Holding Back Quotes

His eyes turn dark and serious. "You couldn't be more wrong. I want you so fucking badly that I can't see straight. I haven't been able to since the moment I laid eyes on you. That's the fucking problem. You think I wanted her more than I do you? I didn't want her at all. I wanted you then and every day before and every day since. All I want is you. I was holding back just now - and trust me, it's been taking every ounce of strength I have to do so - because you deserve better than me feeling you up in an elevator." He runs his thumb over my lower lip, his eyes darkening further. ~ Samantha Towle

No more holding back.
Be reckless.
Tell your Love to everybody. ~ Rumi

Rural communities in Africa, South Asia and Latin America are where the majority of hungry people are and the inequality that exists between women and men in these communities is holding back progress. ~ Dionne Warwick

So often this summer I keep thinking: I know I'm holding back. I know I'm waiting. I know I'm afraid to go forward. But I don't know how to get there from here."
He was quiet, so she kept going. "Sometimes I see it as a tricky mountain pass between two valleys. Other times, it's like perilous straits connecting two lands. Partly it's the fear of the trip itself, I think, but partly it's the fear that I won't be able to get back. I'll turn around and the clouds will have settled over the mountaintop. Or the waters will have risen and shifted, and there will be no way home."
Paul nodded. He took her hand again, which she discovered she appreciated.
But that's not even the real fear."
He gave her an odd smile. Short on mirth but affectionate. "What's the real fear?"
The real fear is that I won't want to go home. ~ Ann Brashares

Their [artists'] essential effort is to catapult themselves wholly, without holding back one bit, into a course of action without having any idea where they will end up. They are like riders who gallop into the night, eagerly leaning on their horse's neck, peering into a blinding rain. And they have to do it over and over again. ~ Anne Truitt

Extraverts, in other words, often stumble over themselves. They can talk too much and listen too little, which dulls their understanding of others' perspectives. They can fail to strike the proper balance between asserting and holding back, which can be read as pushy and drive people away.* ~ Daniel H. Pink

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

Caroline, I love the shit out of you. So calm down and just tell me what you need. No more holding back. And then I'll tell you what I need, and we'll figure out how to work it out. ~ Alice Clayton

We do eventually get dressed and look for food, although we only make it to the dining room in time for lunch. Egeria accepts her ousting as Alpha Sinta without a hint of anger or regret. Clearly, it's what she was expecting all along. Piers is away on a recruitment trip, but the rest of the family is here and overjoyed by our wedding announcement. Jocasta decrees that we have to go shopping, now, and Kaia bounces in her seat, beyond excited about any outing that will actually get her on the other side of the castle gate.

Shopping requires money, so I dig around in Griffin's pocket under the table, letting my fingers wander enough for him to nearly choke on his stew. I find four gold coins and hold on to them. "You never pay me."

He looks aghast. "I can't pay you anymore."

"We're about to get married. No one's going to confuse me with a prostitute."

Kaia spits out a grape. It bounces across the table and then lands in her mother's lap. Kaia slaps her hand over her mouth, her blue-gray eyes huge, and Nerissa gives her a quelling look. The look finishes on me, and I might have felt a little quelled myself if Carver hadn't suddenly made a noise like a donkey, finally belting out the laugh he'd been holding back.

Anatole bangs his hand down on the table and bursts out laughing. He sounds like a donkey, too. It's contagious, and the whole table erupts, snorting and braying until most of us are wiping tears from our eyes. I sha ~ Amanda Bouchet

I don't believe in sort of holding back, you know, life isn't a dress rehearsal! ~ Kate Winslet

[I]t is really the ponderous books which I envy. How easy merely to put down everything you think or imagine. No holding back, no telling oneself that this does not belong, or that. No hewing to the line. No cutting. No fear of letting the interest die. No wastebasket. How wonderful. And how dull! ~ Mary Roberts Rinehart

This place of stuck - "I have to" and "I can't" - feels familiar from my spiritual work. We're told to simply "let go" - but when we try to do this, we often seem to get more deeply tangled in the willful web of resistance. In spite of injunctions to the contrary, "letting go" doesn't appear to be something we have conscious control over. Why can't we just let go into the loving arms of the universe? What is this holding back that seems so essential - so imperative? ~ David Rynick

