Sensed Past Quotes

He smiled too, but did not hold her gaze. She watched as he put a few more pieces of wood on the fire, and wondered again who he was, who he really was. What happened to you? What could have been so bad? As she watched, she was struck by the undeniable sense that behind his introverted, self-effacing demeanor was a tireless mind churning with thought and memory, self-sustained like the constant machinations of a kinetic engine; and much like his two differently colored eyes, she also sensed that there were two just as different sides to him. ~ Sean J. Quirk

What is this world condition? Body is the world condition. And with body and form goes feeling, perception, consciousness, and all the activities throughout the world. The arising of form and the ceasing of form-everything that has been heard, sensed, and known, sought after and reached by the mind-all this is the embodied world, to be penetrated and realized. ~ Gautama Buddha

With most women he would use flattery and flirtation, appealing to both their vanity and their pleasure. But Grace was no ordinary woman. With her, he knew he would have to take a more subtle approach. Less than half a minute into their acquaintance, he'd sensed her reserve, as well as her insecurity. He surmised she wasn't used to being boldly pursued by men, so any sudden, overt interest on his part would only provoke her suspicions and put her on the alert.
Instead, his approach would require a deft touch and gentle, patient persuasion. A shy doe required proper coaxing, after all. The key was to figure out what kind of inducement she liked best and be there to offer it. ~ Tracy Anne Warren

Lily Chadwick knew there was something different about the fiercely scowling gentleman the first moment she saw him.
She could feel it.
The instant their gazes met, caught, held, something skittered across her skin like a rain of white sparks. It entered her bloodstream, heating her from the inside until her breath became stilted and her knees went alarmingly weak.
He stared at her from beneath a brow drawn low in a forbidding expression. His eyes were so dark, even the light of the glittering ballroom could not be reflected there. The angles of his face were hard, his jaw sharply defined, and he held his mouth in a harsh line that attempted to harden the full curve of his lower lip but didn't quite manage it.
Lily tried to glance away demurely, but she couldn't seem to manage. She felt a flutter that became a tightening in her belly. Her heart stopped, skipped a few beats, then started up again in a frantic rhythm as he just kept watching her.
Despite his severe, aloof appearance, something about him reached out to her, touching her with an intrinsic sort of recognition. It left her feeling as though she stood in the heart of a firestorm. She sensed with a certainty beyond rational explanation that his unyielding manner was a facade, as if he were a hero in some gothic novel. There was passion in him. She felt it in every quickened, prey-like breath she took while frozen under his intent stare.
The silent interaction between them was becoming mo ~ Amy Sandas

I sensed that my life was better when I focused on things that were working as opposed to focusing on the long list that goes wrong, but I wanted to know if there was any validity to that. ~ Deborah Norville

I sensed immediately that he'd once been overweight. He moved with a fat person's tiptoey apology. ~ Jennifer Egan

You say, The sensed absence of God and the sensed presence amount to much the same thing, only in reverse. ~ Margaret Atwood

I also sensed the tectonic shift somewhere deep inside – my time in Alaska had changed me in ways I couldn't pinpoint but also couldn't ignore. Who I was and who I am now seem like two different people. ~ K.A. Tucker

country highway. He sensed that he was ~ Michael Palmer

Why should you be a prisoner?" Rio reached again to the burning red of her hair. "' Course, you can be one if you want to be. I could wrap you in chains and promise to let you go after I've pleasured you countless times. The more you begged me to release you, the longer I'd keep you bound."
Her eyes were round, caught between panic and desire. Her breath smelled good, spicy and salty. She probably tasted just as good.
Rio leaned down and gently brushed his tongue across her lower lip.
She gasped and jerked back, and he sensed her body sending her conflicting messages. Be afraid of this man, it was telling her, at the same time it urged her, Let him do as he likes.
She wanted him, and she didn't want to want him.
"Rio," Dr. Laas' wry voice came from across the room. "The poor woman just got over alkaloid poisoning. Give her a few minutes. ~ Allyson James

