“
Born to love you, baby,” he repeated. “Die lovin’ you, my Sylvie.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Creed (Unfinished Hero, #2))
“
You need me. You won’t stay away and you won’t let me go because, baby, you can’t breathe without me.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Creed (Unfinished Hero, #2))
“
You love me?” he asked quietly. I dipped my face close and answered quietly, “On a cold night, a long time ago, you put your hands almost exactly where they are right now and, I might have been six years old, but I fell hard. So, yeah. For over twenty-seven years, every day, every minute, every second, I’ve loved you, Tucker Creed.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Creed (Unfinished Hero, #2))
“
I’d move here. I’d move to the goddamned, fucking moon to wake up to you in my bed.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Creed (Unfinished Hero, #2))
“
Laa shay'a waqi'un moutlaq bale kouloun moumkine' -the Wisdom of our Creed is revealed through these words - 'We work in the Dark, to serve the Light. We are Assassins.' --Machiavelli
”
”
Oliver Bowden (Brotherhood (Assassin's Creed, #2))
“
It’s always you and me.” I nodded again and felt my lips quivering. He kept whispering, “Always me and my Sylvie, yeah?” “Yeah,” I whispered.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Creed (Unfinished Hero, #2))
“
I’m not what you want, Sylvie, I get that because it’s the same for you as it is for me. I’m not what you want ‘cause I’m what you need.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Creed (Unfinished Hero, #2))
“
Honest to Christ, give you anything. Anything, baby. But lost enough time. Can’t give you that. Space , maybe. Time. No.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Creed (Unfinished Hero, #2))
“
Then and now, beautiful, I’ll take you any way you come to me … Any way. I love this Sylvie, I loved that Sylvie. I just love you, baby.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Creed (Unfinished Hero, #2))
“
I am Darkness. I am Shadow. I am the Ruler of the Night. I, alone, stand between mankind and those who would see mankind destroyed. I am the Guardian. The Soulless Keeper. Neither Human, nor Apollite, I exist beyond the realm of the Living, beyond the realm of the Dead. I am the Dark-Hunter. And I am Eternal…unless I find that one pure heart who will never betray me. The one whose faith and courage can return my soul to me and bring me back into the light. (Dark-Hunter Creed)
”
”
Sherrilyn Kenyon (Night Embrace (Dark-Hunter, #2))
“
I stopped opposite the counter and looked back up at him. “Have I told you you’re an asshole today?”
“You just got up, so, no.”
“You’re an asshole.”
He grinned again.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Creed (Unfinished Hero, #2))
“
Some people get to live life. Some people survive it. We’re survivors. We can carve out our piece of happy, and, I swear to God, baby, right now, you got my vow, for you and for me, the rest of our lives, I’ll bust my ass to carve our piece of happy.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Creed (Unfinished Hero, #2))
“
Beauty,” he whispered.
“What?” I asked.
“Beauty. It’s pure beauty you don’t wanna be away from me. I don’t like that, baby. I love it
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Creed (Unfinished Hero, #2))
“
All religions want the same thing-salvation. We're all the same.
”
”
Laura Thalassa (War (The Four Horsemen, #2))
“
A few minutes later, she was once again riding her own horse. Deciding to take the lead, she nudged the mare into a trot, and as she passed Brodick and Ramsey, she called out, "You used trickery."
"Yes, I did," he admitted. "Are you angry with me?"
She laughed again. "I don't get angry. I get even."
Unbeknownst to her, she had just recited the Buchanan creed.
”
”
Julie Garwood (Ransom (Highlands' Lairds, #2))
“
You know what love is?"
Creed asked that and my eyes shot from the hair on his forehead to his.
"I..." I swallowed again then, holding his eyes, I whispered, "Yes. I do. I know what love is, Creed."
I felt his big hand curl warm on the side of my face before I felt the pad of his thumb sweep across my lips again. He watched it move as he replied, "I do too, baby." His eyes came to mine. "I absolutely do.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Creed (Unfinished Hero, #2))
“
We make a baby, Sylvie, we do it making love. Not fucking on the kitchen floor.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Creed (Unfinished Hero, #2))
“
I gave you up once. It killed me. it was figuratively but it still killed me. I’m not doin’ that shit again.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Creed (Unfinished Hero, #2))
“
They took you away from me."
His hand squeezed mine, the pendants and chains digging into my skin.
"I'm back, baby.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Creed (Unfinished Hero, #2))
“
Ibn al-Arabi gave this advice:
Do not attach yourself to any particular creed exclusively, so that you may disbelieve all the rest; otherwise you will lose much good, nay, you will fail to recognize the real truth of the matter. God, the omnipresent and omnipotent, is not limited by any one creed, for he says, 'Wheresoever ye turn, there is the face of Allah' (Koran 2:109). Everyone praises what he believes; his god is his own creature, and in praising it he praises himself. Consequently, he blames the disbelief of others, which he would not do if he were just, but his dislike is based on ignorance.
