I Should Have Listened Quotes

The look on his face is intense, his eyes a startlingly vivid blue. Know that you have my heart, he signs to me, and then presses his body against mine, shoving me even further against the rocks. What the heck - Then, I feel a purring. It's not my khui; it's doing the same low rumble it always does, and this one feels bigger. I can't peer over Rokan's shoulders, because he's got me shoved hard against the cliff wall, his arms a protective cage over my head. He's gazing down at me, unblinking, and there's such an intense look on his face that it nearly takes my breath away. The purring continues and I realize it's coming from the ground - and the cliff wall behind me. Oh God. Earthquake? I peer over Rokan's arms just in time to see a sheet of snow and ice cascading over the lip of the cliff. An avalanche. I scream as the world goes dark and the world shakes around us. Rokan's body jolts over mine, but he never moves. The moment seems to last forever, and it feels like the world is collapsing. I cling to the front of his tunic, terrified. All I can think is that he didn't like the weather. He didn't like how today felt. I should have listened. He knew. Somehow, he knew, and he pushed me out of the way before anything bad would happen. ~ Ruby Dixon

Maybe I should have listened to Murphy. Maybe I should have stayed home and played with some nice, safe, forbidden black magic instead. ~ Jim Butcher

Someone else's vision will never be as good as your own vision of your self. Live and die with it 'cause in the end it's all you have. Lose it and you lose yourself and everything else. I should have listened to myself. ~ Georgia O'Keeffe

He sighed, and his eyes closed. "You were right," he murmured, his voice nearly lost in the darkness. "I couldn't do it alone. I should have listened to you back in Tir Na Nog."
"Yes, you should have," I whispered. "Remember that, so that next time you can just agree with whatever I say and we'll be fine. ~ Julie Kagawa

Why are you being so cruel? (Kiara)
Honestly? Because I believed your bullshit lies when you spewed them and I don't often make that mistake. I should have listened to myself and known that in the end, you're just like every other sanctimonious ass out there who dares to call us callous and unfeeling. (Syn) ~ Sherrilyn Kenyon

I should have bailed. That little voice had my back. That little voice is older than I am. It's older than the oldest person who ever lived. I should have listened to that voice. ~ Rick Yancey

She was well into her course of self-recrimination when he returned. The flap parted, and a very wet Zane crawled in beside her.
"You okay?" he asked, as he set down the flashlight and touched her cheek. "Getting warm?"
She nodded, then sniffed. "I'm sorry."
His dark eyes crinkled slightly as he smiled. "It was worth it."
"What?"
"I get to say I told you so."
She sniffed again. "You're not mad?"
"Because I had to go out in the rain, in the middle of the night, pull up the stakes on your tent, resecure it somewhere else so it would dry out, then cart your saddlebags over to Cookie's wagon, wake him up and then listen to him complain?"
She winced. "Those would be the reasons."
"I'm not mad."
She couldn't believe it. "But I was stupid."
"You're a greenhorn. You didn't know any better."
"You tried to tell me. I should have listened."
He smiled. "That'll teach you. The man always knows best."
"That's so not true."
"It is in this case. So are you naked?"
The switch in topic caught her unaware. She shimmied a little deeper into the sleeping bag. "I, ah, left on my panties."
Zane swore softly. "I guess I deserved that for asking."
"Deserved what?"
"You don't want to know."
Suddenly she did. Very much. But she didn't know how to ask. So she tried a different subject.
"Are we going to share the sleeping bag?"
"I thought I'd go stay with Cookie."
"Oh." Disappointment floode ~ Susan Mallery

Yes. I'm an Israeli citizen living in a dream world; a Jewish princess in Arabia, I should have listened to my own children. For God's sake. Egypt is not my country! ~ Linda Ruth Horowitz

They always say that people should give relationships time to develop. That sooner or later a person's real traits will be exposed. I should have listened to "they". ~ Zane

I should have listened to Hunslett. Again I should have listened to Hunslett. And again for Hunslett's sake. But I didn't know then that Hunslett was to have time for all the sleep in the world. ~ Alistair MacLean

Man, Fury was right. You should never trust anything that bleeds for five days and doesn't die. I should have listened to you. You told me Petra was a three-wolf-humping bitch, but did I listen? (Fang) ~ Sherrilyn Kenyon

