Excerpt Quotes

You know she's a liar if she says she's never done it for ten bucks. We've all done it. Practically giving it away. But sometimes you can't even give it away. - excerpt from: freefalling ~ Darlenne Susan Girard

Be content, Be grateful, Be loving, Be happy, and this lifestyle will not only change YOUR life, it will change OUR world. I finally grasped the true meaning of let go- let God. (An excerpt from Finding Inner Peace) ~ Alice Hocker

Confucious and the Madman (excerpt)

The cinnamon tree is edible: so it is cut down!
The lacquer tree is profitable: they maim it.
Every man knows how useful it is to be useful.
No one seems to know
How useful it is to be useless. ~ Thomas Merton

Well, look. You're the kid sister, but you always had a good, clear image of what you wanted for yourself. You were able to say no when you had to, and you did things at your own pace. But Eri Asai couldn't do that. From the time she was a little girl, her job was to play her assigned role and satisfy the people around her. She worked hard to be a perfect little Snow White - if I can borrow your name for her. It's true that everybody made a big fuss over her, but I'll bet that was really tough for her sometimes. At one of the most crucial points in her life, she didn't have a chance to establish a firm self. If 'complex' is too strong a word, let's just say she probably envied you."
Excerpt From: Haruki Murakami. "After Dark." iBooks. ~ Haruki Murakami

Someday, you'll also want a great power
For the sake of somebody, I suppose.
On the night when love has captured his heart
However, unknown words are born." (excerpt of Magia, by Kalafina ) ~ Kalafina

My Eyes Are Open But I'm Hardly Looking In The Front ... Everything's Passing Me, Some Are Staring But My Eyes Are Blank, I'm Seeing But Not Seeing As My Mind Is Not Sending The Message To My Brains To Produce Images ... I'm Walking Alone Yet Full of People Around Me ... I'm Walking Forward ... There's No Feeling As I'm Numb ... Only Thing I Know, I Have To Finish My Ride Before My Time Expires ... So I'm Walking With Blank Emotion In My Eyes ...
(* Excerpt From My Novel "Eastern Promise") ~ Muhammad Imran Hasan

This excerpt is presented as reproduced by Copernicus in the preface to De Revolutionibus: "Some think that the earth remains at rest. But Philolaus the Pythagorean believes that, like the sun and moon, it revolves around the fire in an oblique circle. Heraclides of Pontus and Ecphantus the Pythagorean make the earth move, not in a progressive motion, but like a wheel in rotation from west to east around its own center." ~ Plutarch

We want no proofs. We ask none to believe us! This boy will some day know what a brave and gallant woman his mother is. Already he knows her sweetness and loving care. Later on he will understand how some men so loved her, that they did dare much for her sake."

Excerpt From: Stoker, Bram. "Dracula." iBooks.
This material may be protected by copyright.

Check out this book on the iBookstore: https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/M... ~ Bram Stoker

Excerpt From the Poem-" Prayer"

Such a pleasant,
And heartfelt task.
To him implore,
And mercies ask. ~ Kari L. Greenaway

Don't step on shits, don't be part of shits, don't shit on others as you escape from other bullshits." ~ Angelica Hopes, an excerpt from If I Could Tell You ~ Angelica Hopes

Out here everybody abuses everybody. It's just the way it is. So you'd better get used to it. - excerpt from: freefalling ~ Darlenne Susan Girard

As he turns around and her eyes meet his, she lets go off the breath that she had been holding back. All the words she had practised to say when the moment arrived, dissolve at the tip of her tongue. All the things she wanted him to know escape her in the thick blanket of nostalgia that wraps itself around her. ~ Faraaz Kazi

Chapter Twenty-Four Excerpt from President Compton's Speech Emergency Declaration My ~ Jay Allan

EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER ONE
MY LIFE ON CRAIGSLIST

Stars and Cards Never Lie

Date: 2011-04-1, 9:17PM EST

Reply to: [email protected]

Life and the economy beating you down? The accuracy of the Rider Waite Tarot cards and my Astrology consultations will amaze you. The insight you'll gain from these readings will be a fantastic catalyst for spiritual growth and personal advancement. Available by phone and skype. Alternative decks and house calls can be arranged upon request.

