Harry Crews

There is something beautiful about all scars of whatever nature. A scar means the hurt is over, the wound is closed and healed, done with.

That was the only decision there was once upon a time: what to do with the night.

I think all of us are looking for that which does not admit of bullshit . . . If you tell me you can bench press 450, hell, we'll load up the bar and put you under it. Either you can do it or you can't do it—you can't bullshit. Ultimately, sports are just about as close to what one would call the truth as it is possible to get in this world.

If you wait until you got time to write a novel, or time to write a story, or time to read the hundred thousands of books you should have already read - if you wait for the time, you will never do it. ‘Cause there ain’t no time; world don’t want you to do that. World wants you to go to the zoo and eat cotton candy, preferably seven days a week.

Speaks well of a man to need a little something in this world. I wouldn't trust a man who could git through it cold sober.

There ought to be a law against the sun rising and setting for you in somebody else.

Leila Sales

Sometimes people think they know you. They know a few facts about you, and they piece you together in a way that makes sense to them. And if you don't know yourself very well, you might even believe that they are right. But the truth is, that isn't you. That isn't you at all.

That's the problem with life. You never get enough time to stare at your ceiling and try to figure out what's going on.

Well, you can't have heartbreak without love," Dan pointed out. "If your heart was really broken, then at least you know you really loved him.

People are who they are and, try as you might, you cannot make them be what you want them to be.

I believe that a person's taste in music tells you a lot about them. In some cases, it tells you everything you need to know.

Don't you ever want to have just one thing that no one else knows about, so no one can ruin it for you?

You think it's so easy to change yourself. You think it's so easy, but it's not. True, things don't stay the same forever: couches are replaced, boys leave, you discover a song, your body becomes forever scarred. And with each of these moments you change and change again, your true self spinning, shifting positions-- but always at last it returns to you, like a dancer on the floor. Because throughout it all, you are still, always, you: beautiful and bruised, known and unknowable. And isn't that - just you - enough.

Lisa Genova

“You're so beautiful," said Alice. "I'm afraid of looking at you and not knowing who you are."
"I think that even if you don't know who I am someday, you'll still know that I love you."
"What if I see you, and I don't know that you're my daughter, and I don't know that you love me?"
"Then, I'll tell you that I do, and you'll believe me.” 

She liked being reminded of butterflies. She remembered being six or seven and crying over the fates of the butterflies in her yard after learning that they lived for only a few days. Her mother had comforted her and told her not to be sad for the butterflies, that just because their lives were short didn't mean they were tragic. Watching them flying in the warm sun among the daisies in their garden, her mother had said to her, see, they have a beautiful life. Alice liked remembering that.

Be creative, be useful, be practical, be generous and finish big.

The mother in her believed that the love she had for her daughter was safe from the mayhem of her mind, because it lived in her heart.

Everything she did and love, everything she was, required language.

Kristin Cashore

I'm not going to wear a red dress," she said.
"It would look stunning, My Lady," she called.
She spoke to the bubbles gathered on the surface of the water. "If there's anyone I wish to stun at dinner, I'll hit him in the face.

When a monster stopped behaving like a monster, did it stop being a monster? Did it become something else?

How absurd it was that in all seven kingdoms, the weakest and most vulnerable of people - girls, women - went unarmed and were taught nothing of fighting, while the strong were trained to the highest reaches of their skill.

What are you grinning at?" Katsa demanded for the third or fourth time. "Is the ceiling about to cave in on my head or something? You look like we're both on the verge of an enormous joke."
"Katsa, only you would consider the collapse of the ceiling a good joke.

I know you don't want this, Katsa. But I can't help myself. The moment you came barreling into my life I was lost. I'm afraid to tell you what I wish for, for fear you'll... oh, I don't know, throw me into the fire. Or more likely, refuse me. Or worst of all, despise me," he said, his voice breaking and his eyes dropping from her face. His face dropping into his hands. "I love you," he said. "You're more dear to my heart than I ever knew anyone could be. And I've made you cry; and there I'll stop.

Rachel Vincent

The worst memories stick with us, while the nice ones always seem to slip through our fingers.

The moment the door opened I knew an ass-kicking was inevitable. Whether I'd be giving it or receiving it was still a bit of a mystery.

If I love you more than you love me, I’m as good as dead. Yet I can’t make myself take it back. I can’t just walk away from you, because every time you pass by me without smiling, without touching my hand, or at least making eye contact, it feels like I’m dying inside.

Chocolate says "I'm sorry" so much better than words.

You just say the word, and I'll make the rest of the world go away. I'll take you someplace safe, where no one else can reach us.