Clearly recognizing what is happening inside us, and regarding what we see with an open, kind and loving heart, is what I call Radical Acceptance. If we are holding back from any part of our experience, if our heart shuts out any part of who we are and what we feel, we are fueling the fears and feelings of separation that sustain the trance of unworthiness. Radical Acceptance directly dismantles the very foundations of this trance. ~ Tara Brach

I wonder, though ... what would it be like? To be that close to a boy and have him see all of you, no holding back. ~ Jenny Han

I've known your real name since we were in fifth grade. I've been holding back the information for a potential blackmail opportunity. ~ Liliana Hart

All the way up the river she's been holding back somehow, waiting. Now you'll both have to wait. I'm not going to disappoint her, Kit. When I take you on board the Witch, it's going to be for keeps. ~ Elizabeth George Speare

A life lived well embraces death by feeling open, from heart to all, in every moment. Wide open, you can offer without holding back, you can receive without pushing away. ~ David Deida

If I hold back, I'm no good. I'm no good. I'd rather be good sometimes, than holding back all the time. ~ Janis Joplin

To me, there's so much talent in the world that's locked out for the wrong reasons, whether it's innovators at the highest end where we need to change the regulation systems, or whether it's the talented people who work here who the bureaucracy's holding back, or the amazing American people. ~ Megan Smith

A GIANT heart
Needs a GIANT life!
GIANT arms
Can hold a world!

Let me lead a GIANT'S life!
No little steps, no holding back!
A GIANT'S way, a GIANT'S track!

Let my mistakes
Be GIANT ones!

For I can't live in little worlds!

I need the space to run my fill
I need to jump from hill to hill

And if you take my woods from me
I'll wander out into the sea
And try to find another world

So I can live a GIANT'S life! ~ Cressida Cowell

Often you will catch yourself wanting to receive your loving God by putting on a semblance of beauty, by holding back everything dirty and spoiled, by clearing just a little path that looks proper. But that is a fearful response - forced and artificial. Such a response exhausts you and turns your prayer into torment. ~ Henri J.M. Nouwen

See, Curry, Detective Willis felt I was holding back some information and so he sulked off, like all men do when they don't get their way with women they've fooled around with. ~ Gillian Flynn

I did not speak. I have found in any Q&A, in court, in witness interviews, wherever, often the best thing you can do is wait, say nothing. The witness will want to fill the awkward silence. He will feel a vague compassion to keep talking, to prove he is not holding back, to prove he is smart and in the know, to earn your trust. ~ William Landay

We alchemists look for talent that can heat up and change. Lukewarm won't do. Halfhearted holding back, well-enough getting by? Not here. ~ Rumi

A king without a Queen." Kian sighed, breathing mist into the air. He held me tighter, kissing me with a heat that seemed to thaw the very snow on which we stood. "You don't know me as well as you think you do," he said. "What I'm holding back. What I'm capable of. You haven't felt it - how much I love you ... ~ Kailin Gow

Yet they are also worlds of dynamism - flowing, surging, holding back - a world of almost constant movement. Here, it is as if God were saying, "I have created opposites, upper and lower, black and white, left and right. Now bring them together. Live in the lower world from the higher perspective of the world of unity. ~ Tamar Frankiel

I believed our touching to be more intense because of it's very holding back. Belief is always a choice. ~ Jane Green

Pull something out and show me." I said thoughtlessly. Isaac started snickering, Ethan joined in. Asher was holding back a laugh, his cheeks turning pink. I thought about what I said and started laughing. There are just some things you can't say in a room full of guys. ~ B.L. Brunnemer

Do it your way, but I suggest another one. You could go ahead and beat her bloody,
or ... you could give me such loud, screaming orgasms that the sound of them blisters her ears. If you have any former-whore-turned-promiscuous-vampire tricks you've been holding back, well, bring them on. I only have one stipulation: You'd better outperform any service you gave to her or anyone else, because if I don't wake up tomorrow red in the face from embarrassment at what you did to me, I'll be disappointed. ~ Jeaniene Frost

Once you make the decision to keep fighting for change, the range of possibilities for discovering who you are can be are endless. By experimenting with new ways of doing things, you will eventually discover your full potential. By enduring your anxiety and consistently risking your best effort, you will achieve more than you ever believed possible. No, you won't be able to change everything. But you will have realized that you have spent far too long holding back your own potential. ~ Art E. Berg

Writing is a discipline: it's almost all about holding back. ~ Rachel Cusk

The moment you commit and quit holding back, all sorts of unforeseen incidents, meetings, and material assistance will rise up to help you. The simple act of commitment is a powerful magnet for help. ~ Napoleon Hill

