Clements Quotes

All the kids loved lunchtime. But the awful part of lunch was the eating part - school food. ~ Andrew Clements

This item belongs to Mrs. Granger and she may call it anything she likes.
-With love from Nicholas Allen ~ Andrew Clements

At Clements, I was an officer in Thespian Troupe No. 3689. ~ Allison Tolman

Most people in America, if not the world, would agree that every advance involves some sacrifice. In fact, a common sports adage proclaims: "No pain, no gain." In other words, progress is always accompanied by a certain amount of loss. This concept is illustrated throughout history, literature and personal experience. One compelling illustration that some bad always accompanies some good is demonstrated in the Civil Rights movement. In 1955 Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white person. Although she was arrested and jailed, her brave efforts inspired the Montgomery Bus Boycott which ~ Tom Clements

I think the reason I'm a writer is because first, I was a reader. I loved to read. I read a lot of adventure stories and mystery books, and I have wonderful memories of my mom reading picture books aloud to me. I learned that words are powerful. ~ Andrew Clements

IF YOU LOVE TWO PEOPLE AT THE SAME TIME,CHOOSE THE SECOND ONE,BECAUSE IF YOU REALLY LOVED THE FIRSTONE YOU WOULDN'T HAVE FALLEN FOR THE SECOND. ~ Elaina Clements

And then I see what she means. Because I did have to tell her, just like she had to tell me all of this. I had to trust her. Sometimes you have to tell someone else what it's like. Because if you don't, you'll go nuts. ~ Andrew Clements

(...) if you are smart enough, you can look at anything and think of twenty possible ways that is might be useful at some point in the future, so you just keep it. ~ Andrew Clements

The dictionary is like a time capsule of all of human thinking ever since words began to be written down. And exploring where words have come from can increase your understanding of the words themselves and expand your understanding of how to use the words, and all of this change happens in your thinking when you read the words. ~ Andrew Clements

Sorry, I thought I saw a guilt trip looming up,' said Clements. 'I had a Catholic upbringing - spent a week in a monastery once. My mother – a devout woman all her days, God bless her – thought it would do me good to be exposed to truly good people who had denied themselves everything to follow God.' Clements snorted and turned to look out of the car window.

'I take it, it didn't work?'

'I don't think there was a single one of them – apart from maybe a little Irishman, who had never known anything else - who wasn't on some kind of guilt trip. They hadn't given up anything at all: they were running away from things; hiding; the lot of them; and mainly from their real selves. Show me a monk and I'll show you one screwed-up individual with a past. ~ Ken McClure

I am constantly telling my own story to myself, and these days that's about all the narrative flow I can handle. ~ Andrew Clements

Okay heres the deal a whole day of NO TALKING IN SCJHOOL.Not in class,not in the halls, not on the plaground nowhere.No talking at all. And its a contest- BOYS AGAINST GIRLS. Whichever side talks less, wins. ~ Andrew Clements

Emulation without revelation is rarely profitable. ~ Kirby Clements

Great teachers should be paid like doctors or corporate attorneys. I worry about what will happen to our economy and our democracy if we don't start to take teachers' jobs seriously. ~ Ninive Clements Calegari

Oranges and unicorns say the bells of St. . . ." She looked to Harriet for inspiration.
"Clunicorns?"
"Somehow I don't think so."
"Moonicorns."
Sarah cocked her head to the side. "Better," she judged.
"Spoonicorns? Zoomicorns."
And . . . that was enough. Sarah turned back to her book. "We're done now, Harriet."
"Parunicorns."
Sarah couldn't even imagine where that one had come from. But still, she found herself humming as she read.
Oranges and lemons say the bells of St. Clements.
Meanwhile, Harriet was muttering to herself at the desk. "Pontoonicorns xyloonicorns . . ."
You owe me five farthings say the bells of St. Martins.
"Oh, oh, oh, I have it! Hughnicorns!"
Sarah froze. This she could not ignore. With great deliberation, she placed her index finger in her book to mark her place and looked up. "What did you just say?"
"Hughnicorns," Harriet replied, as if nothing could have been more ordinary. She gave Sarah a sly look. "Named for Lord Hugh, of course. He does seem to be a frequent topic of conversation. ~ Julia Quinn

AUNT SHADIE:
I see you - and don't worry, you're not white.

