Pg 174 Quotes

It was through Peter that she first understood that the world existed before her, without her. For a few days she could not forgive him for this. ~ Andrea Barrett

Too many disciples neglect their thorn-like qualities. For instance: Opting for singleness doesn't count if you can't attract a mate. Patience doesn't count if you are too cowardly to defend what is right. Forgiveness doesn't count if the offender never respected you enough to ask for it. Don't label your character flaws as noble sacrifices.
pg 47 ~ Michael Ben Zehabe

Gratitude isn't a tool to manipulate the universe or God. It's a way to acknowledge our faith that everything happens for a reason even if we don't know what that reason is. ~Melody Beattie, 52 Weeks of Conscious Contact, pg. 34. ~ Melody Beattie

Meritocracy is a social arrangement like any other: it is a loose set of rules that can be adapted in order to obscure advantages, all the while justifying them on the basis of collective values. pg. 199 ~ Shamus Rahman Khan

Sasha: "It's not your fault. You were doing what you thought was best to keep them safe. It isn't easy, making those kinds of decisions. I know that. And I also know the difference between you when you're trying to be the leader and you when you get to just be a boy."
Wells: "It's funny you should say that,"
"Say what?"
"That you see the difference between me as a leader and me as a person."
"I believe I said boy." she corrected.

~Chapter 21 Pg: 228 ~ Kass Morgan

We're all trapped. It's always 1734. All of us, we're stuck in the same time capsule, the same as those television shows where the same people are marooned on the same desert island for thirty seasons and never age or escape. They just wear more makeup. In a creepy way, those shows are maybe too authentic. ~ Chuck Palahniuk

Don't judge a man until you have walked two moons in his moccasins. ~ Sharon Creech

But I used to think," Josef says quietly, "that there are some weeds that are just as beautiful as flowers."
(pg 134) ~ Jodi Picoult

Fate is a fickle bitch who dotes on irony. The Black Company pg 447 ~ Glen Cook

The Dordogne in 1984 was the nadir. Diarrhea, moths like flying hamsters, the blowtorch heat. Awake at three in the morning on a damp and lumpy mattress. Then the storm. Like someone hammering sheets of tin. Lightning so bright it came through the pillow. In the morning sixty, seventy dead frogs turning slowly in the pool. And at the far end something larger and furrier, a cat perhaps, or the Franzetti's dog, which Katie was poking with a snorkel. (pg 53) ~ Mark Haddon

There are choices you have to make not just once, but everytime they come up. ~ Luis J Rodriguez

Such was life that morning: nothing really mattered that much, not the good things and not the bad ones. We were in the business of mutual amusement, and we were reasonably prosperous. (pg. 18) ~ John Green

Consider that in 1800 Western powers claimed 55 percent but actually held approximately 35 percent of the earth's surface, and that by 1874 the proportion was 67 percent, a rate of increase of 83,000 square miles per year. By 1914, the annual rate had risen to an astonishing 240,000 square miles [per year], and Europe held a grand total of roughly 85 percent of the earth as colonies, protectorates, dependencies, dominions, and commonwealths. No other associated set of colonies in history was as large, none so totally dominated, none so unequal in power to the Western metropolis." Culture and Imperialism, pg. 8 ~ Edward Said

Pg 13 the day ahead of her is like something living and breathing, something that is barreling towards her at an alarming rate and it seems only a matter of time before it will knock her flat on her back. ~ Jennifer E. Smith

Oh, I get it, it's simple. PG means the hero gets the girl, 15 means that the villain gets the girl, and 18 means everybody gets the girl. ~ Michael Douglas

Nihilism, a normal condition.

It may be a sign of strength; spiritual vigour may have increased to such an extent that the goals toward which man has marched hitherto (the "convictions," articles of faith) are no longer suited to it (for a faith generally expresses the exigencies of the conditions of existence, a submission to the authority of an order of things which conduces to the prosperity, the growth and power of a living creature ...); on the other hand, a sign of insufficient strength, to fix a goal, a "wherefore," and a faith for itself.