This time I don't want to be my own mother. I make a decision, take the entire bag of chocolate to my bedroom and flip on the light to read a book. Next thing I know, the sun is up, the book is on my chest, there is melted chocolate on my cheek and I have a sugar hangover. I should have listened to the mother me. ~ Andrea Partee

I did not hear what I should have listened to. ~ John Owen

I must have been crazy for taking that fight, I should have told Anth to get on his bike, but what made it worse was I knew if I were in shape I'd have beaten him inside of two rounds. Some people reckon fighters must have a little madness in them, I reckon they might be right. ~ Stephen Richards

They've been lying from the start. From the first time we read the words 'once upon a time,' we're fed the idea that these girls - these gorgeous, demure, singing-with-the-wildlife girls - get a happy ending. And I get it. Poor thing had to do some chores around the house, fine. But the idea that she needs a magic old lady to come down and skim off the dirt so the prince will see her beauty? That's ridiculous. Maybe she should have been working on her lockpicking skills instead of serenading squirrels. She could have busted out, hitched a ride to the castle, and impressed the prince with her safe-cracking prowess. Sorry, magic-fairy lady. She didn't need your help. ~ Kelsey Macke

Jesper jabbed an accusing finger at Kuwei. "You should have said something!"
Kuwei shrugged. "You were very brave on Black Veil. Since we're all probably going to die - "
"Damn it," Jesper cursed, stalking toward the door.
"You're a very good kisser," called Kuwei after him.
Jesper turned. "How good is your Kerch really?"
"Fairly good."
"Okay, then I hope you understand exactly what I mean when I say you are definitely more trouble than you're worth."
Kuwei beamed, looking entirely too pleased with himself. "Kaz seems to think I'm worth a great deal now."
Jesper rolled his eyes skyward. "You fit right in here. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Belle, go. If I was your age, I wouldn't have hesitated for a moment. You will always come back here, and I will always be here. And we will have those talks we need. Everyone should have a journey - and everyone should also have a home, too. Go out into the world for adventure, come home for love. ~ Liz Braswell

Just always be extremely respectful, was something that was drilled into me, which I think probably prevented me from having sex for a good seven years longer than it should have. ~ Seth Rogen

Who knows what adventure we might find here?" Drizzt said excitedly. "Who knows what secrets might be unveiled to us?"
"Adventure?" Dunkin asked incredulously, looking to the carnage along the beach, and to the zombies still frozen in the water. "Reward?" he added with a chuckle. "Punishment, more likely, though I have done nothing to harm you, any of you!"
"We are here to unveil a mystery," Drizzt said, as though that fact should have piqued the man's curiosity, "To learn and to grow. To live as we discover the secrets of the world about us. ~ R.A. Salvatore

I have had my share of sorrows-more than the common lot, perhaps, but I have borne them ill. I have broken where I should have bent; and have mused and brooded, when my spirit should have mixed with all God's great creation. ~ Charles Dickens

Mendanbar took a deep breath. "You could stay here. At the castle, I mean. With me." This wasn't coming out at all the way he had wanted it to, but it was too late to stop now. He hurried on, "As Queen of the Enchanted Forest, if you think you would like that. I would."
"Would you, really?"
"Yes," Mendanbar said, looking down. "I love you, and - and - "
"And you should have said that to begin with," Cimorene interrupted, putting her arms around him.
Mendanbar looked up, and the expression on her face made his heart begin to pound.
"Just to be sure I have this right," Cimorene went on with a blinding smile, "did you just ask me to marry you?"
"Yes," Mendanbar said. "At least, that's what I meant."
"Good. I will."
Mendanbar tried to find something to say, but he was too happy to think. He leaned forward two inches and kissed Cimorene, and discovered that he didn't need to say anything at all. ~ Patricia C. Wrede

It's always weird to go from my mom to Mitch. It doesn't seem like I should have been able to get to this life from my old one, like there aren't even roads between those two places. ~ Rainbow Rowell

Three flowers for you. You should have three. He looks pitiful. He looks powerful. I love him, but I am not sure I like him. I take his hand and lead him inside. ~ E. Lockhart