•Location: New York City, MANHATTAN
•it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

Chapter 1
Four Cookies and a Funeral



Yesterday I went on Craigslist and hired a Tarot reader to tell me whether I was in any danger of losing my job. I wasn't really worried because last week, an astrologer I'd also found on Craigslist, had told me there was no major movement in the sixth house, which is the area of my chart that governs work. But just in case, I met with the Tarot card reader who told me everything was going to be okay.
Today I got canned. ~ Alexandra Ares

{Excerpt from a message from one of the Cherokee chiefs - Onitositaii, commonly known as Old Tassle}

... 'If, therefore, a bare march, or reconnoitering a country is sufficient reason to ground a claim to it, we shall insist upon transposing the demand, and your relinquishing your settlements on the western waters and removing one hundred miles back towards the east, whither some of our warriors advanced against you in the course of last year's campaign.

Let us examine the facts of your present eruption into our country, and we shall discover your pretentions on that ground. What did you do? You marched into our territories with a superior force; our vigilance gave us no timely notice of your manouvres [sic]; your numbers far exceeded us, and we fled to the stronghold of our extensive woods, there to secure our women and children.

Thus, you marched into our towns; they were left to your mercy; you killed a few scattered and defenseless individuals, spread fire and desolation wherever you pleased, and returned again to your own habitations. If you meant this, indeed, as a conquest you omitted the most essential point; you should have fortified the junction of the Holstein and Tennessee rivers, and have thereby conquered all the waters above you. But, as all are fair advantages during the existence of a state of war, it is now too late for us to suffer for your mishap of generalship!

Again, were we to inquire by what law or authority ~ John Ehle

She said moments like this were like waking up in the middle of the night: You're scared, you're disoriented, and you're completely convinced you're right. But then you stay awake a little longer and you realize things aren't as fearful as they seem."
Excerpt From: David Levithan. "The Lover's Dictionary." iBooks. ~ David Levithan

Even though I knew I had a snowball's chance in Hades with you." She sniffed and wiped a tear with the back of her hand. "I just ... I just wanted to give you something pure. It's all I have. Had. Everything else about me is tainted by demon blood. But I had that. And it's always been yours."
-Gem to Kynan
Excerpt From: Larissa Ione. "Desire Unchained." iBooks. ~ Larissa Ione

How drunk do you need to be right now?"
"What do you mean?"
"It means whatever you want it to mean, Mikey." Nunzio dropped onto the couch, extending his legs in front of him and folding his arms behind his head. "How drunk do you need to be for your best friend to rail you?" ~ Nunzio

Excerpt From: Hassell, Santino. "Sutphin Boulevard ~ Santino Hassell

Should you see the light of your future, within the shadows of your present,
The resilience of life dancing over vast deserts of death,
Witness if you so shall, the majesty of Creation.
The connectedness of All was and always will be.
Entanglement? No. We call it Love." ~ Sargon of Akkad 2345 B.C.
Excerpt from Andulairah's upcoming book "The Erunisis Medallion ~ Andulairah

I was born, slipping on a symphony of broken melancholy; created of pencils and crayons; i was not supposed to be this way. i guess i am a "disappointment". i paint and draw. i like to write poetry. The things I excel at could fit inside my shoe." Excerpt from the poem,"Pain"written in 1995, by E.H. Cato(my maiden name) featured in Volume 2 of the Rantings & Ravings Series, 2013. ~ Emily H. Sturgill

The Angel of Death took the woman's frail hand. "Don't be afraid." she said. "Life is your past. Death, on the other hand, is your soul preparing for a new beginning. A brand new adventure, if you like." An excerpt from Paradox - Equilibrium. Book 4 in the Paradox series (release date 2013) ~ Patti Roberts

What air is there left to breathe ~ Antonio Cisneros

Ode to Psyche - Excerpt

I see, and sing, by my own eyes inspir'd.
So let me be thy choir, and make a moan
Upon the midnight hours;
Thy voice, thy lute, thy pipe, thy incense sweet
From swinged censer teeming;
Thy shrine, thy grove, thy oracle, thy heat
Of pale-mouth'd prophet dreaming.