Few beautiful women were willing to indicate in public that they belonged to someone. I had known enough women to realize this. I accepted them for what they were and love came hard and very seldom. When it did it was usually for the wrong reasons. One simply became tired of holding back love and let it go because it needed some place to go. Then, usually, there was trouble. ~ Charles Bukowski

The music department is going to do a musical next year," he tells me, rolling his eyes like I would.
Justine is running toward me, and I can tell by the look on her face that she's found out about the musical, too.
I sigh, shaking my head. "I have to give Justine a lesson in holding back," I tell him. "She's just way too enthusiastic".
She grabs my arms in excitement. "We're doing Les Mis."
I scream hysterically, clutching her as we jump up and down. ~ Melina Marchetta

The personal power of being confident and clear about our actions and saying what we know without holding back is described in the texts as 'the lions roar. ~ Sharon Salzberg

Your life is like a car which moves sometimes with jerks caused by the dirt in its gas as if it has hiccups. That's ordinarily how you live – piecemeal. Your energy moves in fits and starts, bit by bit, it never comes to an integrated whole. It's a matter of utilizing your full energy – in anything. For example, if you are a painter and if you were to devote your entire energy into painting a picture – without holding back even a bit – you will attain liberation there and then. Such application of total energy is udyama. As soon as the circuit is complete, you become bhairava. If you are a sculptor and have poured into your sculpture all that you have – so much so that only the sculpture remains, you disappear – the energy circuit completes. So when you use your total energy in any work – it becomes meditation. Then the bhairava is close, the temple is nearby. ~ Osho

Because capitalist society has expanded the productive forces so enormously, the social conditions under which it arose lag behind and become fetters holding back the further growth of productive forces. ~ Earl Browder

We must stop destroying human capacity. Now.
Too many of today's leaders are holding back the future because it comes wrapped in risks. ~ Bill Jensen

Holding back technology to reserve business models is like allowing blacksmiths to veto the internal combustion engine in order to protect their horseshoes. ~ Don Tapscott

Holding back is so close to stealing. ~ Neil Young

A Rare Commodity A man's pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor. PROVERBS 29:23 Humility isn't a show we put on; in fact, if we think we're humble, we're probably not. And in our day of self-promotion, self-assertion, spotlighting "celebrities of the faith," and magnifying the flesh, this quality - so greatly valued by the Lord Jesus - is a rare commodity indeed ... A truly humble person looks for opportunities to give himself freely to others rather than holding back, to release rather than hoarding, to build up rather than tearing down, to serve rather than being served, to learn from others rather than clamoring for the teaching stand. How blessed are those who learn this early in life. Hope Again ~ Charles R. Swindoll

You can hold back from the suffering of the world, you have permission to do so, and it is in accordance with your nature. But perhaps this very holding back is the one suffering that you could have avoided. ~ Franz Kafka

The backwardness of our religious and social developments is undoubtedly holding back the development of the intellectual and political levels. ~ Carroll Quigley

We have an assumption here in America that the kind thing to do is to be "friendly," which means being extroverted, even intrusive. The Japanese assume the opposite: being kind means holding back. ~ Laurie A. Helgoe

Tell me I'm crazy for thinking you're holding back from me as much as I'm hiding you. ~ Penelope Douglas

I'm more open to give things a go, but what I'm not good at yet is holding back. If something is daft or rubbish, I just go, I can't be doing it. ~ Karl Pilkington

Our regrets, our fears, they hold us back. We have to let them go so we can become what we're supposed to be. We have to burn them all away. ~ Amie Kaufman

You never lose by loving, you lose by holding back. ~ Barbara De Angelis

The piano entered the story, bringing a new voice to the narrative. Her fingers brushed the keys, her heart straining to find satisfaction in the harmonic shifts and subtle colorings.

It wasn't there.

Leila closed her eyes, tried new ways of speaking a phrase - holding back, pushing forward, adding an unexpected accent, waiting a breath before the harmonic resolution.

But she couldn't find it.

She pushed the music forward with frantic exhilaration, dragging the orchestra behind her.
René shot her a warning look.
Leila drove hard, demanding they follow, viciously attacking the finale as she searched for what eluded her.

But when the last chord exploded, ringing with a rage composed of love and longing, Leila felt nothing but a drained emptiness.

