Hard Truths Quotes

Mitt Romney will tell us the hard truths we need to hear to end the debacle of putting the world's greatest care system in the hands of federal bureaucrats and putting those bureaucrats between an American citizen and her doctor. ~ Chris Christie

She knew that sex was a means of getting ahead and saw nothing wrong in exploiting male weaknesses for her own purposes. ~ Alice Walsh

Love is no inoculation against murder. ~ N.K. Jemisin

Crafted with care and with love, this beautifully constructed novel reveals hard truths and difficult secrets. Diana Davidson is a writer of great honesty and integrity, a writer to trust. ~ Pauline Holdstock

The problem in today's society is that the truth is in short supply and people love soft lies more than hard truths ~ Rassool Jibraeel Snyman

A startup's job is to (1) rigorously measure where it is right now, confronting the hard truths that assessment reveals, and then (2) devise experiments to learn how to move the real numbers closer to the ideal reflected in the business plan. ~ Eric Ries

We know we have to face hard truths and take strong steps, but we have not done so; instead, we have drifted. And that drifting has eroded our resources, fractured our economy, and shaken our confidence. ~ Bill Clinton

Growing up on the fringe, you came to accept hard truths. Nothing was fair. the world was cold, unforgiving, and people died. it was just the way things were. ~ Julie Kagawa

There was something absolutely terrifying in handing over your wounded heart for someone else to hold. ~ N.R. Walker

Take one, and you cannot take the other," she said. "But neither path is safe. Which way would you walk - the way of hard truths or the way of fine lies? ~ Neil Gaiman

There is a sense of exhilaration that comes from facing head-on the hard truths and saying, "We will never give up. We will never capitulate. It might take a long time, but we will find a way to prevail." ~ James C. Collins

I can't find a man I want, and I'm beginning to think the problem is me. Maybe I expect too much. Maybe I'm holding out for something that doesn't even exist. She'd voiced her secret fear. Maybe grand passion was just a dream. With all the kissing she'd done in the past few months, she'd not once been overcome with desire. Her parents certainly hadn't had any great passion between them. Come to think of it, she wasn't sure she'd ever seen grand passion outside of a movie theater or a book. ~ Karen Marie Moning

You don't get what you want, you get what you can ~ Bangambiki Habyarimana

God Is, Lucifer is a devil, and there is a Hell. ~ E.A. Bucchianeri

People who've been hurt like hurting others [..] ~ Alice Walsh

Sharona Muir has written a gripping personal memoir about her odyssey to rediscover and reclaim her father. Along the way she uncovers some hard truths about the heroic founders of Israel and the Beginnings of Israeli science. The Book of Telling keeps in all the fears and resentments and consolations and warmth of such a process-at once her own story and the tale of a nation. ~ Edmund White

The world is older and bigger than we are. This is a hard truth for some folks to swallow. ~ Edward Abbey

Prepare for a radio, for nothing is silent like the grave ~ Bangambiki Habyarimana

Distance from the troubled past is the product of economic and social change more than reflection or the mere passage of time, which may have little effect. To the extent that the basic circumstances of life remain unchanged, time becomes irrelevant; in fact, it may even deepen the hold of former attitudes, turning them into ancient truths. But as the foundations of social reality alter and the circumstances of daily life take on a new character, society can more easily accept hard truths and discard old controversies. It gains an ability to leave its past in the past and move into a different future.

[...] The desire of a few individuals to "overcome the past," to rise above enmity and engage a different future after a destructive war, is laudable but rarely is achievable for an entire society. Substantial numbers of people will defend old positions or insist on the validity of their grievances, and the next generation may revive propaganda or condemn efforts to "forget." Eventually, however, the world moves on, and changed realities allow acceptance of bitter truths about a troubled past. As progressively greater numbers acknowledge the past, historical wounds close, even those of bloody civil war [192 - 93]. ~ Paul D. Escott

Never underestimate the power of a pity fuck, which makes for about ninety percent of women's collective dating history. ~ Alice Walsh

This is how you explain how you feel: broken words and hard truths. ~ R. YS Perez

But neither path is safe. Which way would you walk - the way of hard truths or the way of fine lies?" Shadow hesitated. "Truths," he said. "I've come too far for more lies. ~ Neil Gaiman

The ability to make hard truths palatable is one that every long-lived co-leader has mastered. ~ David A. Heenan

If literature is humanity at its absolute best, striving after the hard truths, straining to shed the egos that cripple nonliterary relationships, then books, the actual objects of books, are the physical expressions of the struggle to craft a better humanity. Entering the culture of books, even the culture of a single book--and every book is the culture of its audience--makes the world feel a little better, a little more true and welcoming. ~ J.C. Hallman