Pull over," said Charles, his voice rough.
Isaac wasn't going to argue with him. So he eased the van to a stop on the shoulder of the road.
Charles hopped out, patted the side of the car, and said, "Go on out to the address I gave you. I'm going to run the direct path and I should beat you there."
It wasn't until then that Isaac realized Charles had begun changing to wolf. Isaac couldn't speak - except to swear at the worst bits - while he changed, and Charles could have a regular conversation, or something pretty close to it. Damn. When he grew up, he wanted to be like Charles. ~ Patricia Briggs

And that unfortunate loss? Was that really an accident,or did you lose deliberately so I wouldn't have to pay the bill?"
He shrugged. "My lips are sealed."
"I should have known."
Once on the open highway he turned on the radio,and they both sang along with Garth as he lamented his papa being a rolling stone.
When the song ended,Marilee looked over. "I'll consider that a sermon. According to Garth, a woman would be a fool to lose her heart to a man who'd rather drive a truck than be home with her."
Wyatt winked,and in his best imitation of Daffy's smoky voice he said, "Honey, a man may love the open road,but any female with half a brain can figure out how to compete with a truck.Just bat those pretty little red-tipped lashes at any male over the age of twelve, and his brain turns to mush.Next thing you know, instead of revving up his engine, he's on his hands and knees, carrying a toddler on his back around a living room full of toys and baby gear."
Though the image was a surprisingly pretty one,Marilee had to wipe tears from her eyes,she was laughing so hard. When she caught her breath she managed to say, "You've got Daffy down so perfectly,you could probably answer the phone at the Fortune Saloon and no one would believe it wasn't her."
"She's easy." He chuckled. "I think she's the only female with a voice that's deeper than mine."
She looked out the window at the full moon above Treasure Chest Mountain in the distance. "It's a shame t ~ R.C. Ryan

My game wasn't where it should have been at all at the start of the year. I got into a couple of bad habits on my swing, and it just took me a little bit of time to get out of them. ~ Rory McIlroy

For a moment, my heart aches for him. I should never have asked him to join me here; I should
never have asked him to cross. ~ Lauren Oliver

I feel sure we are the great coming nation - yet" - and she sighed - "I feel my life should have drowsed away close to an older, mellower civilization, a land of greens and autumnal browns - ~ F Scott Fitzgerald

I tell you, I cannot. I could not lead a virtuous life if I would. I should only disgrace you. If you will know all," said she, as he still seemed inclined to urge her, "I must have drink. Such as live like me could not bear life if they did not drink. It's the only thing to keep us from suicide. If we did not drink, we could not stand the memory of what we have been, and the thought of what we are, for a day. If I go without food, and without shelter, I must have my dram. Oh! you don't know the awful nights I have had in prison for want of it," said she, shuddering, and glaring round with terrified eyes, as if dreading to see some spiritual creature, with dim form, near her. ~ Elizabeth Gaskell

May I be an enemy to no one and the friend of what abides eternally.
May I never quarrel with those nearest me, and be reconciled quickly if I should.
May I never plot evil against others, and if anyone plot evil against me,
may I escape unharmed and without the need to hurt anyone else.
May I love, seek and attain only what is good.
May I desire happiness for all and harbor envy for none.
May I never find joy in the misfortune of one who has wronged me.
May I never wait for the rebuke of others, but always rebuke myself until I make reparation.
May I gain no victory that harms me or my opponent.
May I reconcile friends who are mad at each other.
May I, insofar as I can, give all necessary help to my friends and to all who are in need.
May I never fail a friend in trouble.
May I be able to soften the pain of the
grief stricken and give them comforting words.
May I respect myself.
May I always maintain control of my emotions.
May I habituate myself to be gentle, and never angry with others because of circumstances.
May I never discuss the wicked or what they have done, but know good people and follow in their footsteps.
[Prayer to practice the Golden Rule] ~ Eusebius

If I had had the power to prevent my own birth I should certainly never have consented to accept existence under such ridiculous conditions. ~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky

I have devoted my whole life to Physical Culture. I shall devote the rest too for the same. I have seen the degradation in which we are at present. I have travelled extensively and all that I have remarked here is from experience; and my suggestions are to meet the situation. I know they would, if adapted remedy the evil; for, I have studied carefully the position. If we in all seriousness wish to call ourselves the descendants of the mighty Yoddhas of past, if we wish not to cast a blot on the fair name of India, if we wish that India should have a future vying with its glorious past, if we wish that we should gain an honorable and equal place among the peoples of the world it should be our sacred resolve from now to wake up from the sleep as a lion; we should muster muscle and steel the body. For all greatness lies in Culture and 1 should only be too gratified if my scheme could put the youth of the country on the right track to achieve our most cherished Ideals. ~ Kodi Ramamurthy Naidu

By letting go of dieting, I free up mental and emotional room. I have more space, I can move. The pursuit of another, elusive body, the body someone else says I should have, is a terrible distraction, a side-tracking that might have lasted my whole life long. By letting myself go, I go places. ~ Sallie Tisdale

The Stamp Act should have been preceded by the Love Letter Act. I mean, aren't politicians supposed to be romantic? Just look at Lindsey Graham. ~ Jarod Kintz

Perhaps I should admit on the title page that this book is "By L. Frank Baum and his correspondents," for I have used many suggestions conveyed to me in letters from children. Once on a time I really imagined myself "an author of fairy tales," but now I am merely an editor or private secretary for a host of youngsters whose ideas I am requested to weave into the thread of my stories...My, what imaginations these children have developed! Sometimes I am fairly astounded by their daring an genius. There will be no lack of fairy-tale authors in the future, I am sure. My readers have told me what to do with Dorothy, and Aunt Em and Uncle Henry, and I have obeyed their mandates. They have also given me a variety of subjects to write about in the future: enough, in fact, to keep me busy for some time. I am very proud of this alliance. Children love these stories because children have helped to create them. My readers know what they want and realize I try to please them. The result is satisfactory to the publishers, to me, and (I am quite sure) to the children. I hope, my dears, it will be a long time before we are obliged to dissolve partnership. ~ L. Frank Baum

My bravery however was the effect of assurance for could I have believed the current report, I should have fled as fast as any man, no man can possibly have a greater reluctance to an intimacy with Sir William Howe than my Self. ~ Henry Laurens

you tell me
i am not like most girls
and learn to kiss me with your eyes closed
something about the phrase - something about
how i have to be unlike the women
i call sisters in order to be wanted
makes me want to spit your tongue out
like i am supposed to be proud you picked me
as if i should be relieved you think
i am better than them ~ Rupi Kaur

I like to think of fire held in a man's hand. Fire, a dangerous force, tamed at his fingertips. I often wonder about the hours when a man sits alone, watching the smoke of a cigarette, thinking. I wonder what great things have come from such hours. When a man thinks, there is a spot of fire alive in his mind
and it is proper that he should have the burning point of a cigarette as his one expression. ~ Ayn Rand

But the problem with readers, the idea we're given of reading is that the model of a reader is the person watching a film, or watching television. So the greatest principle is, "I should sit here and I should be entertained." And the more classical model, which has been completely taken away, is the idea of a reader as an amateur musician. An amateur musician who sits at the piano, has a piece of music, which is the work, made by somebody they don't know, who they probably couldn't comprehend entirely, and they have to use their skills to play this piece of music. The greater the skill, the greater the gift that you give the artist and that the artist gives you. That's the incredibly unfashionable idea of reading. And yet when you practice reading, and you work at a text, it can only give you what you put into it. It's an old moral, but it's completely true. ~ Zadie Smith

I admit I am wearing the wrong clothes. And I also admit I have not the training, or the physique, for my walk. I can't explain why I think I can get there, when all the odds are against it. But I do. Even when a big part of me is saying I should give up, I can't. Even when I don't want to keep going, I still do. ~ Rachel Joyce

Emma Burke is different from anything else.
She's what I'm supposed to have. She's what my first kiss should have been. And she's the only kiss I ever want to remember. ~ Ginger Scott

I just want to find a way to be with you that doesn't hurt you. Because I didn't realize it until Unc asked. No, no one's ever given me what I wanted."
He opened his eyes, turning his head to look at the space beside him, where Xander should have been. "Until you. You give me what I want without my ever asking for it - and almost always without giving you anything in return."
He placed a trembling hand on the stone bench, which was cool, despite the heat. "But what if I can't give you what you want from me ~ Heidi Cullinan

