Badass Quotes

Dance after dance after dance, until sweat was running down my back as I worked to keep up, keep that smile on my face, to remember to laugh when my hands were within strangling distance from his throat. ~ Sarah J. Maas

They don't know you're secretly a badass? ~ Rachel Caine

Ysolde: "You think so? Well maybe your precious Aisling just needs to watch out, because I'm not some pushover, you know. I'm a mage, and mated to the baddest ass in the dragon world."
Brom looked speculatively at Baltic. "That's you?"
Baltic: "Yes. If you were my son, as you should have been, you, too, would have a badass. ~ Katie MacAlister

There are some people who still feel threatened by strong women. That's their problem. It's not mine. ~ Gloria Allred

I want people to know that there is nothing more badass than being yourself. ~ Darren Criss

The modern architect is, generally speaking, art's greatest enemy. ~ Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Growing up she'd heard rumors about the enforcer and how badass he was... ~ Savannah Stuart

It's good she hooked up with me, she's such a nut, she needs a badass to take her back. ~ Kristen Ashley

They are soldiers. They depend upon routine, and anything out of the ordinary will give them pause. And they are men. They hate to be insulted, but they love to hear others mocked. And they are fools, because they cannot imagine that a woman alone in the woods would be a threat. ~ Kiersten White

A #GIRLBOSS is someone who's in charge of her own life. She gets what she wants because she works for it. As a #GIRLBOSS, you take control and accept responsibility. You're a fighter- you know when to throw punches and when to roll with them. Sometimes you break the rules, sometimes you follow them, but always on your terms. You know where you're going, but can't do it without having some fun along the way. You value honesty over perfection. You ask questions. You take your life seriously, but you don't take yourself too seriously. You're going to take over the world, and change it in the process. You're a badass. ~ Sophia Amoruso

Starke, release me or I'll kick you in the balls.
And that would hurt, given the current rock-hard state of that area. ~ Keri Arthur

I can't think of any better representation of beauty than someone who is unafraid to be herself. ~ Emma Stone

I never thought of life as a dance, but I guess it made sense. Your dance is unique. It's yours and yours alone. Your feet are never still, always finding a different path and it's that path that takes you anywhere. You're always searching, finding a song that claims your soul. Once you find it, you revel in it until it is your turn to take your final bow. ~ Nicole Gulla

All fine architectural values are human values, else not valuable. ~ Frank Lloyd Wright

What are you? The pregnant MacGyver?" "Best compliment I've had in a while. ~ Cristin Harber

Despite the display of savagery, Jack thought it would be a good pet. Or a mascot. What better way to show how badass the Obsolete Department was then having an alien creature that could eat your face? ~ A.J. Bauers

Um, enough apologies, okay?
Just get on with being your badass self. ~ Scott Stabile

How did you get in here?' ( ... ) 'How I got here isn't important, because I could do it twenty times again, each time a different way. ~ Rachel Aaron

Because we're old as sh*t. What do you want? ~ Kobe Bryant

I'd learned that my mother was a badass in disguise. She was Van Helsing in an apron and heels, and - at least for the time being - I couldn't think of a single thing cooler than that. ~ Rachel Vincent

Where are your balls at? ~ Kobe Bryant

I want people to come away from my book with questions. Questions about virtue and goodness. Not answers. ~ Veronica Roth

Butterflies were small and light, and very magic sensitive. For some reason I made them feel safe and they gravitated to me like iron shavings to a magnet. They ruined my ferocious badass image, but you'd have to be a complete beast to swat butterflies. ~ Ilona Andrews

Healthy moms mean healthy families. When my Republican colleagues held a hearing about birth control and refused to include a single woman on the first panel as a witness, I asked, "Where are the women?" ~ Carolyn Maloney

ACCEPT PRAISE FOR ITS WORTH - POLITENESS. BE BRUTALLY FRANK WITH YOURSELF. IT'S SAFER. ~ Nellie Bly

You comin' or what? Ryker returned.
Layne glanced through Merry and Cal, nodded and followed Ryker. It would seem big, scary, badass, looking like a raving lunatic Ryker needed his BFF.
Fuck. ~ Kristen Ashley

