β
The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It's the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
Take pride in your pain; you are stronger than those who have none
β
β
Lois Lowry (Gathering Blue (The Giver, #2))
β
When someone is counting out
gold for you, don't look at your hands,
or the gold. Look at the giver.
β
β
Jalal ad-Din Muhammad ar-Rumi (The Masnavi, Book Two)
β
In years to come, he would be a giver of bread, not a stealer - proof again of the contradictory human being. So much good, so much evil. Just add water.
β
β
Markus Zusak (The Book Thief)
β
The person who gives with a smile is the best giver because God loves a cheerful giver.
β
β
Mother Teresa
β
For the first time, he heard something that he knew to be music. He heard people singing. Behind him, across vast distances of space and time, from the place he had left, he thought he heard music too. But perhaps, it was only an echo.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
If I had to choose a religion, the sun as the universal giver of life would be my god.
β
β
NapolΓ©on Bonaparte
β
If nature has made you for a giver, your hands are born open, and so is your heart; and though there may be times when your hands are empty, your heart is always full, and you can give things out of thatβwarm things, kind things, sweet thingsβhelp and comfort and laughterβand sometimes gay, kind laughter is the best help of all.
β
β
Frances Hodgson Burnett (A Little Princess)
β
We gained control of many things. But we had to let go of others.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
Hair the color of lemons,'" Rudy read. His fingers touched the words. "You told him about me?"
At first, Liesel could not talk. Perhaps it was the sudden bumpiness of love she felt for him. Or had she always loved him? It's likely. Restricted as she was from speaking, she wanted him to kiss her. She wanted him to drag her hand across and pull her over. It didn't matter where. Her mouth, her neck, her cheek. Her skin was empty for it, waiting.
Years ago, when they'd raced on a muddy field, Rudy was a hastily assembled set of bones, with a jagged, rocky smile. In the trees this afternoon, he was a giver of bread and teddy bears. He was a triple Hitler Youth athletics champion. He was her best friend. And he was a month from his death.
Of course I told him about you," Liesel said.
β
β
Markus Zusak (The Book Thief)
β
I feel sorry for anyone who is in a place where he feels strange and stupid.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
Even trained for years as they all had been in precision of language, what words could you use which would give another the experience of sunshine?
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
It's the choosing that's important, isn't it?
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
If you were to be lost in the river, Jonas, your memories would not be lost with you. Memories are forever.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
Born to be some body." You were born to be some body, maybe a vet, maybe a hero, maybe a care giver. What ever it is you were born to be some thing special and if you believe you can achieve
β
β
Justin Bieber
β
Of course they needed to care. It was the meaning of everything.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
The life where nothing was ever unexpected. Or inconvenient. Or unusual. The life without colour, pain or past.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
The man that I named the Giver passed along to the boy knowledge, history, memories, color, pain, laughter, love, and truth. Every time you place a book in the hands of a child, you do the same thing. It is very risky. But each time a child opens a book, he pushes open the gate that separates him from Elsewhere. It gives him choices. It gives him freedom. Those are magnificent, wonderfully unsafe things.
[from her Newberry Award acceptance speech]
β
β
Lois Lowry
β
Beauty is not who you are on the outside, it is the wisdom and time you gave away to save another struggling soul like you.
β
β
Shannon L. Alder
β
Prometheus, thief of light, giver of light, bound by the gods, must have been a book.
β
β
Mark Z. Danielewski (House of Leaves)
β
A gift consists not in what is done or given, but in the intention of the giver or doer.
β
β
Seneca (Moral Essays: Volume III)
β
The βMuseβ is not an artistic mystery, but a mathematical equation. The gift are those ideas you think of as you drift to sleep. The giver is that one you think of when you first awake.
β
β
Roman Payne
β
If you were born with the ability to change someoneβs perspective or emotions, never waste that gift. It is one of the most powerful gifts God can giveβthe ability to influence.
β
β
Shannon L. Alder
β
God knows weβre all drawn toward whatβs beautiful and broken; I have been, but some people cannot be fixed. Or if they can be, itβs only by love and sacrifice so great it destroys the giver.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments, #5))
β
There are some peopleβpeople the universe seems to have singled out for special destinies. Special favors and special torments. God knows we're all drawn toward what's beautiful and broken; I have been, but some people cannot be fixed. Or if they can be; its only by love and sacrifice so great that it destroys the giver.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments, #5))
β
They were satisfied with their lives which had none of the vibrance his own was taking on. And he was angry at himself, that he could not change that for them.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
A wise lover values not so much the gift of the lover as the love of the giver.
β
β
Thomas Γ Kempis (The Imitation of Christ)
β
If everything's the same, then there aren't any choices! I want to wake up in the morning and decide things!
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
I knew that there had been times in the past-terrible times-when people had destroyed others in haste,in fear, and had brought about their own destruction
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
This is the hardest of all: to close the open hand out of love, and keep modest as a giver.
β
β
Friedrich Nietzsche
β
He wept, and it felt as if the tears were cleansing him, as if his body needed to empty itself.
β
β
Lois Lowry (Messenger (The Giver, #3))
β
Pseudo idealism: apparent charitable behaviour that on scrutiny is revealed as selfish, because the giver is engaging in it only so that he or she can feel good about him or herself
β
β
Jeremy Griffith (FREEDOM: The End of the Human Condition)
β
Teasing's part of the fun that comes before kissing
β
β
Lois Lowry (Messenger (The Giver, #3))
β
Gabe?"
The newchild stirred slightly in his sleep. Jonas looked over at him.
"There could be love", Jonas whispered.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
It's just that... without the memories it's all meaningless.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
lover, n.
Oh, how I hated this word. So pretentious, like it was always being translated from the French. The tint and taint of illicit, illegitimate affections. Dictionary meaning: a person having a love affair. Impermanent. Unfamilial. Inextricably linked to sex.
I have never wanted a lover. In order to have a lover, I must go back to the root of the word. For I have never wanted a lover, but I have always wanted lover, and to be loved.
There is no word for the recipient of the love. There is only a word for the giver. There is the assumption that lovers come in pairs.
When I say, Be my lover, I don't mean, Let's have an affair. I don't mean Sleep with me. I don't mean, Be my secret.
I want us to go back to that root.
I want you to be the one who loves me.
I want to be the one who loves you.
β
β
David Levithan (The Lover's Dictionary)
β
I liked the feeling of love,' [Jonas] confessed. He glanced nervously at the speaker on the wall, reassuring himself that no one was listening. 'I wish we still had that,' he whispered. 'Of course,' he added quickly, 'I do understand that it wouldn't work very well. And that it's much better to be organized the way we are now. I can see that it was a dangerous way to live.'
...'Still,' he said slowly, almost to himself, 'I did like the light they made. And the warmth.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
It was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be frightened.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
He knew that there was no quick comfort for emotions like those. They were deeper and they did not need to be told. They were felt.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
Today is declared an unscheduled holiday.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
I believe the world is divided in three groups: givers, takers and the few that can balance both impulses. Giving and loving is a beautiful thing. It is the currency of compassion and kindness, it is what separates good people from the rest. And without it, the world would be a bleak place. If you are a giver, it is wise to define your boundaries because takers will take what you allow them to; all givers must learn to protect that about themselves or eventually, there is nothing left to give.