Most centrist Democrats ... try to distance themselves from controversies that recall the 1960s. There are journalistic centrists as well, who avoid hard truths for the sake of acceptance and legitimacy. ~ Tom Hayden

Reality wins, and I'd rather see the truth than stay in love with a fantasy. ~ Jewel

It should never be your job to pick up the pieces of a broken man or to housebreak one. There are far better things you can do with your time. ~ Alice Walsh

We are moved by self-interest, even when we seek to do good to others. ~ Bangambiki Habyarimana

File under "Hard Truths": the creative muse is fiction. If you sit around waiting for the right moment to create, you will die waiting. ~ Antony Johnston

The President's biggest problem right now is he's gotta tell the truth. And we've seen this in New Jersey. I've told lots of hard truths in New Jersey that people didn't necessarily agree with, but they give you credit for looking them in the eye and telling them the truth. ~ Chris Christie

Love is always based on self-interest ~ Bangambiki Habyarimana

[Kepler] preferred the hard truth to his dearest illusions, and that is the heart of science. ~ Carl Sagan

Heaven is not a republic. ~ E.A. Bucchianeri

True friends celebrate with you on the best of days and build you up on your worst days. And sometimes they speak hard truths into your life because they love you enough to not let you be a terrible person. But for me, the best measurement I have for a true friend? They pour life into me instead of draining it out. ~ Alli Worthington

Mum liked to say that some things happen for a reason, that sometimes obstacles were there to stop you from doing something stupid. ~ Maggie Stiefvater

It's irrelevant to me what young Singaporeans think of me. I've lived long enough to know that you may be idealised in life and reviled after you're dead. ~ Lee Kuan Yew

I cared about us. But the cold hard truth was, nothing I said or did could realign the stars. ~ Becca Fitzpatrick

One of the hard truths about the new digital world is that we have to be prepared to acknowledge when an experiment is not going to work, and to take action. ~ Andrew Rosenthal

We must try to see the world through a black person's eyes, see hard truths and not unfairly judge those who deliver them. We need to see people - real people - not the stereotypes handed down by previous generations. ~ Mark M. Bello

The devil has not vanished simply because people refuse to believe he exists, no more than God has ... ~ E.A. Bucchianeri

We can order him to make appointments and talk to someone, but we can't force him to actually do the work. You've got to be willing to work on your issues. You've got to be willing to face hard truths and fight to get better. that takes courage and force of will. (Anita) ~ Laurell K. Hamilton

Conservatives used to believe in confronting hard truths, not succumbing to comforting fairy tales. Some still do. ~ Fareed Zakaria

The hypocrisy and social sham of the world, and that I have mastered the following hard truths of life--that there is no love without lust--no friendship without self-interest--no religion without avarice--and no so-called virtue without its accompanying stronger vice. Who, knowing these things, would care to take part in them! ~ Marie Corelli

Hard truths can be dealt with, triumphed over, but lies will destroy your soul. ~ Patricia Briggs

Accomplishment of your dreams demand personal sacrifice and hard work. ~ Lailah Gifty Akita

Most men would rather deny a hard truth than face it. ~ George R R Martin

There is no human relationship that is not based on self-interest ~ Bangambiki Habyarimana

Life after love was possible. I was proof. Loss taught you about yourself, burrowed in the dark parts of your soul and ate you from the inside out. ~ Hailey Edwards

Forgiveness is the name of love practiced among people who love poorly. The hard truth is that all people love poorly. We need to forgive and be forgiven every day, every hour increasingly. That is the great work of love among the fellowship of the weak that is the human family. ~ Henri J.M. Nouwen

Real friends offer both hard truths and soft landings and realize that it's sometimes more important to be nice than to be honest. ~ Anna Quindlen

It's a hard truth for Americans to face, that neither team in Washington is going to guard what we love the most. That is something we are going to have to face. Liberty is for the citizens to guard themselves. ~ Llewellyn Rockwell

Uncertainty. Vulnerability. Death. Hard truths have a secret power over us. We'd rather ignore them. ~ Eran Dror

If you want to do his soul good, why do you continually obstruct him? It hardly makes him a better man. Do you never think that, if you had bowed to the king's wishes years ago, if you had entered a convent and allowed him to remarry, he would never have broken with Rome? There would have been no need. Sufficient doubt was cast upon your marriage for you to retire with a good grace. You would have been honoured by all. But now the titles you cling to are empty. Henry was a good son of Rome. You drove him to this extremity. You, not he, split Christendom. And I expect that you know that, and that you think about it in the silence of the night. ~ Hilary Mantel