”
”
Karen Armstrong (A History of God: The 4000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam)
“
He crossed his arms again and requested, “You wanna stop aiming your weapon at me?”
Actually, no. I didn’t. I wanted to keep aiming my gun at him and I might also want to pull the trigger.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Creed (Unfinished Hero, #2))
“
People always craved power - that was a constant of humanity, a truer rule than any law of physics. If they weren't given power, they took it. And however lofty and moral their foundational creed, people historically did not choose to give it away.
”
”
Olivie Blake (The Atlas Paradox (The Atlas, #2))
“
We been through a lot and you earned a piece of my heart, babe. It’s all yours and always will be.”
- Knight.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Creed (Unfinished Hero, #2))
“
To say that nothing is true, is to realize that the foundations of society are fragile, and that we must be the shepherds of our own civilization. To say that everything is permitted, is to understand that we are the architects of our actions, and that we must live with their consequences, whether glorious or tragic.
”
”
Oliver Bowden (Brotherhood (Assassin's Creed, #2))
“
We live by night and dance fast so grass can't grow under our feet. That's our creed.
”
”
Dennis Lehane (Live by Night (Coughlin, #2))
“
Just so you know, I speak English. You don’t have to macho-speak with shit like ‘you with me’ after you macho-speak with a bunch of bossing me around. I get you. I’m with you. Or if I’m not, I’ll tell you.”
“Noted,” he muttered but sounded like he was smiling.
I made the diplomatic decision not to look.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Creed (Unfinished Hero, #2))
“
Shut your fucking trap, Hawk
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Creed (Unfinished Hero, #2))
“
Strength In Fortitude. (MacAllister Creed)
”
”
Kinley MacGregor (Born in Sin (Brotherhood of the Sword, #3; MacAllister, #2))
“
I may have mentioned patience wasn't one of my virtues. Actually, I didn't have many virtues but patience definitely wasn't one of them.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Creed (Unfinished Hero, #2))
“
But me, my jeans, tank, boots and socks, commando and braless, walked right out the door and, like we had many, many times before, we took on the night.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Creed (Unfinished Hero, #2))
“
Bottom of my soul,” he whispered across the room, eyes locked to mine.
I sucked in breath through my nose before I whispered back, “Bottom of mine.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Creed (Unfinished Hero, #2))
“
You feed your cat once a day?” he asked, and I stopped opposite the bar and planted my hands on my hips. “Yeah,” I answered. “She says two,” Creed informed me. Shit. He spoke cat. This was not good. Gun knew all my secrets.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Creed (Unfinished Hero, #2))
“
Come back to me,” I begged, the tear slipping over my eye and gliding down my cheek.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Creed (Unfinished Hero, #2))
“
You're a virgin. You have no idea what you're asking for."
"Then you will have to teach me."
"Not like this. Not on a horse in the middle of nowhere.
”
”
Sarah McCarty (Sam's Creed (Hell's Eight, #2))
“
I love you,” he said again, like a creed. “I love you so thoroughly it feels like you’re in my DNA. Like you must be part of my genetic code because there’s no part of me that isn’t linked to you. My love for you is so consuming on the inside that there’s barely room.
”
”
Laurelin Paige (Last Kiss (First and Last, #2))
“
I’ll take this. I’ll take this every day and every day I’ll know in the end I beat that bastard. He might not have been alive to see it, but I bet his goddamned, motherfucking ass.”
Seriously, he was hot when he was being all vengeful badass.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Creed (Unfinished Hero, #2))
“
It was cool to wake up knowing your day would include someone else in a way that was integral to life.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Creed (Unfinished Hero, #2))
“
I’ve never killed men with so little regard. And it frightens me how easy I find it in war. There is no ambiguity here, no violation of moral creed. These people are warColors. They kill me or I kill them. It’s simpler than the Passage.
”
”
Pierce Brown (Golden Son (Red Rising Saga, #2))
“
I am already dead inside. But I will finish what I have to do.
”
”
Oliver Bowden (Brotherhood (Assassin's Creed, #2))
“
Put your mouth on me," he said...
"Now, Annika. I want you on your knees in front of me. And don't lie to me--I know you want it too."
~Creed
”
”
Sydney Croft (Unleashing the Storm (ACRO, #2))
“
I love when you scream for me."
"Only me."
~Creed
”
”
Sydney Croft (Unleashing the Storm (ACRO, #2))
“
I need you to touch me."
"Touch me, dammit."
"Yeah," he groaned. "That's it. Make it right again."
~Creed
”
”
Sydney Croft (Unleashing the Storm (ACRO, #2))
“
People make their own choices, and sometimes those choices suck.
”
”
Carol Plum-Ucci (Following Christopher Creed (Steepleton Chronicles, #2))
“
How you feel about marrying me?" he asked in my ear.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Creed (Unfinished Hero, #2))
“
Baby,” another voice came into my ear and this was my man’s, “shut the fuck up, concentrate and don’t sit there muttering into your tits makin’ it look like you’re waitin’ to fuck over some asshole. He sees you doin’ that shit, these guys we’re hunting will take you out and tonight is not my night to lose you.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Creed (Unfinished Hero, #2))
“
It's fine to be insane as long as you keep it to yourself.
”
”
Carol Plum-Ucci (Following Christopher Creed (Steepleton Chronicles, #2))
“
I would work with him to make Knight’s troubles go away. In the meantime, I could jump a hot guy whenever I felt like it.
This was not a bad deal.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Creed (Unfinished Hero, #2))
“
What's wrong? Please, Creed, tell me"-Annika
"Just take me to bed, baby. Please just fuck me and don't ask me any more questions tonight."
~Creed
”
”
Sydney Croft (Unleashing the Storm (ACRO, #2))
“
It is. And yet so few really are free. Nearly all people live in prisons of their own making, regardless of their faith, creed, sex or race.
”
”
Ted Dekker (The Sanctuary (Danny Hansen, #2))
“
Everyone who doesn't want to believe in supernormal powers says the people who experience them are psycho. What the hell kind of a world is this if all magic moments are psychotic?
”
”
Carol Plum-Ucci (Following Christopher Creed (Steepleton Chronicles, #2))
“
What do you know? Have you ever wanted something that much?
”
”
Oliver Bowden (Brotherhood (Assassin's Creed, #2))
“
I loved you once. You think I can’t again?
”
”
Cristin Harber (Garrison's Creed (Titan, #2))
“
I could not blame them, for I knew how strong a hold a creed, however ridiculous it may be, may gain upon an otherwise intelligent people.
”
”
Edgar Rice Burroughs (The Gods of Mars (Barsoom, #2))
“
That's not what I mean, and you know it. Have we ever been on a real date? You know, a dinner of more than buffalo wings and a pitcher of beer while you blow me from under the table?"
~Creed
”
”
Sydney Croft (Unleashing the Storm (ACRO, #2))
“
Eyes locked, they stared. She felt bleeding pain down to her soul.
”
”
Cristin Harber (Garrison's Creed (Titan, #2))
“
You know what? I don’t care about everyone. I never even cared about me. I cared about you.
”
”
Cristin Harber (Garrison's Creed (Titan, #2))
“
And if there is anything- anything- I want, I take it!
”
”
Oliver Bowden (Brotherhood (Assassin's Creed, #2))
“
I know what I want! Why shouldn't I live for myself, for a change?
”
”
Oliver Bowden (Brotherhood (Assassin's Creed, #2))
“
Life is excellent or life blows, depending on how you look at it.
”
”
Carol Plum-Ucci (Following Christopher Creed (Steepleton Chronicles, #2))
“
My belief in ghosts swings with the wind. But my belief that the cemetery felt happy and not sad—I've never changed my mind about that.
”
”
Carol Plum-Ucci (Following Christopher Creed (Steepleton Chronicles, #2))
“
I found myself in a place that was thorny, but because I was so used to being there, it bore out certain twisted sensations of comfort. It's a place called «alone».
”
”
Carol Plum-Ucci (Following Christopher Creed (Steepleton Chronicles, #2))
“
But she was one of those skanky skanks who looked cool. Who worked her skankedness. Who made skankdom something you'd consider aspiring to.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Creed (Unfinished Hero, #2))
“
I’m not a big goof. I’m a badass, even with a squirt gun. I totally kicked both their asses.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Creed (Unfinished Hero, #2))
“
You remember that illuminated text over the dining-room door--"The Lord Will Provide." We've painted it out, and covered the spot with rabbits. It's all very well to teach so easy a belief to normal children, who have a proper family and roof behind them; but a person whose only refuge in distress will be a park bench must learn a more militant creed than that.
”
”
Jean Webster (Dear Enemy (Daddy-Long-Legs, #2))
“
There you go: Someone who puts «positive thinking» and «shit» in the same concept can inspire some serious eye-rolling if you're the type who works at keeping your thought-life healthy.
