Michael Bowe > Michael's Quotes

“Some people are simply destined for meteoric lives, magnificently bright and awesome for a while until they slowly burnout and fade to black.”
― Michael Bowe, Skyscraper of a Man

“True accomplishment comes from bettering yourself, not defeating another.”
― Michael Bowe, The Weight of a Moment

“Before skyscrapers, only gods and angels inhabited the limitless sky, wayfarers of the heavenly plain, lingering long on soft, fluffy clouds, enjoying unrivaled views of earth. Who could resist such nobility for neighbors?”
― Michael Bowe, Skyscraper of a Man

“Lifetimes are the product of a million little decisions. Made well, the life will be one of character and productivity and substance. Made poorly, the life will be one of excuses and trailer parks and probationary periods.”
― Michael Bowe, Skyscraper of a Man

“Rumors never actually die in newsrooms, floating instead like ghosts in the still air above the conversation until relevant again. Newsrooms are as haunted as Louisiana cemeteries.”
― Michael Bowe, Skyscraper of a Man

“As we strolled, I noticed the soft light and its effect on the buildings around us. Like an aging screen actress shot in soft light to conceal her age lines, this magical twilight softened the avenues of Paris and produced an elegant scene not unlike a movie. Lining the street ahead of us, the buildings were constructed of solid white stone and more than one hundred years old, but all traces of age or dirt were diffused by the twilight, while their classic French architecture was center stage and highlighted. Fifty Parisians, the bluish cobblestones of the sidewalk, glowing neon, and a colorful outdoor flower stand completed the scene in front of us. Overwhelmed and in awe of the setting, I stopped and stared silently ahead.”
― Michael Bowe, The Weight of a Moment

“Around here, everyone looks for a handout, for their lives are as forsaken as the unfortunate characters in a Steinbeck novel.”
― Michael Bowe, Skyscraper of a Man

“Living in our home was a lot like living in a cloistered monastery - conversations were limited, meals were hearty and timely, and all issues of significance were left to higher powers.”
― Michael Bowe, Skyscraper of a Man

“Whenever I thought about having a conversation with [the widow], my words felt like confederate currency to me, worthless, ineffectual, meaningless, and of no use to anyone in the present day. No matter how many portraits of Jefferson Davis I placed on the table before her, she would never feel like my debt was paid, my obligation met. [We] could never be even. No matter how fast I talked or how eloquently I crafted the English language, my words couldn't turn back the clock, reverse the bullets, and reunite her with her husband, the only actions that would truly right my mistake. I was a writer and I believed in the power of words, but my words were as useless now as the defunct currency of the Old South.”
― Michael Bowe, The Weight of a Moment

“For the better part of an hour, I watched a young man throw a red rubber ball about fifty yards into the bay and his Labrador retriever swim out and get it. Over and over again, that dog swam with such joy and enthusiasm and purpose that I realized I was watching him do exactly what he was born to do, the thing that came most naturally to him. As I watched, I could see the beauty in that, the sheer joy of it, the fulfilled heart.”
― Michael Bowe, The Weight of a Moment

“Whittling is the process of removing the unnecessary and leaving the essential, a rural art form that teaches craftsmen to envision and then seek the beauty or utility deep within.”
― Michael Bowe, Skyscraper of a Man

“An indisputable law of physics, water always finds the lowest level in an incredibly efficient manner. It penetrates any crevice or path that will facilitate its downward flow, steadily meandering and descending in search of lower planes. In our physical world, water is as efficient as gravity is unforgiving.
Human beings are mostly water. The body is comprised of more than 70% water and it is always tragic when human beings, true to their chemical composition, emulate the efficiency of water during dark, difficult periods in their lives, allowing one misstep or transgression to lead to lower and lower descent. Water can be beautiful to watch as it cascades downward in its transparent and fluid simplicity, but some human beings also have a tendency to fall and sink, like water without the beauty.”
― Michael Bowe, Skyscraper of a Man