Nine holes of golf will take you one-and-a-half, two hours. I run in 20 minutes, I feel better off. So the cost benefit made me drop golf. ~ Lee Kuan Yew

The willingness to hear hard truth is vital not only for CEOs of big corporations but also for anyone who loves the truth. Sometimes the truth sounds like bad news, but it is just what we need. ~ Bill Gates

You don't know anything about me."
"No, I know not everything about you. But I sense enough to know you have mistaken obsession with drive, guilt with injustice. I know you want to escape what you are, cabbage fairy," he said, reaching for his hood and gloves and tucking them into the waistband of his trousers. "Your desires are no different from my own, I simply have the courage to face them. ~ F.D. Lee

The hard truth is that what may be acceptable in elite culture may not be acceptable in mass culture, that tastes which pose only innocent ethical issues as the property of a minority become corrupting when they become more established. Taste is context, and the context has changed. ~ Susan Sontag

Scrape knees for love. Tell hard truths for love. And definitely run heart-first into the unknown for love. Try to have a plan. But if you don't, make sure you have people. You coming, mi gente? ~ Gabby Rivera

I looked up its history, and, surprisingly, it has quite a history. You know how in Europe they make you study a lot of stuff about the old alchemists and all that kind of stuff, to give you an historical grounding.'

'Yes?'

Kemp laughed. 'You haven't got a witch around your place by any chance?'

'Eh!' The exclamation almost burned Marson's lips. He fought hard to hide the tremendousness of that shock.

Kemp laughed again. 'According to 'Die Geschichte der Zauberinnen' by the Austrian, Karl Gloeck, Hydrodendon Barelia is the modem name for the sinister witch's weed of antiquity. I'm not talking about the special witches of our Christian lore, with their childish attributes, but the old tribe of devil's creatures that came out of prehistory, regular full-blooded sea witches. It seems when each successive body gets old, they choose a young woman's body, attune themselves to it by living with the victim, and take possession any time after midnight of the first full moon period following the 21st of June. Witch's weed is supposed to make the entry easier. Gloeck says... why, what's the matter, sir?'

His impulse, his wild and terrible impulse, was to babble the whole story to Kemp. With a gigantic effort, he stopped himself; for Kemp, though he might talk easily of witches, was a scientist to the depths of his soul.

("The Witch") ~ A.E. Van Vogt

Whoa. It was hard to stick to my resolve of not caving to the ridiculous notion of us being together when he was actually ... nice, and when he stared at me like I was the last piece of chocolate in the whole world.
Which made me think of that damn chocolate chip cookie in his mouth. ~ Jennifer L. Armentrout

I lived in lower-income neighborhoods in the inner city. Across the street were dark parts of the world. I've experienced the gamut, from third world to inner city to my parents working their way out of being secretaries and janitors to professors and real-estate people. They've shown me a path of perseverance and hard work in a peaceable way. ~ Kenna

I have a lady as dear to me As the westward wind and shining sea, As breath of spring to the verdant lea, As lover's songs and young children's glee. Swiftly I pace thro' the hours of light, Finding no joy in the sunshine bright, Waiting 'till moon and far stars are white, Awaiting the hours of silent night. Swiftly I fly from the day's alarms, Too sudden desires, false joys and harms, Swiftly I fly to my loved one's charms, Praying the clasp of her perfect arms. Her eyes are wonderful, dark and deep, Her raven tresses a midnight steep, But, ah, she is hard to hold and keep - My lovely lady, my lady Sleep! Leolyn Louise Everett. ~ Various

Why does everything have to be so damn hard on me? Women everywhere can drop their panties and have mindless sex, but no, not me! I have to get emotionally invested in a douchenozzle who is only willing to knock me up for his own pleasure! ~ Katie Ashley

To navigate through these mists of darkness we need the iron rod, which represents the word of God (see 1 Nephi 15:23-24). We must study and understand the truths and commandments found in the scriptures. We must listen carefully to the words of our latter-day prophets, whose teachings will give us guidance, direction, and protection. And we must hold to the standards found in For the Strength of Youth. ~ Mary N. Cook

I don't know your story, and I'm not going to ask for any more than you want to give. But I know, I can just tell from the way you act, that people have tried to take things from you, tried to take you from you. They tried to take away something amazing, something that deserves more, something that wants to shine. I see it. I see the part they never managed to steal, no matter how hard they tried ... Your soul, he whispered, answering the unspoken inquiry. ~ Amelia C. Gormley