”
”
Carol Plum-Ucci (Following Christopher Creed (Steepleton Chronicles, #2))
“
Whitman Press will publish three children’s textbooks, based on your creed, for which you’ll deliver manuscripts and artwork. The three books are: 1. Dagon and Jill 2. The Shadow Over Humpty Dumpty 3. A Children’s Necronomicon (with pop-up section)
”
”
H.P. Lovecraft (The Cthulhu Mythos Megapack: 40 Modern and Classic Lovecraftian Stories)
“
Yet it cannot be called prowess to kill fellow citizens, to betray friends, to be treacherous, pitiless, irreligious. These ways can win a prince power, but never glory. Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince
”
”
Oliver Bowden (Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (Assassin's Creed #2))
“
In college I took a social psychology course, something I thought useful for a career in advertising. Psychologists tested the story of the Good Samaritan. What they learned gives us reason to pause. The greatest determinant of who stopped to help the stranger in need was not compassion, morality, or religious creed. It was those who had the time. Makes me wonder if I have time to do good. Apparently, Angel does.
”
”
Richard Paul Evans (Miles to Go (The Walk, #2))
“
It is the duty of a high priestess to instruct, to interpret — according to the creed that others, wiser than herself, have laid down; but there is nothing in the creed which says that she must believe. The more one knows of one's religion the less one believes — no one living knows more of mine than I. (La of Opar)
”
”
Edgar Rice Burroughs (The Return of Tarzan (Tarzan, #2))
“
You cannot kill me! No man can murder me!
”
”
Oliver Bowden (Brotherhood (Assassin's Creed, #2))
“
Chains will not hold me! I will not die by the hand of man!
”
”
Oliver Bowden (Brotherhood (Assassin's Creed, #2))
“
You can never see a plant grow, but they do.
”
”
Carol Plum-Ucci (Following Christopher Creed (Steepleton Chronicles, #2))
“
Thin veneers can cover a mountain of problems around here when nobody's looking at the details.
”
”
Carol Plum-Ucci (Following Christopher Creed (Steepleton Chronicles, #2))
“
Shit. He spoke cat. This was not good. Gun knew all my secrets.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Creed (Unfinished Hero, #2))
“
Creed looks like Santa barfed Christmas presents in his lap (excited and disturbed all at the same time, natch).
”
”
T.J. Klune (Who We Are (Bear, Otter, and the Kid #2))
“
Creed continued to tease my nipple and massage my breast. Brushing his nose along the shell of my ear, he whispered, “I could cum to the sounds you make.
”
”
Ashley N. Rostek (Save Me (WITSEC, #2))
“
The Creed for the Sociopathic Obsessive Compulsive (Peter's Laws)
1. If anything can go wrong, Fix it!!! (To hell with Murphy!!)
2. When given a choice - Take Both!!
3. Multiple projects lead to multiple successes.
4. Start at the top, then work your way up.
5. Do it by the book... but be the author!
6. When forced to compromise, ask for more.
7. If you can't beat them, join them, then beat them.
8. If it's worth doing, it's got to be done right now.
9. If you can't win, change the rules.
10. If you can't change the rules, then ignore them.
11. Perfection is not optional.
12. When faced without a challenge, make one.
13. "No" simply means begin again at one level higher.
14. Don't walk when you can run.
15. Bureaucracy is a challenge to be conquered with a righteous attitude, a tolerance for stupidity, and a bulldozer when necessary.
16. When in doubt: THINK!
17. Patience is a virtue, but persistence to the point of success is a blessing.
18. The squeaky wheel gets replaced.
19. The faster you move, the slower time passes, the longer you live.
20. The best way to predict the future is to create it yourself!!
”
”
Peter Safar
“
some people get to live life. some people survive it. We're survivors. We can carve out our pieces of happy...But we're foolin' ourselves if we think we can set aside the shit that happened to us, the shit done to us, the shit we've done and move on. It'll be with us forever. We just gotta learn to live with it. We bury it, deny it or pretend it isn't there, we're fucked. It'll surface and tear us to shreds. We acknowledge it and keep on keepin' the fuck on, and we'll be good.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Creed (Unfinished Hero, #2))
“
There is something very cool about writing your worst memories through someone else's eyes. You start to see what happened to you... almost as if it happened to somebody else. Especially if that made-up person is nice, it's a great exercise because there are many mean people in this world.
”
”
Carol Plum-Ucci (Following Christopher Creed (Steepleton Chronicles, #2))
“
This was what it would be like to hang out at a superhero convention? Nicola nursed her beer and watched. They were all dressed head-to-toe in varying versions of tactical gear. Tight shirts, pants with too many pockets. She was sure there was enough firepower to invade a small country stashed in their vehicles.
”
”
Cristin Harber (Garrison's Creed (Titan, #2))
“
My one challenge with the support group that I'd become involved with on campus is that the people seem to spend as much time talking about their ill-begotten pasts as their promising futures. It's as if people are drawn to looking back. They can't move on until it all makes sense. Humbly submitted: It never does.