“Her cat suit consisted of a very flattering black body stocking that revealed an enticingly curvaceous figure, complimented by cat ears and paws, and mascara whiskers. Up until now, I had always considered myself a dog person, but that was a preference I suddenly found myself questioning.”
― Michael Bowe, Skyscraper of a Man

“Only God can make a tree, so men build skyscrapers.”
― Michael Bowe, Skyscraper of a Man

“Having grown up in this little town, I had attended countless street fairs, but I still felt comforted by the Norman Rockwell-esque nature of the scene as I felt like I was strolling in an oil painting of another era rather than an actual town. From my experience as a reporter in Philadelphia, our city streets and suburban neighborhoods were tougher and grittier than ever before and so there was something comforting about small-town America. The feeling of community was much stronger, the streets much softer and warmer. Three times each summer, people drove long distances to Shelbyville to attend street fairs, but the truth was that the booths weren't any different than the booths at the street fairs in their cities and neighborhoods. They came to be comforted.”
― Michael Bowe, The Weight of a Moment

“Optimal Tower is a skyscraper unlike its predecessors, rising skyward as an artistic endeavor, spirited and soulful, with a steel and glass manifestation reminiscent of Claude Monet's water lilies, and instantly dismissive of the gray, steel and mortar structures of the past. The architects and builders have pilfered Monet's color pallet and painted this vertical stretch of the Cavanaugh skyline with the delicate greens and blues and grays and yellows of Giverny. Somehow, in the structure, the sensibility of an impressionist painting emerges as the muted colors are faded in splotches and sunlit in others, with gradual transitions as subtle as the delicate brush strokes of the master himself. Steel beams crisscross haphazardly throughout the towering facade, which only reinforces its intrinsic impressionistic essence by emulating the natural randomness of the lily pond. Atop the structure, a simple fifty foot spire seems to rein in the freeform work beneath it as it merges the natural splendor into one straight pinnacle skyward. This one hundred and fifteen story building reaches twenty-five stories above its surroundings, creating a gloriously artful and peaked skyline not unlike the Alps in France that will be instantly recognizable the world over and cause onlookers to gasp and utter, "C'est Magnifique.”
― Michael Bowe, Skyscraper of a Man

“In my experience, what is whispered is often far more telling than what is spoken or shouted.”
― Michael Bowe, Skyscraper of a Man

“In life, it seems that standing still is just as risky as moving forward. So much passes by.”
― Michael Bowe, Skyscraper of a Man

“You're eighteen and you have a long journey in front of you. You don't need to know what you want to be right now, only that you want to be something.”
― Michael Bowe, The Weight of a Moment

“I don't think Marie killed your father but, if she did, she did it to protect you. Maybe even murder can be a beautiful act.”
― Michael Bowe, The Weight of a Moment

“On the dining room table, beside a photo of us beaming and obviously very much in love in front of Sacre-Coeur in Paris, she left a simple, two-sentence note. Staring at the note, the writer in me loved her conciseness and eloquence -- the rest of me just plain loved her.”
― Michael Bowe, The Weight of a Moment

“In every lifetime, sometimes more than once, a circumstance occurs that opens the heart to its fullest measure, where significant, meaningful change is possible, where failures and shortcomings can be absolved, and a person can be reborn. Some are healed or renewed by the experience, while others fail to recognize the opportunity and it passes by.”
― Michael Bowe, The Weight of a Moment

“The words landed in my ears like the sweet sound of church bells in the distance.”
― Michael Bowe, The Enduring Echo of Words Unsaid

“He wept like a man who regretted his birth, one who'd forfeit all of his days to undo one.”
― Michael Bowe, The Enduring Echo of Words Unsaid

“Her past, like a mangy, rabid dog, had followed her home that night.”
― Michael Bowe, The Enduring Echo of Words Unsaid

“Our lives are determined by the words we choose, whether spoken or unsaid. Sometimes in life, when something goes without saying, that is all the more reason to say it.”
― Michael Bowe, The Enduring Echo of Words Unsaid

“Only children and fools believe in things that aren't real.”
― Michael Bowe