The berth belongs to you too. It will always be there when - if you want to come back."
Inej could not speak. Her heart felt too full, a dry creek bed ill-prepared for such rain. "I don't know what to say."
His bare hand flexed on the crow's head of his cane. The sight was so strange Inej had trouble tearing her eyes from it. "Say you'll return."
"I'm not done with Ketterdam." She hadn't known she meant it until she said the words.
Kaz cast her a swift glance. "I thought you wanted to hunt slavers."
"I do. And I want your help." Inej licked her lips, tasted the ocean on them. Her life had been a series of impossible moments, so why not ask for something impossible now? "It's not just the slavers. It's the procurers, the customers, the Barrel bosses, the politicians. It's everyone who turns a blind eye to suffering when there's money to be made."
"I'm a Barrel boss."
"You would never sell someone, Kaz. You know better than anyone that you're not just one more boss scraping for the best margin."
"The bosses, the customers, the politicians," he mused. "That could be half the people in Ketterdam - and you want to fight them all."
"Why not?" Inej asked. "One the seas and in the city. One by one."
"Brick by brick," he said. Then he gave a single shake of his head, as if shrugging off the notion. "I wasn't made to be a hero, Wraith. You should have learned that by now. You want me to be a better man, a good man. I - "
Leigh Bardugo

Dopey, in out of his depth, began to look desperate.
"Debbie Mancuso," he yelled, "and I are not having sex!"
I saw my mom and Andy exchange a quick, bewildered glance.
"I should certainly hope not," Doc, Dopey's little brother, said as he breezed past us. "But if you are, Brad, I hope you're using condoms. While a good-quality latex condom has a failure rate of about two percent when used as directed, typically the failure rate averages closer to twelve percent. That makes them only about eighty-five percent effective against preventing pregnancy. If used with a spermicide, the effectiveness improves dramatically. And condoms are our best defense - though not as good, of course, as abstention - against some STDs, including HIV."
Everyone in the kitchen - my mother, Andy, Dopey, Sleepy, and I - stared at Doc, who is, as I think I mentioned before, twelve.
"You," I finally said, "have way too much time on your hands."
Doc shrugged. "It helps to be informed. While I myself am not sexually active at the current time, I hope to become so in the near future." He nodded toward the stove. "Dad, your chimichangas, or whatever they are, are on fire."
While Andy jumped to put out his cheese fire, my mother stood there, apparently, for once in her life, at a loss for words. ~ Meg Cabot

He accepted the monster that grew inside me. Now I regret that I lost my soul; I should have told him the truth. ~ Joanna Mazurkiewicz

If there was a moment that determined the course of my future, I'm pretty sure this was it. I had two somewhat simple choices. I could make a run for it and go back to Uncle Al's. Back to the bonfire where my cousins and dear sister would be drinking and revel in the normalcy of a Saturday night and forget I ever went to this horrid place and ran into this weirdo. Or I could go with said weirdo up the stairs in this decrepit old lighthouse, which was most likely condemned and unsafe, towards some unknown person (or thing) that was walking around, potentially waiting to murder us in horrific ways.

It didn't seem like a very hard decision to make. In fact, I think 99.7% of people in the right frame of mind would have picked from column A and gone on with their merry lives. But for some freaking crazy reason, I thought that maybe, just maybe I should go with this stranger up those kelp-ridden stairs and toward the lair of unimaginable horror. You know, because it was the more interesting alternative. ~ Karina Halle

Stand on the highest pavement of the stair -
Lean on a garden urn -
Weave, weave the sunlight in your hair -
Clasp your flowers to you with a pained surprise -
Fling them to the ground and turn
With a fugitive resentment in your eyes:
But weave, weave the sunlight in your hair.

So I would have had him leave,
So I would have had her stand and grieve,
So he would have left
As the soul leaves the body torn and bruised,
As the mind deserts the body it has used.
I should find
Some way incomparably light and deft,
Some way we both should understand,
Simple and faithless as a smile and shake of the hand.

She turned away, but with the autumn weather
Compelled my imagination many days,
Many days and many hours:
Her hair over her arms and her arms full of flowers.
And I wonder how they should have been together!
I should have lost a gesture and a pose.
Sometimes these cogitations still amaze
The troubled midnight and the noon's repose. ~ T.S. Eliot