”
”
Carol Plum-Ucci (Following Christopher Creed (Steepleton Chronicles, #2))
“
The ills of the world, and their cures, are listed below: 1) A world of privilege is a world of elitism and injustice. Meritocracy is the cure. 2) Capitalism, the creed of “Greed is good”, is the disease of materialism and objectification for the sole purpose of profiting the ownership class. A new spiritual, artistic, creative and intellectual paradigm is the cure. 3) Abrahamism is a mental illness. Illuminism is the psychological cure. 4) The religious divide between East and West has held back global progress. Illuminism, a religion of enlightenment and reincarnation in common with Eastern thinking, yet steeped in the most profound Western thinking, is the bridge. The
”
”
Michael Faust (How to Become God (The Hero-God Series Book 2))
“
The reason that certain tender subjects are avoided and forbidden in all other clubs is because those clubs consist of more than four members. Whenever the human race assembles to a number exceeding four, it cannot stand free speech. It is the self-admiring boast of England and America that in those countries a man is free to talk out his opinions, let them be of what complexion they may, but this is one of the human race’s hypocrisies; there has never been any such thing as free speech in any country, and there is no such thing as free speech in England or America when more than four persons are present; and not then, except the four are all of one political and religious creed.
”
”
Mark Twain (Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 2: The Complete and Authoritative Edition (Autobiography of Mark Twain series))
“
Nothing is true, everything is permitted.
We work in the dark, to serve the light. We are Assassins!
”
”
Oliver Bowden (Brotherhood (Assassin's Creed, #2))
“
Aye, get to cover! 'Tis a Kraken!” Sora
”
”
T.L. Shreffler (Viper's Creed (The Cat's Eye Chronicles, #2))
“
Swaying from side to side, bent almost double, Sora still thought he was the most beautiful sight in the world. Crash
”
”
T.L. Shreffler (Viper's Creed (The Cat's Eye Chronicles, #2))
“
For Christians, the Trinity is the primary symbol of a community that holds together by containing diversity within itself. Another symbol of a unity that is not uniform might be the Bible itself, with its two creation accounts in the Book of Genesis, and four gospels, each with a strikingly different approach to telling the story of Jesus and his ministry. Church historians such as Margaret Miles point out that “Christianity is, and historically has been, pluralistic in beliefs, creeds, and liturgical and devotional practices in different geographical settings as well as over the 2,000 years of its existence.” The wonder is that this flexibility and diversity has often been considered more of an embarrassment than celebrated as one of the religion’s strengths.
”
”
Kathleen Norris (Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith)
“
The only trouble was, I wasn't with a group of my peers. Who are my peers? [...] And there I was with a dismal coven of repentant soaks -- a car salesman who had fallen from the creed of the Kiwanis, an Jewish woman whose family misunderstood her attempts to put them straight on everything, a couple of schoolteachers who can't ever have taught anything except Civics, and some business men whose god was Mammon, and a truck-driver who was included, I gather, to keep our eyes on the road and our discussions hitched to reality. Whose reality? Certainly not mine. So the imp of perversity prompted me to make pretty patterns of our discussions together, and screw the poor boozers up worse then they'd been screwed up before. For the first time in years, I was having a really good time.
”
”
Robertson Davies (The Manticore (The Deptford Trilogy, #2))
“
The Bible says it, I believe it, and that settles it.” I’m not interested in what this or that church believes. I’m interested in what the Bible says. I’m not interested in church creeds or church doctrines. I’m interested in what the Bible says. If God’s Word says He hears and answers prayer, and if that Word doesn’t depart from before your eyes, then you’re bound to see yourself with the things you asked for. If you don’t see yourself with the things you desire, then God’s Word has departed from before your eyes. If you don’t stand by the Word, although God wants to stand by you, He can’t, because the only way God works is through His Word. Remember, God only works and moves in line with His Word. He has bound Himself by His Word. He has magnified His Word above His Name (Ps. 138:2).
”
”
Kenneth E. Hagin (Bible Prayer Study Course)
“
The Chatcaava consumed themselves and others with their savagery, and the Eldritch dwindled into elegant irrelevance... and ignored by them both, save when it suited them, the Pelted labored on, creating these minor miracles out of spare parts and sheer ingenuity. What had the Emperor said once? The creed of your Alliance: we are born weak, therefore let us make strength from bits of metal and philosophy.
”
”
M.C.A. Hogarth (Some Things Transcend (Princes' Game #2))
“
I want you here. I want you in my home, my bed, my life,” he murmured, the smooth out of his voice, it was low and so rough with sex and emotion, it was abrasive, scoring through me.
“Baby –”
“I want your clothes in my closet. I wanna hear your voice in my house when you’re talkin’ on the phone. I want you sittin’ beside me when we’re watchin’ TV. I want shit you like in my fridge. I want “your razors in my shower. I want my roof over your head. Your car in my garage. I want to give you what I should have been giving you for sixteen years. As good as you deserve. A showplace. A place where I can make you happy.”
