Richelle E. Goodrich Quotes

Gavin, I can't talk to you here. People will call me crazy."

My imaginary friend smirked. "But you're already talking to me."

"Well, I have to stop."

His smirk grew cocky. "I doubt you can resist."

And he was right. There was nothing I wanted more than to give my full attention to an imagined shadow and ignore those who ignored me in the real world. I wanted to talk out loud to Gavin―to play and laugh boisterously with him. In a dream I could justify such behavior, but to succumb to hallucinations while wide awake would only prove me insane.

Go put on your mask.
Say 'trick-or-treat' in costume.
It's All Hallows Eve.

Rather than critique people, try admiring God's creative handiwork.

During an especially noisy elementary school assembly I witnessed a common marvel. Someone spoke,"Once upon a time ... " into the mic, and the room hushed. Such magic never ceases to amaze me.

I finally figured out the big, elusive secret to weight loss. Don't eat! Who knew?

Mothers care in volumes of tears and earnestness of prayers and a depth of emotion others cannot fathom.

Monsters excite us in this way or that.
They make our pulse thrum and steal lives from the cat!
They're frightening creatures, one peek and you'll see.
Yet life without monsters, how dull it would be.
Your tense, nervous laugh tells me you disagree?

When I count my blessings, I find you in every one.

I can overlook the lie; what's harder to ignore is the grotesque way it has marred your character.

Evil exists in this world because it has its place. For had you never sat blindly through the darkness of night, your eyes wouldn't turn toward the sunrise to appreciate its warmth and illumination.

It is darkness that reveals the brightest stars and most ardent wishes.

How frustrating to think you can be lost to yourself. And yet how often it is that a stranger stares back at you from the mirror. Maybe in truth we never see ourselves as clearly as the thousands of eyes that daily take us in.

The written word can make one pause and contemplate. It can make a reader sigh to dream or question a belief in considerable depth. But all of that is nothing if those words fail to touch the heart and make one feel.

The truth is that few know the truth.

Happiness depends upon two things - pleasing God, and then pleasing yourself.

Kindness is going out of your way to perform favors regarded as wonderful by the recipient.

Mothers were meant to love us unconditionally, to understand our moments of stupidity, to reprimand us for lame excuses while yet acknowledging our point of view, to weep over our pain and failures as well as cry at our joy and successes, and to cheer us on despite countless start-overs. Heaven knows no one else will.

I wished upon the moon one night, bewitched by how it shone so white. While staring up with some excite my eyes beheld a wondrous sight! The moon so lustrous and white transformed into an armored knight who caused me just a moments fright when he jumped down from such a height. No more a soft, celestial light, he was my lover, day and night.

This caused the world a serious plight. How harsh a sting and deep the bite inflicted on the world, alright, to lose their blackest-hour light.

And so I've come to set things right, to offer up without a fight my lover wished for one clear night. I hold him close. He hugs me tight, then climbs again to heaven's height to glow a bluer shade of bright. I stare at my beloved knight, not wanting to be impolite, and in my heart with all my might I wish a wish that isn't right.

Now and then the world still spites a shadowless and moonless night when we steal softly out of sight to hold each other 'til daylight and share in lovers true delight.

The past wasn't something that could be changed or repaired, and so it was a place Ian refused to dwell. That wasn't the case with Eena. She often wandered on pathways long since set in stone. That was her way. She had some need to rearrange those stones from her past every now and then, as if changing how she perceived them altered anything. He felt guilty for wishing she would turn her back on it all. To him, no matter how the past was viewed, it was still the same pile of unchangeable, regrettable stones.

When my problems seem overwhelming and impossible to solve, I hold fast to these facts: God is real, He is right, and He cares.

A little porch light from a distant farmhouse dimmed, feeling alone and unneeded until his smallest spark of illumination snuffed out entirely. The night fell as dark as it was quiet. Meanwhile, every secret eye within the vicinity―from insect to animal to human wanderer―stopped to blink, suddenly blinded. Their guiding light had vanished, extinguishing hope in the hearts of many. That little light had mattered, but he knew it not.