I'm going to help the committee regardless of any position I have. I will volunteer to be a summer intern. ~ Trey Gowdy

To be honest, I never thought I'd be famous for baseball," she says. "I want to play basketball, and I could also do both basketball and baseball - but I really want to play basketball. ~ Mo'ne Davis

Daryl Dixon: [about Merle] Toughest asshole I ever met, my brother. Feed him a hammer, he'd crap out nails. ~ The Walking Dead

The heart of a woman will never be found in the arms of a man. ~ Vanessa Carlton

There are girls who are so fierce that wearing pink makes them look that much cooler (especially when paired with black-and-white-striped tights or a skull choker). On those badass vixens, pink becomes an in-your-face dare that says hey, world, even in the girliest of colors, I'm still cool as hell, so don't fuck with me. ~ Shauna Cross

I sprinkle some flour on the dough and roll it out with the heavy, wooden rolling pin. Once it's the perfect size and thickness, I flip the rolling pin around and sing into the handle - American Idol style.

"Calling Gloriaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa . . ."

And then I turn around.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Without thinking, I bend my arm and throw the rolling pin like a tomahawk . . . straight at the head of the guy who's standing just inside the kitchen door.

The guy I didn't hear come in.

The guy who catches the hurling rolling pin without flinching - one-handed and cool as a gorgeous cucumber - just an inch from his perfect face.

He tilts his head to the left, looking around the rolling pin to meet my eyes with his soulful brown ones. "Nice toss."

Logan St. James.

Bodyguard. Totally badass. Sexiest guy I have ever seen - and that includes books, movies and TV, foreign and domestic. He's the perfect combo of boyishly could-go-to-my-school kind of handsome, mixed with dangerously hot and tantalizingly mysterious. If comic-book Superman, James Dean, Jason Bourne and some guy with the smoothest, most perfectly pitched, British-Scottish-esque, Wessconian-accented voice all melded together into one person, they would make Logan fucking St. James.

And I just tried to clock him with a baking tool - while wearing my Rick and Morty pajama short-shorts, a Winnie-the-Pooh T-shirt I've had sinc ~ Emma Chase

Wake up - time to die. ~ Brion James

She'd been on the hunt for some badass dude who'd go down with her into whatever dark place she was trapped in, but instead she'd ended up with this lame-ass coward, a guy who's too fucked up to tell her to get lost, but also too scared to do what he said he would do. ~ Kristen Roupenian

I am not lucky. You know what I am? I am smart, I am talented, I take advantage of the opportunities that come my way and I work really, really hard. Don't call me lucky. Call me a badass. ~ Shonda Rhimes

Ronan's phone buzzed with a text: Gansey.
Reached out to a few peers, it said, as if he were sixty instead of the same age as Ronan. Image you sent confirmed logo for Boudicca. All-lady group involved in the protection and organization of women in business. Henry says his mother thinks they're pretty powerful.
Another text came in. Boudicca is actually a very interesting historical figure in her won right.
Another: She was a warrior queen of the Celts around 60 CE and she fought against the Romans
Another: Blue wants you to know Boudicca is
Another: Sorry sent too soon quote is 'Boudicca is the original goth. Ronan Lynch wishes he was that badass'
Another: Is badass one word or two
Ronan's phone displayed ellipses to show that Gansey was about to shoot off another text.
Ronan texted back hurriedly, If you have to ask you aren't one. Thanks old man. I'll wiki it. ~ Maggie Stiefvater

The economic crisis really affected my family - 2006 to 2011 were really bad times. Almost everybody in my family lost their jobs. ~ Joey Badass

Because if we the storytellers don't do this, then the bad people will win. ~ Christiane Amanpour

I took out my grenade and put my fingers inside the pin. 'Do you boys want this to be your last meal, or do you want to answer his question? ~ Ishmael Beah

Don't think for second you are not a badass warrior. That's precisely your problem, you don't realize how amazingly brilliant and super kickass you are. Your potential is only limited by your mind. ~ Melody Lee