Yes, I will be thy priest, and build a fane
In some untrodden region of my mind,
Where branched thoughts, new grown with pleasant pain,
Instead of pines shall murmur in the wind: ~ John Keats

Love is a funny thing. It's not at all what you expect it to be. But if you have to stand out on the corner to prove it, then maybe it's better not to be in love at all. - excerpt from: freefalling ~ Darlenne Susan Girard

He really did do something to me, and I was too busy falling for it to realize what it was. Good job on a beautiful web, spider.
Excerpt from Rise Above Twilight ~ Kayla Krantz

An innocent breath of life comes from the deep of all darkness! It just takes a moment, an instant and right after, everything becomes absolutely corrupted! The existence, the thought! I've lived in nothingness for eternities, I know, I have felt it, it was engraved in my soul. Although I cannot give faith and witness… I know; I've been in nothingness and from the nothingness I have returned..."
An excerpt from the book: The Master Of Realities: The Labyrinth Of The Dead Souls ~ E.C. Lemus

There are thousands of ways to get yourself killed time traveling. Being in a hurry is the fastest way to find a new one. -Excerpt from the journal of Dr. Harold Quickly, 1912 On ~ Nathan Van Coops

Then Christian made the fatal mistake of looking into her eyes. Suddenly he couldn't move a muscle. They smoldered with a terrible black anger even as her mouth returned his kiss. It was as if they were two separate beings, the sweetness of her mouth upon his, and the darkness of her terrible eyes draining the life out of him. Christian could feel her heart racing, the fury of her blood uncontrollable, and he knew that if she couldn't rein it in somehow, he would be lost. Already his hunger eviscerated him, he could feel the holes in his gut as those eyes, so blackly terrifying - hers but not hers, sucking everything from him, taking, feeding ... killing. He felt wetness on his face.
Somehow, she'd become the vampire. ~ Amalie Howard

This excerpt includes both a cautionary tale of being caught en flagrante and a stirring defense of getting fucked.

Redeeming social value, indeed. ~ Simon Sheppard

You never know what you're gonna find under those covers - Grandma or the wolf." Little Red, excerpt from Tales From the Hood ~ Betsy Schow

Just because you don't know the exact country or tribe that your ancestors descended from, doesn't mean they aren't apart of your ethnic make-up. Black history didn't begin in slavery, we have a beautiful royal dynasty that began around 830 CE (CE is the correct term to use, most people know this as AD). My visits to Nigeria gave me a sense of pride to be connected to such a rich history that will never be taken away from me.-part of an excerpt from my second book, Ebony Jones ~ Ebony Jones-Kuye

Sometimes life in my dream-come-true was uncomfortable, like waving good morning and smiling at strangers. That felt foreign to me. And I had never lived in a world where I was the only Latino. In New York City I could hide in plain sight, like a cactus in the desert. In Connecticut, I was a palm tree among spruces."
- excerpt from Confessions of an Internet Pornogrpaher ~ Luis Mario

A castaway adrift on my own little island - rich and with my family along with thousands of beautiful, drunken tourists to keep me company." - excerpt from Confessions of an Internet Pornographer. ~ Luis Mario

What's the use of saying anything, when you're not even listening? - excerpt from: freefalling ~ Darlenne Susan Girard

Taking the 'desert island challenge' which leads Christians to submit their family life to Sola Scriptura inevitably leads them to desire to submit their corporate worship to Sola Scriptura.
(Excerpt from the forward of "How God Wants Us to Worship Him" by Joseph C. Morecraft) ~ Douglas W. Phillips

...feel the fierce way desire
tourniquets itself around you and
clings

Clubland South of Market tweak-
chic trannies powder their noses from
bullet-shaped compacts and flick their forked
tongues like switchblades as they burn the night
down bleed day to night to day to

Mission sidewalks where pythons hide
twenty dollar balloons beneath their tongues which
get bartered in smiles quicker than a coke buzz and
tossed out through the cracks

Cottonmouth kisses
camouflage emotions and
strike with a vengeance
when he
wants and she
wants and they
want and I
won't

Genet was right, I suppose
when he wrote "The only way
to avoid the horror of horror is
to give in to it"
it's
the nature of
the economy of the
business it's the
nature of
things... ~ Clint Catalyst

It's the opposite of people who live waiting for life to come to them. Then you're just a victim or you're a lottery winner, so I choose to live life with a plan or a goal. I lay out the steps to get there and then assess them constantly. But usually I only get a clear snapshot of my plan when I look in the rearview mirror and see what I did." - Beachbody CEO Carl Daikeler

Excerpt From: Tony Horton. "The Big Picture: 11 Laws That Will Change Your Life. ~ Tony Horton

Not to worry, Phillip," Father O'Toole said. "I was just inquiring as to what authority they - " He stopped abruptly, jumping forward as the wall phone came unhinged behind him, dangling by a corner screw.
"Huh," Gil pondered. "Look at that."
"What happened?" Father O'Toole asked.
"The phone fell," Gil answered.
"Well, naturally! I'm not blind, young man. I'm asking how the phone fell!"
"I blame gravity," Gil offered. (Excerpt from Whisper of Light) ~ Jennifer DeLucy