β
β
Tiffany Madison
β
Alec isnβt happy,β said Magnus, as if she hadnβt spoken.
βOf course he isnβt,β Isabelle snapped. βJaceββ
βJace,β said Magnus, and his hands made fists at his sides. Isabelle stared at him. She had always thought that he didnβt mind Jace; liked him, even, once the question of Alecβs affections had been settled. Out loud, she said:
βI thought you were friends.β
βItβs not that,β said Magnus. βThere are some people β people the universe seems to have singled out for special destinies. Special favors and special torments. God knows weβre all drawn toward whatβs beautiful and broken; I have been, but some people cannot be fixed. Or if they can be, itβs only by love and sacrifice so great it destroys the giver.β
Isabelle shook her head slowly. βYouβve lost me. Jace is our brother, but for Alec β heβs Jaceβs parabatai too ββ
βI know about parabatai,β said Magnus, his voice rising in pitch. βIβve known parabatai so close they were almost the same person; do you know what happens, when one of them dies, to the one thatβs leftββ
βStop it!β Isabelle clapped her hands over her ears, then lowered them slowly. βHow dare you, Magnus Bane,β she said.
βHow dare you make this worse than it is ββ
βIsabelle.β Magnusβ hands loosened; he looked a little wide-eyed, as if his outburst had startled even him. βI am sorry. I forget, sometimes . . . that with all your self-control and strength, you possess the same vulnerability that Alec does.β
βThere is nothing weak about Alec,β said Isabelle.
βNo,β said Magnus. βTo love as you choose, that takes strength. The thing is, I wanted you here for him. There are things I canβt do for him, canβt give him . . .β For a moment Magnus looked oddly vulnerable. βYou have known Jace as long as he has. You can give him understanding I canβt. And he loves you.β
βOf course he loves me. Iβm his sister.β
βBlood isnβt love,β said Magnus, and his voice was bitter. βJust ask Clary.
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments, #5))
β
Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind.
β
β
William Shakespeare (Hamlet)
β
Giving connects two people, the giver and the receiver, and this connection gives birth to a new sense of belonging.
β
β
Deepak Chopra
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.
β
β
Maya Angelou
β
I don't know what you mean when you say 'the whole world' or 'generations before him.'I thought there was only us. I thought there was only now.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
Behind him,across vast distances of space and time, from the place he had left, he thought he heard music too. But perhaps it was only an echo.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
If we hold tightly to anything given to us unwilling to allow it to be used as the Giver means it to be used we stunt the growth of the soul. What God gives us is not necessarily "ours" but only ours to offer back to him, ours to relinguish, ours to lose, ours to let go of, if we want to be our true selves. Many deaths must go into reaching our maturity in Christ, many letting goes.
β
β
Elisabeth Elliot (Passion and Purity: Learning to Bring Your Love Life Under Christ's Control)
β
We are the girls with anxiety disorders, filled appointment books, five-year plans. We take ourselves very, very seriously. We are the peacemakers, the do-gooders, the givers, the savers. We are on time, overly prepared, well read, and witty, intellectually curious, always movingβ¦ We pride ourselves on getting as little sleep as possible and thrive on self-deprivation. We drink coffee, a lot of it. We are on birth control, Prozac, and multivitaminsβ¦ We are relentless, judgmental with ourselves, and forgiving to others. We never want to be as passive-aggressive as our mothers, never want to marry men as uninspired as our fathersβ¦ We are the daughters of the feminists who said, βYou can be anything,β and we heard, βYou have to be everything.
β
β
Courtney Martin
β
The community of the Giver had achieved at such great price. A community without danger or pain. But also, a community without music, color or art. And books.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
What if they were allowed to choose their own mate? And chose wrong?
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
He hunched his shoulders and tried to make himself smaller in the seat. He wanted to disappear, to fade away, not to exist.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
Gifts of the heart can't be claimed by anyone except the giver.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Wedding (The Notebook, #2))
β
That some things are a gift, even if you don't get to keep them.
β
β
Jojo Moyes (The Giver of Stars)
β
There is always a way out of a situation. Might be ugly. Might leave you feeling like the earth had gone and shifted under your feet. But there is always a way around.
β
β
Jojo Moyes (The Giver of Stars)
β
So this is what I will do. I will gather together my past and look. I will see a thing that has already happened. the pain that cut my spirit loose. I will hold that pain in my hand until it becomes hard and shiny, more clear. And then my fierceness can come back, my golden side, my black side. I will use this sharp pain to penetrate my daughter's tough skin and cut her tiger spirit loose. She will fight me, because this is the nature of two tigers. But I will win and giver her my spirit, because this is the way a mother loves her daughter.
β
β
Amy Tan (The Joy Luck Club)
β
You are not The Giver of My Heartβs Desire.β I took a deep breath and smiled. βYou are my heartβs desire.
β
β
Julianne Donaldson (Blackmoore)
β
Iβm a modern man, a man for the millennium. Digital and smoke free. A diversified multi-cultural, post-modern deconstruction that is anatomically and ecologically incorrect. Iβve been up linked and downloaded, Iβve been inputted and outsourced, I know the upside of downsizing, I know the downside of upgrading. Iβm a high-tech low-life. A cutting edge, state-of-the-art bi-coastal multi-tasker and I can give you a gigabyte in a nanosecond!
Iβm new wave, but Iβm old school and my inner child is outward bound. Iβm a hot-wired, heat seeking, warm-hearted cool customer, voice activated and bio-degradable. I interface with my database, my database is in cyberspace, so Iβm interactive, Iβm hyperactive and from time to time Iβm radioactive.
Behind the eight ball, ahead of the curve, ridin the wave, dodgin the bullet and pushin the envelope. Iβm on-point, on-task, on-message and off drugs. Iβve got no need for coke and speed. I've got no urge to binge and purge. Iβm in-the-moment, on-the-edge, over-the-top and under-the-radar. A high-concept, low-profile, medium-range ballistic missionary. A street-wise smart bomb. A top-gun bottom feeder. I wear power ties, I tell power lies, I take power naps and run victory laps. Iβm a totally ongoing big-foot, slam-dunk, rainmaker with a pro-active outreach. A raging workaholic. A working rageaholic. Out of rehab and in denial!
Iβve got a personal trainer, a personal shopper, a personal assistant and a personal agenda. You canβt shut me up. You canβt dumb me down because Iβm tireless and Iβm wireless, Iβm an alpha male on beta-blockers.
Iβm a non-believer and an over-achiever, laid-back but fashion-forward. Up-front, down-home, low-rent, high-maintenance. Super-sized, long-lasting, high-definition, fast-acting, oven-ready and built-to-last! Iβm a hands-on, foot-loose, knee-jerk head case pretty maturely post-traumatic and Iβve got a love-child that sends me hate mail.
But, Iβm feeling, Iβm caring, Iβm healing, Iβm sharing-- a supportive, bonding, nurturing primary care-giver. My output is down, but my income is up. I took a short position on the long bond and my revenue stream has its own cash-flow. I read junk mail, I eat junk food, I buy junk bonds and I watch trash sports! Iβm gender specific, capital intensive, user-friendly and lactose intolerant.
I like rough sex. I like tough love. I use the βFβ word in my emails and the software on my hard-drive is hardcore--no soft porn.
I bought a microwave at a mini-mall; I bought a mini-van at a mega-store. I eat fast-food in the slow lane. Iβm toll-free, bite-sized, ready-to-wear and I come in all sizes. A fully-equipped, factory-authorized, hospital-tested, clinically-proven, scientifically- formulated medical miracle. Iβve been pre-wash, pre-cooked, pre-heated, pre-screened, pre-approved, pre-packaged, post-dated, freeze-dried, double-wrapped, vacuum-packed and, I have an unlimited broadband capacity.
Iβm a rude dude, but Iβm the real deal. Lean and mean! Cocked, locked and ready-to-rock. Rough, tough and hard to bluff. I take it slow, I go with the flow, I ride with the tide. Iβve got glide in my stride. Drivin and movin, sailin and spinin, jiving and groovin, wailin and winnin. I donβt snooze, so I donβt lose. I keep the pedal to the metal and the rubber on the road. I party hearty and lunch time is crunch time. Iβm hangin in, there ainβt no doubt and Iβm hangin tough, over and out!
β
β
George Carlin
β
Grace is free only because the giver himself has borne the cost.
β
β
Philip Yancey (What's So Amazing About Grace?)
β
The man that I named The Giver passed along to the boy knowledge, history, memories, color, pain, laughter, love, and truth. Every time you place a book in the hands of a child, you do the same thing.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver)
β
Fear dims when you learn things.
β
β
Lois Lowry (Son (The Giver, #4))
β
Givers have to set limits because takers rarely do.
β
β
Henry Ford
β
You often say; I would give, but only to the deserving, The trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pasture.
Surely he who is worthy to receive his days and nights is worthy of all else from you.
And he who has deserved to drink from the ocean of life deserves to fill his cup from your little stream. See first that you yourself deserve to be a giver, and an instrument of giving.
For in truth it is life that gives unto life-while you, who deem yourself a giver, is but a witness.
β
β
Kahlil Gibran (The Prophet)
β
...now he saw the familiar wide river beside the path differently. He saw all of the light and color and history it contained and carried in its slow - moving water; and he knew that there was an Elsewhere from which it came, and an Elsewhere to which it was going
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
When someone is counting out gold for you, don't look at your hands, or the gold. Look at the giver.
β
β
Jalal ad-Din Muhammad ar-Rumi (The Essential Rumi)
β
He wept because he was afraid now that he could not save Gabriel. He no longer cared about himself
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference. They bless the one who receives them, and they bless you, the giver.
β
β
Barbara De Angelis
β
And here in this room, I re-experience the memories again and again it is how wisdom comes and how we shape our future.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
His mind reeled. Now, empowered to ask questions of utmost rudeness-and promised answers-he could, conceivably (though it was almost unimaginable), ask someone, some adult, his father perhaps: "Do you lie?"
But he would have no way of knowing if the answer he received was true.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
But then, gifts are like beauty, are
they not. It is in the eye of the recipient that they find their seat, not in the hand of the giver.
β
β
J.R. Ward (Lover Unbound (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #5))
β
Be proud of your pain, for you are stronger than those with none.
β
β
Lois Lowry (Gathering Blue (The Giver, #2))
β
...what words could you use which would give another the experience of sunshine?
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
At the deepest level, there is no giver, no gift, and no recipient... only the universe rearranging itself.
β
β
Jon Kabat-Zinn (Wherever You Go, There You Are - Mindfulness Meditation In Everyday Life)
β
I want to be outside with the misfits, with the rebels, the dreamers, second-chance givers, the radical grace lavishers, the ones with arms wide open, the courageously vulnerable, and among evenβor maybe especiallyβthe ones rejected by the Table as not worthy enough or right enough.
β
β
Sarah Bessey (Jesus Feminist: An Invitation to Revisit the Bible's View of Women)
β
What imperfect carriers of love we are, and what imperfect givers. That the reasons we can care for one another can have nothing to do with the person cared for. That it has only to do with who we were around that personβwhat we felt about that person.
β
β
Rachel Khong (Goodbye, Vitamin)
β
Water is the life-giver and the death-bringer.
β
β
Michael Scott
β
...how could you describe a hill and snow to someone who had never felt height or wind or that feathery, magical cold?
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
She just wasnβt sure she had yet been to the place she was homesick for.
β
β
Jojo Moyes (The Giver of Stars)
β
Submitting to censorship is to enter the seductive world of 'The Giver': the world where there are no bad words and no bad deeds. But it is also the world where choice has been taken away and reality distorted. And that is the most dangerous world of all.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
God is the source and giver of our prosperity: βBut remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealthβ (Deut. 8:18a).
β
β
Myles Munroe (The Purpose and Power of Love & Marriage)
β
Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment.
β
β
Bob Burg (The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea)
β
The quality of gifts depends on the sincerity of the giver.
β
β
Ann Patchett (Bel Canto)
β
When people have the freedom to choose, they choose wrong, every single time.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
Memories are forever.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
...surely I could give him--a sort of contentment...
That isn't enough to give. Not for the giver.
β
β
Dodie Smith (I Capture the Castle)
β
...That's why we have the Museum, Matty, to remind us of how we came, and why: to start fresh, and begin a new place from what we had learned and carried from the old.
β
β
Lois Lowry (Messenger (The Giver, #3))
β
I donβt utter a word of complaint, because letβs face it, Nox doesnβt seem like a giver of fucks.
β
β
Belle Aurora (Willing Captive)
β
I'm going to give you the memory of a rainbow.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
I worked it out sitting here. Maybe thatβs the thing we need to understand, Alice. That some things are a gift, even if you donβt get to keep them.β
There was a silence before he spoke again.
βMaybe just to know that something this beautiful exists is all we can really ask for.
β
β
Jojo Moyes (The Giver of Stars)
β
- My instructors in science and technology have taught us about how the brain works. It's full of electrical impulses. It's like a computer. If you stimulate one part of the brain with an electrode, it...
- They know nothing.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
Boys are universal giver, women remains universal receiver.
β
β
Santosh Kalwar (25 Sexy Poems)
β
There is no ongoing spiritual life without this process of letting go. At the precise point where we refuse, growth stops. If we hold tightly to anything given to us, unwilling to let it go when the time comes to let it go or unwilling to allow it to be used as the Giver means it to be used, we stunt the growth of the soul. It is easy to make a mistake here, βIf God gave it to me,β we say, βits mine. I can do what I want with it.β No. The truth is that it is ours to thank Him for and ours to offer back to Him, ours to relinquish, ours to lose, ours to let go of β if we want to find our true selves, if we want real life, if our hearts are set on glory.
β
β
Elisabeth Elliot
β
An algorithm that expedites care to a stroke patient in a chaotic emergency room (ER) has a good chance of adoption. An algorithm that reads a routine scan and provides some quantification of what the physicians can already estimate wonβt be in as much demand. There are good reasons for algorithms to parse patient records to look for signs of rare diseases, but there are fewer good reasons for using them to evaluate clinical symptoms. Itβs cool that AI tools can make diagnoses from scratch, but for most clinical encounters doctors are already pretty good at it.
β
β
Ronald M. Razmi (AI Doctor: The Rise of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare - A Guide for Users, Buyers, Builders, and Investors)
β
If nature has made you a giver, your hands are born open, and so is your heart. And though there may be times when your hands are empty, your heart is always full, and you can give things out of that.