No, Governor Romney, corporations are not people. People have hearts, they have kids, they get jobs, they get sick, they cry, they dance. They live, they love, and they die. And that matters. That matters because we don't run this country for corporations, we run it for people. ~ Elizabeth Warren

Johnny Cash had all of the same talents and problems as Elvis - a poor upbringing in the rural South exposure to gospel music throughout his childhood a penchant for drug abuse ... they had the same sort of influencing experiences but Johnny' Cash's problematic relationship was with his father not his mother. If he had had the mommy issues that Elvis had instead of a compelling need to prove himself to his father, he wouldn't have been the badass man in black, the guy in Folsom Prison watching the train roll by. Elvis was a lot of things but even with the karate and the gunplay he was more unstable than badass. ~ Molly Harper

It is therefore indisputable that the limbs of architecture are derived from the limbs of man. ~ Michelangelo

NEVER INTERFERE WITH MELENGAR AGAIN
BY ORDER OF THE KING
... AND US ~ Michael J. Sullivan

No asshole would stop Harley Wright's epic quest for pussy. He would fight every bum in Manhattan for a fine piece of ass like Sorcha! ~ Alan Kinross

Oh my God! You have Empire Records?" I grab the DVD and rush over to put it in the player. "You know this movie is cinema gold," Jackson says as he brings over popcorn and settles into the couch. "This is the best movie ever!" I exclaim and snuggle into his side. "Okay. Before we start watching, if you could be anyone, who would you pick? I'd be Lucas. He's hysterical." I smile and grab the bowl, putting it on my lap. "I guess Joe. He's the boss." I laugh at his choice. Of course he'd pick the one who's in charge. Joe is pretty badass, though. "I think you'd be a great Rex. Oh Rexy, you're so sexy." I smirk and push play as he scoffs. ~ Corinne Michaels

Nobody calls me 'blondie' and keeps their kneecaps. ~ Cassandra Clare

My man got close to my back and his mouth came to my ear where he said quietly, "Hurry this shit up, baby, 'cause what you got last night after I watched you slide down a pole upside down while straddling it is gonna be nothin' to what I give you tonight watchin' you be badass."
I turned and glared up at him. "Don't turn me on while I'm working, Zano."
His lips quirked.
"Jesus," Mace muttered. ~ Kristen Ashley

I never underestimated myself. And I never saw anything wrong with ambition. ~ Angela Merkel

What are you going to wear?" "My badass face." "Good choice," he said. ~ Ilona Andrews

Because if being a badass was easy everyone would do it
Lexy of Ankh
(The Dragon)
Enlightenment ~ Kim Cormack

They focused a large amount of their wrath on people trying to add dialogue about feminism and diversity in gaming, condemning them as "Social Justice Warriors." (That label was always so weird to me, because how is that an insult? "Social Justice Warrior" actually sounds pretty badass.) ~ Felicia Day

I have self-doubt. I have insecurity. I have fear of failure. I have nights when I show up at the arena and I'm like, 'My back hurts, my feet hurt, my knees hurt. I don't have it. I just want to chill.' We all have self-doubt. You don't deny it, but you also don't capitulate to it. You embrace it. ~ Kobe Bryant

Right, so, quick, I mentioned Hawk. He's a scary-ass, motherfucking commando. When I say that, I do not lie. So I'll repeat, he's a scary-ass, motherfucking commando. So, when your mind conjures up a vision of a commando, that's Hawk. And Hawk likes kids. But he don't like kids bein' scared and bein' used for bullshit family dramas. I tell him this, which, by the way, I'm totally tellin' him this, even though he don't know those kids, like, at all, he's gonna go psycho badass, motherfucking commando. And the Trailer Trash Twins won't know what hit 'em. ~ Kristen Ashley

You know, you're hot and you've got that badass manly man thing going and I'm crazily attracted to you, but honestly, I suspect you're going to be a little too bossy for my tastes. Thanks for the offer on the whole
love-me-die-for-me thing, but I'll pass. ~ Stephanie Rowe