At one point, the entire wagon train came to a halt when the soldiers and officers on horseback fell asleep in their saddles.
Few words were spoken between the boys on the journey; their thoughts were filled with the voices of those around them. The wounded men sang a song of sorrow to the rhythm of the rain. It was a never-ending song, for when one man died there was another who took his place in the chorus of the suffering. The song served as a cadence for the five thousand who marched by their side.
(The Confederate retreat from Gettysburg. July 4, 1863)
Excerpt From: Sheila W. Slavich. "Jumpin' the Rails!." XlibrisUS, 2016-03-16T04:00:00+00:00. iBooks.
This material is protected by copyright. ~ Sheila W Slavich

I DON'T WANT TO REPEAT MY INNOCENCE.
I JUST WANT THE PLEASURE OF LOSING IT AGAIN."

Excerpt From: Kunze, Lauren. "The Ivy." HarperCollins. iBooks. F Scott Fitzgerald ~ Lauren Kunze

On the street there is no tomorrow. There is only here and now and nothing else. And yesterday is just another day you're trying to forget. - excerpt from: freefalling ~ Darlenne Susan Girard

He said nothing of the pounding in his heart when he looked at her. He felt short of breath after his long ride. His white skin felt hot to the touch. He did not use the word "love." For the last time in his life he wondered if he had wasted his love on a woman who only gave her love until it was time to take it back. He set the thought aside. He had given his heart this once in his life and counted himself blessed to have had the chance to do so. The question of whether she was worthy of his love had no meaning. His heart had answered that question long ago.

"You will protect me," she said.

"With my life," he replied."

Excerpt From: Toppy. "The Enchantress of Florence - Salman Rushdie. ~ Salman Rushdie

Excerpt from the Marquis's Mistake by myself.
"So what am I my Lord, an antidote, a bluestocking or on the shelf? I assume it is the last because I should have come out three years ago and am all of twenty and one."
"But you were not out so that doesn't count and I find you extremely desirable so you are far from an antidote. I think you very pretty and my taste has always been considered excellent. You are well educated but have other interests and ride well, so you fail to fit the criteria of a bluestocking. It might interest you to know my grandmother put you top of the girls she invited to her dinner party. Her opinion only confirmed what I had already concluded from examining your notebook and sketches. You eavesdrop and I sneak a peek at other people's private notebooks. You see I think we would be well-matched. ~ Giselle Marks

Blonde tangles flying everywhere and her diamond-laden hand wrapped around Jess's strong, bare torso. She looked happy and so did Jess.-From Siddy Creek ~ Lara Lee Sweety

Whether or not the abuser's hand has actually pressed against our labia--or slammed into our face--our identity as women is constituted by the threat of violence. From childhood we are made to understand that other people will try to control our bodies, and that many will succeed. Unlike boys, we are never taught to fight back when our physical self-sovereignty is threatened. That is why our identity is an identity of incoherence, and why it's so hard to give it up to the other's mouth or her hand or just the universe watching as you lose control by yourself. Losing control of our sexual feelings can be so devastating that we fear we'll lose something even more central to us: our moral integrity. ~ Donna Minkowitz

I am, I love – the stars at night, the beach sand between our toes, the gentle kiss of cool wind that brushes against your skin. The moon that beams light across the water. I am, I love – the welcome smile that greets you in the shyest way; eyes playful and filled with light. Oh the night. The colours which few truly notice. The beach, the beach – at night, I am, I love. The water that laps at the shores, kindred spirits dancing to the rhythmic waves and drumming carried from across the water. In my eyes a billions flecks of light, in your eyes the same constellations hold true. Alone to explore each other, together. Hushed, racing, slow, shy, bold, urgent, relaxed, and too long apart. And now, finally- the night sky, the beach, and you and I."

Excerpt from the upcoming book "The spark (of a muse)". By Cheri Bauer ~ Cheri Bauer

Nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals
the power of your intense fragility:whose texture
compels me with the colour of its countries,
rendering death and forever with each breathing
(i do not know what it is about you that closes
and opens;only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
nobody,not even the rain, has such small hands
-excerpt of #35 from 100 Selected Poems ~ E. E. Cummings

I wish kids at school would quit calling me a porno dork-face, though. There wasn't any sex involved! I got knocked out, I panicked and called the cops. Okay, somewhere along the line everybody's clothes fell off, but that's not exactly a federal crime. Is it? I hope you don't work for the FBI. (You don't, do you?)
- Email Excerpt (Page: 21)
From: Douglas Bracken
To: Dr. Rita I. Milton
Sent: Friday, November 08 - 5:05 PM
Subject: Pressing Concerns ~ Kathleen Jeffrie Johnson

