School Shooting Quotes

The NRA is an outdated special interest group. The Association's membership does not have the best interests of our students or the safety of our schools in mind. Its' influence must be diminished and ultimately destroyed. The NRA has our fallen friends' blood on its hands. ~ Mark M. Bello

People want to forget. No one would ever say it, but I think this town will be glad to see our class leave. They put up all the memorials you'd expect, but there was no need: we're living reminders. ~ Joseph Moldover

We bumped into other silent lines of kids going in the same direction. We looked like we were much younger and our lines were headed to the cafeteria or recess or the carpool line. Or it could've been a fire drill. Except for the stone-faced police officers weaving between us with rifles. ~ Laura Anderson Kurk

I could've gone on and on but the truth was all that mattered.
My brother died because someone was jealous. ~ Laura Anderson Kurk

We have a few chicken-shit senators who are afraid of the NRA and its ilk, but with the right tweaks, I still think you have a shot . . . ~ Mark M. Bello

He wants to be perceived as a hero to people who have been bullied and not as a deranged lunatic who committed mass murder without rational explanation . . . ~ Mark M. Bello

While the gun lobby sought to close the courthouse door to all legitimate claims, Zack and other clever lawyers often artfully dodge these efforts with carefully crafted pleadings and appropriate argument, successfully litigating their claims, and holding gun companies responsible. ~ Mark M. Bello

I think the shooter is Kevin Burns. I know him pretty well. Maybe I can talk him down."
"Are you nuts? He's crazy. Everyone knows he's a lunatic. No one can talk him down. Get out of there!"
"I can't sit around and do nothing. I have to do something. Remember what Mom and Dad told us after Father Gerry? If you have a chance to save or protect innocent people, you have to make that sacrifice. I won't let another predator get the best of me."
"That's not what they meant, you idiot! Get the hell out of there and let the police handle it. I'm sure they're on their way!"
"If anything happens to me, I want you to know you're the best little brother a guy could hope for, squirt. Take care. I love you."
"I love you too. Please don't do anything stupid."
"We're going to get out of this together. Understand? We're best brothers, forever."
"Forever, bro . . . ~ Mark M. Bello

Naked flights of art unshackled and incandescent songs of poetry undiluted return to the soul what hate, ignorance, fear, and violence steal from the heart. ~ Aberjhani

If the dad has a criminal record, he shouldn't have been able to purchase the guns, and we've got a serious problem."
Barrington unloads again. "I pay you a lot of money to prevent us from having a serious problem. Take care of it, dammit! ~ Mark M. Bello

No parent should lose a son or daughter, no teacher should lose a student, no sibling should lose a brother or sister, and no student should lose a best friend or a teacher. ~ Mark M. Bello

But we just wanted to go to school." Her voice broke again. "I'm sixteen. I shouldn't have to beg for that. But we just want to get to class without fearing for our lives. ~ Mark Oshiro

So, when a judge requests your services as a 'personal favor,' declining representation is out of the question, unless you don't mind appearing in front of a pissed-off judge with a long memory. ~ Mark M. Bello

We hear these people argue that, somehow, we are trying to strip people of their constitutional rights. What about our constitutional rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? It's difficult to achieve those rights when you're dead. ~ Mark M. Bello

Zack is suddenly torn between client obligation and representation on the one hand, and due process and civil and criminal rights on the other. Burns is a child. I'd give him the same advice. Do I need his testimony? ~ Mark M. Bello

Jennifer's eyes begin to water again. "Don't let anything bad happen to him, Dr. Sampson. My husband is a famous lawyer. He sues doctors when they screw up."
"Jennifer!" Zack exclaims, embarrassed. ~ Mark M. Bello

Guy tries to buy a gun, but when he returns, he learns he's failed the background check. 'Oh well,' the guy tells himself. 'It was worth a try.' The dealer says to the guy, 'Hold the phone, buddy. Ask a friend, your brother, your sister, anyone you know, to come in, pass the background check, and we'll sell the guns to them instead of you. What happens to them afterward is none of our business . . . ~ Mark M. Bello