That's just stupid, Tory! Quit being so damn stubborn!"
"Not a chance! You've got some kind of death wish! We can't even trust our power lately. They're too erratic for a public heist."
Ben thumped the steering wheel in frustration. "Maybe for you."
I glowered at Ben from the backseat. I'd given Hi shotgun, having sensed this argument was inevitable. I didn't want to be close. The urge to slap might become overpowering.
"Why don't we all use our friendly words?" Hi suggested. "Let's take five, and everyone can say something we like about each other. I'll start. Shelton, you're super at - "
"Shut up, Hi!" Ben and I shouted, the first thing we'd agreed upon all morning. ~ Kathy Reichs

Later in life, when Alma was a woman of science, she would better understand how the introduction of any new element into a controlled environment will alter that environment in manifold and unpredictable ways, but as a child, all she sensed was a hostile invasion and a premonition of doom. Alma did not embrace her interloper with a warm heart. Then again, why should she have? Who among us has ever warmheartedly embraced an interloper? ~ Elizabeth Gilbert

I was drawn to the arts because I sensed that I was by nature Bohemian, and yet very conservative. ~ Frederick Lenz

There was a few seconds' pause. Then Amit said: I meant, what were you thinking just now.

When? said Lata.

When you were looking at Pran and Savita. Over the pudding.

Oh.

Well, what?

I can't remember, said Lata with a smile.

Amit laughed.

Why are you laughing? asked Lata

I like making you feel uncomfortable, I suppose.

Oh. Why?

--Or happy--or puzzled--just to see your change of mood. It's such fun. I pity you!

Why? said Lata, startled.

Because you'll never know what a pleasure it is to be in your company.

Do stop talking like that, said Lata. Ma will come in any minute.

You're quite right. In that case: Will you marry me?

Lata dropped her cup. It fell to the floor and broke. She looked at the broken pieces--luckily, it has been empty--and then at Amit.

Quick! said Amit. Before they come running to see what's happened. Say yes.

Lata had knelt down; she was gathering he bits of the cup together and placing them on the delicately patterned blue-and-gold saucer.

Amit joined her on the floor. Her face was only a few inches away from his, but her mind appeared to be somewhere else. he wanted to kiss her but he sensed that there was no question of it. One by one she picked up the shards of china.

Was it a family heirloom? asked Amit.

What? I'm sorry--said Lata, snap ~ Vikram Seth

Jefferson sensed that, as with lovers and intimate friends, there can often be no middle ground between engagement and estrangement. In the presence of passion, or of former passions, acquaintance is impossible. It is all or nothing, for once affections have cooled it is very difficult to bring them back to a middling temperature. In such cases human nature tends to rekindle the flames to their old force, or consign them to perpetual chill. ~ Jon Meacham

Sometimes I sensed that the books I read in rapid succession had set up some sort of murmur among themselves, transforming my head into an orchestra pit where different musical instruments sounded out, and I would realize that I could endure this life because of these musicales going on in my head. ~ Orhan Pamuk

David Greene was kind, and he had a sense of humor. He made your mother laugh."

That was all Gran could muster up? "Did you not like him?"

"He wasn't a big believer in Tarot. Humor aside, he was a very practical man. From New England," she added, as if that explained everything. "I'd been wearing Karen down about the Arcana - until she met him. Before I knew it, your mother was pregnant. Even then, I sensed you were the Empress."

"He didn't want us to live up north?"

"David planned to move there." Her gaze went distant. "To move you - the great Empress - away from her Haven." That must have gone over well. "In the end, I convinced them not to go."
......
I opened up the family albums. As I scrolled through them, her eyes appeared dazed, as if she wasn't seeing the images. Yet then she stared at a large picture of my father.

I said, "I wish I could remember him."

