Kate > Kate's Quotes

“Sometimes, people come up to me when I am knitting and they say things like, "Oh, I wish I could knit, but I'm just not the kind of person who can sit and waste time like that." How can knitting be wasting time? First, I never just knit; I knit and think, knit and listen, knit and watch. Second, you aren't wasting time if you get a useful or beautiful object at the end of it.

I will remember that not everyone understands. I will resist the urge to ask others what they do when they watch TV.”
― Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, At Knit's End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much

“Advice for New Knitters

When choosing a pattern, look for ones that have words such as "simple", "basic", and "easy". If you see the words "intriguing", "challenging", or "intricate", look elsewhere.

If you happen across a pattern that says "heirloom", slowly put down the pattern and back away.

"Heirloom" is knitting code for "This pattern is so difficult that you would consider death a relief".”
― Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, At Knit's End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much

“When confronted with a birthday in a week I will remember that a book can be a really good present, too.”
― Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, At Knit's End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much

“Some knitters say that they buy yarn with no project in mind and wait patiently for the yarn to "speak" to them. This reminds me of Michelangelo, who believed that every block of stone he carved had the statue waiting inside and that all he did was reveal it. I think I've had yarn speak to me during the knitting process, and I've definitely spoken to it. Perhaps I'm doing it wrong, or maybe my yarn and I aren't on such good terms, but it really seems to me that all I say is "please" and all it ever says is "no".”
― Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, At Knit's End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much

“One, remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Two, never give up work. Work gives you meaning and purpose and life is empty without it. Three, if you are lucky enough to find love, remember it is there and don't throw it away.”
― Stephen Hawking

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”
― Oscar Wilde

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

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

“You can never be overdressed or overeducated.”
― Oscar Wilde

“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”
― Confucius

“Study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in.”
― Leonardo da Vinci

“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 only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.”
― Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood

“Whatever it is you're seeking won't come in the form you're expecting.”
― Haruki Marukami

“I know all those words, but that sentence makes no sense to me.”
― Matt Groening

“And also don’t forget, the reason opportunity is often missed is that it usually comes disguised as hard work.”
― Clifford Irving, Trial

“Never be afraid to sit awhile and think.”
― Lorraine Hansberry

“Books should broaden us, take us to places we have never been and show us things we’ve never seen, expand our horizons and our way of looking at the world.”
― George R.R. Martin, Rogues

“virtue (meaning, chiefly, the four cardinal virtues of self-control, courage, justice, and wisdom) is happiness, and it is our perceptions of things—rather than the things themselves—that cause most of our trouble.”
― Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic

“The single most important practice in Stoic philosophy is differentiating between what we can change and what we can’t.”
― Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic

“If we can focus on making clear what parts of our day are within our control and what parts are not, we will not only be happier, we will have a distinct advantage over other people who fail to realize they are fighting an unwinnable battle.”
― Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living

“Knowledge—self-knowledge in particular—is freedom.”
― Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living

“I told her to focus on herself – not because it will show the haters that she doesn’t care, but because she is worth focusing on, and it gives her the power and opportunity to find out who she is and what she wants.”
― Celeste Barber, Challenge Accepted!: The hilarious bestselling memoir and guide to life from the Australian comedy sensation, for fans of Toni Lodge and Tina Fey

“Life is not a series of crises to be endured. Life is to be enjoyed.”
― Tara Schuster, Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies: And Other Rituals to Fix Your Life, from Someone Who's Been There

“History was interesting to the extent that it was catastrophic and, while that might make absorbing viewing, it made horrible living.”
― Isaac Asimov

“Your body is doing amazing things for you every day, and self-care is one way that you can show gratitude and appreciation for all its hard work.”
― Dr. Megan Anna Neff, Self-Care for Autistic People: 100+ Ways to Recharge, De-Stress, and Unmask!

“Apocryphal stories have grown up about Douglas Adams’s almost superhuman ability to miss deadlines. Upon close inspection, they all appear to be true.”
― Neil Gaiman, Don't Panic: Douglas Adams & The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.
"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring