Short Piece Quotes

He often said he had to be a writer because he wasn't good at anything else. He was not good at being an employee. Back in the mid-1950's, he was employed for Sports Illustrated, briefly. He reported back to work, was asked to write a short piece on a racehorse that jumped over a fence and tried to run away. Kurt stared at the blank piece of paper all morning and then typed, "The horse jumped over the fucking fence," and walked out, self-employed again. ~ Mark Vonnegut

A short piece of work means as much to me as a long piece of work. ~ Harold Pinter

The concepts of health and sickness, good and evil, better and worse, have the same use and relation to life as those of long and short, high and low to carpentry: even a short piece of wood can be three inches long. Even cancer is called a growth, and when Ramana Maharshi was dying of cancer he resisted the doctors,
saying, "It wants to grow, too. Let it." This is, perhaps, an extreme example of renunciation - not of love
or energy - but of willing right as against wrong, and thus of renouncing one's own separateness from
everything that happens, which is what Tillich called "the courage to be. ~ Alan W. Watts

It could snow
We don't take care. The end of November came without coldness, with haunting and limp rains, pretty much leaves still laying anywhere on the sidewalks. It comes a morning with another grey, compact, closed, air changes its texture. Under the pharmacy green cross the thermometer sticks, in red, two degrees. The number, a bit blurred thins down in the space. We didn't expect it, but it grows, far inside us, the little sentence. It comes to the lips like a forgotten song: "It could snow …" We should not dare to mention it in loud voice, it is still so much autumn, all could finish in a stupid freezing sudden shower, in a fog of boredom. But the idea of a possible snow came back, it's what matters. No downhill in a sledge-trash-bag, no snowman, no children shouting,no pictures of landscape metamorphosis. Largely best then all that, because the essential snow is inside the unformulated. Before. Something we didn't know we knew. Before snow, before love, the same lack, the same dimmed grey which days' triteness creates pretending to suffocate.
We shall cross somebody:
-This time it's almost winter!
-Yes we start to be crestfallen!
Workers hang pieces of tinsel. We didn't say too much. Especially do not frighten away the slight shade of the idea. The red thermometer went down, one degree. It could snow. ~ Philippe Delerm

I heard today (April 5) was the day Kurt passed away 17 years ago. Can't believe it's been that long. So grateful for his contribution and inspiration. Not sure I'd be doing this if it weren't for him. He gave us all permission to create no matter what our skill set and reminded me that dreams are possible. Thanks for that. This made me recall a short piece of film I shot when I heard they were making a film celebrating his life. I made it to explore the character and explore creative possibilities. I never sent it to the studio or to anyone but thought I'd share it now ~ Jared Leto

She wrote a long letter on a short piece of paper ~ Travel Schedule

The encore is the short piece after the program has finished, where the performer brings out something that the audience doesn't expect. ~ Hilary Hahn

You should not try to live without thinking and feeling, for then you are only a piece of machinery, not a human being. Even if it hurts. Even if the thing you have to think of are sad, think them through; live them through and write or tell me. Only when we completely work through our thinking and feeling do we live a full life. ~From a letter to Diet Eman from Hein Sietsma ~ Diet Eman

Nothing in the air but
clouds. nothing in the air but
rain. each man's life too short to
find meaning and
all the books almost a
waste.
I sit and listen to them
singing
I sit and listen to
them. ~ Charles Bukowski

So the programs all start to all look the same. I watched one free skating competition, and I thought I was watching a short program. Everyone was doing exactly the same elements. ~ Brian Boitano

Into the novel goes such taste as I have for rational behaviour and social portraiture. The short story, as I see it to be, allows for what is crazy about humanity: obstinacies, inordinate heroisms, immortal longings. ~ Elizabeth Bowen

If you're a short-seller, that's a cacophony of negative reinforcement. You're basically told that you're wrong in every way imaginable every day. It takes a certain type of individual to drown that noise and negative reinforcement out and to remind oneself that their work is accurate and what they're hearing is not. ~ James Chanos

I bailed out on social media for a while, and in short order I found I was able to sit down and read a book again. For the first time in a couple years I could read more than three pages without my brain wandering off into the ether. I drew a direct causal line between all this sort of ratta-tat-tat staccato stimulation that we get from the Internet and my growing inability to sit down and read anything that was longer than 500 words. But for me it came back because those synapses were already latent in my brain. ~ Ron Currie Jr.

When someone entrusts their heart to you they are giving you a piece of their soul. You cannot treat the soul casually. You must protect, nurture and handle it with care. ~ Iyanla Vanzant

Tax incentives might spur hiring in the short run, but how lasting are those gains if the jobs expire with the tax credits and they come at the expense of investing in the new technologies of the future? ~ Myron Scholes

If life was a piece of cake, it wouldn't be worth eating! ~ Christopher Jones

Cian smiled a little, but it didn't reach those cool blue eyes. 'Whether it's by violence or nature, the result is the same. I've seen more death than you, more than you ever will. But still, you've seen more than most humans have or will. And that separates us, you and me, from the rest.'

'We don't have any choice about that.'

'Oh, of course we do. I know a bit about loneliness, and what can chase it back, even for the short run. ~ Dance Of The Gods

There are like to be short graces where the devil plays host. ~ Charles Lamb

I tend to be drawn to people who are similar. Very independent. And the ones who aren't, it doesn't work. It doesn't last. I'm drawn to quiet people – certainly I am now. ~ Laura Marling

I feel like life is really short, and it's important to enjoy yourself and embrace whatever comes your way, whether it's a challenging day or a great day, just welcome it with open arms. No matter who you are, you can't escape challenges; they are part of life. ~ Miranda Kerr

The simple action of pulling her body against his was strangely satisfying, like a puzzle piece snapping neatly into place. She gave a low cry, automatically clutching at his arm. The loose lock of fine blond hair blew across Nick's face, and the fresh, faintly salty fragrance of female skin rose to his nostrils. The scent made his mouth water. Nick was startled by his instant reaction to her- he had never experienced such a visceral response to a woman. He wanted to leap from the wall and carry her off like one of the wolves that had once roamed the medieval forests, and find some place to devour his prey in private. ~ Lisa Kleypas

To know India and her peoples, one has to know the monsoon. one has to know the monsoon. It is not enough to read about it in books, or see it on the cinema screen, or hear someone talk about it. It has to be a personal experience because nothing short of living through it can fully convey all it means to a people for whom it is not only the source of life, but also their most exciting impact with nature. ~ Khushwant Singh

The creature called man has a strange history. He is not of one piece, nor was he born of a single moment in time. His elementary substance is stardust almost as old as the universe. ~ Loren Eiseley

There's only a short walk from the hallelujah to the hoot. ~ William Kennedy

A piano is like no other instrument, or any item for that matter, you will purchase. As a musical instrument it should be pleasing to the touch and the ear, and as a piece of furniture - a large one at that - it can enhance the elegance or warmth of a room. A piano is a marvel of both old-fashioned handcrafting and high-tech ingenuity. It has so many intricate, moving parts that your head may spin when trying to learn how it works, let alone when buying one. ~ Marty C. Flinn

If you run out of gas, get a man to pee in your tank. Thanks mom, for that timeless piece of wisdom. My car exploded, ok? ~ Grace Feldman

I'm serious!" the bearded guy said. With his eyes bright like that, Nicky saw that he wasn't as old as he had seemed at first. She wasn't used to seeing young guys with beards. "I know it was ego too, and they didn't think of it like that, exactly - but that's the beautiful thing about it. It was all accidental, kinda. And to get to your question, the traditional graf scene died out with the flashing technology. 'Cause it was super hard to get paint, and even if you did get a piece up it'd be flashed off in a second. There were a few writers who got into flash pieces- ~ Jim Munroe

He called me a piece of cow poop!"
"Oh, really?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah! I was just talking to him, and he was all, 'Bull crap! ~ Kenzie Western

There is enough for everyone to have what they need without exploitation. Adequate distribution of resources, including education, without violence can lead to a sustainable system that doesn't stress the ecosphere. Alternately, continued violence feeds population surges and hoarding the products of exploitative extraction, which endanger the survival of our species. In short, if we want a future with humans on Earth, we've got to stop war. ~ Vern Huffman

Don't be afraid to make mistakes. But if you do, make new ones. Life is too short to make the wrong choice twice. ~ Joyce Rachelle

I walked out on American Gangster: this evil piece of dreck. Defenders of this junk say that these movies give Black actors jobs. So did "Birth of a Nation." ~ Ishmael Reed

If I'm wrong, and you find yourself in an organization where sucking up is in fact a good way to get ahead, look for a new job. It's not a quality organization after all, no matter how glittering its public reputation may be. Life is too short to work there. ~ Charles Murray

I'm here for you in the same way that you're here for me, each person is an intricate piece of infinity. ~ Eyedea

The problem with many to-do lists is that when we write down a series of short-term objectives, we are, in effect, allowing our brains to seize on the sense of satisfaction that each task will deliver. We are encouraging our need for closure and our tendency to freeze on a goal without asking if it's the right aim. ~ Charles Duhigg

A ballplayer spends a good piece of his life gripping a baseball, and in the end it turns out that it was the other way around all the time. ~ Jim Bouton

What she revealed was not sexy lingerie, but a supportive piece of athletic equipment. After the consolation match that preceded the championship game, both Brazilian and Norwegian players removed their jerseys and exchanged them on the floor of the Rose Bowl. Chastain had previously removed her jersey after regulation to air it out. While training in Florida, the players frequently doffed their shirts after practice in the smothering heat, and they sometimes gave interviews in their sports bras, which were items of utility, not titillation. Chastain 'has brought instant attention to a piece of clothing that is humble and practical, not a traditional bra of shine and lace and cleavage, but a sturdy compression garment,' wrote Ann Gerhart of the Washington Post. 'The sports bra is the cloth symbol of Title IX's success. ~ Jere Longman

I have a piece of great and sad news to tell you: I am dead. ~ Jean Cocteau

I shop at a lot of vintage stores because the prices are amazing, and I love the idea that there's a history behind the piece I'm wearing. ~ Gabrielle Anwar

I have only known you about five months. But you know every piece of my life, all the ugly details. Now I'm asking you to trust me with yours - not because I want to know your stuff, but because I want to know you. What made you this amazing woman that you are, this woman that I've grown to admire and love. I want to know her story. ~ Denise Hildreth Jones

Don't worry, be crappy. Revolutionary means you ship and then test ... Lots of things made the first Mac in 1984 a piece of crap - but it was a revolutionary piece of crap. ~ Guy Kawasaki

The chauffeur drove them home from the hospital, maneuvering the amphibious limousine smoothly through the waist-deep canals in the Back Bay neighborhood. When he pulled to a stop and popped the roof hatch, the oppressive heat stung Cacy's tear-streaked face. The driver held out a hand to lift her onto the dock. She ignored it and scrambled out by herself, her sundress fanning out around her skinny, bruised legs. Her father, elegant and lean in his miraculously unwrinkled three-piece, climbed out after her. ~ Sarah Fine

Her initial need to confide in someone arose from the first disappointments of her sensuality, emerging as naturally as the first satisfactions of love normally emerge. She had not as yet known love. A short time later she suffered from it, which is the only manner in which we get to know it. ~ Marcel Proust

It is remarkable that a gigantic, city-size computer is required to simulate a piece of human tissue that weighs three pounds, fits inside your skull, raises your body temperature by only a few degrees, uses twenty watts of power, and needs only a few hamburgers to keep it going. ~ Michio Kaku

Tools may be animate as well as inanimate; for instance, a ship's captain uses a lifeless rudder, but a living man for watch; for a servant is, from the point of view of his craft, categorized as one of its tools. So any piece of property can be regarded as a tool enabling a man to live, and his property is an assemblage of such tools; a slave is a sort of living piece of property; and like any other servant is a tool in charge of other tools. ~ Aristotle.

I'll become a doctor who can cure any disease! Because... because there's no disease in this world that can't be cured! ~ Tony Chopper

I wonder now, with everything said and done, if things would have been different had I remembered what the Tree had told me. Would I have made the same decisions, the same mistakes? Where would I be, had I remembered? Had I listened? I have learned in my short time here on this world that we as humans are all capable of a great many things, our minds able to process so much. Too much, really.
But our greatest curse, our greatest folly, if you will, is our ability of hindsight.
Of regret.
Oh, Seven. How I wish I would have known. ~ T.J. Klune

The only thing worse than his arrogance was his incompetence. He was a bully, behaving like an ass. I saw Angel though, not him. The memorial was right there, just outside the window. It's in the flowers, and it makes me angry. Angel liked to sit on the couch, watch TV, eat chips. She hated outside. Maybe I should have been a bully and an ass to Angel's parents. Maybe Angel and Grace would still be alive if I'd behaved like this piece of shit teacher. ~ Tucker Elliot

Good profiles mentioned characteristics that would probably be true for all of us, such as: "I want someone who will make me laugh." About Me sections with fewer than a hundred words tend to be clearly popular. Short profiles that express just enough information to pique someone's interest work best. ~ Amy Webb

Lying next to him, feeling the steady rise and fall of his chest, hearing his slow shallow breathing - I knew. I knew if there was anyone I was capable of giving the remaining piece of my heart to, it was him.
It was Roman. ~ Katie Fox

I reason, earth is short, And anguish absolute, And many hurt; But what of that? I reason, we could die: The best vitality Cannot excel decay; But what of that? I reason that in heaven Somehow, it will be even, Some new equation given; But what of that? ~ Emily Dickinson

You do a film for a short time period - you put it all out there and move on. ~ Jessica Szohr

I never like to think that I design for a particular person. I design for the woman I wanted to be, the woman I used to be, and - to some degree - the woman I'm still a little piece of. ~ Diane Von Furstenberg

One of your many jobs as manager is information conduit, and the rules are deceptively simple: for each piece of information you see, you must correctly determine who on your team needs that piece of information to do their job. ~ Rands

I started off doing fiction in 1993. It didn't occur to me to do nonfiction because it wasn't a thing yet. So I was bumbling around, writing short stories, and then I took a nonfiction workshop, and I realized that this was what I was supposed to do. ~ Meghan Daum