Happiness has two hands: one with strength for lifting up heavy hearts and a gentle hand for tickling.

Knowing the path to follow doesn't make it a breeze to step along. If every desire were only a skip, hop, and a jump away, we'd all have arrived.

Have I told you I love you lately?'

'Yes, my dear, when you opened my door, when you touched my cheek, when you listened to my stories, and when you warmed my drink - I heard you say it in every sweet-and-easy gesture.

I have lost my spark, I'm told, and should seek to rekindle it. Respecting the messenger, I wonder if this is true. I feel as if my spark endures, but having opened up to the world so bright, perhaps it no longer shines by comparison. So, without a word, I slip back into seclusion to nurture my beautiful inner glow.

As sure as stars appear on cloudless nights,
As warm as sunbeams swaddle summer days,
I love myself with perfect mind and might,
The one who shan't forsake or sail away.

Your life isn't some prerecorded movie where, no matter how many times you watch it, the ending remains the same. Your life is a book in progress, and you are the author. So if you don't care for the main character or the gloomy scenery or how the twisted plot is unfolding, then do something to change it. You write your own story.

What if dragons breathed bubbles
and purred when they cuddled
and giggled at chivalrous knights for their troubles?

What if dragons felt soft,
having scales made of cloth,
and they moved rather slow like a brown-throated sloth?

What if dragons were shy
and did easily cry
when confronted by characters callous and sly?

What if dragons did good
but were misunderstood
so men mercilessly slew the beasts right where they stood?

What if dragons aren't missed
because there is no list
of extinct types of quarry that now don't exist?

The night creeps in by subtle degrees while a show of fierce colors attracts and distracts me. I look up, suddenly aware of remote lights scattered overhead. I gasp as the last streak of fire dies on the horizon, and I comprehend it all too late. That crafty, dark night has swallowed my world whole.

Reality is a background so painted over by our own perceptions that every eye sees the world differently.

The Devil's Rose

You would never take a rose from a beast.
If his callous hand were to hold out a scarlet flower, his grip unaffected by pricking thorns, you would shrink from the gift and refuse it. I know that is what you would do.

But the cunning beast will have his beauty.

He hunts not in hopeless pursuit, for fear would have you sprint all the day long. Thus, he turns toward the shadows and clutches the rosebud, crunching and twisting until every delicate petal is detached. One falls not far from your feet, and you notice the red spot in the snow.

The color sparkles in the sunlight, catching your curious eye. No beast stands in sight; there is nothing to fear, so you dare retrieve the lone petal. The touch of temptation is velvet against your thumb. It carries a scent you bring to your nose, and both eyes close to float on a cloud of perfume.

As your lashes lift, another scarlet drop stains the snow at a near distance. A glance around perceives no danger, and so your footprints scar the snowflakes to retrieve another rosy leaflet as soft and sweet as the first. Your eyes shine with flecks of golden greed at the discovery of more discarded petals, and you blame the wind for scattering them mere footprints apart. All you want is a few, so you step and snatch, step and snatch, step and snatch.

Soon, there is enough velvet to rub against your cheek like a silken kerchief. Your collection of one-plus

Please stop. If you keep chipping off little pieces of my heart, soon there will be no heart left with which to love you.

A word of consolation
may sweetly touch the ear.
Now and then a quiet song
will clear the mind of fear.
A simple act of kindness
can ease a load of care.
Stories told in memory
diminish all despair.
A whispered prayer of comfort
draws angel arms around.
Counting blessings, great and small,
helps gratitude abound.
These acts, all sympathetic,
will kindly play their part.
But seldom do they dry the tears
shed mutely in the heart.

I love you" means I want you to be happy.

When you make a wee wish
on a green four-leafed clover,
may your belly stay full
and your cup runneth over.