ROSE:
I'm pretty sure I'm white. I'm English.

AUNT SHADIE:
White is blindness - it has nothing to do with the colour of your skin. ~ Marie Clements

It's about 65 degrees, so it feels like when the air conditioner is up on high. I can bear it, so I'm going for a walk. Today. Right now. In the sunshine. Because I can.
Because I want to. Because I'm not going to just sit around and wait for stuff to happen anymore. I'm still me, and I have a life. It's a weird life, but it's still mine.
It's still mine. ~ Andrew Clements

We both hang up, but it's like there's still a connection. I can feel it.

And it feels good. ~ Andrew Clements

These are a traveler's snakes," Conall countered. "But even on a larger scale, they're different." He smirked at Galen's expression of mingled disgust and fear. "How do I know I can trust you?" he asked again. He let out a sigh. "My girls talked to you."

Galen searched his face. "Let's just say I have a vested interested. One that's very close to me. And another who might be?" he asked hesitantly, and Conall raised his eyebrows.

"You're very forward. More than I'm used to."

"More than you're used to?" Galen laughed. "Says the man who covers himself in gold powder, then stands on a stage wearing nothing but shorts leaving very little to the imagination, and three snakes?"

Conall squirmed in his chair. "When you put it like that… That's my outside personality - my stage persona. The one Henry calls The Incredible Constrictor. I hate it, but once he's stuck on something, it's very hard to shake him. I could have strangled him. You'd think I was the one doing the constricting."

"Do you?" Galen asked with a half smile. Conall blushed, his tan hiding some of it, but not all.

"Only when encouraged," he finally muttered back, and Galen laughed. ~ Wendy Clements

who says dog means dog? ~ Andrew Clements

Hurt can make you blind to the truth ~ Abby Clements

I glance into the faces of all these people out for a Sunday stroll, but I'm not seeing eyes and noses and mouths. I'm seeing stories. Every person has a story. All the hopes and dreams. And fears. And secrets.
In every face. ~ Andrew Clements

He would joke that "stock-market forecasters exist to make astrologers look good. ~ Clements, Jonathan

Natural science in England, as Darwin already knew to his cost, was still the purview of Christian scholars. But here was a question that Darwin found compelling: if God had created all the creatures of the world, what possible reason could there be for the variations found in the Galápagos? ~ Jonathan Clements

Sex is not the gateway to kindness. Your penis is not the hug I need at the end of the day. I don't need your penis. I need you to stop doing shit that makes me act like a bitch. ~ Heidi Clements

Sometimes kids ask how I've been able to write so many books. The answer is simple: one word at a time. Which is another good lesson, I think. You don't have to do everything at once. You don't have to know how every story is going to end. You just have to take that next step, look for that next idea, write that next word. ~ Andrew Clements

History is meaningless unless you discern how the past shapes the present. ~ Rory Clements

Sometimes in life you just have to take a leap of faith. ~ Abby Clements

Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny should take a few pointers from the mutual-fund industry. All three are trying to pull off elaborate hoaxes. But while Santa and the bunny suffer the derision of eight year olds everywhere, actively-managed stock funds still have an ardent following among otherwise clear-thinking adults. This continued loyalty amazes me. Reams of statistics prove that most of the fund industry's stock pickers fail to beat the market. ~ Jonathan Clements

But sometimes even people who care about each other need some time apart. ~ Abby Clements

A singing goat is like reading books, I love goats and dinosaurs.-Albert Einstein ~ Andrew Clements

It's one of the ironies of investing. The rich can afford to take risks, but they don't need to. The poor need to take risks, but they often can't afford to. ~ Jonathan Clements

I get wonderful letters from kids and teachers. I must have the best readers in the world. ~ Andrew Clements