The marker slants, flowerless, day's almost done,
I stand above my father's grave with rage,
often, often before
I've made this awful pilgrimage to one
who cannot visit me, who tore his page
out: I come back for more,
I spit upon this dreadful banker's grave
who shot his heart out in a Florida dawn
O ho alas alas
When will indifference come, I moan & rave
I'd like to scrabble till I got right down
away down under the grass
and ax the casket open ha to see
just how he's taking it, which he sought so hard
we'll tear apart
the mouldering grave clothes ha then Henry
will heft the ax once more, his final card,
and fell it on the start. ~ John Berryman

It's hard to hold on to anger. It eats at you, chips away at your happiness, making you miserable. ~ Monica Murphy

I don't want to be married anymore. I was trying so hard not to know this, but the truth kept insisting itself to me. ~ Elizabeth Gilbert

That stirring which had fluttered in her on first glimpsing the sea - that stirring landlocked children know so well - moved in her now, with the golden stars over head, and the green fireflies glinting on the wooded shore. She carefully unfolded the stirring that she had so tightly packed away. It billowed out like a sail, and she laughed, despite herself, despite hunger and hard things ahead. ~ Catherynne M Valente

Of course he burst through the door. It cracked against the massive slabs that formed the stone walls, sending splinters flying, and I didn't have to try very hard for the startled jump as Lord Pecus strode into the room.
I gave a maidenly shriek, and in a moment of truly inspired acting, snatched my dressing gown from the bed to my chest and assumed pose #35, Maidenly Horror. Hands clasped below the breasts and clutching my dressing gown as if to protect girlish modesty, eyes wide- maybe finishing school had been useful for something after all. I thought I might have gone too far, but Lord Pecus, who at my shriek had stopped two strides into the room with a look of horror on his mask, hastily turned his face to the wall. He tried to utter a disjointed apology but I threw one of the pot-pourri bowls at him, and it smashed satisfyingly on the wall, cutting off the attempt. ~ W.R. Gingell

I've always tried to make a home for myself, but I have not felt at home in myself. I've worked hard at being the hero of my own life. But every time I checked the register of displaced persons, I was still on it. I didn't know how to belong. Longing? Yes. Belonging? No. ~ Jeanette Winterson

I love Winston Churchill; I think he had the grace of coming and the grace of leaving - when things were hard he was there, and when it was time to leave, he left. ~ Lapo Elkann

Hear me well, John Blackwood, because I know how hard it is for you to take a compliment. You talk of my strength? You are the strongest person I've ever known. You are a survivor. Every day you fight for a better life. I am in awe of you. I adore you. I have since the beginning. Fear isn't an easy thing to shake. But for you? I will be right there fighting by your side and never regret a day. ~ Kristen Callihan

Facts are hard things - and either we deal with the facts, or the facts will deal with us ~ Gary A. Haugen

She gives just enough hints about him to make you wonder why he became so villainous. And if he dies, I'll never learnt the answer."
Oliver eyes her closely. "Perhaps he was born villainous."
"No one is born villainous."
"Oh?" he said with raised eyebrow. "So we're all born good?"
"Neither. We start as animals, with an animal's needs and desires. It takes parents and teachers and other good examples to show us how to restrain those needs and desires, when necessary, for the greater good. But it's still our choice whether to heed that education or to do as we please."
"For a woman who loves murder and mayhem, you're quite the philosopher."
"I like to understand how things work. Why people behave as they do."
He digested that for a moment. "I happen to think that some of us, like Rockton, are born with a wicked bent."
She chose her words carefully. "That certainly provides Rockton with a convenient excuse for his behavior."
His features turned stony. "What do you mean?"
"Being moral and disciplined is hard work. Being wicked requires no effort at all-one merely indulges every desire and impulse, no matter how hurtful or immoral. By claiming to be born wicked, Rockton ensures that he doesn't have to struggle to be god. He can just protest that he can't help himself."
"Perhaps he can't," he clipped out.
"Or maybe he's simply unwilling to fight his impulses. And I want to know the reason for that. That's why I keep readin ~ Sabrina Jeffries

I'm glad nothing requires my intervention, because I'm trying hard to maintain my composure. This is the first time I've ever seen a woman naked and I don't think I'll ever be the same. ~ Sara Gruen

When I was little, my ambition was to grow up to be a book. Not a writer. People can be killed like ants. Writers are not hard to kill either. But not books: however systematically you try to destroy them, there is always a chance that a copy will survive and continue to enjoy a shelf-life in some corner on an out-of-the-way library somehwere in Reykjavik, Valladolid or Vancouver. ~ Amos Oz