When we all part from this life and gather on the other side, the only thing each of us will have to share is his own story.

Sometimes giving up feels like the easiest thing to do.
But then the easiest thing has never produced more than a garden full of weeds.

There are things
that make no sense,
that seem unreal,
that can't be grasped
or understood
or explained,
that maybe don't even exist ...
And still, somehow, those wonderful things touch and change our lives.
Isn't it strange?

I wish I were a tree.
Tall. Strong. Abiding.
Rooted in the spot I stand, impervious to lures that drag the transient here and there. Possessing neither a negligent ear nor a traitorous tongue that would only soak in and breath out rabid gossip. Able to endure fickle shifts in the wind and not bend. Lazing under the fierce sun, weariless, suffering no sweat or burn.
Alive, sipping water, quietly providing.
How I wish I were a tree.

Nothing in this world compares to the comfort and security of having someone just hold your hand.

When gossip starts, be deaf.

I tried and they laughed, but I laughed harder because I knew none of them had the nerve to even try.

Discouragement, fear, and depression -
three villains who lurk in the dark.
They slip inside souls with a blindfold and goals
to shatter your dreams and extinguish your spark.

Their tactics are highly effective.
They crush a great many each day.
And under their spell it is easy to dwell
On fiascoes and failures that end in dismay.

The heart and the mind are left heavy.
The last speck of will is erased.
And nothing stays on when these villains are gone
but a mouthful of bile with the bitterest taste.

Alas! You must conquer the scoundrels!
Elude, dodge, and keep them at bay!
To feel fear slink in, boring under your skin,
is a sign that his brothers are well on their way.

So reach for your weapons against them!
Take hope and hard work in each hand!
Strap faith on your hips and a prayer on your lips
and show those debasers how firmly you stand!

Discouragement, fear and depression -
the truth should be known of these cads.
They're empty and weak; it is your strength they seek.
Deny them and life is your wish in the bag.

It's simply this:
the Irish kiss,
a snog o' bliss,
be blessed luck
from any miss.

Music is happiness with a steady pulse.

The rarest, truest beauty is visible only to the heart.

My knight may not wear a coat of shining armor, but his code of glowing honor will never fail to protect us both from evils far worse than any fire-breathing dragon.

Through sheer volume of passing days you will travel a great distance in your lifetime. Imagine where you might stand if your footsteps steered toward a single goal.

Pray for good.
Pray for happy.
And always pray for Mom.

Just say "I'm sorry." It's not a tongue twister. It does not need repeating multiple times. The phrase is simple and short, easy to articulate. And the last time I checked, it sounded just as good - if not better - in a whisper. So just say it; say "I'm sorry.

Vengeance, retaliation, retribution, revenge are deceitful brothers - vile, beguiling demons promising justifiable compensation to a pained soul for his losses. Yet in truth they craftily fester away all else of worth remaining.

Southern DADDY - Dandy At Doin' Diapers Y'all!

Happiness isn't complicated. It is a humble state of gratitude for simple pleasures, tender mercies, recognized blessings, and inherent beauty.

Trying to go faster than the Lord's timing is like trying to cross a bridge before the entire structure is built. Trust God. Trust his timetable. He will help you traverse stormy waters safely.

How crazy it would be
if the moon did spin
and the earth stood still
and the sun went dim!

How absolutely ludicrous
if snakes could walk
and kids could fly
and mimes did talk!

How silly it would be
if the nights were tan
and the mornings green
and the sun cyan!

How totally ridiculous
if horses chirped
and spiders sang
and ladies burped!

How shocking it would be
if the dragons ruled
and the knights were daft
but the fish were schooled!

How utterly preposterous
if rain were dry
and snowflakes warm
and real men cried!

I love to just imagine
all the lows as heights,
and the salty, sweet,
and our lefts as rights.

Perhaps it is incredible
and off the hook,
but it all makes sense
in a storybook!