These were officials accorded high respect. Yet they conspired, and still I destroyed them. If your abilities surpass theirs, then make your play. Otherwise, change your hearts and serve me, to save the Empire from further ridicule. ~ Jonathan Clements

Americans are Americans and everyone else is sorry. Half the time we don't even know what we're sorry about, it just squeaks out of our sorry gaps before we've even clues into the conversation. Well, I'm sorry YOU'RE all so sorry. You have to know when to be sorry. You can't really be sorry for something you don't want to remember, can you? Selective memory, isn't it? Let's be honest, hell, you can't even apologize for the shit you did yesterday never mind fifty years ago. Indian residential schools, Japanese internment camps, hell, and this is just in your neighborhood. But it's all right... everybody's sorry these days. The politicians are sorry, the cops are sorry, the priests are sorry, the logging companies are sorry, mining companies, electric companies, water companies, wife beaters, serial rapists, child molesters, mommy and daddy. Everybody's sorry. Everybody's sorry they got caught sticking it to someone else... that's what they are sorry about... getting caught. They could give a rat's ass about you, or me, or the people they are saying sorry to. Think about it... Don't be a sorry ass, be sorry before you have to say you are sorry. Be sorry for even thinking about, bringing about something sorry-filled. And the next time someone says, "There is one law for everyone." Say, "I'm sorry, you're an idiot." Just kidding, now that was harsh. ~ Marie Clements

Stefan wasn't sure if it had been watching them and realizing how deep Adrian and Madeleine's attachment ran, or if it was the fact he was already half in love with Adrian, but he found himself talking before he could stop himself.
"I know we've only known each other for a year or so, so it's not really my place to offer my opinions, and I have no concept of what it's like to be a Royal - the expectations, everything involved," he started, and Adrian looked up at him. "But my parents were Diplomats, and I did learn a few things from them about how to get what you want."
"Yes?" Adrian asked guardedly.
"I've been to many courts, and seen many Lord's daughters. None of them are like Madeleine. No, wait, I'm not insulting her," he added quickly as Adrian opened his mouth to speak. "What I'm saying is, those girls are being groomed for the traditional roles your father intimated she was to take when she's older. Now you find out what she really wants - at least at nine years old - to be a Healer and to marry who she wants to. She wants the independence she sees we have."
"Brion's marriage was arranged when he was thirteen," Adrian told him. "He seems happy enough, and so does Gwyne, for that matter, but she'd been preparing to be his wife since she was - since she was younger than Maddy."
"But the rest of you haven't been," Stefan pointed out, and Adrian nodded in agreement. "One of the basic ideas I grew up with was compromise, giving up just enough to m ~ Wendy Clements

It may be the reason behind the apostolic prayer for the disciples to be filled with a dimension of the Holy Spirit beyond the original baptism. This conceptual crisis may account for the falling away of the Galatians; the sustained immaturity of the Hebrews; the lawlessness of the Corinthians; and the mixture among the Colossians. It becomes obvious that the apostolic exhortations to "grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord," and to be "steadfast and immovable" are invitations to a sphere of intelligence that promote productive stewardship in the Kingdom of God. ~ Kirby Clements Sr.

He who strives for truth must express himself as simply as possible... Clements von Alexandrien. ~ Verena Berger

I have my own story, and I love my story, but I know I can't tell it alone, not now. Because stories have centers, but they don't have edges. No boundaries. ~ Andrew Clements

Dave couldn't remember the last time a grownup had apologized to him. ~ Andrew Clements

Artificial intelligence is no match
for natural stupidity - Anonymous ~ Iain Clements

I may not have the power to change the entire world, but I can change my own. Don't let the world get to you. Yours is yours, theirs is theirs, and yours is the one that matters most. ~ Elizabeth Clements

It can be depressing when no one takes interest, and a lack of response makes the writer question why they're writing at all. To have one's writing rejected is like you, yourself, are being rejected. ~ Elizabeth Clements