Since the dawn of time, nearly every man (and I'd wager to guess most women) has, at his most visceral level, secretly desired for one thing - to be standing triumphantly atop a heaping pile of his slain enemies, holding a gigantic axe aloft while some unbelievably attractive member of whatever gender he's attracted to desperately clutches his leg like it's the last life raft on the HMS Titanic. ~ Ben Thompson

This is what I tell, especially young women, fight the big fights. Don't fight the little fight ... Be the first one in, be the last one out. Do your homework, choose your battles. Don't whine, and don't be the one who complains about everything. Fight the big fight. ~ Barbara Walters

I'll be damned. You found him."
"Thanks to you," I said.
Adrian glanced over at me. A smile started to form - and then instantly dried up. "What happened to your face?"
"Oh.Marcus hit me."
I'd never seen Adrian move so fast. Marcus had no chance to react, probably because he was exhausted from our earlier encounter. Adrian shoved Marcus up against a wall and - to my complete and utter astonishment - punched Marcus.
Adrian had once joked that he never dirtied his hands, so this was something I never could have prepared myself for. In fact, if Adrian was going to attack someone, I would've expected something magical and spirit-driven.
Yet . . . as I watched him, I could see that anything as thoughtful as magic was far from Adrian's mind. He had kicked into primal mode. See a threat. Go after it.
It was yet another surprising - yet fascinating - side of the enigma that was Adrian Ivashkov. ~ Richelle Mead

You want to see compassion? Fine." I take the hand pressed against my shoulders and kiss his knuckles. "I've now kissed the hand of my mother's killer."
Before he has time to react to my chaste kiss, I bring my other hand up and slap him. His head whips to the side.
"I'm also a vindictive bitch," I say. ~ Laura Thalassa

Who runs the world? Girls. ~ Beyonce Knowles

The problem was, I was labeled as trouble - so I was like, 'Trouble? I'll show you trouble. You want trouble, well here it is!' No matter what label they give you, the best thing you can do is prove them wrong. ~ Pink

Sybil's female forebears had valiantly backed up their husbands as distant embassies were besieged, had given birth on a camel or in the shade of a stricken elephant, had handed around the little gold chocolates while trolls were trying to break into the compound, or had merely stayed at home and nursed such bits of husbands and sons as made it back from endless little wars. The result was a species of woman who, when duty called, turned into solid steel. ~ Terry Pratchett

I am simply submerged in work from five in the morning to eleven at night; almost need a few days off to escape a breakdown! ~ Richard Neutra

Mostly because I've realized what a lame teenager I was. I was always home at the stroke of midnight; I didn't like drinking mash; I didn't have sex. I read books and had an inferiority complex because I was afraid to do all that other stuff. I don't know anything about being a badass punk rocker. ~ Karin Tidbeck

They were shooting far, and their accuracy suffered, but Nox didn't exactly have a lot of places to dance through the bullets. They came in number, like rain. You couldn't afford to get wet. ~ Dean F. Wilson

Only one thing counts in this life - get them to sign on the line that is dotted. ~ Alec Baldwin

Seriously." Asher whispered. "You are pretty badass. It's a good thing you're little or I would be afraid of you. ~ Rachel Fisher

Form ever follows function. ~ Louis Sullivan

Naval Special Warfare is no place for the weak of heart, limb, or liver. ~ Chuck Pfarrer

How's it going today, Riot?" I said. "I'm Gideon."

Nice. Two sentences and I'd already managed to embarrass myself. In front of Daryn and a horse. I hadn't even realized the last part was possible. I continued speaking as I stepped closer. "I'm sure we have a lot in common. You're clearly a stallion in top physical condition. Extremely dangerous. Badass. Impressive looking."

"Wow," Daryn said behind me.

That made me smile, which I needed. I was nervous as all get-out. The muscles in Riot's legs were twitching. His breath lifted in puffs of steam. He had gold eyes - and they hadn't unlocked from mine. He looked like he wanted to eat my head.

"Keep going," Daryn said. "And maybe try to be positive and nice? I think he can sense what you're saying."