You need to use this as a lever to urge politicians to pass cautionary laws to put a stop to drones and especially robotics and artificial intelligence. People urge gun control after a school shooting, right? Well, we won't have to worry about a school shooter in the near future because he'll be cooking up a genetically engineered supervirus in his basement, and everyone on earth will be dead. You need to ensure that these technologies are treated like radioactive nuclear material, because that's how dangerous this is, and - ~ James Patterson

Ladies and gentlemen, after Columbine, Newtown, Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech, San Bernardino, Orlando, Vegas, Parkland and now in our own community, one thing should be clear to citizens and politicians alike. Our society needs stricter laws for people who purchase guns for the purpose of perpetrating criminal acts. We need tougher laws for people who buy guns to sell to criminals or kids. These laws should severely punish anyone in these categories - neither suggestion steps on the Second Amendment . . . ~ Mark M. Bello

If a buyer is having trouble getting a gun in Michigan, he or she just travels to Ohio or Indiana or Illinois. You know what I mean?"
~ Mark M. Bello

May we have Kenny's iPhone and your younger son's, what's his name? We need to obtain copies of these texts."
"His name is Jake. I'm sure it's fine. You know kids, though. I suggest you get what you need quickly. If you keep their phones for too long, there will be hell to pay," Zack chuckles.
"Don't I know it," Ross laughs. "I've got a teenaged girl. Girls are much worse than boys. ~ Mark M. Bello

I strongly believe that non-violence should be taught at school levels as an important subject. Specially experiments with non-violence should be taught with due importance. I urge the United Nations to play its role to spread the value of non-violence in the school levels across the world. ~ Amit Ray

. . . the Sixth Amendment is sacrosanct and guarantees everyone the right to a fair trial. You're either for the Constitution or against it. You can't pick and choose your favorite amendments. Why, Ted, is the Second more important than the Sixth? ~ Mark M. Bello

How can I be friendly to someone who clearly wants no friends? ~ Mark M. Bello

From Zachary Blake? Not a chance in hell. All his cases are high-profile. And these days, he's got a Midas touch. Every case he touches turns to gold. Blake is on a personal crusade for civil justice and safety - truth, justice, and the American way, don't you know? Guns are an excellent target issue for someone like him. ~ Mark M. Bello

The ice cold fear I'd felt, not knowing if Wyatt was alive, pressed into the wall with other girls and surrounded by guys who were unspeakably brave, hit my body again in a wave. This was trauma - the gift that keeps on giving. ~ Laura Anderson Kurk

That bastard tried to murder my son. He can spend the rest of his rotten, deceitful life in a prison cell. But he's not the ultimate prize. I won't rest until both the President and Attorney General of the United States are impeached, convicted, and thrown in a prison cell. ~ Mark M. Bello

All this Second Amendment shit is a money grab for these people. Follow the damned money! ~ Mark M. Bello

Our love must be stronger than their hate. ~ Mark M. Bello

How does a mentally challenged eighteen-year-old obtain an AK 47 and a Lugar? We don't need to disarm America to prevent school shootings. We need only common sense. ~ Mark M. Bello

Nobody will ever pry the guns out of the hands of these Second Amendment American idiots. And if they do, God bless them. Only criminals will have weapons. ~ Mark M. Bello

One way to hurt Barrington is to beat the crap out of him in your lawsuit. Hurt him in the pocketbook. ~ Mark M. Bello

I have filed a lawsuit; I am not engaged in a legislative battle. I am very proud my son will help spearhead an effort to put forth a survivor's legislative agenda with many of his fellow students, teachers, and other survivors of this tragedy. Kenny and his colleagues are now voting age or will be before the next election. Pro-gun politicians need to address the problem, or they may find themselves looking for work. ~ Mark M. Bello

Friggin' doctors and their friggin' forms - Zack grouses, silently, forgetting lawyers do the same thing, all the time. ~ Mark M. Bello

