Sharp Words Quotes

It lies here deep in the heart, the small chest of pain
Sharp words like daggers placed it here
To fill with hurt
In filling it grew heavy and drug me down
For to not feel is not to live
Until I rest at last in dirt
The worst of you got the best of me ... ~ Neil Leckman

I used to wonder if we were destined to fail from the start, two people who lived hard and loved fast. Afraid to slow down. But now I know that my fingers weren't long enough to reach your wounds, to caress the places that ached from the sharp words and careless actions of others. People had confused your gentleness for weakness. You carried everything heavy.

Had I known, I would have danced delicate language all around you. I would've told you that your internal brightness illuminated mine. And that I only saw the beauty in myself when I looked at my reflection in your eyes. If only I had known that behind that strong gaze was everything else. Everything you didn't want me to know. Your shine came from what you felt when you looked at me. And you feared that I would be yet another to use your light and leave you alone. In even more darkness.
But I wouldn't have.
I didn't know how to tell you, but I know that pain too. ~ Jacqueline Simon Gunn

Now let us bandy words no more ... nothing is easier than sharp words, except to wish them unspoken. ~ R.D. Blackmore

This gave him another opportunity to use one of those words that hung before him, shining and alluring. Far away in the distance there were more of them, dangerously sharp. Words that were not for him, but which he used all the same on the sly, and which had an exciting flavour and gave him a tingling feeling in the head. They were a little dangerous, all of them. ~ Tarjei Vesaas

Prickly
When I'm feeling
porcupine-y,
I get nasty,
I get whiny.
Stay away or
I might stick you.
My sharp words are
quills to prick you. ~ Laura Purdie Salas

Only the great generalizations survive. The sharp words of the Declaration of Independence, lampooned then and since as 'glittering generalities,' have turned out blazing ubiquities that will burn forever and ever. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

My mouth is often wounded by my sharp words, so sometimes when I'm out in public, I'll wear a large Band Aid over my lips. ~ Jarod Kintz

Such sharp words," he said. "Your tongue ought to come with a warning."

"Truth is often compared to a blade," I said. "I question those who marvel when it pricks. ~ Kerri Maniscalco

As you know not all sleep is the same. It has different phases. It's shallow and then it's deep, it curves and goes down tunnels and staircases and wells. Sometimes it's so thick as to carry you off this Earth, sometimes it holds you underneath a veil as thin as muslin. When sleep's that thin, some things can pierce it. A sharp-edged memory, for example. Or sharp words that are still bothering us, or a thought that's settled outside our minds, in our limbs, or a feeling that's done the same, or something in our midst that we haven't even noticed - things like these can pierce our sleep. ~ Hasan Ali Toptas

The young man had killed himself; but she did not pity him; with the clock striking the hour, one, two, three, she did not pity him, with all this going on. There! the old lady had put out her light! The whole house was dark now with this going on, she repeated, and the words came to her, Fear no more the heat of the sun. She must go back to them. But what an extraordinary night! She felt somehow very like him - the young man who had killed himself. She felt glad that he had done it; thrown it away. The clock was striking. The leaden circles dissolved in the air. He made her feel the beauty; made her feel the fun. But she must go back. She must assemble. She must find Sally and Peter. And she came in from the little room. ~ Virginia Woolf

I love you." The words were a curse, harsh and punishing. "I can't change it and I don't want to. You're it for me." Angelo's body shook between Gabe's legs. "I gave you my heart in that fucking interrogation room, cop, yet you've been holding yours hostage from me."
He pulled his head back, eyes over-bright, lips red and swollen. "I want those words. I deserve those words." His voice wobbled and broke. "I demand those words. I need them. ~ Avril Ashton

I grew thinner and more ragged. I slept in rain or sun, on soft grass, moist earth, or sharp stones with an intensity of indifference that only grief can promote. ~ Patrick Rothfuss

Poetry is very crafted. You can't have too many words. It needs compression. It has to be spare, just the right number of words. ~ Barbara Feldon

I do believe that the single most important thing I could ever share with you with regard to maximizing the health, harmony, and happiness in your life can be summed up in just two words:
Love yourself. ~ Mike Dooley

Social systems are neither a consumer product that we can buy or rent from the market nor a material that we can import from another country. It is not a creation of the almighty gifted from the heavens. A social system is a creation of mankind. That is a reflection of our responsibilities. In other words, the social system is the result of our behavior and the decisions we take in our way of life. ~ Nilantha Ilangamuwa

Ah sir," replied Caderousse, "we cannot console those who will not be consoled, and he was one of these; besides, I know not why, but he seemed to dislike seeing me. One night, however, I heard his sobs, and I could not resist my desire to go up to him, but when I reached his door he was no longer weeping but praying.
I cannot now repeat to you, sir, all the eloquent words and imploring language he made use of; it was more than piety, it was more than grief, and I, who am no canter, and hate the Jesuits, said then to myself, 'It is really well, and I am very glad that I have not any children; for if I were a father and felt such excessive grief as the old man does, and did not find in my memory or heart all he is now saying, I should throw myself into the sea at once, for I could not bear it. ~ Alexandre Dumas

A picture tells a thousand words. But you get a thousand pictures from someone's voice. ~ Paul Fleischman

And if she were an honest woman, which she was known to be on occasion, she could readily admit that hearing about his escapades had bothered her on so many levels. And, yes, it affected how she looked at him, how she thought of him.
But not, unfortunately, how she felt about him. Which either made her very generous, or very stupid.
She was also very hungry, despite the ache in her head. So, she climbed out of bed, rang for Heather, and set about getting ready for the day. She told her maid to tell Cook that she would like to take breakfast out on the terrace since it was such a lovely day and she doubted anyone would join her. Her mother had no doubt eaten long ago, and Grey was probably passed out somewhere if his condition of last night had worsened after her departure. She rather fancied him drinking himself blind after she made her grand exit.
Not that she wanted him to be miserable-she simply wanted to think that her words and opinion mattered. ~ Kathryn Smith

Words are plastic these days. Small loans made to desperate people at exorbitant interest rates are called payday advances. A cheesy hotel paired with a seedy casino is called a resort. Any assemblage of frenetic images, bad music, and incoherent plot is called a major motion picture. ~ Dean Koontz

What makes me feel alive and connected to God's voice and spirit in this world is creating opportunities for the people I love to rest and connect and be fed at my table. I believe it's the way I was made, and I believe it matters. For many years, I didn't let it matter, for a whole constellation of reasons, but part of becoming yourself, in a deeply spiritual way, is finding the words to tell the truth about what it is you really love. ~ Shauna Niequist

In a way, it's a great thing that I have the opportunity to stand at the crossroads of Los Angeles and Indianapolis, and stay right here, ... People say that reality is in the footsteps, and not the words. That, as much as anybody, gives you a chance to show your sincerity and commitment, and what you're all about as far as leaving a legacy. ~ Jim Irsay

The spiritual mind is always metaphorical. Spiritual thinking is poetic thinking. It's always trying to put a very diaphanous experience into words, realizing all the while that words are inadequate. ~ Sam Keen

It had been an attack, of sorts, and people did fight who lived in castles like these. Not with fists and feet and claws, but with words and whispers and influence. Isabel couldn't remember having been here before, but she knew. It was a fight, or rather a game, with many players and many rules and many strategies.
She smiled suddenly, feeling her blood pump through her veins. She didn't know how, and she didn't know why, but she was suddenly sure it was a game she knew how to play. ~ Leah Cypess

A poet should be so crafty with words that he is envied even for his pains. ~ Criss Jami

Swear words and profanities are mere abbreviations of speech, similar to the abbreviations in writing. ~ Franz Grillparzer

There is obviously a power and a truth in action that doesn't lie, which words easily can do. ~ Twyla Tharp

Not but what he deserves a sharp lesson! He very nearly made me drop these unfortunate kittens, mauling me about in that detestable way! There is *nothing* I dislike more!'

'I agree that he needs a lesson. I should rather suppose it to have been his first attempt. He ought, of course, to have got rid of the livestock,' said Damerel, taking the basket out of her hand, and setting it down, 'for while you were preoccupied with their safety what could he expect but a rebuff? ~ Georgette Heyer

I've spent a lot of words on my own mortality. ~ Elizabeth Edwards

...it's just a matter of time, and the words, before you return to me, knowing, in fact, that the possibility of our ever being together will require an altogether less linear, less knowable set of possibilities, an alchemy of which I am neither the scientist nor the author. (p. 150) ~ Tahmima Anam

In all his writing he had tried to reconcile the words "reason," "logic" and "science" with the words "God," "faith" and "Qur'an," and he had not succeeded, even though he used with great subtlety the argument from kindness, ~ Salman Rushdie

Defending democracy also sounds fine; but to defend democracy by military means, one must be militarily efficient and one cannot become militarily efficient without centralizing power, setting up a tyranny, imposing some form of conscription or slavery to the state. In other words, the miltary defence of democracy in contemporary circumstances entails the abolition of democracy even before war starts. ~ Aldous Huxley

Nina, I gave you my oath."
"But - "
"Your enemies are my enemies, and I will stand with you against any foe - including this accursed drug."
She shook her head as if he was speaking nonsense. "I don't want you to be with me because of an oath, or because you think you need to protect me, or because you think you owe me some stupid blood debt."
"Nina - " he started, then stopped. "Nina, I am with you because you let me be with you. There is no greater honor than to stand by your side."
"Honor, duty. I get it."
Her temper he could bear, but her disappointment was unacceptable. Matthias knew only the language of war. He did not have the words for this. "Meeting you was a disaster."
She raised a brow. "Thank you."
Djel, he was terrible at this. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Just trust me." "Only three words worry me more," the gorgon muttered. "Oh?" "Hold my beer." I snickered. ~ R.J. Blain

If you want to understand your emotions, the rationale behind your words so that you can treat the source of your struggles; Tarot is the solution. ~ Anujj Elviis

All I have is withering perception. Women write diaries in the hope that their words will beckon fate. ~ James Ellroy

Don't forget to apologize. First with words. Then with your tongue. ~ Helen Hoang

Be careful you don't cut yourself. The edges are sharp enough to shave with.'
'Girls don't shave', Arya said.
'Maybe they should. Have you ever seen the septa's legs? ~ George R R Martin

Composing computer programs to solve scientific problems is like writing poetry. You must choose every word with care and link it with the other words in perfect syntax. There is no place for verbosity or carelessness. To become fluent in a computer lnaguage demands almost the antithesis of modern loose thinking. It requires many interactive sessions, the hands-on use of the device. You do not learn a foreign language from a book, rather you have to live in the country for year to let the langauge become an automatic part of you, and the same is true for computer languages. ~ James Lovelock

All the feeling which my father could not put into words was in his hand-any dog, child or horse would recognize the kindness of it. ~ Freya Stark

If education is about the communication of values, or meaningful information, and of wisdom and of tradition, between persons and across generations, it is important to know that it can only take place in the heart; that is, in the center of the human person. A voice from the lungs is not enough to carry another along with the meaning of our words. The voice has to carry with it the warmth and living fire of the heart around which the lungs are wrapped.2 ~ Stratford Caldecott

No, he had to remember she was an assassin with the blessing of a pretty face and sharp wits. She washed her hands with blood, and was just as likely to slit his throat as offer him a kind word. ~ Sarah J. Maas

Then we were quiet. Quiet isn't easy. Especially with virtual strangers. They say that nature hates a vacuum, and so it's kind of natural to want to fill up a human silence with words - any kind of lame words. But there was such a feeling of space around us that my first self-conscious word died long before I ever felt it on my tongue. ~ Kristen D. Randle

What people had had shed and left
a pair of shoes, a shooting cap, some faded skirts and coats in wardrobes
those alone kept the human shape and in the emptiness indicated how once they were filled and animated; how once hands were busy with hooks and buttons; how once the looking-glass had held a face; had held a world hollowed out in which a figure turned, a hand flashed, the door opened, in came children rushing and tumbling; and went out again. Now, day after day, light turned, like a flower reflected in water, its sharp image on the wall opposite. Only the shadows of the trees, flourishing in the wind, made obeisance on the wall, and for a moment darkened the pool in which light reflected itself; or birds, flying, made a soft spot flutter slowly across the bedroom floor. ~ Virginia Woolf

A writer lives in awe of words, for they can be cruel or kind, and they can change their meanings right in front of you. They pick up flavors and odors like butter in a refrigerator. ~ John Steinbeck

You come into this world, not knowing who you are, and sometimes, if you live long enough, you go out not knowing who you are. ~ Jonathan Winters

Those people who say that words have no power know nothing of the nature of words. Words, well placed, can end a regime; can turn affection to hatred; can start a religion or even a war. Words are the shepherds of lies; they lead the best of us to the slaughter. ~ Joanne Harris

I know already that I will return to this day whenever I want to. I can bid it alive. Preserve it. There is a still point where the present, the now, winds around itself, and nothing is tangled. The river is not where it begins or ends, but right in the middle point, anchored by what has happened and what is to arrive. You can close your eyes and there will be a light snow falling in New York, and seconds later you are sunning upon a rock in Zacapa, and seconds later still you are surfing through the Bronx on the strength of your own desire. There is no way to find a word to fit around this feeling. Words resist it. Words give it a pattern it does not own. Words put it in time. They freeze what cannot be stopped. Try to describe the taste of a peach. Try to describe it. Feel the rush of sweetness: we make love. ~ Colum McCann

For all their reputation for chattiness and storytelling, the Irish I knew were so skillful with words there was sometimes no need for them at all. ~ Camille DeAngelis

Confidence creates courage. ~ Lailah Gifty Akita