β
β
Frances Hodgson Burnett
β
Much of clinician burnout is due to spending time writing notes, placing orders, generating referrals, writing prior authorization letters, and creating patient communication. In other words, burnout is caused by physicians having to generate output! With the emergence of large language models that are used to train generative AI solutions, these use cases will be at the frontier of AIβs applications in healthcare.
β
β
Ronald M. Razmi (AI Doctor: The Rise of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare - A Guide for Users, Buyers, Builders, and Investors)
β
It be better, I think, to climb out in search of something, instead of hating, what you're leaving.
β
β
Lois Lowry (Son (The Giver, #4))
β
There's much more. There's all that goes beyond β all ... that is Elsewhere β and all that goes back, and back, and back. I received all of those, when I was selected. And here in this room, all alone, I re-experience them again and again. It is how wisdom comes. And how we shape our future.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
As much as you can, keep dunya (worldly life) in your hand--not in your heart. That means when someone insults you, keep it out of your heart so it doesn't make you bitter or defensive. When someone praises you, also keep it out of your heart, so it doesn't make you arrogant and self-deluded. When you face hardship and stress, don't absorb it in your heart, so you don't become hopeless and overwhelmed. Instead keep it in your hands and realize that everything passes. When you're given a gift by God, don't hold it in your heart. Hold it in your hand so that you don't begin to love the gift more than the giver. And so that when it is taken away you can truly respond with 'inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi rajioon': 'indeed we belong to God, and to God we return'.
β
β
Yasmin Mogahed
β
...God's grace and forgiveness, while free to the recipient, are always costly for the giver.... From the earliest parts of the Bible, it was understood that God could not forgive without sacrifice. No one who is seriously wronged can "just forgive" the perpetrator.... But when you forgive, that means you absorb the loss and the debt. You bear it yourself. All forgiveness, then, is costly.
β
β
Timothy J. Keller
β
But there was nothing left to do but continue
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
You will know who truly loves you when you ask them to do an uncoventional favor.
β
β
Michael Bassey Johnson
β
Go, " he said. "This is your journey, your battle. Be brave. Find your gift. Use it to save what you love.
β
β
Lois Lowry (Son (The Giver, #4))
β
I guard the light-bringer,
And protect the dark-giver.
I live for the world-starte,
And die for the shadow-ender.
My blood, I offer freely.
My Threads, I offer wholly.
My eternal soul belongs to no one else.
Claim my Aether.
Guide my blade.
From now until the end.
β
β
Susan Dennard (Truthwitch (The Witchlands, #1))
β
God wants us to choose to love him freely, even when that choice involves pain, because we are committed to him, not to our own good feelings and rewards. He wants us to cleave to him, as Job did, even when we have every reason to deny him hotly. That, I believe, is the central message of Job. Satan had taunted God with the accusation that humans are not truly free. Was Job being faithful simply because God had allowed him a prosperous life? Job's fiery trials proved the answer beyond doubt. Job clung to God's justice when he was the best example in history of God's apparent injustice. He did not seek the Giver because of his gifts; when all gifts were removed he still sought the Giver.
β
β
Philip Yancey (Where Is God When It Hurts?)
β
There was just a moment when things weren't quite the same, weren't quite as they had always been through the long friendship
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
When you care about someone and give them something special. Something that they treasire. That's a gift.
β
β
Lois Lowry (Gathering Blue (The Giver, #2))
β
Things could change, Gabe," Jonas went on. "Things could be different. I don't know how, but there must be some way for things to be different. There could be colors. And grandparents," he added, staring through the dimness toward the ceiling of his sleepingroom. "And everybody would have the memories."
"You know the memories," he whispered, turning toward the crib.
Garbriel's breathing was even and deep. Jonas liked having him there, though he felt guilty about the secret. Each night he gave memories to Gabriel: memories of boat rides and picnics in the sun; memories of soft rainfall against windowpanes; memories of dancing barefoot on a damp lawn.
"Gabe?"
The newchild stirred slightly in his sleep. Jonas looked over at him.
"There could be love," Jonas whispered.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
She is the creature of life, the giver of life, and the giver of abundant love, care and protection. Such are the great qualities of a mother. The bond between a mother and her child is the only real and purest bond in the world, the only true love we can ever find in our lifetime.
β
β
Ama H. Vanniarachchy
β
We're the ones who will fill in the blank places. Maybe we can make it different.
β
β
Lois Lowry (Gathering Blue (The Giver, #2))
β
It was the circle of perfect motion. Of the light-bringer and dark-giver, the world-starter and shadow-ender. Of initiation and completion. It was the symbol of the Cahr Awen. Cahr Awen.
β
β
Susan Dennard (Truthwitch (The Witchlands, #1))
β
Givers need set limits because takers rarely do.
β
β
Rachel Wolchin
β
The giving hand is considered powerful; the receiving hand is considered weak. Itβs better to give than to receive.
β
β
Bangambiki Habyarimana (Pearls Of Eternity)
β
Motherhood is about raising and celebrating the child you have, not the child you thought you would have. It's about understanding that he is exactly the person he is supposed to be. And that, if you're lucky, he just might be the teacher who turns you into the person you are supposed to be.
β
β
Joan Ryan (The Water Giver: The Story of a Mother, a Son, and Their Second Chance)
β
They have never known pain, he thought. The realization made him feel desperately lonely.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
There was never any comfortable way to mention or discuss one's successes without breaking the rule against bragging, even if one didn't mean to.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver)
β
A book, to me, is almost sacrosanct: such an individual and private thing. The reader brings his or her own history and beliefs and concerns, and reads in solitude, creating each scene from his own imagination as he does. There is no fellow ticket-holder in the next seat.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
Take pride in your pain," her mother had always told her. "You are stronger than those who have none.
β
β
Lois Lowry (Gathering Blue (The Giver, #2))
β
All of us, at some time or other, need help. Whether weβre giving or receiving help, each one of us has something valuable to bring to this world. Thatβs one of the things that connects us as neighborsβin our own way, each one of us is a giver and a receiver.
β
β
Fred Rogers (The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember)
β
They were doers and thinkers and lovers and seekers and givers, but dreamers, most dangerously of all.
They were dreamer-women.
Very dangerous women.
Who looked at the world through their wide dreamer-eyes and saw it not as it was, "brutal, senseless," etc., but worse, as it might be or might yet become.
So, insatiable women.
Un-pleasable women.
β
β
Taiye Selasi (Ghana Must Go)
β
I decided that giving a girl a ring when you're not in a serious relationship is sort of like giving a guy a blow job when you have no real feelings for him. It makes everything feel a little cheap.It cheapens the giver and the recipient.
β
β
Emily Giffin (Baby Proof)
β
when a person gives to another person itβs not just the receiver whoβs blessed. Itβs the giver.
β
β
Fredrik Backman (A Man Called Ove)
β
in the trees this afternoon, he was a giver of bread and teddy bears.
β
β
Markus Zusak (The Book Thief)
β
Because of fear, they made shelter and found food and grew things. For the same reason, weapons were stored, waiting.
β
β
Lois Lowry (Gathering Blue (The Giver, #2))
β
A friend is not the shadow that mimics you, but the one who casts all shadows away.
β
β
Shannon L. Alder
β
No child can be good enough to evoke love from a highly self-involved parent. Nevertheless, these children come to believe that the price of making a connection is to put other people first and treat them as more important. They think they can keep relationships by being the giver. Children who try to be good enough to win their parentsβ love have no way of knowing that unconditional love cannot be bought with conditional behavior.