Fire and fury! These people didn't appreciate my art, laughed at my clothes, my looks, and made fun of my protruding ears. 'Floppy,' they called me. And the teachers and principals let it all happen. They didn't give a shit. Whatever got them through the day without conflict or controversy worked for the teachers, but where were the parents? They taught their kids to be elitist snobs. These deaths are on you, assholes! ~ Mark M. Bello

Who charges a deranged gunman like that? They're perfect gentlemen, those Tracey boys. Do they ever do anything wrong? 'Dudley Do-Rights,' both of those fuckers. Still, I hope Kenny's still alive. ~ Mark M. Bello

He once suggested the idea of concealed carry to his superiors. In their infinite wisdom, the principal, his assistants, and the superintendent nixed the idea. Joey wonders: How do they feel about the idea now? ~ Mark M. Bello

I made 'Bowling for Columbine' in the hope the school shootings would stop and that we would address the issue of how easy it is to get a gun in the United States, and tragically, those school shootings continue. ~ Michael Moore

These are not red or blue issues - they are the human rights issues of our generation. We are here begging for our lives. If today's political officeholders cannot accomplish real change on guns and gun issues, we will vote together on these issues in the next election and elect their successors . . . ~ Mark M. Bello

Bear no malice for the ones who leave you. ~ Bert V. Royal

This will be my last year, Lord. I have gotten what I can. Thank You. ~ Beth Nimmo

These elected officials pursued the offices they hold and asked us for our votes. We gave them our votes. That's a sacred trust, and they have betrayed us. ~ Mark M. Bello

Are you crazy, Kenny Tracey? Do you have a death wish or something? Preventing someone from getting hurt and jumping in front of a bullet are not the same things! ~ Mark M. Bello

This would be the Michigan version of the OJ trial, this time, with a guilty verdict. ~ Mark M. Bello

. . . I also believe we can respect Second Amendment rights while, at the same time, preventing lawbreakers and people who are a danger to others from committing atrocities . . . ~ Mark M. Bello

I understand that it would be easier for you to think of him as a hero. But, Valerie, he did kill a lot of kids. Probably not a lot of people are going to think of him as a hero. ~ Jennifer Brown

I wrote about the Thai sex industry and people ask me how many bar-girls I slept with. I've just completed a short story about a High School shooting but nobody thinks I shot anyone. ~ Matt Carrell

. . . I may need to put the fear of God into a lawyer and his son. Perhaps we can clarify the cost of suing Barrington Arms and not being reasonable in trying to resolve the lawsuit? ~ Mark M. Bello

. . . While competency and insanity are not the same things and the standards of proof are different, they are undoubtedly first cousins. ~ Mark M. Bello

His fingers gouged into my leg harder. "My sister was in that cafeteria," he said. "She saw her friends die, thanks to you and that puke boyfriend of yours. She still has nightmares about it. He got what he deserved, but you got a free pass. That ain't right. You should've died that day, Sister Death. Everyone wishes you would have. Look around. Where is Jessica, if she wants you here so bad? Even the friends you came here with don't want to be with you."
"Let go of me," I said again, pulling on his fingers. But he only pinched tighter.
"Your boyfriend isn't the only one who can get his hands on a gun," he said. Slowly he eased himself up to standing again. He reached into the waistband of his jeans and pulled out something small and dark. He pointed it at me, and when the moonlight hit it, I gasped and pressed myself against the barn wall. ~ Jennifer Brown

The threat of lawsuits has increased public awareness of the dangers of smoking and has made tobacco companies market their dangerous nicotine delivery systems more responsibly. The threat of lawsuits has made all kinds of products safer. For example, over the last forty years or so, automobile deaths have been cut nearly in half by safety features in cars, developed and implemented in response to lawsuits. ~ Mark M. Bello

It was an oddly satisfying idea to feel bereft as I left my mother this time. We only feel bereft when we're deprived of something meaningful. ~ Laura Anderson Kurk

Our good friend and fellow sportsman George W. Bush signed the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act into law back in 2005. Essentially, unless we make a terribly defective gun, the law creates a complete shield from liability. God bless Citizens United, the United States Chamber of Commerce, the NRA, tort reform, and needy and greedy politicians. ~ Mark M. Bello

Because the truth was, and we both knew it, he'd gone long, long ago. I'd just made him stick around when he really wanted to be somewhere else. In his own weird way, he was another victim of the shooting, One of the ones who couldn't get away.
"Are you mad?" he asked, which I thought was a really strange question.
"Yes," I said. And I was. It's just that I wasn't so sure I was mad at him. But I don't think he needed to hear that part. I don't think he wanted to hear that part. I think it was important to him to hear that I cared enough to be angry.
"Will you ever forgive me?" he asked.
"Will you ever forgive me?" I shot back, leveling my gaze directly into his eyes.
He stared into them for a few moments then got up silently and headed for the door. He didn't turn around when he reached it. Just grabbed the doorknob and held it.
"No," he said without facing me. "Maybe that makes me a bad parent, but I don't know if I can. No matter what the police found, you were involved in that shooting, Valerie. You wrote those names on that list. You wrote my name on that list. You had a good life here. You might not have pulled the trigger, but you helped cause the tragedy."
He opened the door."I'm sorry. I really am." He stepped out into the hallway. "I'll leave my new address and phone number with your mother," he said before walking slowly out of my sight. ~ Jennifer Brown

I finally understood what could drive kids to show up with guns and shoot up their schools. ~ Nenia Campbell

. . . why not ask your congressman or woman to support universal background checks? Ask him or her to renew the ban on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Offer a pink slip to any legislator who refuses to explain his or her lack of support for these common-sense measures. With rights come responsibilities. While we enjoy a right to bear arms, we have a societal obligation to do so responsibly and safely. We are, after all, responsible for each other. Our governing is done by the people and for the people. It is in the best interest of the people, all the people, to apply common sense to the gun issue . . . ~ Mark M. Bello

Why do Second Amendment advocates assume every time a well-meaning legislator suggests common-sense gun control legislation, politicians must be coming for our guns? ~ Mark M. Bello

I had started keeping a journal, and I was discovering that I didn't need school in order to experience the misery of appearances. I could manufacture excruciating embarrassment in the privacy of my bedroom, simply by reading what I'd written in the journal the day before. Its pages faithfully mirrored my fraudulence and pomposity and immaturity. Reading it made me desperate to change myself, to sound less idiotic. As George Benson had stressed in Then Joy Breaks Through, the experience of growth and self-realization, even of ecstatic joy, were natural processes available to believers and nonbelievers alike. And so I declared private war on stagnation and committed myself privately to personal growth. The Authentic Relationship I wanted now was with the written page. ~ Jonathan Franzen

I found it hard to make friends in school, because I was a cerebral person. ~ Lana Del Rey

In school, I was the quietest girl ever! I had a lot of trouble in school. Kids were mean to me. ~ Cher Lloyd

Everyone who has ever been to school knows that school is prison, but almost nobody beyond school age says it is. It's not polite. We all tiptoe around the truth because admitting it would make us seem cruel and would point a finger at well-intentioned people doing what they believe to be essential. . . . A prison, according to the common, general definition, is any place of involuntary confinement and restriction of liberty. In school, as in adult prisons, the inmates are told exactly what they must do and are punished for failure to comply. Actually, students in school must spend more time doing exactly what they are told than is true of adults in penal institutions. Another difference, of course, is that we put adults in prison because they have committed a crime, while we put children in school because of their age. ~ Peter Gray

What do you do? I asked the man, to break the silence shooting up around me on all sides, thick as jungle grass ~ Sylvia Plath

Every mom believes her kid's school doodles are amazing, and I'm no different. ~ Solange Knowles

As she drove the familiar route to the school, she considered her magnificent new age. Forty. She could still feel "forty" the way it felt when she was fifteen. Such a colorless age. Marooned in the middle of your life. Nothing would matter all that much when you were forty. You wouldn't have real feelings when you were forty, because you'd be safely cushioned by your frumpy forty-ness.
Forty-year-old woman found dead. Oh dear.
Twenty-year-old woman found dead. Tragedy! Sadness! Find that murderer! ~ Liane Moriarty

It's bizarre. In middle school, I thought girls were running away from me, so when they ask for a picture now, I'm like, 'Really, what?!' ~ Jacob Artist

I went to a very posh school, I had a very privileged upbringing with parents who were incredibly loving and brilliant. I've never tried to hide that; I'm not going to change my accent or talk in a different way. ~ David Cameron

The right wing always mobilizes around constitutional amendments: the right to bear arms, school prayer. ~ Al Sharpton

Advertising," he wrote, "now compares with such long-standing institutions as the school and the church in the magnitude of its social influence. It dominates the media, it has vast power in the shaping of popular standards and it is really one of the very limited groups of institutions which exercise social control. ~ David Halberstam

Sir Thomas More, son of Sir John More, a justice of the King's Bench, was born in 1478, in Milk Street, in the city of London. After his earlier education at St. Anthony's School, in Threadneedle Street, he was placed, as a boy, in the household of Cardinal John Morton, Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Chancellor. It was not unusual for persons of wealth or influence and sons of good families to be so established together in a relation of patron and client. The youth wore his patron's livery, and added to his state. The patron used, afterwards, his wealth or influence in helping his young client forward in the world. Cardinal Morton had been in earlier days that Bishop of Ely whom Richard III. sent to the Tower; was busy afterwards in hostility to Richard; and was a chief adviser of Henry VII., who in 1486 made him Archbishop of Canterbury, and nine months afterwards Lord Chancellor. Cardinal Morton - of talk at whose table there are recollections in "Utopia" - delighted in the quick wit of young Thomas More. He once said, "Whoever shall live to try it, shall see this child here waiting at table prove a notable and rare man. ~ Thomas More

...who'd walk to school on Monday and who'd have to pass the smoking heap of what used to be their neighborhoods because when adults are haunted, it's the kids who get the worst frights...The word "aftermath" came to mind. I guess it means the time after something terrible happens when you do the math to figure out what has been added and what's been subtracted. ~ Emil Ferris

You send your child to the schoolmaster, but 'tis the schoolboys who educate him. You send him to the Latin class, but much of histuition comes, on his way to school, from the shop- windows. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

I want to get away from the social vampires in Tucson. The people who have no lives of their own and meet me and know who I am and feel entitled to say negative things. I have good friends here, especially in the bands. But a lot of it is just like high school. ~ Neko Case

Each film is different. Time Code was very quick - a matter of months. Miss Julie has been on my shelf as a script for some seven or eight years. But then the shooting process was very quick - 16 days. ~ Mike Figgis

So many people spend years (and money) studying to be doctors, lawyers, actors, dancers, business executives and scientists - when you're an author, you can be any of these things, and you don't need a degree or certificate; all you need is an imagination, a dream and an open mind. ~ Rebecca McNutt

Being neurotic is like shooting fish in a barrel, and missing them. ~ Mignon McLaughlin

I was a pretty delinquent little kid. My folks and I didn't get along, so I basically moved out ... put myself through high school and then college by working. I'm only a half-year short of a degree in history. ~ Al Jourgensen

Yeah, I know there's been all this talk this year especially about the 3-point shot and can you win shooting it. There's a lot of different styles that can work. You have to base it on your own personnel. ~ Steve Kerr

That the Texas Legislature, that the Texas school boards, the Texas teachers, we collectively know best how to educate our children, rather than some bureaucrat in Washington. ~ Rick Perry

At school I pretended I had a normal life, but I felt lonely all the time and different from everyone else. I never felt like I fit in, and I wasn't allowed to participate in after-school activities, go to sports events or parties or date boys. Many times I had to make up stories about why I couldn't do anything with my classmates. ~ Joyce Meyer