People will insist on building high and wide barriers directly in your path, often with the intent of closing you in. If you treat these obstacles like fencing walls, they will prove mightily so. I choose to see them as grand towers meant to be scaled and conquered, providing an added victory as well as a great view of the journey ahead.

Gratitude is the real treasure God wants us to find, because it isn't the pot of gold but the rainbow that colors our world.

To reach a goal:
Give it your best.
Own your choices.
Ask for help.
Learn as you go.

I made a sorry face in response to such strong insistence, but I couldn't believe him. Fantasies were exactly that.. ... ..fantasies. Whimsy. Wishes. Mere castles in the sky without foundation or substance. Dreams didn't come true. To believe so would be to believe falsely, to surrender to madness, to give in to an unreliable hope that would crush me once again as it always, always did!

Don't quit because you are not good enough, keep going because you are not good enough yet. You don't quit driving halfway to your destination because you are not there, you keep driving because you are not there yet.
You keep driving until you get there.
You keep trying until you are good enough.

Love is not complicated - just smile, hug, kiss, be kind, and repeat.

Even among familiar faces, people often feel invisible and desolate, like an island in cold waters or a shadow apart from the crowd. Be the reason another never feels alone.

Life is a test. Without problems to solve, it wouldn't be much of a test.

It is an incapacitating emotion one feels upon hearing the whispered words "I still love you" after deeply hurting that soul.
Forgiveness isn't weakness.
It is power.

Someday my children will look fondly on the annoying things I did and see them clearly as evidence of love.

Happiness is a frame of mind. It is a state of thinking. It is an attitude, a headset, a mentality. Happiness is a disposition and demeanor. It is a mood and sensibility. It is a philosophy, a notion, a tone, an outlook and perspective. Happiness is all of these things, none of which exist separate from me. They cannot be extracted or stolen because they constitute my very being. Therefore, happiness must be the natural essence of me.

I believe the main purpose of life is to accept with gratitude what you've been blessed with so that you may use those gifts to mold yourself into the best person you can possibly be. Learning to discern things of true value from those of little or no worth is part of the process.

Truly being lucky is defying the very idea of luck because you never need it.

Powerlessness is an excruciating pain; it is torture insurmountable.

Life is a voyage across troubled waters where our days are often spent clinging to the top of the highest mast, scouting for a comforting glimpse of shore.

A session of boasting won't attract any real friends. It will set you up on a pedestal, however, making you a clearer target.

I've worn Niki's pants for two days now. I thought a third day in the same clothes might be pushing it."

Ian shrugged with indifference. "It might send Derian through the roof, but it doesn't bother me. Wear what you want to wear."

Eena wrinkled her nose at him. "Do you really feel that way or are you trying to appear more laissez-faire than Derian?"

"More laissez-faire?"

"Yes. That's a real word."

"Two words actually," he grinned. "Laissez faire et laissez passer, le monde va de lui même!" He coated the words with a heavy French accent. Eena gawked at him.

"Since when do you speak French?"

"I don't." Ian chuckled. "But I did do some research in world history the year I followed you around on Earth. Physics was a joke, but history - that I found fascinating."

Slapping a hand against her chest, Eena exclaimed, "I can't believe it! Unbeknownst to me, Ian actually studied something in high school other than the library's collection of sci-fi paperbacks!"

He grimaced at her exaggerated performance before defending his preferred choice of reading material. "Hey, popular literature is a valuable and enlightening form of world history. You would know that if you read a book or two."

She ignored his reproach and asked with curiosity, "What exactly did you say?"

"In French?"

"Duh, yes."

"Don't 'duh' me, you could easily have been referring to

I've had the kind of bad day no quote can fix.

Heaven's currency is friendship.

The horses have stopped
their clippity-clop,
but feet are too slow
for where I must go.
So here I shall stay
until light of day
when clippity-clop
gets my team underway.

Humans are forever discontent - always thinking there are better alternatives to their present circumstances.

