Louisiana Bayou Quotes

Kennedy snorted at that..."Sorry. I just...I don't spend a lot of time with people who let rules get in the way of doing the right thing." She grimaced. Maybe she shouldn't be admitting that. ~ Erin Nicholas

The bones said death was comin', and the bones never lied.
Eva Savoie leaned back in the rocking chair and pushed it into motion on the uneven wide-plank floor of the one-room cabin. Her grand pere Julien had built the place more than a century ago, pulling heavy cypress logs from the bayou and sawing them, one by one, into the thick planks she still walked across ever day.
She had never known Julien Savoie, but she knew of him. The curse that had stalked her family for three generations had started with her grandfather and what he'd done all those years ago.
What he'd brought with him to Whiskey Bayou with blood on his hands.
What had driven her daddy to shoot her mama, and then himself, before either turned forty-five.
What had led Eva's brother, Antoine, to drown in the bayou only a half mile from this cabin, leaving a wife and infant son behind.
What stalked Eva now. ~ Susannah Sandlin

Kennedy Landry wasn't really the patiently-wait-on-hold type of woman. Kennedy Landry was, however, the type of woman that made a man want to take what tiny semblance of control he could find and grab onto it like it was a lifeboat in the midst of a hurricane. ~ Erin Nicholas

She grinned as she started across the carpet toward the bathroom... "I have been dreaming about that shower."

"This is going to be the dirtiest shower you've ever had."

"It better freaking be," she tossed over her shoulder. ~ Erin Nicholas

I realized that if you never do anything new, you never learn anything. And learning things changes you. Even if those things aren't what you intended to learn. You're never the same after an adventure, Kennedy." She tapped a finger over her heart. "In here you change. And in here you change," she said, tapping her temple that time. "I had to learn some things--make some mistakes--on my own. I thought." She gave a soft laugh."The thing is, once you have Leo Landry in your life, you're never really on your own again. ~ Erin Nicholas

Bennett sucked breath in through his nose. "You're a cruel and wonderful woman."

"I'm comfortable with that assessment," [Kennedy] told him. ~ Erin Nicholas

I want you to always do everything you're capable of. ~ Erin Nicholas

I'm a little dirty," he said huskily, running his hand up and down the outside of one of her thighs. "I washed up but should have showered. Didn't expect this."

"You probably should have expected this." Her voice sounded a little breathless.

"Yeah," he agreed, his eyes darkening. "I probably should have."

"It's okay," she told him. "I'm washable." Images of showers and soap bubbles tripped through her mind and she hoped through his as well.

He gave her a little grin. "Good to know. Means I can get you really dirty."

Juliet felt her breathing quicken. She put her hand against his face, over his scar. "I really want that."

Sawyer slid a hand up her back and into her hair. He urged her closer until her lips were nearly against his. "Me, too. ~ Erin Nicholas

There was something about a guy in a uniform most women found irresistible. Ceelie and Sonia had pondered this peculiar phenomenon over late-night glasses of moscato back in Nashville. They'd decided it had to be the belt and all the equipment that dangled from it when the guys walked, which not only was phallic but probably released extra sex pheromones into the air and turned women into nectar-seeking honeybees. ~ Susannah Sandlin

Oh, honey, this town is full of guys I've dated and broken up with and run into at the gas station and bar on a regular basis. Just because you've seen each other naked is no reason that you can't talk about the weather while standing in the grocery store line. ~ Erin Nicholas

Robert Duvall saw me playing at a restaurant in Louisiana and invited me to be an extra in his movie 'The Apostle.' He gave me a guitar for my sixth birthday, and I thought that was the coolest thing in the world. ~ Hunter Hayes

Here's what I've found in Louisiana: The voters want to know what you believe, what you stand for, and what you plan to do, not what shade your skin is. ~ Bobby Jindal

Tinkie's on the list."
"That's ridiculous. She and Enzo were only flirting."
"And Oscar showed his ass and then was seen floundering in the bayou where a blow-up sex doll, complete with a death threat, later showed up in front of an entire town." ...
"Even though they don't have a body, Pret is thinking Enzo's disappearance may prove to be a homicide. ~ Carolyn Haines

He talking Louisiana, you speaking Tennessee. The music so different, the sound coming from a different part of the body. It must of been like hearing lyrics set to scores by two different composers. But when you made love he must of have said I love you and you understood that and it was true, too, because I have seen the desperation in his eyes ever since - no matter what business venture he thinks up. ~ Toni Morrison

..the guests milled back and forth: men stood with their heads together, discussing politics and crops, their stiff white shirts puffed and ruffled, their voices rising and falling in steadfast opinions as women of fair whispered to one another and laughed behind silk fans, occasionally calling out gaily to pull another into their ring of white shoulder flounced with satin as house niggers dipped and weaved all around them bearing trays of syllabub and sack, almost invisible as the shadows they cast ~ Pamela Jekel

