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The Paradoxical Commandments
People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.
The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.
People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.
People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.
”
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Kent M. Keith (The Silent Revolution: Dynamic Leadership in the Student Council)
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If you're going to kick authority in the teeth, you might as well use two feet.
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Keith Richards (Keith Richards: In His Own Words)
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They’re waiting for you. Go on in.” Adrian leaned close to Keith’s ear and spoke in an ominous voice. “If.You.Dare.” He poked Keith’s shoulder and gave a "Muhahaha” kind of monster laugh.
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Richelle Mead (Bloodlines (Bloodlines, #1))
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The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
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Kent M. Keith
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If it makes you feel any better, you’re not as bad as Keith. He was here earlier today and was so nervous, he literally kept looking over his shoulder.” Lee paused thoughtfully. “I think it might have been because Adrian kept laughing like a mad scientist at those old black-and-white movies he was watching.
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Richelle Mead (Bloodlines (Bloodlines, #1))
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I'm Keith," he said, "and you're . . . clearly mad, but what's your name?
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Maureen Johnson (13 Little Blue Envelopes (Little Blue Envelope, #1))
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..And now you've lost the only thing that ever made you feel alive
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Keith Urban
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Dean, you've been to Hell, I started the Apocalypse, and we're supposed to be possessed by an archangel and the devil. Now you're being skeptical?
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Keith R.A. DeCandido (Heart of the Dragon (Supernatural, #4))
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Music is a language that doesn’t speak in particular words. It speaks in emotions, and if it’s in the bones, it’s in the bones.
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Keith Richards (According to the Rolling Stones)
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When you are growing up there are two institutional places that affect you most powerfully: the church, which belongs to God, and the public library, which belongs to you. The public library is a great equalizer.
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Keith Richards
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She laid her heart and soul right in your hands
And you stole her every dream and crushed her plans
She never even knew she had a choice
And that's what happens when the only voice she hears is telling her she can't
You stupid boy
”
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Keith Urban
“
They're waiting for you. Go on in." Adrian leaned close to Keith's ear and spoke in an ominous voice."If. You. Dare.
”
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Richelle Mead (Bloodlines (Bloodlines, #1))
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I've never had inner turmoil about all this. You find a lot of people these days who cannot stand to be alone. You could lock me up in solitary for weeks on end, and I'd keep myself amused.
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Keith Richards
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It took a while for her to figure out she could run but when she did she was long gone, Long gone..
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Keith Urban
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Life is a balance of holding on and letting go.
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Keith Urban
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Are you a devil?"
"I am a man," answered Father Brown gravely; "and therefore have all devils in my heart.
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G.K. Chesterton
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I don't just look at the thing itself or at the reality itself; I look around the edges for those little askew moments-kind of like what makes up our lives-those slightly awkward, lovely moments.
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Keith Carter
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Write it down, boy. If you come across a passage in your reading that you’d like to remember, write it down in your little book; then you can read it again, memorize it, and have it whenever you wish.
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Keith Donohue
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I am more than a devil; I am a man. I can do the one thing which Satan himself cannot do— I can die.
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G.K. Chesterton (The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare)
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the way to love someone is to lightly run your finger over that person's soul until you find a crack, and then gently pour your love into that crack.
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Keith Miller
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Most of you guys can't see the potential in a nervous breakdown. A real collapse. There's more chance of finding yourself in a major depression than there is in a bottle Prozac.
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Keith Ablow (Denial (Frank Clevenger, #1))
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You're one to talk, Sage." He pointed an accusing finger. "At least I take action. You? You let the world go by without you. You stand there while that asshole Keith treats you like crap and just smile and nod. You have no spine. You don't fight back. Even old Abe seems to push you around. Was Rose right that he's got something on you? Or is he just someone else you won't fight back against?
”
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Richelle Mead (Bloodlines (Bloodlines, #1))
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Who runs a combination cat shelter and hostel?" Keith asked. "With the cat shelter being the primary function? Only people who want to kill you with an axe and then put you in the garden and build a shed on you, that's who.
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Maureen Johnson (The Last Little Blue Envelope (Little Blue Envelope, #2))
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October proved a riot a riot to the senses and climaxed those giddy last weeks before Halloween.
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Keith Donohue
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Art should be something that liberates your soul, provokes the imagination and encourages people to go further.
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Keith Haring
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The world bursts at the seams with people ready to tell you you're not good enough. On occasion, some may be correct. But do not do their work for them. Seek any job; ask anyone out; pursue any goal. Don't take it personally when they say 'no' — they may not be smart enough to say 'yes.
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Keith Olbermann
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It's like in the Bible.You can't always get what you want, but if you really need something, you usually find it."
"What part of the Bible is that from?" Ig asked her. "The Gospel of Keith Richards?
”
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Joe Hill (Horns)
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No matter where you go, there you are.
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Keith Caserta
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Understand: the task of an activist is not to negotiate systems of power with as much personal integrity as possible--it's to dismantle those systems.
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Lierre Keith (The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and Sustainability (Flashpoint Press))
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We're going to die," Keith said, the moment he was gone. "This man is a serial killer. We're going to die, and he's going to bury us in his garden and build a shed on us.
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Maureen Johnson (The Last Little Blue Envelope (Little Blue Envelope, #2))
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But insight doesn't necessarily produce self-control. Sometimes you just see your destructiveness more clearly.
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Keith Ablow (Denial (Frank Clevenger, #1))
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real networking was about finding ways to make other people more successful.
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Keith Ferrazzi (Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time)
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People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.
”
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Kent M. Keith
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Watch a French housewife as she makes her way slowly along the loaded stalls… searching for the peak of ripeness and flavor… What you are seeing is a true artist at work, patiently assembling all the materials of her craft, just as the painter squeezes oil colors onto his palette ready to create a masterpiece.
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Keith Floyd
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Why would you want to be anything else if you're Mick Jagger?
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Keith Richards (Life)
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Keith was just bringing the glass to his lips when Adrian said, "Mmm. O positive, my favorite."
Keith sprayed out the wine he'd just drunk and promptly started coughing. I was relieved that none got on me. jill burst into giggles, and Clarence stared at his glass wonderingly.
"Is it? I thought it was a cabernet sauvignon."
"So it is," said Adrian, straight-faced. "My mistake.
”
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Richelle Mead
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But I'm not here just to make records and money. I'm here to say something and to touch other people, sometimes in a cry of desperation: "Do you know this feeling?
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Keith Richards (Life)
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In the deserted men's restroom at the back of Middleton Community College, Sam Keller knelt on the tile, braced his hands against Keith Jameson's thighs, and broke his mother's heart.
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Heidi Cullinan (Special Delivery (Special Delivery, #1))
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Why are Americans so fascinated by Ireland?” Keith asked... “you all think you’re Irish. What’s the appeal? Do you like the accent more? Is it all the magical rocks? Oh, look, a leprechaun...
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Maureen Johnson (The Last Little Blue Envelope (Little Blue Envelope, #2))
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If your heart takes more pleasure in reading novels, or watching TV, or going to the movies, or talking to friends, rather than just sitting alone with God and embracing Him, sharing His cares and His burdens, weeping and rejoicing with Him, then how are you going to handle forever and ever in His presence...? You'd be bored to tears in heaven, if you're not ecstatic about God now!
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Keith Green
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We age not by holding on to youth, but by letting ourselves grow and embracing whatever youthful parts remain.
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Keith Richards (Life)
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Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
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Keith Caserta (Soul Searching (Nodes of God, #1))
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People react predictably, especially when they don't have time to think.
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Keith Ablow (Denial (Frank Clevenger, #1))
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Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable; be honest and frank anyway.
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Kent M. Keith
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Once I learned to read, I could not imagine my life otherwise.
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Keith Donohue
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And then I think we realized, like any young guys, that blues are not learned in a monastery. You've got to go out there and get your heart broke and then come back and then you can sing the blues.
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Keith Richards (Life)
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My life is full of broken halos.