I got swirling eyes and the capacity to shatter windows with my bare voice. Tod got teleportation and invisibility. The supernatural world is so far from fair.

Robinson Jeffers

The tides are in our veins, we still mirror the stars, life is your child, but there is in me
Older and harder than life and more impartial, the eye that watched before there was an ocean.

The heads of strong old age are beautiful / Beyond all grace of youth

I've changed my ways a little, I cannot now
Run with you in the evenings along the shore,
Except in a kind of dream, and you, if you dream a moment,
You see me there.

The greatest beauty is organic wholeness, the wholeness of life and things, the divine beauty of the universe.

Does it matter whether you hate yourself? At least love your eyes that can see, your mind that can hear the music, the thunder of the wings.

Nature knows that people are a tide that swells and in time will ebb, and all their works dissolve ... As for us: We must uncenter our minds from ourselves. We must unhumanize our views a little and become confident as the rock and ocean that we are made from.

Alice Bag

What a waste my life would be without all the beautiful mistakes I've made.

My sexuality is not an inferior trait that needs to be chaperoned by emotionalism or morality.

If anyone hits me, they can expect to be hit back, and harder. I never turn the other cheek because in my experience that doesn’t work.

I am not a perfectionist…if you believe that your best is good enough, you will find happiness. The unknown can be exciting and full of opportunity but you have to be involved and you have to be able to evolve.

The longer you live, the more dreams you should have to keep you occupied.

I don’t want to accidentally end up looking back on my life to find that I’m ashamed of myself, I want to live a life I can be proud of.

If Jesus himself, or Mohammed, or Buddha spoke to me personally and said that women are inferior to men, I would still reject that as false dogma because I know with every ounce of my being that this is not true.

Truthfully, if you want to remember me, do it now. I won’t give a shit when I’m dead.

I took big, hungry bites out of life, and I'm still not full.

If you’re not smiling at yourself in the mirror, you probably need to check that the life you’re building is aligned to the life you dreamed for yourself. And if you’re not dreaming, you need to start dreaming.

William Arthur Ward

The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.

The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.

It is wise to direct your anger towards problems -- not people; to focus your energies on answers -- not excuses.

Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will not forget you. Love me and I may be forced to love you.

A true friend knows your weaknesses but shows you your strenghs; feels your fears but fortifies your faith; sees your anxieties but frees your spirit; recognizes your disabilities but emphasizes your possibilities.

The adventure of life is to learn. The purpose of life is to grow. The nature of life is to change. The challenge of life is to overcome. The essence of life is to care. The opportunity of like is to serve. The secret of life is to dare. The spice of life is to befriend. The beauty of life is to give.

Do more than belong: participate. Do more than care: help. Do more than believe: practice. Do more than be fair: be kind. Do more than forgive: forget. Do more than dream: work.

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.

Before you speak, listen. 
Before you write, think. 
Before you spend, earn. 
Before you invest, investigate. 
Before you criticize, wait. 
Before you pray, forgive. 
Before you quit, try. 
Before you retire, save. 
Before you die, give.

Rosamund Hodge

Where you go, I shall go; where you die, I shall die, and there will I be buried.

They said that love was terrifying and tender, wild and sweet, and none of it made any sense.
But now I knew that every mad word was true.

Knowing the truth is not always a kindness.

You fought and fought to keep all the cruelty locked up in your head, and for what? None of them ever loved you, because none of them ever knew you.

If one of us had to die, it ought to be the one with poison in her heart.

If you start wondering how this house works, you'll likely go mad. That could be amusing, I suppose. Especially if it's the kind of madness that causes you to run naked through the hallways. Do feel free to indulge in that anytime.

Don’t look at the shadows too long or a demon might look back.

I was not born to be saved.

Beth Fantaskey

American women. Why do you all want to be nearly invisible? Why not have a physical presence in the world? Women should have curves, not angles. ...One should never confuse fashionable with beautiful. ...Eat. Be happy to have curves. A presence.

Jessica. For god's sake," he said. "Allow me to do at least one common courtesy for you. In spite ow what 'women's lib' teaches you, chivalry does not imply that women are powerless. On the contrary, chivalry is an admission of women's superiority. An acknowledgment of your power over us. This is the only form of servitude a Vladescu ever practices, and I perform it gladly for you. You, in turn, are obligated to accept graciously.

Where do you. come from?" Frank challenged, puffing his chest, a little bolder now that he could breathe. "Some of us are starting to wonder."
"I come from civilization," Lucius retorted. "You wouldn't be familiar with the territory. Now pick up the books.

I don't know how to dress girls, I know how to dress women.