Dr. King said, 'We are all tied together in a garment of mutual destiny.' Which says to me no matter how well I may be doing in Hollywood, if a young brother or sister in Louisiana, the South Bronx, the South Side of Chicago, South Central Los Angeles - is not doing well, then I'm not doing very well. ~ Hill Harper

I just started calling myself 'Swamp A-.' Like, I have swamp a- right now. I had major swamp a- because I was wearing these Spanx to hold in my gut ... It's like the bayou up in that region. ~ Jessica Simpson

Throughout U.S. history, competent public investments have been an essential complement to private investments - from the Louisiana Purchase, to land-grant colleges, to the Interstate Highway System, to the Internet. ~ Felix Rohatyn

Every player eventually loses all their money. ~ John-Talmage Mathis

If you're gonna fret, fret over something you can change. Then stop fretting and do something about it. ~ Kimberly Willis Holt

After my dad started making duck calls, he'd leave town for a few days, driving all over Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Texas trying to sell them. He left me in charge of the fishing operation. I was only a teenager, but it was my responsibility to check almost eighty hoop nets three times a week. Looking back now, it was pretty dangerous work for a teenager on the river, especially since I'd never done it alone. If you fell out of the boat and into the river, chances were you might drown if something went wrong and you were alone. But I was determined to prove to my father that I could do it, so I left the house one morning and spent all day on the river. I checked every one of our hoop nets and brought a mound of fish back to Kay to take to market. I was so proud of myself for pulling it off without anyone's help!
When Dad came home a couple of days later, Mom told him about the fish I'd caught and how much money we'd made. I could see the smile on his face. But then he went outside to check his boat and noticed that a paddle was missing. Instead of saying, "Good job, son," he yelled at me for losing a paddle! I couldn't believe he was scolding me over a stupid oar! I'd worked from daylight to dusk and earned enough money for my family to buy a dozen paddles! Where was the gratitude?
I was so mad that I jumped in the boat and headed to the nets to see if I could find the missing paddle. After checking about seventy nets, I was resigned to the fact that it w ~ Jase Robertson

The second is there are some communities that we thought originally would take mobile homes that have decided they don't want them. And we're not going to cram mobile homes down the throats of communities in Louisiana and the Gulf - and other parts of the Gulf Coast. ~ Michael Chertoff

I tried to film 'Leaves of Grass' in Oklahoma, but it was literally about a million dollars less to shoot in Louisiana. ~ Tim Blake Nelson

Thank you, Jesus, for what you've done, are doing, and will continue to do for a good ole boy from North Louisiana. Thank you, God, for the best parents a man could ever hope for.
My incredible brothers, thanks for always having my back and showing me how men of God are supposed to live. My terrific sisters-in-law, thanks for putting up with my bros and being good friends and mentors for Jess.
My "blood brothers"--Fishbone, Nicky Tightpants, McG, G.G., ZDash, Maxi--and all the countless friends who've been there through the good, the bad, and the grace of God.
--Jep ~ Jep Robertson

Down in Louisiana where the alligators grow so mean, there lived a girl that I swear to the world made the alligators look tame. ~ Tony Joe White

Louisiana, as ceded by France to the United States, is made a part of the United States; its white inhabitants shall be citizens, and stand, as to their rights and obligations, on the same footing with other citizens of the United States, in analogous situations. ~ Thomas Jefferson

I grew up in Louisiana - a little suburb right outside of New Orleans - and I wouldn't have it any other way! ~ Shelley Hennig

New Orleans, though beautiful and desperately alive, was desperately fragile. There was something forever savage and primitive there. Something that threatened the exotic and sophisticated life both from within and without. Not an inch of those wooden streets nor a brick of the crowded Spanish houses had not been bought from the fierce wilderness that forever surrounded the city, ready to engulf it. Hurricanes, floods, fevers, the plague, and the damp of the Louisiana climate itself worked tirelessly on every hewn plank or stone facade, so that New Orleans seemed at all times like a dream in the imagination of her striving populace, a dream held intact at every second by a tenacious though unconscious collective will. ~ Anne Rice

My mom makes the best Cajun stuff. I'm a big gumbo guy. I've lost a lot of my Louisiana accent, so now when I say 'gumbo,' I feel like someone who's never said the word before. ~ Hunter Hayes

Gossip is an unavoidable evil at school, work, or wherever, but when the HR department gossips, it elevates into malice. ~ John-Talmage Mathis

What the hell was your pal Bertin demanding?" he asked. "Sipping syrup?"

"It's a cocktail he prefers when he gets, ah, overly excited."

"A cocktail?"

"Of sorts. Lemon–lime soda, vodka, codeine in solution, and a Jolly Rancher candy."

"A what?"

"Bertin prefers the watermelon–flavored variety."

D'Agosta shook his head. "Christ. Only in Louisiana."