"David used to carry you around the farm on his shoulders," she said. "He read to you every night and took you to the river to skip stones. He drove you around to pet every baby animal born in a ten-mile radius. Lambs, kittens, puppies." She drew a labored breath. "He brought you to the crops and the gardens. Even then, you would pet the bark of an oak and kiss a rose bloom. If the cane was sighing that day, you'd fall asleep in his arms."

I imagined it all: the sugarcane, the farm, the majestic oaks, the lazy river that always had ~ Kresley Cole

Then he made the mistake of looking into her eyes and froze. Her expression was so open, so full of tenderness and longing as well as heat that he almost balked. This was supposed to be about closure, about having the goodbye they'd never gotten last time. How was he supposed to leave after if she gave herself to him this completely? Her hand came up to cradle the side of his face, her thumb stroking back and forth across his jaw, her touch gentle and loving. "Need you," she murmured,

It was good. Even better than he remembered. Liam buried his face in the side of her neck and sucked in a breath, struggling to hang on. Being cradled in Honor's arms, buried to the hilt inside her while she opened her body and heart to him was the most incredible thing in the world. How the f*&^ was he going to walk away later? Without warning his eyes began to sting. As though she sensed how close he was to coming unglued, Honor murmured to him and pressed kisses to the side of his face, her hand urging his head to turn toward her. Liam shook his head, unable to bear that final level of intimacy when he knew this was their last time. Keeping his face in her neck he fought back the swell of emotion and began to move, a slow, shallow rocking motion that was more profound than words could ever be. He loved her. Would always love her, but it wasn't enough because some things couldn't be undone and he just couldn't let her in the way he had before. All they had left was this bittersw ~ Kaylea Cross

Now suddenly he had intimations of destiny; he could see that life had a secret geometry on which his rational mind had no purchase. But even as he was overcome with a desire to subdue his reason and find happiness, he also sensed that - for the moment at least - his yearning for happiness was not yet strong enough. ~ Orhan Pamuk

I'm sorry," she whispered.
Zane shifted off of her. "What?"
"I shouldn't have done that."
"Done what?"
She heard the caution in his voice.
"I was too…you know."
"I don't know," he said. "Too, what?"
"Wanton."
There wasn't any sound. Not even a hint of sound. Then he laughed. It wasn't a chuckle. It was a huge, from-the-belly laugh. The kind that made it impossible for the person laughing to move or breathe or even stop.
"Zane?" She shook his arm.
He continued to laugh. The sound seemed to echo all around them.
"Zane, stop. You'll wake up everyone."
That seemed to get his attention. She sensed his attempt to control himself, although a few guffaws escaped.
"This isn't funny," she told him in a heated whisper.
He leaned close. She couldn't see him, but she could feel him.
"Phoebe, you're the most amazing lover I've ever had. You're sexy, responsive to the point of being a lethal weapon, sweet, funny, caring and if I had a box of condoms, I'd use every single one before sunup. But you're not wanton."
His words made her feel a little better, but only a little. "I don't usually, you know, climax that much. Or at all."
"You did with me."
"I know."
"I wanted to please you."
She smiled. "I could tell."
"So what's the problem?"
"I don't want you to think less of me."
He touched her cheek, then outlined her mouth. "I think the world of you."
Her concern faded like mis ~ Susan Mallery

As though he sensed her thoughts, Gavin turned and met her gaze. Several seconds passed and he winked, as if to assure her that her worries were unnecessary. One side of his mouth raised in a lopsided smile, he turned back to her brothers, and Alex refocused on Ella and Vivi's conversation, pushing her questions to the back of her mind for the time being, and promising herself she'd find a moment alone with him later. ~ Sarah MacLean

My mother used to push 'Wuthering Heights' on me as a boy, and I sensed from her breathy description of the story that it would make me laugh. I have no plans to find out if this is true. ~ Walter Kirn

Soft as the early morning breeze of May,
which heralds dawn, rich with the grass and flowers,
spreading in waves their breathing fragrances,
I felt a breeze strike soft upon my brow:
I felt a wing caress it, I am sure,
I sensed the sweetness of ambrosia. ~ Dante Alighieri