Bluntly put, there's no chance that your doctor, dentist, or attorney is a high-school dropout. Your stockbroker, however, just might be. ~ William J. Bernstein

Taryn? Are you all right?" I nodded, pushing away the doubt. My fingers laced with his. "I've never been swept off my feet before. Sounds a little ... terrifying."
He laughed, and I drank in the sound. "Terrifying is not what I'm shooting for." He kissed me, his lips caressing mine over and over until my pulse was thrumming, warming my whole body. He stared into my eyes. "Breathless maybe ... ~ Lisa Kessler

My story wasn't one of those cliched stories of being an ugly duckling, I had a pretty good time at school. But then I think being six foot by the age of 15 meant that I couldn't help but be noticed, and that was when my physical being felt quite painful - I could not any longer walk into a room without being noticed. ~ Erin O'Connor

I've been writing music since I was about eight. I would write sporadically. I wrote a lot of music in high school. I guess the oldest song on the record ("I Thought I Saw Your Face") is about eight years old. It's the old "I had my whole life to write my first album and six months to write the second one." I did, to some degree, but actually, a lot of the songs that ended up on the record, I wrote really recently. So it varies. ~ Zooey Deschanel

We hated the gym. We loved it. We escaped to it. We avoided it. We had complicated relationships with our bodies, while at the same time insisting that we loved them unconditionally. We were sure we had better, more important things to do than worry about them, but the slender yoga bodies of moms in Lululemon at school pickup taunted us. Their figures hinted at wheatgrass shots, tennis clubs, and vagina steaming treatments. We found them aspirational.
So we sweated on the elliptical and lifted ten-pound weights, inching closer to the bodies we told ourselves we were too evolved to want. ~ Chandler Baker

I used to hang out with grandfather all the time because he used to pick me up from school sometimes, or drive me to my mother's, so I'd be with my grandfather a lot. I used to watch him write his sermons. ~ Chris Rock

I was very young, maybe five. The opera was very ... I was attracted to opera to the point that I think it's the reason I started to write music for films. I never studied. There are film and music school that teach you how to write music. I never studied that. But the influence of opera, which is a combination of storyline, visuals, staging, plus music ... that was perhaps the best school I could have had. That's what gave me the idea of coming to Hollywood to write music for films. ~ Lalo Schifrin

Most historical accounts were written by fallible scholars, using incomplete or biased resource materials; written through the scholars' own conscious or unconscious predilections; published by textbook or printing companies that have a stake in maintaining a certain set of beliefs; subtly influenced by entities of government and society - national administrations, state education departments, local school boards, etcetera - that also wish to maintain certain sets of beliefs. To be blunt about it, much of the history of many countries and states is based on delusion, propaganda, misinformation, and omission. ~ James Alexander Thom

We are all carriers of our own stories. We have never trusted our own voices. Reforms came, but we don't make them. They were presented by people removed from schools, by 'experts'. Such changes bi passes school. School by school changes, however slow, could make a powerful difference. ~ Deborah Meier

All of my high school issues are resolved! ~ Oscar Isaac

But now they must've worn off. He thought he may have groaned. It was hard to be sure in his kinda awake state. He tried to move his hand and yelled out at the pain. Oh yeah, fractured wrist. "Easy there, bad boy." Oh my lord. Curtis would know that sexy whisky-dripped baritone anywhere. He'd force open his own eyes now just to see those green eyes looking down at him. He didn't care if his head exploded into a million pieces. It'd be worth it for this sight. "Open those beautiful baby blues," Genesis said in a hushed drawl. Curtis fought through the fog and the pain and cracked open his eyes. He blinked a few times at the harsh light above his head but he kept on until Genesis' gorgeous face was in focus. Curtis' lips parted in a smile. What on earth was he doing there? He believed it was a Monday now. Genesis should be in school. "Gen. ~ A.E. Via