A few minutes later, a tall, bronze-skinned woman with masses of dark hair, eyes like pale emeralds, and more curves than the Nürburgring racetrack appeared next to my table. My SEAL stood and started to intervene, but I held up a lazy hand, gave a droopy-eyed smile, slurred my words, and waved him off. The stripper sat on my lap with nothing between her and the Lord but a smile and three pieces of strategically placed duct tape. She slipped a glittering arm around my shoulders - she apparently was wearing lotion with metal flakes in it and it felt rough. Then she leaned her décolletage my way, placing her head next to my ear. "You know what you're supposed to do, right?" she whispered, smiling and acting like she had just said something terribly wrong. She was a good actress for Elizabeth City.
Laughing, smiling, and acting wasted, I slurred as loudly and obnoxiously as I could, "Oh, I know exactly what I'm doing, woman!" With that, I reached up and placed my hand on her massive breast, just as I'd been instructed to do - all for the good of my country.
The slap that followed could[…]"

Excerpt From: Jamie Smith. "Gray Work ~ Jamie Smith

Mists may blur vision,
Doubts to lies are heavy mists,
Truth clears for all ways."
~ Angelica Hopes, Haiku
an excerpt from If I Could Tell You ~ Angelica Hopes

Absolutely love this particular excerpt: "Books are silent friends, and should be treated well. I am proud of my books. I hope that my children will use them and preserve them when I am gone from this world. Human friends may betray you, but not so with books. Books contain wisdom for our understanding, humour for our entertainment, information for our development, and matter for our pleasure. ~ Brenda Mohammed

Excerpt from my lecture Sunday at Soul-Esteem Center
10 Commandments - God knew when he gave us choice some would make the wrong choices, but God wanted his creation, man, to have free will and felt later it necessary to write the 10 Commandants as a reminder of how God wanted his creations to perform. The 10 Commandants contain 5 positives and five negatives ~ I. Alan Appt

He knew that 'fine.' It was another one of those female 'fine' that meant he was in the doghouse. That kind of 'fine' that meant 'I'm gonna shut up now, but I might stab you in your sleep'."
Brick
Excerpt From: Lina, Andersson. "Arrow of Time. ~ Lina Andersson

Today's Quote of the Day is an excerpt from 'The Religion of God (Divine Love)' by His Divine Eminence RA Gohar Shahi (http://thereligionofgod.com/)

'Had all humanity called upon God by one name, all would have been united inwardly despite different religions. ~ Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi

I am going to bed. i will have nightmares involving huge monsters in academic robes carrying long bloody butcher knives labeled Excerpt, Selection, Passage, and Abridged. ~ Helene Hanff

Life's just another blowjob. And just because I let you cum in my mouth, doesn't mean I'm going to swallow it! - excerpt from: freefalling ~ Darlenne Susan Girard

if he should come this very night I'd not refuse to answer his call. For life be, after all, only a waitin' for somethin' else than what we're doin', and death be all that we can rightly depend on"

Excerpt From: Stoker, Bram. "Dracula." iBooks.
This material may be protected by copyright.

Check out this book on the iBookstore: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/drac... ~ Bram Stoker

I will become my undoing if I become my obsession -excerpt from Abnegation manifesto ~ Veronica Roth

Her mascara ran in streaks
down her face
lipstick smeared across her
alabaster cheeks like a porcelain
doll that had been flung around
before the paint had dried.

...

barely blinking
eyes like content little suns
poking through dark mascara
clouds
she is broken
yet whole at the same time
and she belongs to him

(excerpt from "Content" in Make Me Take It From You by HL37) ~ HL37

Sully's, on South Prospect, was the quintessential biker-bar, complete with hefty, leather-clad Harley worshippers, and stringy-haired heroin-addicted women who made the rounds among the bikers. Its décor was decidedly Medieval Garage Sale, with a dose of Americana thrown in. An old motorcycle carcass dangled from the vaulted section of the beamed ceiling, and the wood plank floors were littered with butts, scarred by bottle caps and splattered with homogenized bodily fluids. The only light to be had was from neon, dying sconces, and lit cigarettes. Various medieval swords perched on each wall, reminiscent of the times of Beowulf and Fire Dragons on the Barrow. ~ Kelli Jae Baeli

Look, then, into thine heart, and write!
Yes, into Life's deep stream!
All forms of sorrow and delight,
All solemn Voices of the Night,
That can soothe thee, or affright, -
Be these henceforth thy theme.
(excerpt from "Voices of the Night") ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

She must not look too proud nor yet too humble, lest people say she is proud of her humility."

