BookOfCinz > BookOfCinz's Quotes

“You can't own a human being. You can't lose what you don't own. Suppose you did own him. Could you really love somebody who was absolutely nobody without you? You really want somebody like that? Somebody who falls apart when you walk out the door? You don't, do you? And neither does he. You're turning over your whole life to him. Your whole life, girl. And if it means so little to you that you can just give it away, hand it to him, then why should it mean any more to him? He can't value you more than you value yourself.”
― Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon

“And fantasy it was, for we were not strong, only aggressive; we were not free, merely licensed; we were not compassionate, we were polite; not good, but well behaved. We courted death in order to call ourselves brave, and hid like thieves from life. We substituted good grammar for intellect; we switched habits to simulate maturity; we rearranged lies and called it truth, seeing in the new pattern of an old idea the Revelation and the Word”
― Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye

“Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly, and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love – for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you from misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labours and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.”
― Max Ehrmann, Desiderata: A Poem for a Way of Life

“Envy Is Behind Flattery.”
― Abraham Verghese, Cutting for Stone

“The uneventful day is a precious gift.”
― Abraham Verghese, Cutting for Stone

“The world turns on our every action, and our every omission, whether we know it or not.”
― Abraham Verghese, Cutting for Stone

“A desk is a dangerous place from which to watch the world.”
― John le Carré, The Honourable Schoolboy

“Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.”
― Mark Twain

“How can you live without trusting people? There are more people who are good than people who are bad!”
― Kyung-Sook Shin, Please Look After Mom

“Why the woman is better...though she was created second she was made from Adam's side whole Adam was made from common clay. Woman should be preferred to man because Eve was created inside Paradise, but Adam was created outside. As for will, woman should be considered superior to man-for Eve ate of the apple for the love of knowledge and learning, but Adam ate of it merely because she asked him.”
― Donna Woolfolk Cross, Pope Joan

“Truly Virgil was right: love was a form of sickness. It altered people, made them behave in strange and irrational ways.”
― Donna Woolfolk Cross

“Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

“It is said that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That's the world's greatest lie”
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

“Women represent the triumph of matter over mind, just as men represent the triumph of mind over morals.”
― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

“When one is in love, one always begins by deceiving one's self, and one always ends by deceiving others. That is what the world calls a romance.”
― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

“Children begin by loving their parents; as they grow older they judge them; sometimes they forgive them.”
― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

“The real drawback to marriage is that it makes one unselfish. And unselfish people are colourless. They lack individuality.”
― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

“The one charm about the past is that it is the past. But women never know when the curtain has fallen. ”
― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

“Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armour yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.”
― George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

“The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.”
― William Butler Yeats, The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats

“But in the end, fighting for a love that was already gone felt like trying to live in the ruins of a lost city.”
― Paula McLain, The Paris Wife

“Most things in the world are not unexpected if one thinks carefully about them. Even something one would call unusual- if one things about it, it's really just a thing that was supposed to happen. Encountering unusual events often means you didn't think things through.”
― Paula McLain, The Paris Wife

“Fear is good. In the right degree it prevents us from making fools of ourselves. But in the wrong measure it prevents us from fully living. Fear is our boon companion but never our master.”
― Alan Brennert, Moloka'i

“It's easy to look at people and make quick judgments about them, their present and their past, but you'd be amazed at the pain and tears a single smile hides. What a person shows to the world is only one tiny facet of the iceberg hidden from sight. And more often then not, it's lined with cracks and scars that go all the way to the foundation of their soul.”
― Sherrilyn Kenyon, Acheron

“To agree to keep a secret is to assume a burden”
― Sam Harris, Lying

“Unlike statements of fact, which require no further work on our part, lies must be continually protected from collisions with reality.”
― Sam Harris, Lying

“By lying, we deny others a view of the world as it is. Our dishonesty not only influences the choices they make, it often determines the choices they can make—and in ways we cannot always predict. Every lie is a direct assault upon the autonomy of those we lie to.”
― Sam Harris, Lying

“Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up.”
― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones

“It is better, I think, to grab at the stars than to sit flustered because you know you cannot reach them.”
― R.A. Salvatore, Sojourn

“Sometimes I shield myself from finding out what's really going on with people for fear I'll be held responsible. Because with information often comes responsibility; if we know, we might be required to do something”
― Kelly Minter, Nehemiah: A Heart That Can Break - DVD Leader Kit