β
β
Lindsay C. Gibson (Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal from Distant, Rejecting, or Self-Involved Parents)
β
Pretending doesn't keep you safe.
β
β
Lois Lowry (Gathering Blue (The Giver, #2))
β
Things seem more when youβre little. They seem bigger, and distances seem farther.
β
β
Lois Lowry (Messenger (The Giver, #3))
β
..you have more than you know. And people will want what you have.
β
β
Lois Lowry (Messenger (The Giver, #3))
β
I used to think mercy meant showing kindness to someone who didn't deserve it, as if only the recipient defined the act. The girl in between has learned that mercy is defined by its giver. Our flaws are obvious, yet we are loved and able to love, if we choose, because there is that bit of the divine still smoldering in us.
β
β
Susan Meissner (The Shape of Mercy)
β
I don't like taking from anyone. I'd rather be a giver, though not for any worthy reason. It's about control, obviously. If I give, I control; if I take, I am controlled. If someone offers me something for free I am at once suspicious.
β
β
Margaret Forster (The Memory Box)
β
The worse part of holding the memories is not the pain. It's the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
If he had stayed, he would have starved in other ways.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
So if givers are most likely to land at the bottom of the success ladder, whoβs at the topβtakers or matchers? Neither. When I took another look at the data, I discovered a surprising pattern: Itβs the givers again.
β
β
Adam M. Grant (Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success)
β
There are two goddesses in your heard. The Goddess of Wisdom and the Goddess of Wealth. Everyone thinks they need to get wealth first, and wisdom will come. So they concern themselves with chasing money. But they have it backwards. You have to give your heart to the Goddess of Wisdom, giver her all your love and attention, and the Goddess of Wealth will become jealous, and follow you.
β
β
Joe Vigil
β
IΒ΄ve always wanted him to love me the way I loved him. He did love me, I know he did. Just not the way I wanted him to.
"And itΒ΄s so different for a lot of people IΒ΄ve known. One partner doesnΒ΄t love the other enough to stop drinking, or gambling, or running around with other women. One is the giver and one is the taker. The giver wishes the taker would stop."
"But the taker never changes," Luke says, though he wonders if this is always the case.
"Sometimes the giver has to let go, but sometimes you donΒ΄t. You canΒ΄t. I couldnΒ΄t give up on Jonathan. I seemed to be able to forgive him anything.
β
β
Alma Katsu (The Taker (The Taker, #1))
β
Our people made that choice, the choice to go to Sameness. Before my time, before the previous time, back and back and back. We relinquished color when we relinquished sunshine and did away with difference. We gained control of many things. But we had to let go of others.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
He gestured toward her twisted leg. "Like you. Some don't walk good. Some be broken in other ways. Not all. But lots. Do you think it maken them quiet and nice, to be broken?
β
β
Lois Lowry (Gathering Blue (The Giver, #2))
β
Time flew. And each ended the night full and happy with the rare glow that comes from knowing your very being has been understood by somebody else. And that there might just be someone out there, who will only ever see the best in you.
β
β
Jojo Moyes (The Giver of Stars)
β
Thank you for your childhood.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
All of it was new to him. After a life of Sameness and predictability, he was awed by the surprises that lay beyond each curve of the road.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
As long as youβre trying to be someone else, or putting on some act or behavior someone else taught you, you have no possibility of truly reaching people. The most valuable thing you have to give people is yourself. No matter what you think youβre selling, what youβre really offering is you.β (p.92)
β
β
Bob Burg (The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea)
β
The man that I named The Giver passed along to the boy knowledge, history, memories, color, pain, laughter, love, and truth. Every time you place a book in the hands of a child, you do the same thing. It is very risky. But each time a child opens a book, he pushes open the gate that separates him from Elsewhere. It gives him choices. It gives him freedom. Those are magnificent, wonderfully unsafe things.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver)
β
Helping a person in need is good in itself. But the degree of goodness is hugely affected by the attitude with which it is done. If you show resentment because you are helping the person out of a reluctant sense of duty, then the person may recieve your help but may feel awkward and embarrassed. This is because he will feel beholden to you. If,on the other hand, you help the person in a spirit of joy, then the help will be received joyfully. The person will feel neither demeaned nor humiliated by your help, but rather will feel glad to have caused you pleasure by receiving your help. And joy is the appropriate attitude with which to help others because acts of generosity are a source of blessing to the giver as well as the receiver.
β
β
John Chrysostom
β
...an urge, a need, a passionate yearning to share the warmth with the one person left for him to love.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
And I thanked mi papa who'd always said to me that we, los Indios, the Indians, were like the weeds. That roses you had to water and giver fertilizer or they'd die. But weeds, indigenous plants, you gave them nada-nothing; hell you even poisoned them and put concrete over them, and those weeds would still break the concrete,
β
β
Victor VillaseΓ±or (Burro Genius)
β
For all for children
To whom we entrust the future
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
Didn't life consist of the things you did each day?
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
Once, back in the time of the memories, everything had a shape and size, the way things still do, but they also had a quality called COLOR.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
But why can't everyone have the memories? I think it would seem a little easier if the memories were shared. You and I wouldn't have to bear so much by ourselves, if everybody took a part."
The Giver sighed. "You're right," he said. "But then everyone would be burdened and pained. They don't want that. And that's the real reason The Receiver is so vital to them, and so honored. They selected me - and you - to lift that burden from themselves.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
And it was lonely, to yearn, all alone.
β
β
Lois Lowry (Son (The Giver, #4))
β
Depth, he decided; as if one were looking into the clear water of the river, down to the bottom, where things might lurk which hadn't been discovered yet.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
It's not true. I need all of you. We need each other.
β
β
Lois Lowry (Gathering Blue (The Giver, #2))
β
Evil can do anything, for a price.
β
β
Lois Lowry (Son (The Giver, #4))
β
The warmth grew uncomfortable. She gripped the tree trunk tighter and prayed, βChrist, my God, set my heart on fire with love of you. That in its flame, I may love you with all my heart, all my mind, all my soul, and all my strength, and my neighbor as myself. So that by keeping your commandments, I may glorify you, the giver of every good and perfect gift. Amen.β Set my heart on fire. It was almost funny, given what was about to happen.
β
β
John Patrick Kennedy (Princess Dracula (Princess Dracula #1))
β
always busy because of interesting books
β
β
Lois Lowry (Gathering Blue (The Giver, #2))
β
Think only on the climb. Think on what you control
β
β
Lois Lowry (Son (The Giver, #4))
β
The man corrected him. "Honor," he said firmly. "I have great honor. So will you. But you will find that that is not the same as power.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
This is what I find most magnetic about successful givers: they get to the top without cutting others down, finding ways of expanding the pie that benefit themselves and the people around them. Whereas success is zero-sum in a group of takers, in groups of givers, it may be true that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
β
β
Adam M. Grant (Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success)
β
Well...," Jonas had to stop and think it through. "If everything's the same, then there are no choices! I want to wake up in the morning and DECIDE things! A blue tunic, or a red one?
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
That's why they call you Seer. You see more than most.
β
β
Lois Lowry (Messenger (The Giver, #3))
β
To sadden. To bloom. To bleed. What a strange set of words.