It reaches its maximum of relative strength, as a powerful destructive force, in the form of active Nihilism.

Its opposite would be weary Nihilism, which no longer attacks: its most renowned form being Buddhism: as passive Nihilism, a sign of weakness: spiritual strength may be fatigued, exhausted, so that the goals and values which have prevailed hitherto are no longer suited to it and are no longer believed in - so that the synthesis of values and goals (upon which every strong culture stands) [Pg 22]decomposes, and the different values contend with one another: Disintegration, then everything which is relieving, which heals, becalms, or stupefies, steps into the foreground under the cover of various disguises, either religious, moral, political or aesthetic, etc. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

Where this lack of passion mattered most for me was Afghanistan. When soldiers put their lives on the line, they need to know that the command in chief who sent them in harm's way believes in their mission. They need him to talk often to them and to the country, not just to express gratitude for their service and sacrifice but also to explain and affirm why that sacrifice is necessary, why their fight is noble, why their cause is just, and why their fight is noble, why their cause is just, and why they must prevail. President Obama never did that. Pg. 298-299 ~ Robert M. Gates

Innocence is an infinitely fragile thing and thought can sometimes injure, even destroy it. - Pg. 254 ~ Ellis Peters

Hadn't every story she'd been told since she was a child carried the same message? You could traverse deserts, climb mountains, sail oceans and beat giants, so long as you had a crumb of hope in your pocket.
Pg 130 ~ Elif Shafak

Most of America never noticed, but the 1990s were good times for trailer homes, a.k.a. manufactured housing. From 1991 to 1998, annual sales of manufactured homes more than doubled, to 374,000 from 174,000. ~ Alex Berenson

An April breeze ran across the meadow, stirring the bushes and the trees in one long chilly sigh. ~ Neil Gaiman

The Song [of Solomon] captures the ecstatic aspect of love that is the main subject of the whole Bible. (pg. 67) ~ Ellen F. Davis

Value your parabatai," he said. "For it is a precious bond. All love is precious. It is why we do what we do. Why do we fight demons? Why are they not fit custodians of this world? What makes us better? It is because they do not build, but destroy. They do not love, but hate only. We are human and fallible, we Shadowhunters. But if we did not have the capability to love, we could not guard humans; we must love to guard them. My parabatai, he loved like few ever could love, with all and everything. I see you are like that too; it burns more brightly in you than the fire of Heaven ~ Cassandra Clare

Samson caused the house to collapse, knowing his death would also result. Despite Samson's deliberate suicide, Samson died faithful after having judged Israel for 20 years. His name rightly appears among men who, through faith, were made powerful. (Jg 15:20; 16:29-31; Heb 11:32-34)
We are surrounded by thousands of unseen cruelties, that mostly go unseen. The total amount of suffering each year is beyond comprehension. This world is barbed, dangerous and painful - too painful for some. Give them their space.
On any given day, your nod of approval may perpetuate cruelties that rasp away at the soul of another. We are all bound together in this delicate web of consequence. Tread light. Be kind. Many among us make unseen bargains to push ourselves onward - another hour, another day, another week. Occasionally their bargains create a deadly, unstoppable momentum.
Consider King Saul: When he realized that he would not survive his final battle against the Philistines, rather than letting his enemy humiliate him, or extort Israel, "Saul took the sword and fell upon it." –1Sam 31:4
pg 75 ~ Michael Ben Zehabe

Eleanor hadn't written him a letter, it was a postcard.
Just three words long. pg. 325 ~ Rainbow Rowell

As it turns out, we're all still learning to be men, or women, all still learning to be ourselves. pg 197 ~ Jennifer Finney Boylan

Thus was born the Service Archive, a 'tool for correlating current events with historical precedents', which would be of incalculable strategic use assuming it was ever actually operational. Currently, though, its status was not dissimilar to that of countless other Civil Service projects, in that its existence had been ordained, the process for bringing it into being had been set in motion, and it would thus continue gestating until it was officially put a stop to, despite having long been forgotten about by everyone concerned in its conception.
Pg 202 ~ Mick Herron