Kay found six and a half acres of land just off the Ouachita River at the mouth of Cypress Creek outside of West Monroe, Louisiana. It was at the end of a dirt road in one of the most heavily forested areas on the river. The classified advertisement in the newspaper described it as a "Sportsman's Paraside." When we drove out to see the land, I knew it was perfect as soon as we crested the hill that leads down to the house where we still live today. The place was absolutely perfect.
The real estate lady sensed my excitement and told me, "Now, Mr. Robertson, I'm required by law to inform you that this home sits in a floodplain."
"Perfect," I told her. "I wouldn't want it if it didn't. ~ Phil Robertson

Lee Nightingale is a supreme badass. Hawk's a bona fide superhero who doesn't wear a ridiculous suit. This is no joke. He probably sensed our discussion through powers he got when his mom was pushin' him out and got struck by lightning or something. I don't ask. He's an ally. He's also a brother of Tack's. I'm just happy he isn't an enemy. ~ Kristen Ashley

He didnt know what was defeating him, but he sensed it was something he could not cope with, something that was far beyond his power to control or even at this point in time comprehend. ~ Hubert Selby, Jr.

He wondered what book he might be reading when he finally breathed his last, and determined to grab a good one as soon as he sensed the end coming so that whoever discovered him would know he had a good taste in literature. ~ Andrew Peterson

We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes. I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes – something known only to her and to the mountain. I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters' paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view. ~ Aldo Leopold

I believe it was Napoleon who first sensed the ease with which, in modern society, the illusion of freedom can be created by strategic relaxation of regulations and law on individual thought, provided it is only individual, while all the time fundamental economic and political liberties are being circumscribed. The barriers to the kind of power Napoleon wielded as emperor are not individual rights so much as the kinds of rights associated with autonomy of local community, voluntary association, political party. These are the real measure of the degree to which central political power is limited in a society. Neither centralization nor bureaucratized collectivism can thrive as long as there is a substantial body of local authorities to check them ~ Robert A. Nisbet

Have you heard God's blessing in your inmost being? Are the words, "You are my beloved child, in whom I delight" an endless source of joy and strength? Have you sensed, through the Holy Spirit, God speaking to you? That blessing- the blessing through the Spirit that is ours through Christ- is what Jacob received, and it is the only remedy against idolatry. Only that blessing makes idols unnecessary. As with Jacob, we usually discover this only after a life of "looking for blessings in all the wrong places." It often takes an experience of crippling weakness for us to finally discover it. That is why so many of the most God-blessed people limp as they dance for joy. ~ Timothy Keller

In the presence of their love I sensed my lonliness, and I understood for a moment, clearly, that deep and basic human desire for companionship at depth. ~ Luke Davies

But they had a money value: they represented a cash profit to others. They must have sensed that
sensed that they were worth something. ~ Margaret Atwood

It was if we all sensed we'd be gone someday soon in a sudden instant
often it happened in the middle of the night
and didn't want to get involved. Or else it was that none of us wanted to know anybody later on who was the way we were now. ~ Richard Ford

I never have suspected or sensed a whiff of cheating in any of our Super Bowls. ~ Marv Levy

He sensed my sorrow and turned to face me
you know what I remember after the police came
what's that
you sitting on the couch with me
you didn't say anything
you just sat with me ~ Kristen Simmons

I sensed the presence of wizened bachelor potters working in sheds behind their mothers' houses. ~ Walter Kirn

I'm aware that there is a bigger, far more complicated world out there than I'd ever realized, and just like the students at Beijing University, I've glimpsed it only fleetingly, peripherally. I've sensed the vast expanse of my own ignorance now. I feel antsy and constricted and a deep, almost sexual yearning for velocity, for some sort of raw, transcendent experience that I cannot even begin to articulate. ~ Susan Jane Gilman