"Actually, I understand the concoction originated in Houston. ~ Douglas Preston

In Louisiana, one of the first stages of grief is eating your weight in Popeyes fried chicken. The second stage is doing the same with boudin. People have been known to swap the order. Or to do both at the same time. ~ Ken Wheaton

I had come to love the space, and I could see why Lady Anna had too. The orchids were positively glorious. She'd tagged each flower with its proper botanical name, but I favored the pet names she'd given each bloom. For instance, a stunning pink 'Cattleya' was named "Lady Catalina." And a yellow 'Oncidium,' which to me looked like a flock of ladies in fluffy party dresses, was called "Lady Aralia of the Bayou. ~ Sarah Jio

I grew up in a working-class Catholic family in south Louisiana. I went to a state university. I taught literature, wrote a novel that was the novel I wanted to write, and got a couple of good reviews but no real traction. I had no idea how to get a job in TV. ~ Nic Pizzolatto

She put her hand on her hip. "Where are you going?"
"To the boat. You called me Lord Bill again. That means we're cool."
Cerise slapped her forehead with the heel of her hand and followed him. ~ Ilona Andrews

With great effort, I pushed my questions to the side for the time being. We were still fugitives, still undoubtedly pursued. Sydney's car was a brand new Honda CR-V with Louisiana plates and rental sticker.
"What the hell? Is this daring escape sponsored by Honda?"
- Rose Hathaway ~ Richelle Mead

The people in Louisiana must know that all across our country there's a lot of prayer
prayer for those whose lives have been turned upside down. And I'm one of them. ~ George W. Bush

My voice had bayou gut them slipping out of their story like a bookmark forgotten by a reader between the pages ~ Cornelia Funke

In 1930 the price of cotton dropped. And so, in the spring of 1931, Papa set out looking for work, going as far north as Memphis and as far south as the Delta country. He had gone west too, into Louisiana. It was there he found work laying track for the railroad. He worked the remainder of the year away from us, not returning until the deep winter when the ground was cold and barren. The following spring after the planting was finished, he did the same. Now it was 1933, and Papa was again in Louisiana laying track. I ~ Mildred D. Taylor

Just as the Mediterranean separated France from the country Algiers, so did the Mississippi separate New Orleans proper from Algiers Point. The neighborhood had a strange mix. It looked seedier and more laid-back all at the same time. Many artists lived on the peninsula, with greenery everywhere and the most beautiful and exotic plants. The French influence was heavy in Algiers, as if the air above the water had carried as much ambience as it could across to the little neighborhood. There were more dilapidated buildings in the community, but Jackson and Buddy passed homes with completely manicured properties, too, and wild ferns growing out of baskets on the porches, as if they were a part of the architecture. Many of the buildings had rich, ornamental detail, wood trim hand-carved by craftsmen and artisans years ago. The community almost had the look of an ailing beach town on some forgotten coast. ~ Hunter Murphy

Move aside Ebola, smallpox, and AIDS; make room for narcolepsy. I would become shunned and avoided. Perhaps the
people at the casino thought that this fatigue disease was contagious.
Just because I yawn and you yawn shortly
after doesn't mean that you have suddenly been infected with narcolepsy. It would be silly if they had in fact thought this. ~ John-Talmage Mathis

When I was 13 or 14, I took seven months off from touring. I did a lot of weekend gigs in Louisiana. We have fairs and festivals every weekend. But I took seven months off. That's when I really started digging deep. I wrote a couple songs that year that I still play every now and then for people. ~ Hunter Hayes

My casino experience is to someone else their experience with their employer, of how the company has elected to behave solely for greed, profits, and spite. But we shouldn't give up hope in such situations. We have an obligation to separate the justices from the injustices. We should hold these corporate neighbors accountable for the wrongs that they commit.
Someone has to. ~ John-Talmage Mathis

I wouldn't put it past you," Kaldar said. "Or him. Who knows what the hell he might do?"
William made a cutting motion across his throat.
"He might kill you if you're not careful," she told him.
"Who, Will? We're the best of friends."
William rolled his eyes. ~ Ilona Andrews

She surveyed the carnage behind him. "Did you have fun?"
He showed her his teeth. "Yes. ~ Ilona Andrews

Colored or not, we all pick the white man's cotton. ~ James Lee Burke

He let out a breath that seemed resigned. "Cora better have sausage gravy this mornin'," he said.

"Sausage gravy will make it all okay?"

"Well, sausage gravy never made anything worse. ~ Erin Nicholas

Let me be clear - I want all Louisiana citizens to have choice - including the elderly and persons with disabilities - and their families - who rely on the state for their care. ~ Kathleen Blanco

From Bourbon Street to Baton Rouge, the freaks come out at night in Louisiana. And nowhere are they more raucous and unnerving than at Tiger Stadium. ~ Pat Forde

I also believe my home state is cursed by ignorance and poverty and racism, much of it deliberately inculcated to control a vulnerable electorate. And I believe many of the politicians in Louisiana are among the most stomach-churning examples of white trash and venality I have ever known. To me, the fact that large numbers of people find them humorously picaresque is mind numbing, on a level with telling fond tales of one's rapist. ~ James Lee Burke