Excerpt From: "Catherine, Called Birdy. ~ Karen Cushman

Did you tackle that trouble that came your way
With a resolute heart and cheerful?
Or hide your face from the light of day
With a craven soul and fearful?
Oh, a trouble's a ton, or a trouble's an ounce,
Or a trouble is what you make it.
And it isn't the fact that you're hurt that counts,
But only how did you take it?

(Excerpt from "How Did You Die?") ~ Edmund Vance Cooke

Let love be the gravestone
Lying on my life. ~ Anna Akhmatova

The Virtues of Selfishness

If you are not selfish you will not be altruistic, remember. If you are not selfish you will not be unselfish, remember. Only a very deeply selfish person can be unselfish. But this has to be understood because it looks like a paradox.

What is the meaning of being selfish? The first basic thing is to be self-centered. The second basic thing is always to look for one's blissfulness. If you are self-centered, you will be selfish whatsoever you do. You may go and serve people but you will do it only because you enjoy it, because you love doing it, you feel happy and blissful doing it - you feel yourself doing it. You are not doing any duty; you are not serving humanity. You are not a great martyr; you are not sacrificing. These are all nonsensical terms. You are simply being happy in your own way - it feels good to you. You go to the hospital and serve the ill people there, or you go to the poor and serve them, but you love it. It is how you grow. Deep down you feel blissful and silent, happy about yourself.

Excerpt from Love, Freedom, Aloneness ~ Osho

Don't be so focused on the past or future situations that you overlook the beauty of the present moment that is NOW.
Excerpt from "Living in Light, Love & Truth". (Page 29). ~ Kasi Kaye Iliopoulos

Lo, thou, my Love, art fair;
Myself have made thee so;
Yea, thou art fair indeed,
Wherefore thou shalt not need
In beauty to despair;
For I accept thee so,
For fair.

[excerpt from "Christ to His Spouse"] ~ William Baldwin

Mort looked down at the roof of a forest, dusted with snow that was either early or very, very late; it could have been either, because the Ramtops hoarded their weather and doled it out with no real reference to the time of year."

Excerpt From: Terry Pratchett. "Discworld 04: Mort." iBooks. ~ Terry Pratchett

To err is human; to forgive divine.
Alexander Pope"
Excerpt From: Moriarty, Liane. "The Husband's Secret. ~ Alexander Pope

Excerpt from page 3 of "Wicked Washington"
Shelly Williams, the main character, speaking about her life:
And close and dangerous calls were almost my last name. Yet I felt as comfortable among the street hustlers, junkies, thieves, and criminals of D.C. as I did dining with my
white-collar, college-pedigreed friends over filet mignon, Maine lobster, and strawberry cheesecake at LaMermaid
Seafood Restaurant. ~ Sonja D. Jones

Duke Hwan and the Wheelwright (an excerpt)

The world values books, and thinks that in so doing it is valuing Tao. But books contain words only. And yet there is something else which gives value to the books. Not the words only, nor the thought in the words, but something else within the thought, swinging it in a certain direction that words cannot apprehend.

But it is the words themselves that the world values when it commits them to books: and though the world values them, these words are worthless as long as that which gives them value is not held in honor.

That which man apprehends by observation is only outward form and colour, name and noise: and he thinks that this will put him in possession of Tao. Form and color, name and sound, do not reach to reality. That is why: "He who knows does not say, he who says, does not know."

How then is the world going to know Tao through words? ~ Thomas Merton

President Gerald R. Ford was never one for second-guessing, but for many years after leaving office in 1977, he carried in his wallet a scrap of a 1915 Supreme Court ruling. 'A pardon,' the excerpt said, 'carries an imputation of guilt,' and acceptance of a pardon is 'a confession of it.' ~ Scott Shane

The sun rarely shines in history, what with the dust and confusion; and when we meet with any cheering fact which implies the presence of this luminary, we excerpt and modernize it. ~ Henry David Thoreau

Back Burner

Put the stress on the back burner
It only burns its way back
Put your thoughts on the future
and it becomes the past..."

excerpt from my poem Back Burner from
The Poetic Diary of Love and Change - Volume 1

©Clarissa O. Clemens ~ Clarissa O. Clemens

Some people think it's a jungle out here. It's not ... It's a fucking zoo! - excerpt from: freefalling ~ Darlenne Susan Girard

Leaving Things Alone (excerpt)

You train your eye and your vision lusts after colour. You train your ear, and you long for delightful sound. You delight in doing good, and your natural kindness is blown out of shape. You delight in righteousness, and you become righteous beyond all reason. You overdo liturgy, and you turn into a ham actor. Overdo your love of music, and you play corn. Love of wisdom leads to wise contriving. Love of knowledge leads to faultfinding.