It was as if the reins keeping her in control, in the carefully constructed environment where she'd always created music, had snapped and broken away.
Everything had felt just beyond reach. The notes had danced before her but she'd been unable to grasp them, to own and mold them into what she wanted to say.

"Brava!"

Leila blinked.

People stood, flooding the hall with a deluge of approval for her sacrifice on stage. ~ Emma Raveling

Our bond's fully formed now. When did that happen?"
"When I was resuscitating you." He rested his forehead against hers. "I didn't realize I was holding back. It wasn't intentional."
"I know."
"I was scared of needing anyone, scared of having anyone need me."
"I get it."
"No, you don't. You have no concept of how much I need you. It scares me."
"Same here." Needing someone went against every instinct she had developed, but Marcus was essential to her.
"Then don't ever endanger your life like that again. You keep this ass safe for me." He palmed it and gave it a light squeeze. "Okay?"
"Okay." His mouth came down on hers, licking, nipping, and biting. Pulling back, he gave her one of those sensual smiles that did very interesting things to her body.
"I love you, Roni Axton."
"And I love you, Marcus Fuller." Watching as a familiar pained expression suddenly formed on his face, she said, "Seriously? Despite almost dying, you're hungry?"
"I don't know how to answer that question without irritating you." His mate just rolled her eyes, making him smile again. ~ Suzanne Wright

She hadn't pulled her punches, and he certainly wasn't holding back for fear of hurting her feelings. He was the first person she'd come across in a long time who didn't dance around her for fear of saying something that would hurt her. ~ Katee Robert

When Annunziata said she loved me or any of her thousands of other friends and beloveds, she was really saying, at least in my mind, "God loves you." To quote the singer/songwriter James Taylor, she showered the people she loved with love, always showing the way that she felt without holding back. Even as her body could barely contain her soul any longer, she'd open wide the gates of herself with a smile, that giggle, her twinkling eyes, and she'd let the supernatural love flow through her. Walking out of the chapel after her funeral, a woman I'd never seen before stopped me and said, "You're Cathleen, aren't you?" "Yes," I croaked, tears rolling off my nose as I fingered the prayer card with Annunziata's picture on it. Slipping an arm around my shoulders, the woman explained that she was one of Annunziata's former students and said, "She loved you so much." I know. ~ Cathleen Falsani

To suggest, as Shine does, that my father was in some way mean-spirited is totally unfair. Holding back David's career was not in the least my father's aim. He was extremely proud of his son and nurtured his talent in every way. He was David's strongest advocate. But allowing any boy who had just turned fourteen to live by himself so far away without proper provisions being made for him would have been irresponsible, to say the least.
In David's case, it would have been particularly inappropriate. He had never been abroad before; he was completely hopeless in practical matters; and he needed to be looked after, cooked for, and cared for. He was also by that time behaving rather erratically, although of course we did not know then that these may have been the first signs of a serious mental illness. My father's attitude was proved correct: when David did go to London of his own volition four years later, he fell ill and ended up receiving psychiatric care.
In any case there simply wasn't enough money available to finance the trip to America. Contrary to what is related in Shine, where my father and Mr. Rosen decide that David should have a bar mitzvah as a method of raising money for this trip, David had already had his bar mitzvah almost a year earlier, when he turned thirteen, the usual age for this ceremony. His bar mitzvah had nothing to do with "digging for gold," as Mr. Rosen puts it in Shine, in one of several offensive references in the film to Jews or Ju ~ Margaret Helfgott

Goodbyes are not easy, but I'm ready to move on. I'm not reluctant, Emma, not holding back. I don't have answers to the questions, but I have some good questions. I have loved life, but I believe that life is to be loved, it is a gift. ~ Madeleine L'Engle

He who has experienced the mystery of the nature is full of life, full of love, full of joy. Radiance emanates from the whole existence itself, it does not know the meaning of holding back. It is pure giving-giving of love. For the great writers, love is like holding ice in hand, it just turns to water and they lose out their role but for a mystic the moment ice transforms to water love starts to flow. ~ Maitreya Rudrabhayananda

I prefer to regard a dessert as I would imagine the perfect woman: subtle, a little bittersweet, not blowsy and extrovert. Delicately made up, not highly rouged. Holding back, not exposing everything and, of course, with a flavor that lasts. ~ Graham Kerr