I cannot imagine that there could be someone whose childhood could compare to mine. The sky and the earth belonged to me, literally, even my apprehensions were joyful: I would get up and go to bed as master of creation. I was conscious of my happiness and could forsee that I was going to lose it. A secret fear was eating away my days. I sensed in this afternoon of my childhood, that a very severe event has just occurred: it was the first awakening, the first clue: the precusory sign of self-awareness. Up until that day I had only been a being, starting at that point I was more and less than that. Every «I» begings with a crack and a revelation. ~ Emil M. Cioran

She put her hand in his, and he smiled. It was as if for her, the sun came out. His smile took her breath and made her inexplicably happy because, she sensed, he rarely smiled and it was like a gift. ~ Christine Feehan

When our lips parted, I found myself gasping for breath, but desperate for more. He held me tight. I sensed his need, his desire for me to stay, when he whispered into my ear: "You don't want to leave." At that, I broke down into tears. He was right. Whether I liked it or not, home had become wherever Derek Novak was. ~ Bella Forrest

An ego should be like a warm breeze, never seen, just mildly sensed. ~ David Luiz

Human behavior is a series of lunges, of which, it is sometimes sensed, the direction is inevitable. ~ Patrick White

And in all his life around him, Darky Gardiner for the first time sensed his own death. He understood that all this would go on, and of him nothing would remain, that even his memory, though held by a few family and friends for a few years, perhaps decades, would ultimately be forgotten and mean no more than a fallen bamboo, than the inescapable mud. As Darky Gardiner looked up and down the track, as he thought of the naked slaves only a mile distant toiling away, he felt the most terrible rage seize him. All this would go on and on, and only he would be gone. Everywhere he looked, he could see the most vibrant world of life that had no need of him, that would not think for a moment of his vanishing, and it would have no memory of him. The world would go on without him. ~ Richard Flanagan

I sniffed as a few tears escaped, lifting my hands to wipe them away. It was then that I caught the only clues I'd been given by whoever had left me here.
On one wrist someone had written You are Kahlen. The other said He is Akinli.
I flipped my hands over and searched up and down my arms, hoping there was more.
"Look," I begged, holding out my arms.
"Pretty handwriting," Ben commented.
Julie hit him, but in a way that seemed playful. "Seriously?"
"That's all you have?" Akinli asked.
"Apparently. So, all I know is who I am and who you are." I looked into his eyes, the glowing blue, and sensed that was all that mattered. ~ Kiera Cass

The Same Inside

Walking to your place for a love fest
I saw at a street corner
an old beggar women.
I took her hand,
kissed her delicate cheek,
we talked, she was
the same inside as I am,
from the same kind,
I sensed this instantly
as a dog knows by scent
another dog.
I gave her money,
I could not part from her.
After all, one needs
someone who is close.
And then I no longer knew
why I was walking to your place. ~ Anna Swirszczynska

For a long time, they leaned against the wall, foreheads pressed together, breathing matched. They were one body, bound by the passion they'd shared. Mariah didn't think she'd felt so close to a lover before. As if he sensed those deeper thoughts, John kissed her cheek with such gentleness that it brought tears to her eyes and withdrew from her. ~ Jess Michaels

Pooley the realist pooh-poohed such notions, but Pooley the mystic, dreamer and romantic sensed the aura of pagan mystery which surrounded the crop-headed man. ~ Robert Rankin

I sensed that not only the grand movements of the cosmos, but everything that had happened in my life, was a part of that song. Even the hurts that seemed most senseless, the mistakes I would have done anything to erase - nothing could make those things good, but good could still come out of them all the same, and in the end the oratorio would be no less beautiful for it.
I realized then that even though I was a tiny speck in an infinite cosmos, a blip on the timeline of eternity, I was not without purpose. And as long as I had a part in the music of the spheres, even if it was only a single grace note, I was not worthless. Nor was I alone. ~ R. J. Anderson