One of my guiding principles is don't do anything that other people are doing. Always do something a little different if you can. The concept is that if you do it a little differently there is a greater potential for reward than if you the same thing that other people are doing. I think that this kind of goal for one's work, having obviously the maximum risk, would have the maximum reward no matter what the field may be. ~ Seymour Cray

As an entrepreneur, you have to be OK with failure. If you're not failing, you're likely not pushing yourself hard enough. ~ Alexa Von Tobel

Cardinal Dolan, of course, has a very, very hard job: trying to hold up Catholic family values in sexually liberal New York City. I'm not saying New York is the Gay Mecca. But it's at least Gay-rusalem. ~ Stephen Colbert

I don't know. He was hit hard. Bleeding out his mouth, bright red blood, so he probably took a hit to his lung. He was alive when they took him into the operating room . . ." Lucas gave him the details he had, then gave the phone to the highway patrolman, who knew Wood, and Wood confirmed Lucas's status. ~ John Sandford

Truths are more than imagination; they are real. Yet their origin is a thought in the mind of God. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

Getting rich is easy and staying rich is hard ~ Sivaprakash Sidhu

People who are hard, grasping and always ready to take advantage of their neighbors become very rich. ~ George Bernard Shaw

Maybe I could help with some of the wedding stuff, too."

Sidney laughed, then saw Vaughn frown. " Wait - you're being serious?"

He shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"No offense, but you don't exactly exude a 'wedding planning' vibe."

"And thank God for that. But I think I can manage a few tasks. How hard could it be to pick a photographer? Or a band? Just ask them if they plan to play 'Y.M.C.A.' or that annoying Kool and the Gang song. If they say no, they're hired. ~ Julie James

He was my favourite possession, and I didn't feel right if I couldn't get hold of him. He was warm, hard to do without, and I wanted to drag him around with me everywhere I went. The most comfortable blanket in the world, right next to my skin, that was Bogey. ~ Rika Yokomori

Truths are not truths to you unless you realize them within yourself. Without realization, they are just ideas. For spiritual perception, spiritual consciousness, lies not in vague theological ideas, but in the acquisition of Self-realization. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

The average age (longevity) of a meat eater is 63. I am on the verge of 85 and still work as hard as ever. I have lived quite long enough and am trying to die; but I simply cannot do it. A single beef-steak would finish me; but I cannot bring myself to swallow it. I am oppressed with a dread of living forever. That is the only disadvantage of vegetarianism. ~ George Bernard Shaw

My mission is to raise incomes for hard working middle class families. If you work hard and do your part you should be able to get ahead and stay ahead. ~ Bernie Sanders

When I sleepwalk
into your room, and pick you up,
and hold you up in the moonlight, you cling to me
hard,
as if clinging could save us. I think
you think
I will never die, I think I exude
to you the permanence of smoke or stars,
even as
my broken arms heal themselves around you. ~ Galway Kinnell

Honeyed oatie cakes, lemon oatie cakes, oatie cakes with dried grapes!" moaned Athena, she and her owl both rolling her eyes.

"I've still got sacks fullin my storage rooms," said Artemis. "I give them to my temple priestesses to hand out to people who pray really hard...or not."

"I use them as fish food," said Poseidon.

"Kindling," said Hephaestus. "They burn great on the forge."

"I've sent a million sacks down to Egypt," said Dionysus. "They ran out of bricks for the Pyramids. ~ Carolyn Hennesy

These workers," said Mendes with a gentle sweep of his arm, "have a hard life of it. When illness comes they have no money for a doctor. The food for tomorrow comes from today's labour, and hard labour it is, too. Their houses, as you see, are small and poor; they are never more than a stone's throw away from privation and want. They've made a bad bargain with life; they need the thought of God to comfort them. ~ Irving Stone

In life, as in football, the principle to follow is to hit the line hard. ~ Theodore Roosevelt

Being yourself is hard. Living with the regret of having lived your life according to other people's expectations is hard. Pick your hard. ~ Jordan Bach

Libertarian paternalism is a relatively weak, soft, and nonintrusive type of paternalism because choices are not blocked, fenced off, or significantly burdened. If people want to smoke cigarettes, to eat a lot of candy, to choose an unsuitable health care plan, or to fail to save for retirement, libertarian paternalists will not force them to do otherwise - or even make things hard for them. ~ Anonymous

You loved so hard and hoped so much and then you ended up with nothing. Children who no longer needed you. A husband who no longer wanted you. Nothing left but you, alone, and empty space. ~ Celeste Ng