I'm holding back, delaying the information. I'm lingering in the prior moment because it was a time when other outcomes were still possible. ~ Ian McEwan

The idea of holding back certainly didn't come from Scripture. ~ Francis Chan

We kissed each other until we were too tired to keep going. I could still feel him holding back. It was my penance for what I had done to him. All I could do was hope the walls would fall and that I could have all of him again, but I was always leaving and he was tired of watching me walk away. We both knew that I couldn't stay and that he couldn't come with me, but still, we couldn't let go. ~ Kimberly Novosel

Days and months of holding back. Being diplomatic. Trying to figure out which way was up, and how to right a series of mistakes that weren't meant to hurt anyone. At work and in my personal life. It was all a mess, and every time I tried to make things right, I made them worse. So maybe the answer was to stop trying so hard. ~ Allyson Lindt

Ares's power was causing my anger. He'd love it if I attacked. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction. ~ Rick Riordan

It will relax her, make her pliable. Women love having their feet rubbed."
"Most women beg me to rub somewhere other than their feet."
"They like their toes nibbled," Aiden said. "And suckled."
"Rub feet, suckle toes. Got it."
"Do it slowly, the strokes steady. Then move up her legs. Use her muscles as a guide. Not hard strokes - you want to soothe, not press."
"How long before I can massage her pussy?"
"Gods, level threes are impatient. The trick is to go slowly. By the time you've reached her ass, she's sighing with pleasure, but you don't stop there. You do her entire back and arms while she's longing for you to get to her pussy. Make her wait."
"Now that I can get into. Holding back, making her beg."
He saw Nella again, squirming on the sheets, her red hair tangled on the pillow, her hips lifting toward him. Please, Rio, she'd say.
Not yet, baby, he'd respond. I want you good and wet before I get there.
She'd whimper with disappointment, then he'd lift his strap and smack her sweet little backside.
Rio sighed and made the image dissolve. "Massage. Slowly. I'm not sure my programming will let me."
"Like this." Aiden moved his ale glass and pressed his hand to the table, thumb and last two fingers on the surface, the other two fingers held loosely. "Glide across her skin, pressing a little. Long strokes, following the curve of her leg." He moved his hand across the table, slowly and sensually, his ow ~ Allyson James

Telling you how I know ... what I know ... it could make things worse than they already are ... for all of us ~ Dennis Sharpe

There's no holding back now, Lex. Let go. Everything you want I'm going to give you. ~ Christine Zolendz

What is it, Lord?" What am I holding back? What am I using as an excuse for not serving You in whatever You want me to do?" And then, there by the canal, I finally had my answer. My "yes" to God had always been a "yes, but." Yes, but I'm not educated. Yes, but I'm lame. With the next breath, I did say "Yes." I said it in a brand-new way, without qualification. "I'll go, Lord, ~ Brother Andrew

He knew the way she liked her coffee, her favorite flowers--pink roses--and the meaning of countless things, like the way she straightened up to her full height and raised her left eyebrow when she was holding back on something she wanted to say. ~ Dawn Klinge

Larry wanted us to reposition the tower. We wouldn't, and won't. He's been holding back our fees. We want to get paid. And that's it. It'll get solved and we'll carry on with planning Ground Zero. ~ Daniel Libeskind

I don't say sweet things and make love and all that bullshit. I like sex hard and rough, no holding back. ~ Joanna Wylde

Perhaps the biggest tragedy of our lives is that freedom is possible, yet we can pass our years trapped in the same old patterns ... We may want to love other people without holding back, to feel authentic, to breathe in the beauty around us, to dance and sing. Yet each day we listen to inner voices that keep our life small. ~ Tara Brach

People don't tell others when they lose interest, just like they don't tell others when they love them. And then they wonder why they are so unhappy. ~ Donna Lynn Hope

He didn't know how to say good-bye. His throat ached from the strain of holding back his emotions. "I don't want to leave you," he said humbly, reaching for her cold, stiff hands.
Emma lowered her head, her tears falling freely. "I'll never see you again, will I?"
He shook his head. "Not in this lifetime," he said hoarsely.
She pulled her hands away and wrapped her arms around his neck. He felt her wet lashes brush his cheek. "Then I'll wait a hundred years," she whispered. "Or a thousand, if I must. Remember that, Nikki. I'll be waiting for you to come to me. ~ Lisa Kleypas