Positive, check. Nice, check. Wait - nice?

Shit. Okay. ~ Veronica Rossi

A few moments ago, he'd had her up against a wall, skirt shoved up to her belly button, hands in her panties, his fingers driving her straight to oblivion, and now ... now he was this intense, cool, calm, and collected man.
With a gun.
"Breanne. Are you ok?"
She stared at him. He had his shirt loose and draped over the bulge of his gun. He looked rough-and-tumble. Baddass.
Damn it, she had a serious weakness for badass. ~ Jill Shalvis

It's actually totally badass to go from your twenties to your thirties. There are so many awesome things that happen to you! Like deeply bonding with your yoga pants, developing a burning passion for expensive cheese, having real, actual orgasms (!), not giving two shits what other people think, figuring out the things you actually like to spend time and money doing, and embracing giant underwear. ~ Ingrid Reinke

And once upon a time I wondered: Is writing epic fantasy not somehow a betrayal? Did I not somehow do a disservice to my own reality by paying so much attention to the power fantasies of disenchanted white men?

But. Epic fantasy is not merely what Tolkien made it.

This genre is rooted in the epic - and the truth is that there are plenty of epics out there which feature people like me. Sundiata's badass mother. Dihya, warrior queen of the Amazighs. The Rain Queens. The Mino Warriors. Hatshepsut's reign. Everything Harriet Tubman ever did. And more, so much more, just within the African components of my heritage. I haven't even begun to explore the non-African stuff. So given all these myths, all these examinations of the possible… how can I not imagine more? How can I not envision an epic set somewhere other than medieval England, about someone other than an awkward white boy? How can I not use every building-block of my history and heritage and imagination when I make shit up?

And how dare I disrespect that history, profane all my ancestors' suffering and struggles, by giving up the freedom to imagine that they've won for me. ~ N.K. Jemisin

Today, take a moment to celebrate you. Your beauty. Your style. Your sense of inner mischief. The way you glow in the sunlight. Your strut in those badass boots. The way the dress hugs your soft curves. The gleam in your eye. The curve of your irrepressible smile. The line of your collarbone. The way you know, underneath all the doubts and insecurities and demons that you are, in fact, magic. And what's more? You always have been. You don't need someone else to say so. This isn't for likes or comments. You don't need to book a photoshoot for this celebration. This is between you and you. For you to take the time to see yourself. To smile at your own beauty. Find a spot where you feel the energy. Where the sun hits just so. Where the colors or textures make you feel more alive, more you. Find somewhere to prop your phone and set the timer on your camera. You don't need special equipment. And then just see what happens. Be open and curious about what wants to be seen. If someone sees you and stares or laughs or has the nerve to judge, you just ground down and rise up even more. They are just missing out on how good it can feel to see and know your own magic and beauty. And yes. If you want, and it feels good, you should share it. Because we want to see you and celebrate you too. ~ Jeanette LeBlanc

I just want to spend the rest of today and tonight with the only girl who makes my heart race."
And that was exactly what Trinity did. She calmed me and excited me all at once. I was a tattooed, buzzed haircut, cop who gave off a badass cocky feel, but inside, this woman made me feel like a lost boy seeking the security only she could give. It was still so unbelievable how one smile or a simple touch from her could make me feel whole.
"Yes," she whispered. "You should definitely spend the night with me."
She tossed me a mischievous smile and I couldn't help but feel relief that my fiery girl had returned. ~ C.A. Harms

I gather you play chess, he'd said, and she'd given him a look, later he'd ralised it was fair warning; yes, she played chess. The had a mignificent coral and ivory set, worth a thousand acres of good arable land. He'd made soft opening, the way you do when you're playing a girl, and suddenly he found himself staring defeat in the facs - he'd never los a game except three times, to Senza. ~ K.J. Parker

I ain't got time to bleed. ~ Jesse Ventura

The girl might have an unsettling crying problem, but she was pure steel. ~ Sarah Rees Brennan

Lee was not just a Bad Boy, a Badass or a Badass Extraordinaire. He was a fucking crazy man. ~ Kristen Ashley