God. He was killing me.
“Creed, let me –”
He didn’t let me finish. He pressed on, driving in, our bodies jolting with his thrusts, his voice harsh in my ear.
“Give me that, Sylvie. Give me that and, swear to God, I’ll give you everything.”
“I –”
His head came up, his cock drove deep and stayed planted and his eyes burned into mine.
“All I’ll ask. All I’ll ever ask. You give me that and you got a lifetime of nothin’ but take.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Creed (Unfinished Hero, #2))
“
Peter’s Laws™ The Creed of the Persistent and Passionate Mind 1. If anything can go wrong, fix it! (To hell with Murphy!) 2. When given a choice—take both! 3. Multiple projects lead to multiple successes. 4. Start at the top, then work your way up. 5. Do it by the book . . . but be the author! 6. When forced to compromise, ask for more. 7. If you can’t win, change the rules. 8. If you can’t change the rules, then ignore them. 9. Perfection is not optional. 10. When faced without a challenge—make one. 11. No simply means begin one level higher. 12. Don’t walk when you can run. 13. When in doubt: THINK! 14. Patience is a virtue, but persistence to the point of success is a blessing. 15. The squeaky wheel gets replaced. 16. The faster you move, the slower time passes, the longer you live. 17. The best way to predict the future is to create it yourself! 18. The ratio of something to nothing is infinite. 19. You get what you incentivize. 20. If you think it is impossible, then it is for you. 21. An expert is someone who can tell you exactly how something can’t be done. 22. The day before something is a breakthrough, it’s a crazy idea. 23. If it was easy, it would have been done already. 24. Without a target you’ll miss it every time. 25. Fail early, fail often, fail forward! 26. If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it. 27. The world’s most precious resource is the persistent and passionate human mind. 28. Bureaucracy is an obstacle to be conquered with persistence, confidence, and a bulldozer when necessary.
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Peter H. Diamandis (Bold: How to Go Big, Create Wealth and Impact the World (Exponential Technology Series))
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If she dies, you’re all to blame,” he said, turning accusing eyes on his family and hers. “This damned feud has to stop. Here. Now. For good.” He turned his gaze to Sam and said, “I’m sorry for what happened to you. It was an accident, plain and simple. I love your sister and I am, by God, going to make her my wife.” He turned to the rest of them and said, “And we’re going to be showing up for the holidays, and you’d better damned well make us welcome.”
Owen was crying, the tears streaming unashamedly town his face. “I love Bayleigh Creed. Do you hear me? I love her!”
“I think everyone can hear you just fine,” Bay murmured.
“Oh, God, Red,” he said, smiling down at her through the blur of tears. “I thought you were dying.”
She lifted a shaky hand to her head, but he caught it before she could touch the wound. “My head hurts like hell. But I enjoyed the speech, Owe.
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Joan Johnston (The Texan (Bitter Creek, #2))
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I hurt my hip, too.”
“Let me see.”
She made a face and yelped when her cheek protested even that slight movement. “You don’t need to see my hip. It’s fine.”
“If the skin’s broken, it’ll need cleaning, too,” he said, unbuckling her belt.
“Stop that.”
“Think of me as your doctor,” he said, as he unsnapped and then unzipped her jeans.
“My doctor doesn’t usually undress me,” she snapped. “And my patients already come undressed.”
He laughed. “Life your hips,” he said. “Up!” he ordered, when she hesitated.
She put her one good hand on his shoulder to brace herself and lifted her hips as he pulled her torn jeans down. To her surprise, her bikini underwear was shredded, and the skin underneath was bloody. “Uh-oh.”
She was still staring at the injury on her hip when she felt him pulling off her boots. She started to protest, saw the warning look in his eyes, and shut her mouth. He pulled her jeans off, leaving her legs bare above her white boot socks. “Was that really necessary?”
“You’re decent,” he said, straightening the tails of her Western shirt over her shredded bikini underwear. “I can put your boots back on if you like.”
Bay shook her head and laughed. “Just get the first-aid kit, and let me take care of myself.”
He grimaced. “If I’m not mistaken, you packed the first-aid kit in your saddlebags.”
Bay winced. “You’re right.” She stared down the canyon as far as she could see. There was no sign of her horse. “How long do you think it’ll take him to stop running?”
“He won’t have gone far. But I need to set up camp before it gets dark. And I’m not hunting for your horse in the dark, for the same reason I’m not hunting for your brother in the dark.”
“Where am I supposed to sleep? My bedroll and tent are with my horse.”
“You should have thought of that before you started that little striptease of yours.”
“You’re the one who shouted and scared me half to death. I was only trying to cool off.”
“And heating me up in the process!”
“I can’t help it if you have a vivid imagination.”
“It didn’t take much to imagine to see your breasts,” he shot back. “You opened your blouse right up and bent over and flapped your shirt like you were waving a red flag at a bull”
“I was getting some air!”
“You slid your butt around that saddle like you were sitting right on my lap.”
“That’s ridiculous!”
“Then you lifted your arms to hold your hair up and those perfect little breasts of yours—”
“That’s enough,” she interrupted. “You’re crazy if you think—”
“You mean you weren’t inviting me to kiss my way around those wispy curls at your nape?”
“I most certainly was not!”
“Could’ve fooled me.”
She searched for the worst insult she could think of to sling at him. “You—you—Bullying Blackthorne!”
“Damned contentious Creed!
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Joan Johnston (The Texan (Bitter Creek, #2))
“
As she lifted her own backpack over the side of the black, heavy-duty dodge pickup, Owen took it out of her hands and set it beside the one-man tent and sleeping bag the FBI had provided for him.
“I could have done that,” she said.
“Sure you could. But my daddy taught me a gentleman always helps a lady.”
Bay was so startled at what he’d said, and the chagrined way he’s said it, that she laughed. “Oh, my god. Chauvinism is alive and well—”
“We call it chivalry, or Southern courtesy, ma’am,” he said. She realized he was heading around the truck to open the door for her.
She stepped in front of him and said, “It’s going to be a long trip if you refuse to let me pull my weight. I can get my own door, Mr. Blackthorne.”
For a minute, she thought he was going to make an issue of it. Then he touched the brim of his hat, shot her a rakish grin that turned her insides to mush, and said, “Whatever you say, Mizz Creed.”
She was so flustered, she took a half step backward, slid into the seat when he opened the door for her after all, and said, “My friends call me Bay.”
Bay flushed as she realized what she’d said. As he came around the hood and got in, she said, “That is—I mean—you know what I mean!”
He belted himself into the driver’s seat and started the engine, before he turned to her and said, “My friends call me Owe. You can call me Owen.”
She stared at him disbelief. “Oh. You. Blackthorne, you.
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Joan Johnston (The Texan (Bitter Creek, #2))
“
So you don't like fish?”
“Not especially,” he replied in an equally soft voice. Then a wicked glint lit his eyes. “Unless it has long, slimy tentacles and suckers, with tiny black eyes that have been boiled in soup...”
“Oh, hush!” Sora laughed. “Are you describing yourself? I think I've seen a few tentacles under that cloak...”
The assassin grimaced. “You're very clever.”
“I learned it from you,” she grinned.
“We'll have to put a stop to that.”
Sora's grin widened. “You could always throw me to the sea.”
Crash laughed. “That wouldn't work. As I recall, you're a very good swimmer.” The compliment was unexpected. He had adopted a deep tone that Sora had never heard before. It sent shivers across her skin and she shifted in her seat, strangely excited.
“I could teach you,” she said.
“Why don't we have our first lesson in the bath?
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T.L. Shreffler (Viper's Creed (The Cat's Eye Chronicles, #2))
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As Donald Trump was campaigning for the Republican nomination for president in 2016 he was asked, “Have you ever asked God for forgiveness?” He replied, “I’m not sure I have. I just go and try and do a better job from there. . . . If I do something wrong, I think I just try to make it right. I don’t bring God into that picture. I don’t.”1 He created quite a stir among many religious people, so he tempered the comments a few days later. But I think he was being honest, and his comments reflect the way many people feel: in theory they believe in the forgiveness of sins, but the concept doesn’t really apply to them. Standing in stark contrast to this view is one articulated by twentieth-century existentialist theologian Paul Tillich, who once said, “Forgiveness is an answer, the divine answer, to the question implied in our existence.”2
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Adam Hamilton (Creed: What Christians Believe and Why)
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If you know anything,” he said. “If you can give us any help finding—”
“The truth is, I can help you find those mines.” Bay couldn’t believe the enormous lie that had just come out of her mouth. She took a deep breath and added, “But you have to take me with you to the Big Bend.”
“I work alone.”
“Then we’re finished here,” Bay said, turning to leave.
Owen caught her before she’d taken two steps. “You’re not going anywhere until you tell me what you know.”
“I’ll tell you everything when we get to the Big Bend.”
“I can’t take you with me, Dr. Creed. It’s too dangerous. If you help me out, I’ll make sure your brother gets a chance to tell his story in court.”
Bay gave an unladylike snort. “I don’t believe you.”
She was surprised at the anger that flared in his eyes before he said, “I’m not in the habit of lying.”
“I’ve never met an honest Blackthorne,” she said. “And I sure as hell don’t trust you.”
“I ought to arrest you for obstruction,” he muttered.