The household was pervaded by this atmosphere of a calm adult woman and a man who gave into animal impulses. She reported to him in great detail what her analyst ... said about his binges and his hostility; she used Charley's money to pay Dr. Andrews to catalog his abnormalities. And of course Charley never heard anything directly from the doctor; he had no way of keeping her from reporting what served her and holding back what did not. The doctor, too, had no way of getting to the truth of what she told him; no doubt she only gave him the facts that suited her picture, so that the doctor's picture of Charley was based on what she wanted him to know. By the time she had edited both going and coming there was little of it outside her control. ~ Philip K. Dick

Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshiping what's right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze new trails. Don't let fear dictate your decisions. Take a flying leap of faith. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Go all in with God. Go all out for God. ~ Mark Batterson

Just like you have fears, I got them too. I'm trying to get you to see that I'm not playin' around. I'm giving you all I got, and you're holding back."
"I'm scared."
"I am too, baby. I'm livin' with knowing you're packed up and gone … in a few months. I'm going to make you see that what you're willing to give up is more than what you got back home. I'm doing my damn best to ensure you see who I am. ~ Corinne Michaels

No more gods, no more faith, no more timid holding back. Let us blast out of our old forms, our ignorance, our weakness, and our mortality. The future belongs to posthumanity. ~ Max More

He remained where he was, looking unsure of what to do. His eyes were dark pools of emotion, giving me the impression he was holding back tears. It made my heart ache for him. ~ Marita A. Hansen

Do you know one reason my parents have stayed married so long?" I asked and Lark shook her head. "They're a team. If one has a problem, they both have a problem. No secrets, no holding back. They face everything together. ~ Bijou Hunter

Just as he'd done to her, she slowly moved up and down, caressing him with her body, drawing out his response. He ground his teeth together, fighting not to come when she was just as determined he would.
Frustrated, she wondered why he was holding back - until she heard herself moan, and realized the friction was working on her, too.
The battle there in the shower was in close-combat conditions. With the clinging grip of her body she tried to wring a climax from him, locking her legs around him and pumping hard. He slowed her down with that one arm around her hips, grinding her against him and sending her response rocketing. ~ Linda Howard

But everything about me has always been loud, the sound of my heart, the weight in my tread, even the cry I always seem to be holding back. ~ Zoraida Cordova

I think confidence is the way we meet our circumstances, whether they are wondrous and wonderful or really hard and difficult," she offered, with a tranquil smile. "It's almost like a wholeheartedness, where we're not holding back. We're not fragmented. We're not divided. We're just going towards what's happening. There's an energy to it. I think that's confidence. And it's absolutely part of human fulfillment. ~ Katty Kay

Who is the enemy? Who is holding back more rapid movement to the better society that is reasonable and possible with available resources? ... Evil, stupidity, apathy, the 'system' are not the enemy ... The real enemy is fuzzy thinking on the part of good, intelligent, vital people ... In short, the enemy is strong natural servants who have the potential to lead but do not lead, or who choose to follow a non-servant. ~ Robert K. Greenleaf

He knows that having put his hand to the plow he must not look back, because when we are looking back, we are also holding back. ~ Neal A. Maxwell

I'm not here to fight, Nate," Jenny said. That was strange, because my first impulse was to throw a giant ball of flame at her. "You shot me," I said holding back my sudden anger. "With a tranquilizer dart." "Oh, that's okay then. Wanna shoot me a few more times?" Jenny smiled; she had a nice smile. She'd ~ Steve McHugh

I think it's better when you're natural, when you just do whatever you want, instead of doing classes where I see all these other people holding back because they've been trained with certain skills or techniques. I'm like, whatever. ~ Gisele Bundchen

They will talk about you and it won't always be good. You won't even know them but they will critique you - and judge you - and everything you stand for. Their words will cut through your heart-strings and make you question the hopes and dreams that have gnawed your soul since birth.