If men would stay as they really are, taking or leaving these eight delights would make no difference. But if they will not rest in their right state, the eight delights develop like malignant tumors. The world falls into confusion. Since man honour these delights, and lust after them, the world has gone stone-blind.

When the delight is over, they still will not let go of it: they surround its memory with ritual worship, they fall on their knees to talk about it, play music and sing, fast and discipline themselves in honour of the eight delights. When the delights become a religion, how can you control them? ~ Thomas Merton

True understanding involves sincere honesty and holistic, deep listening without the political corruption of evil power players. ~ Angelica Hopes, an excerpt from my book K.H. trilogy ~ Angelica Hopes

I cannot go through all my thoughts, so as to make them clear to you, nor have I ever dwelt on things, to shape a story of them. I know not where the beginning was, nor where the middle ought to be, nor even how at the present time I feel, or think, or ought to think. If I look for help to those around me, who should tell me right and wrong (being older and much wiser), I meet sometimes with laughter, and at other times with anger...
...I think; and nothing ever comes of it. Nothing, I mean, which I can grasp, and have with any surety; nothing but faint images, and wonderment, and wandering...
...Often too I wonder at the odds of fortune, which made me (helpless as I am, and fond of peace, and reading), the heiress of this mad domain...
...You must be tired of this story, and the time I take to think, and the weariness of my telling; but my life from day to day shows so little variance. Among the riders there is none whose safe return I watch for- I mean none more than any other- and indeed there seems no risk... ~ R.D. Blackmore

I know the difference between right and wrong. Right is when I do everything he tells me to. Wrong is when I question why. But every now and then a simple slap across the side of the head is a good way to remind me. - excerpt from: freefalling ~ Darlenne Susan Girard

On 11 September 2012 crowds of friendly locals in Kabul, Afghanistan, were chanting the usual 'Death to America' slogans. At the same time American flags were torched from London to Sydney. And in Benghazi, Libya, a group of 'spontaneous protesters' arrived at the US consulate with rocket-propelled grenades and savagely murdered the US ambassador. In Washington, members of the Obama administration were, as we have already seen, showing that they weren't taking any of this personally. It wasn't about them and it certainly wasn't about their ambassador, who had in fact been murdered by terrorists in a pre-planned attack. The administration was still claiming all this was caused by an excerpt from an amateur film which had been up on YouTube for weeks. ~ Douglas Murray

Sometimes you get so tired of each day, you wish it was over. But it just goes on and on, like the silent prayers that forever go unanswered. - excerpt from: freefalling ~ Darlenne Susan Girard

For the gifts I have given Man, I have never desired admiration. But I hope for forgiveness. -Atlas Journal Excerpt, 2023 A.D. ~ Craig Gehring

Maybe I'll leave you hard and aching for days, months, years. That's how long I've been hard for you. Turn about's fair play, dontcha think, Paul Guy? (from Finding Eden Excerpt) ~ Kele Moon

Remember, we are our own griefs, my dear, we are our own happinesses and we are our own remedies.

[An excerpt from "My friend, Abigail"] ~ Huseyn Raza

Excerpt from "The Trees in Winter"

I'm old now and tired. Dried up and brittle. My hands are like clumsy crooked twigs hanging from my stick figure wrists. My body doesn't work like it used to, and what goes on in my mind feels about as useful as a cheap trick performed day after day by a third rate magician, an act so worn out that not even I can pretend to be entertained by it anymore. There's nothing much left to say and even less to do. The repetition is uninspiring, like playing the same set of the same songs day after day. The jazz has gone out of my life, and the dull plodding rhythm I'm left with will never bring it back. There's a persistent chill in the house that follows me around. Maybe it's not in the house but in me. Am I becoming morbid? Am I becoming anything? ~ D.E. Sievers

Come, let us pity those who are better off than we are.
Come, my friend, and remember
that the rich have butlers and no friends,
And we have friends and no butlers.
(excerpt from 'The Garrett') ~ Ezra Pound