One grateful thought is a ray of sunshine. A hundred such thoughts paint a sunrise. A thousand will rival the glaring sky at noonday - for gratitude is light against the darkness.

I love you for a great many reasons and despite a great many others.

We hunger after the sweet nectar of happiness without understanding that it is harvested from the flowering field of good deeds.

Live your day and live it well. It's yours whether you want it or not.

Be loved for who you are, for everything that constitutes you. Be loved for your core beliefs, your strengths and weaknesses, your admirable traits and troublesome baggage. Be loved for you, because anything less is not love at all.

Haiku Christmas Story

New light in the sky
announces a sacred birth.
Shine brightly young star.

Hallelujah song
carries on a gentle wind,
heralding a king.

Shepherds lift their heads,
not to gaze at a new light
but to hear angels.

"Unto you is born
in the city of David
a Savior for all."

Born on straw at night
under low stable rafters,
Baby Jesus cried.

Sheep and goats and cows
gather 'round a manger bed
to awe at a babe.

Wise men come to see
a child of greater wisdom
and honor divine.

Rare and precious gifts,
gold and myrrh and frankincense,
to offer a king.

Mary and Joseph
huddle snugly together.
They cradle God's son.

On this wise He came,
the Son of God to the earth.
A humble wonder.

Why so eager to jump in and direct someone else's life when you can't stick to your own goals and resolutions?

As ofttimes as it rains on my little spot of earth, you'd think I'd grow accustomed to the gloom.

Be good.
See good.
Choose good.
It's a no-brainer.

Afraid of offending with an off word or the slightest insensitivity, I keep an unobtrusive and silent distance. Nevertheless, my pursed lips and offish stance are perceived as cold, managing to offend all.

Christ was born in Bethlehem as
Heaven sang with joy.
Roaming shepherds came to see the
Infant, swaddled boy.
Several wisemen sought him out,
Traveling from afar.
Mary wondered, looking skyward
At a bright, new star.
Sacred was the Christ child's birth.
Sacred is CHRISTMAS.

If only you would kiss me.
Press your lips to mine like a searing iron. Wrap me in your arms as if you were a monarch claiming a kingdom. Hold me close until I warm through to the core. Do this, and I promise to melt into you, no longer a cold and frozen figure in your narrowed sight. How devoted I would be if only your lips burned for mine!
If only you would kiss me.

You are amazing, my dear," he said with awe.

She smiled a thank you and told him, "That is because you make me feel amazing.

Why don't you just spit it out?" she said sharply. "Just say what I know you're dying to say - 'Eena, I told you so!'"

"All I'm trying to say is that if you hadn't used those powers in the first place, Gemdorin would never have known about them, the dragon's heart would never have been uncovered, and consequently you would never have had to abuse those powers to defeat him. Then we wouldn't be in this predicament right now."

She summed it up for him concisely. "In other words, 'I told you so!'

My favorite quote in the world is this one.

If you'd just learn to do as I say from the beginning, I wouldn't have to follow up your errors with reproving smirks and repeated I-told-you-sos.

Gingerbread houses
with gumdrops and peppermint
and marshmallow snow.

Just resign yourself to the fact that you're going to be miserable so you can finally be happy. (It's a sound theory if you think about it hard enough.)

Pain defines moments in the lives of all human beings. The trial is not the endurance of pain but the choices we make regarding how to endure.

Everything in the world that happens to you may be someone else's doing; I'll grant you that. But what you do with it, how you react to it, what you make of yourself in the midst of it all - that's totally you.

There is monetary value,
and there is sentimental value.
You tell me which is worth more,
and I will tell you what your heart is made of.

It's none of your concern what others say or think about you. Your happiness is your own responsibility.

I won't lie - I don't care.
And you should quit trying to deceive yourself because I can tell by the way you show no desire to do anything but complain about the issue that you don't honestly care either.

You matter.
How you feel matters.
What you say, do, and think matters.
It all matters.