“Go ahead!” she challenged. “Then I can tell them how you manhandled me.” She glanced towards his tight grasp on her arm, then put her fingertips to her aching throat, and said, “I’m sure I’ll have the bruises to prove it.”
He looked down in surprise to where his fingers were clamped on her forearm, as though he’d had no notion of how tightly he was holding her, and abruptly he let her go. She rubbed her arm and said, “When do we leave?”
“You wouldn’t be able to keep up with me.”
“Of course I would,” she replied. “I’m incredibly fit.”
She felt her stomach flutter as his eyes raked her from legs to belly to breasts . . . and lingered there appreciatively. His heavy-lidded gaze lifted to her mouth, and she nervously slid her tongue across her lips. She felt a quiver of anticipation as his eyes locked on hers, hot and needy.
“You can’t come with me,” he said at last. “You’d be a . . . dangerous distraction.
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Joan Johnston (The Texan (Bitter Creek, #2))
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She slipped into the shadows and waited, like a she-wolf, for her quarry.
Bay caught her breath when Owen Blackthorne stepped into the cool night air. He was close enough to touch. His shaggy black hair looked rumpled, as though he’d shoved both hands through it in agitation. When he started to move off the porch, Bay reached out and grasped his sleeve.
A second later she was slammed back against the wall, a powerful male hand at her throat choking her. She could feel the heat of him, the solid maleness of him. And panicked. She clawed at Owen’s flesh with her nails and drove her knee upward toward his genitals. Her thrust her upraised knee aside, and the full weight of his over-six-foot frame shoved hard against her from shoulders to thighs.
Bay froze, staring up at him in mute horror. Her body trembled in shock. She tried to speak, but there was no air to be had beneath the crushing pressure of his grip on her throat.
“What the hell . . .?” He released her throat and grabbed her arms to yank her into the narrow stream of light from the kitchen doorway.
She gasped a breath of air, coughed, then gasped another, pressing a shaky hand to her injured throat. She wrenched to free herself, but he let her go without a struggle and took a wary step back. She rubbed her arms where he’d held her, wishing she’d approached him more directly.
“What are you doing out here, Mizz Creed?” His voice was clipped but controlled. The violence she’d felt in his touch was still there in his eyes, which glittered with hostility.
“It’s Dr. Creed,” she rasped, glaring back at him.
He lifted a black brow. “Well, Dr. Creed.”
She opened her mouth to say I need your help. But the words wouldn’t come. There was nothing wrong with her voice. She just hated the thought of asking a Blackthorne for anything.
“I haven’t got all night,” he said. “There’s an emergency at the barn—”
“Ruby’s foal has already been delivered safely,” she said. “I made up that story because I wanted to speak privately with you.
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Joan Johnston (The Texan (Bitter Creek, #2))
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1. Divine Writing: The Bible, down to the details of its words, consists of and is identical with God’s very own words written inerrantly in human language. 2. Total Representation: The Bible represents the totality of God’s communication to and will for humanity, both in containing all that God has to say to humans and in being the exclusive mode of God’s true communication.[11] 3. Complete Coverage: The divine will about all of the issues relevant to Christian belief and life are contained in the Bible.[12] 4. Democratic Perspicuity: Any reasonably intelligent person can read the Bible in his or her own language and correctly understand the plain meaning of the text.[13] 5. Commonsense Hermeneutics: The best way to understand biblical texts is by reading them in their explicit, plain, most obvious, literal sense, as the author intended them at face value, which may or may not involve taking into account their literary, cultural, and historical contexts. 6. Solo Scriptura:[14] The significance of any given biblical text can be understood without reliance on creeds, confessions, historical church traditions, or other forms of larger theological hermeneutical frameworks, such that theological formulations can be built up directly out of the Bible from scratch. 7. Internal Harmony: All related passages of the Bible on any given subject fit together almost like puzzle pieces into single, unified, internally consistent bodies of instruction about right and wrong beliefs and behaviors. 8. Universal Applicability: What the biblical authors taught God’s people at any point in history remains universally valid for all Christians at every other time, unless explicitly revoked by subsequent scriptural teaching. 9. Inductive Method: All matters of Christian belief and practice can be learned by sitting down with the Bible and piecing together through careful study the clear “biblical” truths that it teaches. The prior nine assumptions and beliefs generate a tenth viewpoint that—although often not stated in explications of biblicist principles and beliefs by its advocates—also commonly characterizes the general biblicist outlook, particularly as it is received and practiced in popular circles: 10. Handbook Model: The Bible teaches doctrine and morals with every affirmation that it makes, so that together those affirmations comprise something like a handbook or textbook for Christian belief and living, a compendium of divine and therefore inerrant teachings on a full array of subjects—including science, economics, health, politics, and romance.[15]
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Christian Smith (The Bible Made Impossible: Why Biblicism is Not a Truly Evangelical Reading of Scripture)