Jumped and spun around. Man, my nightmares were making me jumpy. I hit the off button. It's time for school. Ugh. School was so my ~ Jessica Sorensen

Cycling is an activity which more and more young people are getting involved with, whether they are using their bikes to get to school or work, socially, or cycling as a sport. Cycling is cheap, it's quick, and it makes you look and feel great! ~ Adrian Bell

I wasn't in a lot of rock and roll bands. I was in jug bands and things when I was in school. ~ Loudon Wainwright III

The thing I like best about Max is that he is brave." "What did he do that was brave?" "It's not one thing," I say. "It's everything. Max is not like any other person in the whole world. Kids make fun of him because he is different. His mom tries to change him into a different boy and his dad tries to treat him like he is someone else. Even his teachers treat him differently, and not always nicely. Even Mrs. Gosk. She is perfect but she still treats Max differently. No one treats him like a regular boy, but everyone wants him to be regular instead of himself. With all that, Max still gets out of bed every morning and goes to school and the park and the bus stop and even the kitchen table. ~ Matthew Dicks

We of Macedon for generations past have been trained in the hard school of danger and war ~ Alexander The Great

I detest love lyrics. I think one of the causes of bad mental health in the United States is that people have been raised on 'love lyrics'.

You're a young kid and you hear all those 'love lyrics', right? Your parents aren't telling you the truth about love, and you can't really learn about it in school. You're getting the bulk of your 'behaviour norms' mapped out for you in the lyrics to some dumb fucking love song. It's a subconscious training that creates desire for an imaginary situation which will never exist for you. People who buy into that mythology go through life feeling that they got cheated out of something.

What I think is very cynical about some rock and roll songs -- especially today -- is the way they say: "Let's make love." What the fuck kind of wussy says shit like that in the real world? You ought to be able to say "Let's go fuck", or at least "Let's go fill-in-the-blank" -- but you gotta say "Let's make love" in order to get on the radio. This creates a semantic corruption, by changing the context in which the word 'love' is used in the song.

When they get into drooling about love as a 'romantic concept' -- especially in the lyrics of sensitive singer/songwriter types -- that's another shove in the direction of bad mental health.

Fortunately, lyrics over the last five or six years have gotten to be less and less important, with 'art rock groups' and new wavers specializing in 'nonjudgemental' or 'purposely inconse ~ Frank Zappa

Life itself and who people actually are can be greatly reflected in how they dance. And I don't mean how good you are. I mean your willingness to dance. You can kinda tell if you go to a house party and there's this group of people over here who are too cool for school and they're over here and they're like 'oh those people are dancing so ew. So weird that they're like dancing'. Those people, I don't feel like, are having as good a time as the people they're making fun of. The people who don't care how they look dancing cause they like dancing. Basically, I love the idea that you can tell who someone is by how they dance. ~ Taylor Swift

History was my favourite subject at school and in my spare time I read historical novels voraciously from Heidi to the Scarlet Pimpernel and from Georgette Heyer to Agatha Christie. ~ Sara Sheridan

For someone like me who, as a kid, walked to school muttering little political speeches to myself, it was irresistible to finally get a chance at political life for real. When the people of Etobicoke-Lakeshore elected me their MP, it changed me forever. ~ Michael Ignatieff

When young, we're anxious - understandably - to find out if we've got what it takes. Can we succeed? Can we build a viable life for ourselves? But you - in particular you, of this generation - may have noticed a certain cyclical quality to ambition. You do well in high-school, in hopes of getting into a good college, so you can do well in the good college, in the hopes of getting a good job, so you can do well in the good job so you can ...
And this is actually O.K. If we're going to become kinder, that process has to include taking ourselves seriously - as doers, as accomplishers, as dreamers. We have to do that, to be our best selves.
Still, accomplishment is unreliable. "Succeeding," whatever that might mean to you, is hard, and the need to do so constantly renews itself (success is like a mountain that keeps growing ahead of you as you hike it), and there's the very real danger that "succeeding" will take up your whole life, while the big questions go untended. ~ George Saunders