β
β
Lois Lowry (Gathering Blue (The Giver, #2))
β
Not surprisingly, the place we're most likely to experience testing is exactly where we struggle most to trust God.
β
β
Bruce H. Wilkinson (The Dream Giver)
β
Life is complicated. Which is why finding a little joy where you can is important.
β
β
Jojo Moyes (The Giver of Stars)
β
You will fail. Then they will kill you." - Vandara to Kira, following Kira's trial.
β
β
Lois Lowry (Gathering Blue (The Giver, #2))
β
Babies are such blank slates. They donβt come into this world with the assumptions their parents have made, or the promises their church will give, or the ability to sort people into groups they like and donβt like. They donβt come into this world with anything, really, except a need for comfort. And they will take it from anyone, without judging the giver. I wonder how long it takes before the polish given by nature gets worn off by nurture.
β
β
Jodi Picoult (Small Great Things)
β
You know the worst thing about a man hitting you?β Margery said finally. βAinβt the hurt. Itβs that in that instant you realize the truth of what it is to be a woman. That it doesnβt matter how smart you are, how much better at arguing, how much better than them period. Itβs when you realize they can always shut you up with a fist. Just like that.β She mulled over it for a Monet, then straightened up , and flashed Alice a tight smile. βCourse, you know that only happens till you learn to hit back harder.
β
β
Jojo Moyes (The Giver of Stars)
β
THE UNFORGIVEN
Tell me if you've ever had to deal with these kinds of people:
The kind who take and don't give.
The kind to whom you give and give,
And they keep asking.
The kind to whom you give and give and they say you gave nothing.
The kind whom have never offered anything,
But act like they're the ones providing
EVERYTHING.
The kind you give and give,
But take more than you can give.
And when they have already taken everything,
They get mad at you when you say you have
Nothing more to give.
The unforgiving,
The misgiving,
Wastefully living -
And selfishly driven.
The rat that never gives back,
Yet is so quick to attack -
Because they think the word
TAKING
Seriously means
GIVING.
β
β
Suzy Kassem (Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem)
β
Many cry to the Lord that they may win riches, that they may avoid losses; they cry that their family may be established, they ask for temporal happiness, for worldly dignities; and, lastly, they cry for bodily health, which is the patrimony of the poor. For these and suchlike things many cry to the Lord; hardly one cries for the Lord Himself! How easy it is for a man to desire all manner of things from the Lord and yet not desire the Lord Himself! As though the gift could be sweeter than the Giver!
β
β
Thomas Aquinas (On Prayer and The Contemplative Life)
β
truth is a friend
that asks for loyalty
and acceptance
then it enters our hearts
dissolving the boundaries
freeing us from lonliness
β
β
Nirmala (Gifts With No Giver: A Love Affair With Truth)
β
Frightened meant that deep, sickening feeling of something terrible about to happen.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
Thomas," she suggested, "you and I? We're the ones who will fill in the blank places. Maybe we can make it different.
β
β
Lois Lowry (Gathering Blue (The Giver, #2))
β
When we start being too impressed by the results of our work, we slowly come to the erroneous conviction that life is one large scoreboard where someone is listing the points to measure our worth. And before we are fully aware of it, we have sold our soul to the many grade-givers. That means we are not only in the world, but also of the world. Then we become what the world makes us. We are intelligent because someone gives us a high grade. We are helpful because someone says thanks. We are likable because someone likes us. And we are important because someone considers us indispensable. In short, we are worthwhile because we have successes. And the more we allow our accomplishments β the results of our actions β to become the criteria of our self-esteem, the more we are going to walk on our mental and spiritual toes, never sure if we will be able to live up to the expectations which we created by our last successes. In many peopleβs lives, there is a nearly diabolic chain in which their anxieties grow according to their successes. This dark power has driven many of the greatest artists into self-destruction.
β
β
Henri J.M. Nouwen (Out of Solitude: Three Meditations on the Christian Life)
β
A poor man knows the true value of money and will not dare waste it, but a rich man is extravagant and always looking for an opportunity to empty his pockets.
β
β
Michael Bassey Johnson
β
Gay!' he chirped. 'Gay!' It was the way he said his own name.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
Now he saw another elephant emerge from the place where it had stood hidden in the trees. Very slowly it walked to the mutilated body and looked down. With its sinuous trunk it struck the huge corpse; then it reached up, broke some leafy branches with a snap, and draped them over the mass of torn thick flesh. Finally it tilted its massive head, raised its trunk, and roared into the empty landscape.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
Always in the dream, it seemed as if there were a destination: a something--he could not grasp what-that lay beyond the place where the thickness of snow brought the sled to a stop. He was left, upon awakening, with the feeling that he wanted, even somehow needed, to reach the something that waited in the distance. The feeling that it was good. That it was welcoming. That it was significant. But he did not know how to get there.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
And Polly did n't think she had done much; but it was one of the little things which are always waiting to be done in this world of ours, where rainy days come so often, where spirits get out of tune, and duty won't go hand in hand with pleasure. Little things of this sort are especially good work for little people; a kind little thought, an unselfish little act, a cheery little word, are so sweet and comfortable, that no one can fail to feel their beauty and love the giver, no matter how small they are. Mothers do a deal of this sort of thing, unseen, unthanked, but felt and remembered long afterward, and never lost, for this is the simple magic that binds hearts together, and keeps home happy.
β
β
Louisa May Alcott (An Old-Fashioned Girl)
β
It was as simple as that. Once he had yearned for choice. then, when he had had a choice, he had made the wrong one: the choice to leave. And now he was starving.
But if he had stayed...
His thoughts continued. If he had stayed, he would have starved in other ways. He would have lived a life hungry for feelings, for color, for love.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
That day, I learned that I could be a giver by simply bringing a smile to another person. The ensuing years have taught me that a kind word, a vote of support is a charitable gift. I can move over and make another place for someone. I can turn my music up if it pleases, or down if it is annoying. I may never be known as a philanthropist, but I certainly am a lover of mankind, and I will give freely of my resources.
β
β
Maya Angelou (Letter to My Daughter)
β
She was willing to give you everything she had. And you took it from her. You took her youth, and her beauty, and her energy and her health-" For a moment, think of his mother, Gabe couldn't continue speaking. He fell silent and choked back tears. Then he took a deep breath and went on, "- and it didn't matter. We found each other. None of it mattered but that. You won't ever know what that's like, to love someone. In a way, I pity you. But I hope you starve.
β
β
Lois Lowry (Son (The Giver, #4))
β
You will be faced, now, with pain of a magnitude that none of us here can comprehend because it is beyond our experience. The Receiver himself was not able to describe it, only to remind us that you would be faced with it, that you would need immense courage.
β
β
Lois Lowry
β
Love is a mighty power, a great and complete good; Love alone lightens every burden, and makes the rough places smooth. It bears every hardship as though it were nothing, and renders all bitterness sweet and acceptable. The love of Jesus is noble, and inspires us to great deeds; it moves us always to desire perfection. Love aspires to high things, and is held back by nothing base. Love longs to be free, a stranger to every worldly desire, lest its inner vision become dimmed, and lest worldly self-interest hinder it or ill-fortune cast it down. Nothing is sweeter than love, nothing stronger, nothing higher, nothing wider, nothing more pleasant, nothing fuller or better in heaven or earth; for love is born of God, and can rest only in God above all created things.