I like ruins because what remains is not the total design, but the clarity of thought, the naked structure, the spirit of the thing. ~ Tadao Ando

There's no denying the fact he is really, really good-looking, in this rakish, edgy, badass, I-just-rolled-out-of-bed-and-screw-you-I-don't-need-a-mirror kind of way. ~ Hannah Harrington

There were more of them out there. More walkers. And I was being asked to step up and be ... what? Some kind of Captain Heroism who would lead the boys in the Red, White, and Blue to victory? What was I getting myself into? This wasn't task force duty, this wasn't even SWAT-team level. I'd never even smelled anything this big before and now I was expected to train and lead a black ops team? How frigging insane was this? Why were they asking me? I'm just a cop. Where are the guys who actually do this for a living? How come none of them were here? Where's James Bond and Jack Bauer? Why me, of all people? ~ Jonathan Maberry

We talk often about choice. Well, ladies and gentlemen, it's time to choose. ~ Sandra Fluke

I've been on the floor and I've been heartbroken. I didn't know how I was going to stand up. But I just gave it time. ~ Sandra Bullock

with the understanding that only a foolish man with a clear death wish would ever even consider trying to break into a property belonging to such a lethal agency with more than one hundred trained killers living onsite. I was going to be that foolish man. It was ridiculous. A twenty-five-year-old law student was going to break into one of the most badass places on the planet and steal top level secrets. ~ Chad Zunker

Badass is a juvenile aspiration. ~ Gabrielle Hamilton

It's kind of cool - and it makes me feel like a badass. I get more girls than my boyfriend. They always tweet me about my booty. ~ Naya Rivera

You're livin' in Badass World, baby," he whispered in my ear. "Fair warning, until I fix what I cut in you, you're there to stay. ~ Kristen Ashley

The walls were painted red, and there was the painter up ahead, that candle-maned woman carving her way through the darkness, and carving her way through everyone she thought the darkness owned. ~ Dean F. Wilson

No wonder. Puerto Rican, Italian and Cuban –
the perfect ingredients for a hot, bossy, badass cocktail. ~ Kristen Ashley

You guys (Boko Haram) are trying so hard to convince everybody that you're such badasses. But all you've done with this kidnapping is highlight who the real badasses are, the kids you kidnapped. Compared to a teenager who knows that her desire for an education could get her dragged into a snake infested jungle to be sold as a bribe to some demented, stick-chewing cartoon villain but still gets up and goes to class everyday, fully aware of that danger - compared to their courage - I'd say Boko Haram is a bunch of little girls. But, you know what? You don't deserve that compliment. ~ Jon Stewart

My job as a double was always to put [actors] at ease. My job was to make my character, or the actress that I was doubling, look as badass as possible by being there. ~ Zoe Bell

What I love about 'Criminal Minds' is that Morgan is an ex-marine, ex-SWAT. To do those things you have to be a pretty badass dude. It's a great incentive to stay in shape. ~ Shemar Moore

You cannot explain away a wantonly immoral act because you think that it is connected to some higher purpose. ~ Jean-Luc Picard

To provide meaningful architecture is not to parody history but to articulate it. ~ Daniel Libeskind

Am I going to have to carry you? If so, it would complete my badass knight-in-shining-armor act with you today. ~ J. Lynn

Tex glared at the next customer, the unfortunate who'd opened his mouth. She's a badass motherfuckeress. She'd kick your ass soon as look at you. You've clapped your eyes on The Law. Count yourself lucky, sucker. Now what'll it fuckin' be? ~ Kristen Ashley

You are a badass. You were one when you came screaming onto this planet and you are one now. The Universe wouldn't have bothered with you otherwise. You can't screw up so majorly that your badassery disappears. It is who you are. It's who you always will be. It's not up for negotiation. ~ Jen Sincero

But Gale? Gale is a warrior. He's a rebel. He's a badass. He's a knight. ~ Leah Wilson

If you're creating anything at all, it's really dangerous to care about what people think. ~ Kristen Wiig