The artistic life is a long and lovely suicide precisely because it involves the negation of self; as Highsmith imagined herself as her characters, so Ripley takes on the personae of others and in doing so metamorphoses himself into a 'living' work of art. A return to the 'real life' after a period of creativity resulted in a fall in spirits, an agony Highsmith felt acutely. She voiced this pain in the novel via Bernard's quotation of an excerpt from Derwatt's notebook: 'There is no depression for the artist except that caused by a return to the self'. ~ Andrew Wilson

When we live in alignment - in accordance with our higher selves, our Spirit - that's when we are truly connected to our Soul.
Excerpt from "Living in Light, Love & Truth". (Page 26). ~ Kasi Kaye Iliopoulos

Pain is transitory despite its depths. Hate eventually eats itself into a hollow void. Sadness can last only as long as life itself. But love, love extends beyound reason and time. -- Excerpt from the Lost Chapters of the Ecliptic Scrolls ~ Aja James

Excerpt:
Here are some thoughts from Charlene the Star:
"I'll bet that's why Mama put the word "Star" in my
name. I have a feeling I'm going to be a star as a jumper. ~ Deanie Humphrys-Dunne

The TRUTH shall always be your unbeatable weapon.
~ Angelica Hopes, an excerpt from P. B. Y. M. Book 1 of Karmic Harvest Trilogy ~ Angelica Hopes

If you're going to give me something, give me something I'll miss.
excerpt from: freefalling ~ Darlenne Susan Girard

My jaw throbs under another punch in response to my silence. I'm sure this one has dislodged my tooth. The harsh metal taste of my blood fills my mouth as I try to catch my breath and spit a ball of saliva in his face."

" The blood gushes from my swollen eyebrow making it nearly impossible to see. I recall how the rebels ambushed us in the village and all hell broke loose. The ground team scattered all over the place. I lost sight of Eric when they pulled the black sack-cloth over my face. I did recognize the gunshot. One single bullet. Is it possible that Eric got shot?"

Excerpt by Urcelia Teixeira - ALEX HUNT and the Chase for Rhapta ~ Urcelia Teixeira

The angels saw him, who manage those skies he put his question to: they saw him, for this ring of earth is a place they often stop by, to gaze into it, as into a mirror, or through it, as through a keyhole. They smiled, hearing his question; and then one by one turned away, to look over their shoulders – for they were disturbed by a noise, a noise as of footfalls far away and faint, the footfalls of someone coming through behind."

Excerpt From
Aegypt
John Crowley ~ John Crowley

As women, we'd be exponentially lighter if we'd sort through some of our emotional clutter... We need to dispose of the crud that we no longer need. Excerpt from essay #3 "What's in my Purse? ~ Dianne Bright

As she felt his fangs against her neck, she was in another world.
There was screaming. A woman was somewhere in agony. Everything was black, and the tormented scream was overwhelming, echoing through the emptiness. After the screaming subsided, there was panting, loud and steady, and it wasn't as dark anymore. There was a room visible now, in a reddish light. A pale man with black hair hovered over a woman dressed in white. She lay on a bed, looking disheveled and sweaty. Her brown-black hair clung to her wet forehead and shoulders. She was covered in blood. The man sat next to her, and held her close to him. He stroked her hair as her chest heaved desperately.
"I love you, my dearest Katerina," he said, cradling her in his strong arms. "Soon, we'll be together forever." Everything faded to black once more, and the woman stopped breathing. All was silent and still. ~ Dawn Bonney

Life on the street is simple. You eat. You don't eat. You sleep. You don't sleep. You're alive. You're dead. It's that simple! - excerpt from: freefalling ~ Darlenne Susan Girard

I stayed at 'Cosmo' well beyond my internship, moving up the ranks over some 15 years to become books editor, then brand director, then editor-at-large - editing everything from an excerpt of Gore Vidal's memoir to writing some of those juicy cover lines myself. ~ John Searles

There's something about uncertainty...when things can go either way that make you secretly hope for the whole thing to self-destruct. ~ Justine Erler

Excerpt from Winning Streak, Las Vegas Sinners Book 3, coming later this year:

Tonight's ensemble was typical Madden. Dark and faded but expensive jeans, a fitted, black Vegas is For Lovers t-shirt and some Doc Martin boots. Okay, those were a little unusual. "We're not going for a hike in the desert, are we?"

"Not exactly."

"What is 'not exactly'? I'm not a pee-behind-a-tree kind of girl. ~ Katie Kenyhercz