Love flies, runs, leaps for joy; it is free and unrestrained. Love gives all for all, resting in One who is highest above all things, from whom every good flows and proceeds. Love does not regard the gifts, but turns to the Giver of all good gifts. Love knows no limits, but ardently transcends all bounds. Love feels no burden, takes no account of toil, attempts things beyond its strength; love sees nothing as impossible, for it feels able to achieve all things. Love therefore does great things; it is strange and effective; while he who lacks love faints and fails.
β
β
Thomas Γ Kempis (The Inner Life)
β
He found that he was often angry, now: irrationally angry at his groupmates, that they were satisfied with their lives which had none of the vibrance his own was taking on. And he was angry at himself, that he could not change that for them.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
Lyor Cohen, who I consider my mentor, once told me something that he was told by a rabbi about the eight degrees of giving in Judaism. The seventh degree is giving anonymously, so you don't know who you're giving to, and the person on the receiving end doesn't know who gave. The value of that is that the person receiving doesn't have to feel some kind of obligation to the giver and the person giving isn't doing it with an ulterior motive. It's a way of putting the giver and receiver on the same level. It's a tough ideal to reach out for, but it does take away some of the patronizing and showboating that can go on with philanthropy in a capitalist system. The highest level of giving, the eight, is giving in a way that makes the receiver self-sufficient.
β
β
Jay-Z (Decoded)
β
Friend of fatherless!
Fountain of happiness!
Lord of the swill-bucket! Oh, how my soul is on
Fire when I gaze at thy
Calm and commanding eye.
Like the sun in the sky,
Comrade Napoleon!
Thou are the giver of
All thy creatures love,
Full belly twice a day, clean straw to roll upon;
Every beast great or small,
Sleeps at peace in his stall,
Thou watchest over all,
Comrade Napoleon!
Had I a sucking-pig,
Ere he had grown as big
Even as a pint bottle or a a rolling-pin
He should have learned to be
Faithful and true to thee,
Yes, his first squeak should be
Comrade Napoleon!
β
β
George Orwell (Animal Farm)
β
A woman's body is a sacred temple. A work of art, and a life-giving vessel. And once she becomes a mother, her body serves as a medicine cabinet for her infant. From her milk she can nourish and heal her own child from a variety of ailments. And though women come in a wide assortment as vast as the many different types of flowers and birds, she is to reflect divinity in her essence, care and wisdom. God created a woman's heart to be a river of love, not to become a killing machine.
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Suzy Kassem (Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem)
β
Ah, drink again
This river that is the taker-away of pain,
And the giver-back of beauty!
In these cool waves
What can be lost?--
Only the sorry cost
Of the lovely thing, ah, never the thing itself!
The level flood that laves
The hot brow
And the stiff shoulder
Is at our temples now.
Gone is the fever,
But not into the river;
Melted the frozen pride,
But the tranquil tide
Runs never the warmer for this,
Never the colder.
Immerse the dream.
Drench the kiss.
Dip the song in the stream.
β
β
Edna St. Vincent Millay
β
Lily appeared, wearing her nightclothes, in the doorway. She gave an impatient sigh. 'This is certainly a very LONG private conversation,' she said. 'And there are certain people waiting for their comfort object.'
Lily,' her mother said fondly, 'you're very close to being an Eight, and when you're an Eight, your comfort object will be taken away. It will be recycled to the younger children. You should be starting to go off to sleep without it.'
But her father had already gone to the shelf and taken down the stuffed elephant which was kept there. Many of the comfort objects, like Lily's, were soft, stuffed, imaginary creatures. Jonas's had been called a bear.
Here you are, Lily-billy,' he said. 'I'll come help you remove your hair ribbons.
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Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
This is what people donβt see, wrapped up in their cities, with the noise and the smoke, and their tiny boxes for houses. Up there you can breathe. You canβt hear the town talking and talking. No eyes on you, βcept Godβs. Itβs just you and the trees and the birds and the river and the sky and freedomΒ .Β .Β . Out there, itβs good for the soul.
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Jojo Moyes (The Giver of Stars)
β
Sissy had two great failings. She was a great lover and a great mother. She had so much of tenderness in her, so much of wanting to give of herself to whoever needed what she had, whether it was her money, her time, the clothes off her back, her pity, her understanding, her friendship or her companionship and love. She was mother to everything that came her way. She loved men, yes. She loved women too, and old people and especially children. How she loved children! She loved loved the down-and-outers. She wanted to make everybody happy. She had tried to seduce the good priest who heard her infrequent confessions because she felt sorry for him. She thought he was missing the greatest joy on earth by being committed to a life of celibacy.
She loved all the scratching curs on the street and wept for the gaunt scavenging cats who slunk around Brooklyn corners with their sides swollen looking for a hole in which they might bring forth their young. She loved the sooty sparrows and thought that the very grass that grew in the lots was beautiful. She picked bouquets of white clover in the lots believing they were the most beautiful flowers God ever made...Yes, she listened to everybody's troubles but no one listened to hers. But that was right because Sissy was a giver and never a taker.
β
β
Betty Smith (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn)
β
Do you love me?"
There was an awkward silence for a moment. Then Father gave a little chuckle. "Jonas. You, of all people. Precision of language, please!"
"What do you mean?" Jonas asked. Amusement was not at all what he had anticipated.
"Your father means that you used a very generalized word, so meaningless that it's become almost obsolete," his mother explained carefully.
Jonas stared at them. Meaningless? He had never before felt anything as meaningful as the memory.
"And of course our community can't function smoothly if people don't use precise language. You could ask, 'Do you enjoy me?' The answer is 'Yes,'" his mother said.
"Or," his father suggested, "'Do you take pride in my accomplishments?' And the answer is wholeheartedly 'Yes.'"
"Do you understand why it's inappropriate to use a word like 'love'?" Mother asked.
Jonas nodded. "Yes, thank you, I do," he replied slowly.
It was his first lie to his parents.
β
β
Lois Lowry (The Giver (The Giver, #1))
β
i was dead
i came alive
i was tears
i became laughter
all because of love
when it arrived
my temporal life
from then on
changed to eternal
love said to me
you are not
crazy enough
you donβt
fit this house
i went and
became crazy
crazy enough
to be in chains
love said
you are not
intoxicated enough
you donβt
fit the group
i went and
got drunk
drunk enough
to overflow
with light-headedness
love said
you are still
too clever
filled with
imagination and skepticism
i went and
became gullible
and in fright
pulled away
from it all
love said
you are a candle
attracting everyone
gathering every one
around you
i am no more
a candle spreading light
i gather no more crowds
and like smoke
i am all scattered now
love said
you are a teacher
you are a head
and for everyone
you are a leader
i am no more
not a teacher
not a leader
just a servant
to your wishes
love said
you already have
your own wings
i will not give you
more feathers
and then my heart
pulled itself apart
and filled to the brim
with a new light
overflowed with fresh life
now even the heavens
are thankful that
because of love
i have become
the giver of light
β
β
Jalal ad-Din Muhammad ar-Rumi
β
The real warriors in this world are the ones that see the details of another's soul. They see the transparency behind walls people put up. They stand on the battlefield of life and expose their heart's transparency, so other's can finish the day with hope. They are the sensitive souls that understand that before they could be a light they first had to feel the burn.
β
β
Shannon L. Alder
β
We are the girls with anxiety disorders, filled appointment books, five-year plans. We take ourselves very, very seriously. We are the peacemakers, the do-gooders, the givers, the savers. We are on time, overly prepared, well read, and witty, intellectually curious, always moving β¦ We pride ourselves on getting as little sleep as possible and thrive on self-deprivation. We drink coffee, a lot of it. We are on birth control, Prozac, and multivitamins β¦ We are relentless, judgmental with ourselves, and forgiving to others. We never want to be as passive-aggressive are our mothers, never want to marry men as uninspired as our fathers β¦ We are the daughters of the feminists who said, βYou can be anything,β and we heard, βYou have to be everything.
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Courtney Martin
β
Silence Never
Silence never healed the lonely.
Silence never comforted the broken hearted.
Silence never saved a life.
Silence never won an argument with kindness.
Silence never healed the poor.
Silence never learned compassion.
Silence never saw the pain in another.
Silence never asked for forgiveness.
Silence never felt remorse.
Silence never felt empathy.
Silence never grew up.
Silence never listened to promptings.
Silence never resolved a problem.
Silence never had closure.
Silence never had a conscience.
Silence never developed integrity.
Silence never knew manners.
Silence never learned respect.
Silence never matured.
Silence never understood that the bible and its stories was Godβs way of saying, βStop being silent and start healing one another.β
Silence never realized that Christ was an activist for communication.
β
β
Shannon L. Alder
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A ring-whorled prow rode in the harbour,
ice-clad, outbound, a craft for a prince.
They stretched their beloved lord in his boat,
laid out by the mast, amidships,
the great ring-giver. Far fetched treasures
were piled upon him, and precious gear.
I have never heard before of a ship so well furbished
with battle tackle, bladed weapons
and coats of mail. The massed treasure
was loaded on top of him: it would travel far
on out into the ocean's sway.
They decked his body no less bountifully
with offerings than those first ones did
who cast him away when he was a child
and launched him alone over the waves.
And they set a gold standard up
high above his head and let him drift
to wind and tide, bewailing him
and mourning their loss. No man can tell,
no wise man in hall or weathered veteran
knows for certain who salvaged that load.
β
β
Seamus Heaney (Beowulf)
β
I was dead
I came alive
I was tears
I became laughter
All because of love
when it arrived
my temporal life
from then on
changed to eternal
Love said to me
you are not
crazy enough
you donβt
fit this house
I went and
became crazy
crazy enough
to be in chains
Love said
you are not
intoxicated enough
you donβt
fit the group
I went and
got drunk
drunk enough
to overflow
with light-headedness
Love said
you are still
too clever
filled with
imagination and skepticism
I went and
became gullible
and in fright
pulled away
from it all
Love said
you are a candle
attracting everyone
gathering every one
around you
I am no more
a candle spreading light
I gather no more crowds
and like smoke
I am all scattered now
Love said
you are a teacher
you are a head
and for everyone
you are a leader
I am no more
not a teacher
not a leader
just a servant
to your wishes
Love said
you already have
your own wings
I will not give you
more feathers
And then my heart
pulled itself apart
and filled to the brim
with a new light
overflowed with fresh life
Now even the heavens
are thankful that
because of love
I have become
the giver of light
β
β
Jalal ad-Din Muhammad ar-Rumi
β
Wisdom is really the key to wealth. With great wisdom, comes great wealth and success. Rather than pursuing wealth, pursue wisdom. The aggressive pursuit of wealth can lead to disappointment.
Wisdom is defined as the quality of having experience, and being able to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting. Wisdom is basically the practical application of knowledge.
Rich people have small TVs and big libraries, and poor people have small libraries and big TVs.
Become completely focused on one subject and study the subject for a long period of time. Don't skip around from one subject to the next.
The problem is generally not money. Jesus taught that the problem was attachment to possessions and dependence on money rather than dependence on God.
Those who love people, acquire wealth so they can give generously. After all, money feeds, shelters, and clothes people.
They key is to work extremely hard for a short period of time (1-5 years), create abundant wealth, and then make money work hard for you through wise investments that yield a passive income for life.
Don't let the opinions of the average man sway you. Dream, and he thinks you're crazy. Succeed, and he thinks you're lucky. Acquire wealth, and he thinks you're greedy. Pay no attention. He simply doesn't understand.
Failure is success if we learn from it. Continuing failure eventually leads to success. Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly.
Whenever you pursue a goal, it should be with complete focus. This means no interruptions.
Only when one loves his career and is skilled at it can he truly succeed.
Never rush into an investment without prior research and deliberation.
With preferred shares, investors are guaranteed a dividend forever, while common stocks have variable dividends.
Some regions with very low or no income taxes include the following: Nevada, Texas, Wyoming, Delaware, South Dakota, Cyprus, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Panama, San Marino, Seychelles, Isle of Man, Channel Islands, CuraΓ§ao, Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Monaco, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Bermuda, Kuwait, Oman, Andorra, Cayman Islands, Belize, Vanuatu, and Campione d'Italia.
There is only one God who is infinite and supreme above all things. Do not replace that infinite one with finite idols. As frustrated as you may feel due to your life circumstances, do not vent it by cursing God or unnecessarily uttering his name.
Greed leads to poverty. Greed inclines people to act impulsively in hopes of gaining more.
The benefit of giving to the poor is so great that a beggar is actually doing the giver a favor by allowing the person to give. The more I give away, the more that comes back.
Earn as much as you can. Save as much as you can. Invest as much as you can. Give as much as you can.
β
β
H.W. Charles (The Money Code: Become a Millionaire With the Ancient Jewish Code)
β
How do you know when the Sarows is coming?" hummed Lila as she made her way down the ship's narrow hall, fingertips skimming either wall for balance.
Right about the, Alucard's warning about Jasta was coming back in full force.
"Never challenge that one to a drinking contest. Or a sword fight. Or anything else you might lose. Because you will."
The boat rocked beneath her fee. Or maybe she was the one rocking. Hell. Lila was slight, but not short of practice, and even so, she'd never had so much trouble holding her liquor.
When she got to her room, she found Kell hunched over the Inheritor, examining the markings on its side.
"Hello, handsome," she said, bracing herself in the doorway.
Kell looked up, a smile halfway to his lips before it fell away. "You're drunk," he said, giver her a long, appraising look. "And you're not wearing any shoes."
"Your powers of observation are astonishing." Lila looked down at her bare feet. "I lost them."
"How do you lose shoes?"
Lila crinkled her brow. "I bet them. I lost."
Kell rose. "To who?"
A tiny hiccup. "Jasta."
Kell sighed. "Stay here." He slipped past her into the hall, a hand alighting on her waist and then, too soon, the touch was gone. Lila make her way to the bed and collapsed onto it, scooping up the discarded Inheritor and holding it up to the light. The spindle at the cylinder's base was sharp enough to cut, and she turned the device carefully between her fingers, squinting to make out the words wrapped around it.
Rosin, read one side.
Cason, read the other.
Lila frowned, mouthing the words as Kell reappeared in the doorway. "Give-- and Take," he translated, tossing her the boots.
She sat up too fast, winced. "How did you manage that?"
"I simply explained that she couldn't have them-- they wouldn't have fit-- and then I gave her mine."
Lila looked down at Kell's bare feet, and burst into laughter.
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β
Victoria Schwab (A Conjuring of Light (Shades of Magic, #3))