What the bloody hell are you doing in my bed with my sister?
I'm extremely hot, Teag said the first thing he thought of. He was incredibly hot, and his answer had thrown Julian off, giving him at least a moment's reprieve. He had wondered if something like this might happen.
You're hot? Julian sounded confused. Are you hot yourself or is it like being near something hot? ~ Wendy Clements

I had a high school English teacher who made me really work at writing. And once, when I got an assignment back, she'd written: 'This is so good, Andrew. This should be published!' That made a big impression on me. ~ Andrew Clements

My sister called her pillow a pilgo. My brother called his pacifier his nimma. But I don't think I was much of a word generator myself. ~ Andrew Clements

Thomas Wollaston, in the Annals and Magazine of Natural History, complained that Darwin did no seem to know what a species actually was. The British Quarterly, deliberately sitting up trouble, speculated that a time might come when a monkey could propose marriage to a genteel British lady. Perhaps cruelest of all was a cartoon in Punch magazine, depicting a gorilla with a sign on its neck. Deliberately evoking the anti-slavery tract of Darwin's Wedgwood forbears, the sign read:Am I a Man and a Brother? ~ Jonathan Clements

Aha. The mom doesn't know. She's fishing. This next part has to be just right, or I'm blacklisted by the mother and hated by the daughter. The first would be an inconvenience; the second would be a tragedy. ~ Andrew Clements

But fear doesn't need doors and windows. It works from the inside. ~ Andrew Clements

I am a huge, huge, huge fan of index funds. They are the investor's best friend and Wall Street's worst nightmare. ~ Jonathan Clements

The land of familiarity belongs to the dead ~ Paul Clements

Books and people are hard to compare. ~ Andrew Clements

We just have to go to that next class, read that next chapter, help that next person. You simply have to do that next good thing, and before you know it, you're living a good life. ~ Andrew Clements

And I love Jane Austen's use of language too
the way she takes her time to develop a phrase and gives it room to grow, so that these clever, complex statements form slowly and then bloom in my mind. Beethoven does the same thing with his cadence and phrasing and structure. It's a fact: Jane Austen is musical. And so's Yeats. And Wordsworth. All the great writers are musical. ~ Andrew Clements

When we read, we decide when, where, how long, and about what. One of the few places on earth that it is still possible to experience an instant sense of freedom and privacy is anywhere you open up a good book and begin to read. When we read silently, we are alone with our own thoughts and one other voice. We can take our time, consider, evaluate, and digest what we read - with no commercial interruptions, no emotional music or special effects manipulation. And in spite of the advances in electronic information exchange, the book is still the most important medium for presenting ideas of substance and value, still the only real home of literature. ~ Andrew Clements

Jesus and the Kingdom of God are distinct but inseparable. It is Jesus, the King of God's Kingdom, who defines the Kingdom and demonstrates its principles and its power. ~ Kirby Clements Senior

What to do when the market goes down? Read the opinions of the investment gurus who are quoted in the WSJ. And, as you read, laugh. We all know that the pundits can't predict short-term market movements. Yet there they are, desperately trying to sound intelligent when they really haven't got a clue. ~ Jonathan Clements

In the Modern Age, there are still those who refuse to contradict a single word of the Bible, even though the Bible contradicts itself. ~ Jonathan Clements

Most investors are pretty smart. Yet most investors also remain heavily invested in actively managed stock funds. This is puzzling. The temptation, of course, is to dismiss these folks as ignorant fools. But I suspect these folks know the odds are stacked against them, and yet they are more than happy to take their chances. ~ Jonathan Clements

Darkness is only light's absence.
-Things that Are ~ Andrew Clements

A man kills enough. A woman keeps on walking. ~ Marie Clements

The highest praise is when a kid says, 'This book feels so real; this could have happened at my school.' ~ Andrew Clements

There's so much made of the exceptional and the celebrity, the famous, and the wannabees. ~ Andrew Clements

Two wrongs don't make a right, but don't three lefts make a right? Two wrongs don't make a right, but don't two negatives make a positive? ~ Andrew Clements

You should enjoy the freedom. Sometimes a bit of time helps you see what matters. ~ Abby Clements