabaa Tahir, A Torch Against the Night

“Seeing ourselves clearly is the project of a lifetime.”
― Nathan Hill, The Nix

“The things you love the most will one day hurt you the worst.”
― Nathan Hill, The Nix

“That, paradoxically, narrowing her concerns had made her more capable of love and generosity and empathy and, yes, even peace and justice. It was the difference between loving something out of duty—because the movement required it of you—and loving something you actually loved. Love—real, genuine, unasked-for love—made room for more of itself, it turned out. Love, when freely given, duplicates and multiplies.”
― Nathan Hill, The Nix

“Sometimes we’re so wrapped up in our own story that we don’t see how we’re supporting characters in someone else’s. So”
― Nathan Hill, The Nix

“The flip side of being a person who never fails at anything is that you never do anything you could fail at. You never do anything risky. There’s a certain essential lack of courage among people who seem to be good at everything.”
― Nathan Hill, The Nix

“Steak and chicken have too much baggage these days. Was it free-range? Antibiotic-free? Cruelty-free? Organic? Kosher? Did the farmer wear silken gloves to caress it to sleep every night while singing gentle lullabies? You can’t order a fucking hamburger anymore without embracing some kind of political platform.”
― Nathan Hill, The Nix

“He swears. He promises. One of these days will be the day that changes everything.”
― Nathan Hill

“If you see people as enemies or obstacles or traps, you will be at constant war with them and with yourself. Whereas if you choose to see people as puzzles, and if you see yourself as a puzzle, then you will be constantly delighted, because eventually, if you dig deep enough into anybody, if you really look under the hood of someone's life, you will find something familiar.”
― Nathan Hill

“Love, when freely given, duplicates and multiplies. Still,”
― Nathan Hill, The Nix

“Sometime we're so wrapped up in our own story that we don't see how we're supporting characters in someone else's.”
― Nathan Hill

“You never even decided that your life would be this way. It's simply the way it's become. You've been carved out by the things that have happened to you like how the canyon can't tell the river which way to shape it. It just allows it to be cut.”
― Nathan Hill

“I have never known what to make of you. Not since the day we met. And it terrifies me. You terrify me. And the idea of you walking away again, vanishing from my life, that terrifies me most of all.”
― V.E. Schwab, A Conjuring of Light

“Scars are not shameful, not unless you let them be. If you do not wear them, they will wear you.”
― V.E. Schwab, A Conjuring of Light

“Anoshe was a word for strangers in the street, and lovers between meetings, for parents and children, friends and family. It softened the blow of leaving. Eased the strain of parting. A careful nod to the certainty of today, the mystery of tomorrow. When a friend left, with little chance of seeing home, they said anoshe. When a loved one was dying, they said anoshe. When corpses were burned, bodies given back to the earth and souls to the stream, those left grieving said anoshe.

Anoshe brought solace. And hope. And the strength to let go.”
― V.E. Schwab, A Conjuring of Light

“Love and loss,” he said, “are like a ship and the sea. They rise together. The more we love, the more we have to lose. But the only way to avoid loss is to avoid love. And what a sad world that would be.”
― V.E. Schwab, A Conjuring of Light

“What are we drinking to?"
"The living," said Rhy.
"The dead," said Alucard and Lila at the same time.
"We're being thorough," added Rhy.”
― V.E. Schwab, A Conjuring of Light

“She was a thief, a runaway, a pirate, a magician.
She was fierce, and powerful, and terrifying.
She was still a mystery.
And he loved her.”
― V.E. Schwab, A Conjuring of Light

“Kell swept Lila up into his arms, amazed at her lightness. She took up so much space in the world—in his world—it was hard to imagine her being so slight. In his mind, she was made of stone.”
― V.E. Schwab, A Conjuring of Light

“A queen could leave her throne.
But a mother never leaves her son.”
― V.E. Schwab, A Conjuring of Light

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”
― Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities