“
I'm rightly tired of the pain I hear and feel, boss. I'm tired of bein on the road, lonely as a robin in the rain. Not never havin no buddy to go on with or tell me where we's comin from or goin to or why. I'm tired of people bein ugly to each other. It feels like pieces of glass in my head. I'm tired of all the times I've wanted to help and couldn't. I'm tired of bein in the dark. Mostly it's the pain. There's too much. If I could end it, I would. But I can't.
”
”
Stephen King (The Green Mile)
“
I'm sorry, I says.
Fer what? he says.
Fer always bein ... you know ... so-
Ungrateful? he says.
Yeah, I says.
Ornery?
I guess so.
Rude? Pig-headed? Violent?
I ain't violent!
Oh yes, you are. Very. But I like that in a woman.
I laugh. Yer crazy, I says.
I was fine till I met you, he says.
”
”
Moira Young (Blood Red Road (Dust Lands, #1))
“
Where's the pleasure in bein' the winner if the loser ain't alive to know they've lost?
”
”
Terry Pratchett (Witches Abroad (Discworld, #12; Witches, #3))
“
A vegetarian? Are you insane? That's worse than bein' a quarter demon!
”
”
Kami Garcia (Beautiful Darkness (Caster Chronicles, #2))
“
My doctor told me to watch my drinking. Now I drink in front of a mirror.
”
”
Rodney Dangerfield (It's Not Easy Bein' Me: A Lifetime of No Respect but Plenty of Sex and Drugs)
“
Bein friends is like being soldiers in the army. You live together, you fight together; you die together.
”
”
Ron Hall (Same Kind of Different as Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together)
“
Bein Crazy
is the least of my worries.
”
”
Jack Kerouac (Book of Blues)
“
Basil Hallward is what I think I am: Lord Henry what the world thinks me: Dorian what I would like to be—in other ages, perhaps.
”
”
Oscar Wilde
“
<…>"You're part-goof all class. Never walked in a room, any room, with a woman on my arm, any woman, who's got your looks, your style, the kinda beauty you got and the light that shines from you. So I don't get it. I don't get how a woman leads a life full of shit and comes out of it bein' part-goof and all class. That shit's impossible but there you fuckin' are. Part-goof, all class."
I felt my breath coming fast but managed to whisper, "I'm not part-goof."
"You're right. I was bein' nice. You're a total goof."
"Am not"
"Babe, you call me 'hubby'," he pointed out but my breath came faster because he called me "babe" again.
"You are my hubby."
"No one says hubby," he told me.
"I do," I told him.
"All right, I'll rephrase. No one but a goof says hubby."….<…>
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Lady Luck (Colorado Mountain, #3))
“
You say that you people don’t burn folk and sacrifice people anymore, but that’s what true faith would mean, y’see? Sacrificin’ your own life, one day at a time, to the flame, declarin’ the truth of it, workin’ for it, breathin’ the soul of it. That’s religion. Anything else is just . . . is just bein’ nice. And a way of keepin’ in touch with the neighbors.
”
”
Terry Pratchett (Carpe Jugulum (Discworld, #23; Witches, #6))
“
I ain't...Don't know how to say it up right. Never--Fuck, Chess. Thought you was dead once before, you recall? Never felt so bad in my life, not ever. Then on the other day, thought you was gone and just....I can't do it, bein without you.
”
”
Stacia Kane (Chasing Magic (Downside Ghosts, #5))
“
i loved you on purpose
i was open on purpose
i still crave vulnerability & close talk
& i'm not even sorry bout you bein sorry
you can carry all the guilt & grime ya wanna
just dont give it to me
i cant use another sorry
next time
you should admit
you're mean/ low-down/ triflin/ & no count straight out
steada bein sorry alla the time
enjoy bein yrself
”
”
Ntozake Shange (For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf)
“
How into you do you think I am?”
“Honey, you crawled around on all fours in a pet store, totally unable to cope with bein’ in my space. You’re seriously into me.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Raid (Unfinished Hero, #3))
“
Indian believes they ain't but two sins... bein a coward... and turnin agin yer own kind.
”
”
Forrest Carter (The Outlaw Josey Wales (The Classic Film Collection))
“
Baby, just ‘cuz you’re cute doesn’t mean I wasn’t bein’ serious about spankin’ your tight little ass for doin’ dumb shit, Ritz. You do it again, and you’re gonna get it.
”
”
Mariana Zapata (Under Locke)
“
Ain’t the best prayin’ jest bein’ with God and talkin’ a while, like He’s a good friend, stead a-like he runs a store and you’ve come in a-hopin’ to git a bargain?
”
”
Olive Ann Burns (Cold Sassy Tree)
“
Of course I am,” Wax said. “This is my second marriage. I’m an old hand at the practice by now.” Wayne grinned. “Oh, is that how it works? ’Cuz in my experience, marryin’ is the one thing people seem to get worse at the more they do it. Well, that and bein’ alive.
”
”
Brandon Sanderson (The Bands of Mourning (Mistborn, #6))
“
I’m not going anywhere until you hear me out.”
Oh, please no. Anything except having to listen to her lecture. I push the button that calls the nurse.
“Can we help you, Alex?” a voice bellows through the speaker.
“I’m bein’ tortured.
”
”
Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1))
“
Darlin’, we live in a fuckin’ cesspool of shit and dirty-ass motherfuckers, but if you found somethin’ good and true, somethin’ that you can bank on bein’ there for you when everything else is fallin’ apart around you, whoever it is, I’m good with it.
”
”
Madeline Sheehan (Unbeautifully (Undeniable, #2))
“
Day in, day out, you peel the layers back for me. Smart mouth, funny, sweet, wild in bed. Chattin' with bikers like they were insurance brokers. Holdin' my girl's hand, givin' her strength when her Mom's bein' a bitch. Keepin' your chin up when your people show in the middle of a full blown drama. But so fuckin' vulnerable, you're scared shitless of livin' life."
"You don't know me, Tack."
His head came up and his eyes pierced mine. "I know you, Tyra."
"You don't."
"Life's a roller coaster. Best damn ride in the park. You don't close your eyes, hold on and wait for it to be over, babe. You keep your eyes open, lift your hands straight up in the air and enjoy the ride for as long as it lasts.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Motorcycle Man (Dream Man, #4))
“
Oh, bein' young ain't easy 'cos ev'rythin' you're puzzlin'n'anxin' you're puzzlin'n'anxin' it for the first time.
”
”
David Mitchell (Cloud Atlas)
“
to me a mountain is a buddha. think of the patience, hundreds of thousands of years just sittin there bein perfectly perfectly silent and like praying for all living creatures in that silence and just waitin for us to stop all our frettin and foolin." japhy got out the tea, chinese tea, and sprinkled some in the tin pot, and had the fire going meanwhile...and pretty soon the water was boiling and he poured it out steaming into the tin pot and we had cups of tea with our tin cups...
"remember that book i told you about the first sip is joy and the second is gladness, the third is serenity, the fourth is madness, the fifth is ecstasy.
”
”
Jack Kerouac (The Dharma Bums)
“
And sometimes before I went to sleep I'd think: This is how, this is how you pay off bein' a bitch. And it ain't no use sayin' if you haven't been a bitch you wouldn't have had to pay. Because sometimes the world makes you be a bitch.When it's all doom and dark outside and only you inside to first make a light and then tend it, you have to be a bitch.
”
”
Stephen King (Dolores Claiborne)
“
Somewhere out there is a true and living prophet of destruction and I dont want to confront him. I know he's real. I have seen his work. I walked in front of those eyes once. I wont do it again. I wont push my chips forward and stand up and go out to meet him. It aint just bein older. I wish that it was. I cant say that it's even what you are willin to do. Because I always knew that you had to be willin to die to even do this job. That was always true. Not to sound glorious about it or nothin but you do. If you aint they'll know it. They'll see it in a heartbeat. I think it is more like what you are willin to become. And I think a man would have to put his soul at hazard. And I wont do that.
”
”
Cormac McCarthy (No Country for Old Men)
“
Bein' rich is having leftovers. Good leftovers make yo' tongue fly outta yo' mouth and smack yo' brains out.
”
”
Paula H. Deen
“
but bein alive & bein a woman & bein colored is a metaphysical
dilemma/ i havent conquered yet/ do you see the point
my spirit is too ancient to understand the separation of soul & gender/ my love is too delicate to have thrown back on my face
my love is too delicate to have thrown back on my face
my love is too beautiful to have thrown back on my face
my love is too sanctified to have thrown back on my face
my love is too magic to have thrown back on my face
my love is too saturday nite to have thrown back on my face
my love is too complicated to have thrown back on my face
my love is too music to have thrown back on my face
”
”
Ntozake Shange (For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf)
“
Cause you piss me off. You make me laugh. You make me think. You’re absolutely fine with me bein’ nothin’ but me. You’re fuckin’ gorgeous. You’re a great lay. And you like my dog.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Kaleidoscope (Colorado Mountain, #6))
“
Fraya says it means you’re a woman.” “Why we have to bleed to earn it?” Flossie slammed her fists on the mattress. “What happens when we get old and it stops? What then? We stop bein’ a woman? Ain’t the blood that defines us. It’s our soul.
”
”
Tiffany McDaniel (Betty)
“
I seen it over an' over—a guy talkin' to another guy and it don't make no difference if he don't hear or understand. The thing is, they're talkin', or they're settin' still not talkin'. It don't make no difference, no difference. [...] George can tell you screwy things, and it don't matter. It's just the talking. It's just bein' with another guy. That's all.
”
”
John Steinbeck (Of Mice and Men)
“
It’s not right,” he said, “to hate somethin’ just for bein’ alive.
”
”
Robert McCammon (Boy's Life)
“
I love you,” he declared. “Loved you then. Love you now. Never quit lovin’ you in a way I know I never will. You were it for me, the only one, the only woman I ever loved, and you never quit bein’ it.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Walk Through Fire (Chaos, #4))
“
because it’s my job. It’s how I make my living. And I’ll tell you somethin’ else: It’s damn hard work bein’ a girl full
”
”
John Berendt (Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil)
“
Now, let’s go back to me bein’ like chocolate that melts in your mouth.”
“That isn’t exactly what I meant,” I told him, his arms went around me and he rolled to his back, taking me with him. Then his hand sifted into my hair, fisted gently and my head came up.
“I would hope not, darlin’, seein’ as every time you take me in your mouth, the last thing I do is melt.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Wild Man (Dream Man, #2))
“
I simply want to tell you that there are some men in this world who were born to do our unpleasant jobs for us. Your father’s one of them.”
“Oh,” said Jem. “Well.”
“Don’t you oh well me, sir,” Miss Maudie replied, recognizing Jem’s fatalistic noises, “you are not old enough to appreciate what I said.”
Jem was staring at his half-eaten cake. “It’s like bein’ a caterpillar in a cocoon, that’s what it is,” he said. “Like somethin’ asleep wrapped up in a warm place. I always thought Maycomb folks were the best folks in the world, least that’s what they seemed like.”
“We’re the safest folks in the world,” said Miss Maudie. “We’re so rarely called on to be Christians, but when we are, we’ve got men like Atticus to go for us.
”
”
Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird)
“
Love is solid. Constant. If you’re not careful, you might mistake it for bein’ boring because it’s so reliable.
”
”
J.T. Geissinger (Burn for You (Slow Burn, #1))
“
...Don't ever worry bout bein holy, babychild. Just keep your eyes wide open except when you sleep. Then let the Lord's mighty vision see you through the night.
”
”
Rebecca Wells (Little Altars Everywhere)
“
Thank ye."
“For what?"
“For bein’ who ye are."
Gabby chuckled and shook her head, saying, “And who else could I be?
”
”
Patricia Grasso (Courting an Angel (Devereux Family, #5))
“
Not sure I get why this shit’s a secret but you two bein’ just a hookup is not where that’s at. Unless you’re going’for the all-time record of longest hookup, and, just a head’s up, brother, there’s another way people refer to that shit and it’s called a relationship.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Fire Inside (Chaos, #2))
“
Bein' born is craps," he decided. He glanced at Morg and let loose that sly, lopsided smile of his. "How we live is poker.
”
”
Mary Doria Russell (Doc)
“
Life's a short trip. You'll find out.
”
”
Rodney Dangerfield (It's Not Easy Bein' Me: A Lifetime of No Respect but Plenty of Sex and Drugs)
“
Seems like it's peaceful, just bein' in a country that lays the way you remember it layin
”
”
William Gay (Provinces of Night)
“
Bein’ a soldier is not hard. If it was, soldiers would not be able to do it.
”
”
Terry Pratchett (Monstrous Regiment (Discworld, #31))
“
Bein transgender is who you are, and the pain is what the outside does to you. The pain is what happens when you and the world go at each other's throats.
”
”
Andrew Joseph White (Hell Followed With Us)
“
What just happened was somethin’ that was bigger than all that. It was bigger than everything. I had a taste of you four years ago that I could never get off my tongue. Now, I’ve tasted more of you with more than just my mouth and I know I wanna keep it in a way I Don’t want to think of it ever bein’ done. Not in a few weeks. Not in a few months. Maybe not ever.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Own the Wind (Chaos, #1))
“
It's easier bein' a boy, 'cause when someone needs somethin' done like holdin' a horse, they'll always pick a boy 'cause they think the dumbest boy will be better at it than the brightest girl, which is stupid, but there you are.
”
”
L.A. Meyer (Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy (Bloody Jack, #1))
“
There's not a stratum of the world that doesn't need girls. Maybe we're devalued precisely because we're so valuable. The world is too afraid of not bein able to obtain and control us to respect our true worth.
”
”
Xiran Jay Zhao (Iron Widow (Iron Widow, #1))
“
We're bein cut asunder, Lugh an me.
Bit
By bit.
An it makes me think.
It makes me wonder.
Is this how he feels when he sees me with Jack? Do I look at Jack the way Lugh looks at Maev?
Helpess.
Throat bared.
Hopeless.
”
”
Moira Young (Rebel Heart (Dust Lands, #2))
“
You’re a pig,” I whispered back. “You know that, right?”
“So far bein’ a pig works for me, babe,” he said. “Gotta go now. Check out the college. Hit the clinic and get some pills. Don’t call your brother. Cook something fuckin’ great for dinner and don’t wear any panties. That’s all I ask.
”
”
Joanna Wylde (Reaper's Property (Reapers MC, #1))
“
Tell all my mourners
To mourn in red-
Cause there ain't no sense
In my bein' dead.
”
”
Langston Hughes (Selected Poems)
“
If that’s what bein’ bad does to you, Nanny thought, I could of done with some of that years ago. The wages of sin is death but so is the salary of virtue, and at least the evil get to go home early on Fridays.
”
”
Terry Pratchett (Witches Abroad (Discworld, #12))
“
...most of what bein human's about is making choices and payin the bills when they come due. Some of the choices are pretty goddam nasty, but that don't give a person leave to just walk away from em... In a case like that, you just have to make the best choice you can n then pay the price.
”
”
Stephen King (Dolores Claiborne)
“
I have zero fuckin’ interest in bein’ your plaything, babe. I’m not a trained monkey; I won’t scratch your itch just because you twitch your delectable ass in my direction,” he warned, palming her throbbing buttock and squeezing forcefully. “Friends with benefits,” he sneered at her, “isn’t going to happen for us. You want my cock…you take my heart, too. It’s a mother-fuckin’ package deal,
”
”
Sarah O'Rourke (Tangled Hearts (Passion in Paradise, #3.5))
“
You’re worth fucking all that.” I stared at him as that warmth swept through me again but I replied, “It’s foolish.” “You’re worth bein’ that too.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (The Will (Magdalene, #1))
“
Es macht gar nichts, wenn man ein krankes Bein hat. Denn im Land der Dämmerung kann man fliegen.
”
”
Astrid Lindgren
“
<…>Tate fell silent.
Ty didn't.
"Since the day I was released, you knocked yourself out. You had my back, you took care of Lexie when we had our thing then you did what you could to help me sort that. It's important to me that you know I'm grateful. I've been tryin' to figure out how I can show how much but, keep thinkin' on it, nothin' comes to mind and I know why. I get it. You're a man who has everything so there is nothing I can hand you that you want or need. And I get that because I am now that same man. So the only thing I can give you are words and, my guess is, that'll be enough. If it isn't, you name it and it's yours."
"Friends do what I did for friends," Tate returned.
"No they don't, Tate. You did what you did for me because you're you. That's what I'm talkin' about."
Tate ws silent a moment then he said, "Well then, you guessed right. Words are enough."
Ty nodded.
Tate tipped his head to the side and asked jokingly, "We done with the near-midnight in the middle of fuckin' nowhere heart-to-heart?"
Ty didn't feel like joking and answered, "No."
"Then what -?"
"Love you, man," Ty interrupted quietly.
"Learned the hard way not to delay in expressing that sentiment so I'm not gonna delay. You call me brother and I got one who's blood who don't mean shit to me and today, all this shit done, rejoicing and reflecting, it hit me that I got two who aren't blood but who do mean something. And you're one of those two."
"Ty-" Tate murmured.
"I will never forget, until I die, what you did for me and my wife and until that day I will never stop bein' grateful."
"Fuck man," Tate whispered.
"Now, do those words work so you get what you did mean to me?"
Silence then, "Yeah, they work."
"Good, then now we're done with our near-midnight, middle of fuckin' nowhere heart-to-heart," Ty declared, turned, opened the door to the Viper and started folding in.
He stopped with his ass nearly to the seat and looked up over the door when Tate called his name.
"I don't have a blood brother," Tate said. "But you should know there's a reason I call you that."<…>
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Lady Luck (Colorado Mountain, #3))
“
Once upon uh time, Ah never ’spected nothin’, Tea Cake, but bein’ dead from the standin’ still and tryin’ tuh laugh. But you come ’long and made somethin’ outa me. So Ah’m thankful fuh anything we come through together.” “Thanky, Ma’am.
”
”
Zora Neale Hurston (Their Eyes Were Watching God)
“
I don't think Michelle [Obama:] minds bein our new muse. I think she gets it. We little brown girls - drunk off The Cosby Show, sobered up by life, and a little suicidal - we need her.
”
”
Helena Andrews (Bitch Is the New Black: A Memoir)
“
I couldn’t understand how one human bein’ could do that to another. I couldn’t understand that kind of hate. I mean … what road do you take to get there? What is it that has to get inside you and twist your soul so much you can take a human life as easily as flickin’ a fly?
”
”
Robert McCammon (Boy's Life)
“
Why is it a girl has to be so silly to catch a husband?”
“Ah specs it’s kase gempmums doan know whut dey wants. Dey jes’ knows whut dey thinks dey wants. An’ givin’ dem whut dey thinks
dey wants saves a pile of mizry an’ bein’ a ole maid. An’ dey thinks dey wants mousy lil gals wid bird’s tastes an’ no sense at
all. It doan make a gempmum feel lak mahyin’ a lady ef he suspicions she got mo’ sense dan he has.
”
”
Margaret Mitchell (Gone with the Wind)
“
What a doctor I’ve got—he’s really mixed up. Last week, he grabbed my knee and told me to cough. Then he hit me in the balls with a hammer.
”
”
Rodney Dangerfield (It's Not Easy Bein' Me: A Lifetime of No Respect but Plenty of Sex and Drugs)
“
A shoe decision change leads to bein' more than twenty minutes late?
"The Choos are silver. The Valentinos are a blush. Sure, the Valentinos have crystal and mesh but I'd gone gray, smoky and drama. The blush requires soft pink, glimmer and dewy. That required total cleanse off and reapplication of makeup.", I explained.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Mystery Man (Dream Man, #1))
“
The old cowboy Hershel, "You know what they say about a horse bein' only afraid of two things?"
Walt, "What's that?"
Hershel, "Things that move and things that don't
”
”
Craig Johnson (The Dark Horse (Walt Longmire, #5))
“
Not bein' right isn't always somebody's fault. Sometimes it's just a fact, like the cards you pull.
”
”
Kami Garcia (Beautiful Darkness (Caster Chronicles, #2))
“
in love: a momentary instance of bein almost interested in someone else as in oneself!
”
”
Belle de Jour (Belle de Jour: Diary of an Unlikely Call Girl (Belle De Jour #1))
“
Cuz in my experience, marryin’ is the one thing people seem to get worse at the more they do it. Well, that and bein’ alive.
”
”
Brandon Sanderson (The Bands of Mourning (Mistborn, #6))
“
The Good Book says that the meek shall inherit the earth and I expect that's probably the truth. I aint no freethinker, but I'll tell you what. I'm a long way from bein convinced that it's all that good a thing.
”
”
Cormac McCarthy (All the Pretty Horses (The Border Trilogy, #1))
“
Bit it's what bein a hard man is aw aboot; its a journey, a fucking self destructive quest tae find yir limits, cause they fuckin limits eywis come in the form ay a harder man. A big. strong, stiff hard man whae can dae it for ye, whae can teach ye, show ye whaire ye stand, where yir fuckin parameters ur.
”
”
Irvine Welsh (Porno (Mark Renton, #3))
“
Power ain’t what ya reckon it’ll be. Don’t mean ya get ta do what ya want all the time; means ya gotta do what every other fucker wants. Much better bein’ the knife in the darkness than waitin’ fer it ta come for you.
”
”
Rob J. Hayes (The Fifth Empire of Man (Best Laid Plans, #2))
“
Yeah man, you know to me a mountain is a Buddha. Think of the patience, hundreds of thousands of years just sittin there bein perfectly perfectly silent and like praying for all living creatures in that silence and just waitin for us to stop all our frettin and foolin.
”
”
Jack Kerouac (The Dharma Bums: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition))
“
Everytime ye go to jail, the probability ay ye ever becoming free fae that kind of life decreases. It's the same every time ye go back tae smack. Ye decrease yir chances of ay ever bein able tae dae withoot it.
”
”
Irvine Welsh (Trainspotting (Mark Renton, #2))
“
Is there an us?” he asked.
My breasts brushed his chest as I started breathing heavily.
“Goddamn it, Cher, is there an us?” he clipped.
“I want there to be.”
Fuck! It came out because he was freaking me out.
Fuck!
“Then there’s an us,” he declared firmly.
… “And there bein’ an us, Cher, that means you’re mine. Ethan’s mine. Are you followin’ me?
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Hold On (The 'Burg, #6))
“
Bein’ a soldier is not hard! If it was, soldiers would not be able to do it! There is only three things you need to remember, which are, viz: one obey orders two give it to the enemy good and hard three don’t die.
”
”
Terry Pratchett (Monstrous Regiment (Discworld, #31))
“
It’s like bein’ a caterpillar in a cocoon, that’s what it is ... Like somethin’ asleep wrapped up in a warm place. I always thought Maycomb folks were the best folks in the world, least that’s what they seemed like
”
”
Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird)
“
We're sistas. We treat each other like sistas. That's the blessin'. That's the problem. We come together cause we're both bein' fucked over by the same people. We get close. And then we fall in love with each other cause us third world diva gals are beautiful and blessed like none other.
”
”
Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
“
White: We were born in such a fix as this. Suffering and human destiny are the same thing. Each is a description of the other.
Black: We aint talkin about sufferin. We talkin about bein happy.
White: Well you cant be happy if you're in pain.
Black: Why not?
”
”
Cormac McCarthy (The Sunset Limited)
“
N it's fuckin well beyond violence, it's beyond even sexual; it's a kind ay love, a fuckin bizarre, vain-glorious self-adoration, way past the fuckin ego even. Ah'm findin somethin...ah'm...but it's what bein a hard man is aboot; it's a journey, a fuckin self-destructive quest tae find yir limits, cause they fuckin limits eywis come in the form ay a harder man. A big, stong, stiff-hard man whae can dae it for ye, whae can teach ye, show ye whaire ye stand, where yir fuckin parameters ur.
”
”
Irvine Welsh (Porno (Mark Renton, #3))
“
Bein' around you has always made me happy. Even when you were a baby, you were always makin' me laugh." His head tilted forward, and I barely heard him, but I did. "You still do. That's why I... that's why I'm always botherin' you. You make everything fun. Everything good. You've always been my favourite girl, kiddo. Hands down.
”
”
Mariana Zapata (Hands Down)
“
Never met a woman like you. Know I won’t again. You find somethin’ worth keepin’, you find a way to fuckin’ keep it. Not gonna stop, and just so you know, I got it that this could get you fired, that this could cause you embarrassment but what I got to say to that is this: whatever pain and ugliness I bring you by bein’ with you, I promise I’ll bring you double that in sweetness and beauty. You hear me on that, because I may be a man without a normal moral compass, but I’m a man who makes a woman a promise, and I’ll die before I break it.
”
”
Giana Darling (Lessons in Corruption (The Fallen Men, #1))
“
It’s a bad one, man. Ah sit thaire jist likes, stunned; feeling aw raw n hollowed oot fae the inside. It’s like whin you’ve been knocked back by a bird ye fancy, no thit that’s happened tae me for a long time bein wi Ali likes but, like ye’ve been intae a lassie for ages, n ye sort go, eh, awright, what aboot, likesay, you n me, likes, eh … n she goes: naw. No way. Fuck off.
”
”
Irvine Welsh (Porno (Mark Renton #3))
“
He said I was bein hard on myself. Said it was a sign of old age. Tryin to set things right. I guess there's some truth to that. But it aint the whole truth. I agreed with him that there wasnt a whole lot good you could say about old age and he said he knew one thing and I said what is that. And he said it dont last long. I waited for him to smile but he didn't. I said well, that's pretty cold. And he said it was no colder than what the facts called for. So that was all there was about that.
”
”
Cormac McCarthy (No Country for Old Men)
“
Now the mountains were getting that pink tinge, I mean the rocks, they were just solid rock covered with the atoms of dust accumulated there since beginningless time. In fact I was afraid of those jagged monstrosities all around and over our heads.
"They're so silent!" I said.
"Yeah man, you know to me a mountain is a Buddha. Think of the patience, hundreds of thousands of years just sitting there bein perfectly perfectly silent and like praying for all living creatures in that silence and just waitin for us to stop all our frettin and foolin.
”
”
Jack Kerouac (The Dharma Bums)
“
he found himself pondering what it must be like not to belong to someone. What would it feel like to be “free”? It must not be all that good or Massa Lea, like most whites, wouldn’t hate free blacks so much. But then he remembered what a free black woman who had sold him some white lightning in Greensboro had told him once. “Every one us free show y’all plantation niggers livin’ proof dat jes’ bein’ a nigger don’ mean you have to be no slave. Yo’ massa don’ never want you thinkin’ nothin’ ’bout dat.” During
”
”
Alex Haley (Roots: The Saga of an American Family)
“
Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer, a sharecropper in Ruleville, Mississippi, became legendary as organizer and speaker. She sang hymns; she walked picket lines with her familiar limp (as a child she contracted polio). She roused people to excitement at mass meetings: "I'm sick an' tired o' bein' sick an' tired!
”
”
Howard Zinn (A People’s History of the United States: 1492 - Present)
“
Eine Geschichte, ein Roman, ein Märchen - diese Dinge gleichen den Lebewesen, und vielleicht sind es sogar welche. Sie haben ihren Kopf, ihre Beine, ihren Blutkreislauf und ihren Anzug wie richtige Menschen. Und wenn ihnen die Nase im Gesicht fehlt oder wenn sie zwei verschiedene Schuhe anhaben, merkt man es bei genauem Zusehen.
”
”
Erich Kästner (Emil and the Detectives)
“
It's hard to have a serious conversation with you when you're wearin' lighted cocks on your head."
AJ defiantly thrust out her chin and the penises bobbled. "We aren't having a conversation. You're give me tough-guy attitude. If you won't acknowledge me in public, you don't have the right to chastise me for anything I do in public or in private. And now you lost the right to do anything to me in private either, bucko."
"Quit bein' so goddamm childish."
Her eyes narrowed to silver slits. "Quit bein' such a goddamn dickhead."
"You're the one with dicks on your head, baby doll."
"Yeah? I can take mine off any old time I please, but you wear your dickhead like a second skin. Or should I say as a second foreskin?
”
”
Lorelei James (Cowgirl Up and Ride (Rough Riders, #3))
“
Colonel Brandon was now as happy, as all those who best loved him, believed he deserved to be;—in Marianne he was consoled for every past affliction;—her regard and her society restored his mind to animation, and his spirits to cheerfulness; and that Marianne found her own happiness in forming his, was equally the persuasion and delight of each observing friend. Marianne could never love by halves; and her whole heart became, in time, as much devoted to her husband, as it had once been to Willoughby.
”
”
Jane Austen (Sense and Sensibility)
“
The significance of that 'absolute commandment', know thyself — whether we look at it in itself or under the historical circumstances of its first utterance — is not to promote mere self-knowledge in respect of the particular capacities, character, propensities, and foibles of the single self. The knowledge it commands means that of man's genuine reality — of what is essentially and ultimately true and real — of spirit as the true and essential bein
”
”
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
“
...just like that wild-growin’ ivy you always see climbin’ up old broken-down fences, Cory’d gone and wound himself in and around my lonely life. And I liked that there ivy, ’cause it held me together, made me feel so much stronger, all wrapped around me like that. But somehow I was just as scared of the ivy bein’ there as I was at the thought of it fallin’ loose and goin’ away.
”
”
Mia Kerick
“
They was this rich fella, an he makes like he’s poor, an they’s this rich girl, an she purtends like she’s poor too, an’ they meet in a hamburg’ stan’
Why?
I don’t know why-that’s how it was.
Why’d they purtend like they’s poor?
Well, they’re tired of bein’ rich.
Horseshit!
You want to hear this, or not?
Well, go on then. Sure, I wanta hear it, but if I was rich, if I was rich I’d get so many pork chops-I’d cord ‘em up aroun’ me like wood, an’ I’d eat my way out. Go on.
”
”
John Steinbeck (The Grapes of Wrath)
“
Jesus Christ was as perfect as a human bein’ can be, yet he got mad and fought and wept and had days of feelin’ like he couldn’t go on another step. Like when the lepers and the sick folks almost trampled him down, all of ’em beggin’ for miracles and doggin’ him till he was about miracled out. What I’m sayin’, Mr. Mackenson, is that even Jesus Christ needed help sometimes, and he wasn’t too proud to ask for it.
”
”
Robert McCammon (Boy's Life)
“
I don’t wanna be nothin’.” Tears filled his eyes again. “I’m so fuckin’ sick of bein’ nothin’, Shayla.”
“You’re’ not nothing,” I said, pulling him into a hug. His tears wet my chest. “You’re not nothing, Sean. Not even close.”
“Don’t quit talkin’ to me,” he begged.
“I won’t. Ever.”
“I want you fillin’ my head. I want it so fuckin’ bad.”
God, his pain – it became my own – I felt it. and I knew I’d feel it for as long as he did.
“You’ll never feel alone again. I promise,” I whispered.
”
”
J. Daniels (Bad for You (Dirty Deeds, #3))
“
He waved away the whiskeybottle with a smile. In this tall room, the cracked plaster sootstreaked with the shapes of laths beneath, this barrenness, this fellowship of the doomed. Where life pulsed obscenely fecund. In the drift of voices and the laughter and the reek of stale beer the Sunday loneliness seeped away.
Aint that right Suttree?
What's that?
About there bein caves all in under the city.
That's right.
What all's down there in em?
Blind slime. As above, so it is below. Suttree shrugged.
Nothing that I know of, he said. They're just some caves.
”
”
Cormac McCarthy (Suttree)
“
Tears and Smiles <3 Mrs. Randolph
Quite the character!!!
"Here’s the thing about life, boy. We meet a lot of people along this journey. Some of them are sonsabitches and some are special. When you find the special ones you don’t take a moment for granted, because you never know when your time with them is gonna be up. I got over fifty years with my Fritz. Fifty wonderful years. When he died, I was lost for a few months. I lost my fire. But then I realized that life’s short and I had a choice to make. I could keep bein’ miserable, or I could go find joy and live again.” She’s squeezing even harder now. “If you only listen to one thing this crazy old lady tells you, I hope it’s this: ain’t nobody gonna stoke your fire but you, boy.” She looks at me hard with her grey, cloudy eyes. “You go make life happen.
”
”
Kim Holden (Gus (Bright Side, #2))
“
I thought love was supposed to be weak knees and butterflies in your stomach and a terrible longing that could never be quenched."
Eeny shook her head, chuckled, came over and embraced me. "No, child", she said gently, patting my back. "That's romance. Romance is build on doubt. Love is solid. Constant. If you're not careful, you might mistake it for bein' boring because it's so reliable. Love is warm and deep and comfortable, just right, so you float in peacefully without ever being scalded or frozen, like a perfect, relaxing bubble bath.
”
”
J.T. Geissinger (Burn for You (Slow Burn, #1))
“
It's not that I'm complaining,' said Angua, 'but when we were assigned this job I thought it was me who was going to be the decoy and you who was going to be the back up, Nobby.'
'Yeah, but what with you bein' . . .' Nobby's expression creased as he edged his way into
unfamiliar linguistic territory, '... mor phor . . . log . . . is . . : ally gifted. . .'
'A werewolf, Nobby. I know the word.'
'Right . . . well, obviously, you'd be a lot better at lurkin', an' . . . an' obviously it's not right, women havin' to act as decoys in police work. . .'
Angua hesitated, as she so often did when attempting to talk to Nobby on difficult matters, and waved her hands in front of her as if trying to shape the invisible dough of her thoughts.
'It's just that . . . I mean, people might . . .' she began. 'I mean . . . well, you know what people call men who wear wigs and gowns, don't you?'
'Yes, miss.'
'You do?'
'Yes, miss. Lawyers, miss.'
'Good. Yes. Good,' said Angua slowly. 'Now try another one . . .'
'Er . . . actors, miss?'
Angua gave up. 'You look good in taffeta, Nobby,' she said.
'You don't think it makes me look too fat?'
Angua sniffed. 'Oh, no . . .' she said quietly.
”
”
Terry Pratchett (The Fifth Elephant (Discworld, #24; City Watch, #5))
“
See, when we get sent out into the world we come here carryin' two sets of gifts. The gifts of the father an' gifts of the mother. The two human bein's that made our life. We came here carryin' those two sets of gifts, each one equal to the other. But sometimes the world gets hold of us and makes us see diff'rent way. We get told as men that we gotta be strong, gotta be fearless. Lotta us kinda start ignorin' the gifts of our mother. Go through life just usin' gifts of our father. Bein' tough, makin' our own plans, livin' in the head. But if you do that you can't be wholee on accounta you gotta use both of them equal setsa gifts to live right, to fill out the circle of your own life. Be complete. Gotta use the mother's gifts too. Like gentleness an' nurturin' livin' in the heart.
”
”
Richard Wagamese (Keeper'n Me)
“
--Thing is though, Spud, whin yir intae skag, that's it. That's aw yuv goat tae worry aboot. Ken Billy, ma brar, likes? He's jist signed up tae go back intae the fuckin army. He's gaun tae fucking Belfast, the stupid cunt. Ah always knew that the fucker wis tapped. Fuckin imperialist lackey. Ken whit the daft cunt turned roond n sais tae us? He goes: Ah cannae fuckin stick civvy street. Bein in the army, it's like being a junky. The only difference is thit ye dinnae git shot at sae often bein a junky. Besides, it's usually you that does the shootin.
--That, eh, likesay, seems a bit eh, fucked up like man. Ken?
--Naw but, listen the now. You jist think aboot it. In the army they dae everything fir they daft cunts. Feed thum, gie the cunts cheap bevvy in scabby camp clubs tae keep thum fae gaun intae toon n lowerin the fuckin tone, upsetting the locals n that. Whin they git intae civvy street, thuv goat tae dae it aw fir thumsells.
--Yeah, but likesay, it's different though, cause . . . Spud tries to cut in, but Renton is in full flight. A bottle in the face is the only thing that could shut him up at this point; even then only for a few seconds.
--Uh, uh . . . wait a minute, mate. Hear us oot. Listen tae whit ah've goat tae say here . . . what the fuck wis ah sayin . . . aye! Right. Whin yir oan junk, aw ye worry aboot is scorin. Oaf the gear, ye worry aboot loads ay things. Nae money, cannae git pished. Goat money, drinkin too much. Cannae git a burd, nae chance ay a ride. Git a burd, too much hassle, cannae breathe withoot her gittin oan yir case. Either that, or ye blow it, and feel aw guilty. Ye worry aboot bills, food, bailiffs, these Jambo Nazi scum beatin us, aw the things that ye couldnae gie a fuck aboot whin yuv goat a real junk habit. Yuv just goat one thing tae worry aboot. The simplicity ay it aw. Ken whit ah mean?
”
”
Irvine Welsh (Trainspotting)
“
This seemed to be happening more and more lately out in Greater Los Angeles, among gatherings of carefree youth and happy dopers, where Doc had begun to notice older men, there and not there, rigid, unsmiling, that he knew he'd seen before, not the faces necessarily but a defiant posture, an unwillingness to blur out, like everyone else at the psychedelic events of those days, beyond official envelopes of skin. Like the operatives who'd dragged away Coy Harlingen the other night at that rally at the Century Plaza. Doc Knew these people, he'd seen enough of them in the course of business. They went out to collect cash debts, they broke rib cages, they got people fired, they kept an unforgiving eye on anything that might become a threat. If everything in this dream of prerevolution was in fact doomed to end and the faithless money-driven world to reassert its control over all the lives it felt entitled to touch, fondle, and molest, it would be agents like these, dutiful and silent, out doing the shitwork, who'd make it happen.
Was it possible, that at every gathering--concert, peace rally, love-in, be-in, and freak-in, here, up north, back east, wherever--those dark crews had been busy all along, reclaiming the music, the resistance to power, the sexual desire from epic to everyday, all they could sweep up, for the ancient forces of greed and fear?
'Gee,' he said to himself out loud, 'I dunno...
”
”
Thomas Pynchon (Inherent Vice)
“
We get it, we don’t gotta talk about it. We know what we got revolves around bein’ naked in a bed so you shouldn’t get what I’m gonna give you right now. But I’m gonna give it to you. Never had class. Never had beauty. I’ll repeat, never… had… class. I’m not gonna fuck over Cherry, who I care about, or Tack, who’s my brother, and I know you don’t wanna do that either, so this is what we got for as long as it’s good. But it’s a clean, pure beauty the like I’ve never had, I’m gonna respect it like I feel like I gotta and you’re gonna let me.”
He paused, bent his face closer to hers and dipped his voice lower.
“So, no, Lanie, you are not gettin’ down on your knees like every biker skank or groupie, or drunk, high piece of ass before you dropped to hers and sucked me off. You go down on me, you do it like who you are. Respect. You don’t want that, you’re looking to play with rough trade to get you off, find another guy to make you skank. That is not what you’re gonna get from me. Now, are you gonna finish givin’ me a blowjob or are you gonna fight me on this?
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Fire Inside (Chaos, #2))
“
A child is born with no state of mind Blind to the ways of mankind God is smilin' on you but he's frownin' too Because only God knows what you'll go through You'll grow in the ghetto livin' second-rate And your eyes will sing a song called deep hate The places you play and where you stay Looks like one great big alleyway You'll admire all the number-book takers Thugs, pimps and pushers and the big money-makers Drivin' big cars, spendin' twenties and tens And you'll wanna grow up to be just like them, huh Smugglers, scramblers, burglars, gamblers Pickpocket peddlers, even panhandlers You say I'm cool, huh, I'm no fool But then you wind up droppin' outta high school Now you're unemployed, all non-void Walkin' round like you're Pretty Boy Floyd Turned stick-up kid, but look what you done did Got sent up for a eight-year bid Now your manhood is took and you're a Maytag Spend the next two years as a undercover fag Bein' used and abused to serve like hell 'til one day, you was found hung dead in the cell It was plain to see that your life was lost You was cold and your body swung back and forth But now your eyes sing the sad, sad song Of how you lived so fast and died so young
”
”
Grandmaster Flash