This is going to hurt, but you will have to watch other couples be happier, richer and louder than you. Wait. No obstacle can withstand patience. Wait. You may not think so now, but there will come a time when you will be tempted to run away. Would that be right? Would that be fair? As every matriarch discovers, entire seasons will pass without reward. As your mate's peculiarities add up, what do you do? Wait!
pg 45 ~ Michael Ben Zehabe

...a dangerous heat came off of her, murky and wild, like a swamp.
pg. 11 ~ Rebecca Barry

I don't think women outlive men, Doctor. It only seems longer. ~ Erma Bombeck

I think I like 'mundane' better than 'bloodsucker,'" Simon muttered.
"With Jace, you don't really get to choose your insulting nickname."
-Simon and Clary, pg.234- ~ Cassandra Clare

All the PG-13 superhero movies are depriving me of the gore that I need. ~ Clark Gregg

Many guilty consciences have been created by the slave trade. Europeans know that they carried on the slave trade, and Africans are aware that the trade would have been impossible if certain Africans did not cooperate with slave ships. To ease their guilty consciences, Europeans try to throw the major responsibility for the slave trade on to the Africans. One major author on the slave trade (appropriately titled Sins of Our Fathers) explained how many white people urged him to state that the trade was the responsibility of African chiefs, and that Europeans merely turned up to buy captives- as though without European demand there would have been captives sitting on the beach by the millions! Issues such as those are not the principal concern of this study, but they can be correctly approached only after understanding that Europe became the center of a world-wide system and that it was European capitalism which set slavery and the Atlantic slave trade in motion. Pg. 82 ~ Walter Rodney

I suppose "cartographer" is as good a description as any, but the Argosi do not draw maps of places, but rather of people... cultures.' She tapped the deck in my hand. 'You understand the meaning of the suits? ... look more closely at the individual cards and you'll see that the particular design on each card reflects part of the fundamental power structure of that society.'
pg 79 ~ Sebastien De Castell

It was a good ten minutes before I realized Roman and I had been sitting in silence. I stole a look at him out of the corner of my eye, but he seemed unbothered by quiet as I was.

For the first time in a long while, I didn't feel like I had to say anything. There was no one to comfort tor convince. There was no one to charm or encourage. I disappeared into myself as I drove on, trying to find my center. I could breathe. Be still.

What I hadn't expected was how much Roman seemed to need it, too.

Some people feared silence. They did anything to fill it, talking about things that didn't matter, asking questions just to hear some kind of response. it seemed to me that a lot of people saw it as a kind of failure. Evidence that they weren't interesting enough, or that a bond wasn't strong enough. Or maybe they were just nervous about what it would reveal about themselves. ~ Alexandra Bracken

In marriage, those who persevere are rewarded with the most precious thing this earth has to offer: Marital love
a partnership that conquers the years. It takes time, but those who persevere are rewarded with, falling in love with their spouse.
pg v ~ Michael Ben Zehabe

Love is dirty-sloppy-stupid. The problem has always been: How do we contain such a dangerous substance (love) in the confines of holy matrimony without hurting or killing someone?
pg ii ~ Michael Ben Zehabe

Quince ... why didn't you ever tell her? This girl you love. Why didn't you tell her how you feel?" ... "Because"- his voice is heavy with a kind of resigned sadness-"She doesn't want to know."
Lily & Quince pg.223 ~ Tera Lynn Childs

Everyone pulls a bad card. What matters is how you ultimately play it. ~ Alexandra Bracken

He tugs me closer, and my ankles lock behind him. Is it PG-13 time? ~ Rachel Harris

Today is the tomorrow we worried about yesterday. ~ Ann Brashares

BOOK, a four-letter word for truth serum" -Kevin 'Freak' from Freak's Dictionary
"Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick pg 161 ~ Rodman Philbrick