I warn you, because I believe your unique gift of expression needs to be shared. Resist cowering down and holding back for fear of rejection. Spread those creative wings and create. But, prepare yourself. Because naysayers are not a possibility, they are a guarantee. ~ Alfa Holden

Examining masculinity can seem like a luxury problem, a pastime for a wealthy, well-educated, peaceful society, but I would argue the opposite: the poorer, the more undeveloped, the more uneducated a society is, the more masculinity needs realigning with the modern world, because masculinity is probably holding back that society. All over the globe, crimes are committed, wars are started, women are being held back, and economies are disastrously distorted by men, because of their outdated version of masculinity. ~ Grayson Perry

The car as we know it is on the way out. To a large extent, I deplore its passing, for as a basically old-fashioned machine, it enshrines a basically old-fashioned idea: freedom. In terms of pollution, noise and human life, the price of that freedom may be high, but perhaps the car, by the very muddle and confusion it causes, may be holding back the remorseless spread of the regimented, electronic society. ~ J.G. Ballard

Are you afraid I'm going to kick your ass? Because you seem to be holding back," I said. Ethan's lip curled. "That's not an answer," I said, "but it is a pretty good Elvis impersonation." I gestured him forward with a crooked finger. ~ Chloe Neill

Sibyl's surrender had been complete. Colin instantly recognised just how much she had been holding back when she opened her heard to him fully. He found the offer of it into his care a gesture so precious, he wasn't certain how to handle it but he was certain that he would not, under any circumstances, let it go. ~ Kristen Ashley

It was an intense embrace, no awkwardness, no holding back, the kind of hug two people can only achieve after long intimacy, but anyone can give in an instant to a stuffed bear. ~ Ada Palmer

Only slowly, after long watching, did he begin to distinguish the small signs that made them trackable: the ball of gristle in the corner of a man's cheek, which you could actually hear the soft click of if you listened for it; the swelling of the wormlike vein in a man's temple just below the hairline, the tightening of the crow's feet round his eyes, the almost imperceptible flicker of pinkish, naked lids; a deepening of the hollow above a man's collarbone as his throat muscles tenses, and some word he was holding back, because it was unspeakable, went up and down there, a lump of something he could neither swallow nor cough up.He saw these things now, and what astonished him was how much they gave away. ~ David Malouf

Kev wasn't certain if he was surrendering to Win or to his own passion for her. Only that there was no more holding back. He would take her. And he would give her everything he had, every part of his soul, even the broken pieces. ~ Lisa Kleypas

We hold back our true feelings and beliefs, whether it's from a sense of being polite or fear of hurting someone's feelings. But what I have seen on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' is that no one benefits from holding back and keeping things bottled up inside. So I pride myself on speaking my mind and not being afraid to give honest feedback. ~ Nate Berkus

There's a reason they call childbirth labor. Making a healthy baby takes effort: It requires foresight and self-denial and courage. It's expensive and demanding and tiring. You have to learn new things, change many habits, possibly deal with complicated medical situations, make difficult decisions, and undergo stressful ordeals. I had a wisdom tooth pulled without Novocaine while I was pregnant - it hurt a lot and seemed to go on forever. The kindness of the very young dental assistant, holding back my hair as I spat blood into a bowl, will stay with me for the rest of my life. Pregnant women do such things, and much harder things, all the time. For example, they give birth, which is somewhere on the scale between painful and excruciating. Or they have a cesarean, as I did, which is major surgery. None of this is without risk of death or damage or trauma, including psychological trauma. To force girls and women to undergo all this against their will is to annihilate their humanity. When they undertake it by choice, we should all be grateful. ~ Katha Pollitt

DAY 10 Thinking about My Purpose POINT TO PONDER: The heart of worship is surrender. VERSE TO REMEMBER: "Surrender your whole being to him to be used for righteous purposes." ROMANS 6:13B (TEV) QUESTION TO CONSIDER: What area of my life am I holding back from God? ~ Rick Warren

There's an adage that says, "The grass is always greener where you water it." Until you start giving your current relationship the attention it deserves, you'll remain in a painful space of second-guessing, thinking about what you should or shouldn't do. Stop holding back and start being completely honest, compassionate, and loving toward the person you're with. The relationship will either move ahead or it won't. You can't figure this out in your mind - you need to fully engage with your heart. Only then will you discover your truth. ~ Marie Forleo

The underbelly of envy and jealousy is an unconscious holding back of yourself. ~ Deborah Sandella

You never lose by loving, only by holding back"

Faith Mortimer ~ Faith Mortimer

And when I looked outside the window, something inside of me churned, swallowing hard I looked up and saw blue. I squeezed my eyes shut, holding back the tears and emotions that were swelling inside of me. And then I realized, the only time that I could feel anything at all, was when I could feel him. ~ Everance Caiser

Your silence creates a vacuum for others to fill The key is to stay present and keep listening. The silence of holding steady is different from the silence of holding back. ~ Ronald A. Heifetz