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Keith Richards (Life)
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...Some people hurt so much they can't take what they need, even when someone wants to give it to them. (106)
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Keith Ablow (Denial (Frank Clevenger, #1))
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We are, all of us, crippled and twisted. Most of us strive desperately to keep our grotesqueries out of sight and mind. Our suffering is transformed by an alchemy of the soul into addiction, ulcers, strokes, hatred, even war.
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Keith Ablow (Denial (Frank Clevenger, #1))
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The only place that I wanna be is where you are, cause any more than a heartbeat away is just too far.
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Keith Urban
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Dad had this story. A Marine and a Navy guy walk into a bathroom together. They both take a piss, and then sailor goes to the sink. The Marine heads for the door, and the sailor says, "Hey- in the Navy they teach us to wash up after we take a leak." And the Marine turns around and says, "Yeah? Well, in the Marines they teach us not to piss on our hands.
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Keith R.A. DeCandido (Nevermore (Supernatural, #1))
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I don't have a problem with drugs, I have a problem with policemen.
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Keith Richards
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You can't always get what you want, but if you really need something, you usually find it.
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Keith Richards
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I'm grateful when anybody can start to have his or her limited perception of the genre open up a little bit, ... There's a lot of great music in the country genre that doesn't get heard because people say, 'Well, I don't like country.
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Keith Urban
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Success in any field, but especially in business is about working with people, not against them.
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Keith Ferrazzi (Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time)
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Cooking is an art and patience a virtue... Careful shopping, fresh
ingredients and an unhurried approach are nearly all you need. There is one more thing - love. Love for food and love for those you invite to your table. With a combination of these things you can be an artist - not perhaps in the representational style of a Dutch master, but rather more like Gauguin, the naïve, or Van Gogh,
the impressionist. Plates or pictures of sunshine taste of happiness and love.
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Keith Floyd
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You have to be objective about money to use it fairly. It doesn't make you any better or any more useful than any other person. Even if you use your money to help people...that doesn't make you better than somebody who has no money but is sympathetic and genuinely loving to fellow human beings.
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Keith Haring (Keith Haring Journals)
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The rock's easy, but the roll is another thing...
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Keith Richards
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As I let go of the past, the past let go of me.
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Keith Donohue (The Stolen Child)
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well she was precious like a flower
she grew wild, wild but innocent
a perfect prayer in a desperate hour
she was everything beautiful and different
stupid boy, you can't fence that in
stupid boy, it's like holdin' back the wind
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Keith Urban
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A man must be prepared not only to be a martyr, but to be a fool. It is absurd to say that a man is ready to toil and die for his convictions if he is not even ready to wear a wreathe around his head for them.
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G.K. Chesterton
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It's really good to be here and as I always say, it's really good to be anywhere!
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Keith Richards (Keith Richards: In His Own Words)
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My throat tightened, but I held back the tears and reminded myself that withdrawing from a woman is no different than kicking a drug; you feel shaky and you want it, but eventually the need passes, and you feel restored.
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Keith Ablow (Denial (Frank Clevenger, #1))
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True friends. Hardest thing to find, but you never look for them - they found you ; you just grow into each other
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Keith Richards (Life)
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Nothing is important...so everything is important.
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Keith Haring (Keith Haring Journals)
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Perl – The only language that looks the same before and after RSA encryption.
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Keith Bostic
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She's a librarian, Sim said. They're not teachers; don't give you half as much hassle. If there's a fire in the school and I've got to choose who I'm gonna save - a teacher or a librarian - the teacher's gonna burn every time.
(p. 24)
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Keith Gray (Ostrich Boys)
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Most people are stronger than they know. They just forget to believe in it sometimes.
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Brooke Davies
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I'm all for a quiet life. I just didn't get one.
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Keith Richards
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Stories are life," protested Pico. "Without them, books would be only paper and ink, with them they breathe, the reader is drawn in, the stories become him.
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Keith Miller (The Book of Flying)
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There are people who prefer to say 'yes' and there are people who prefer to say 'no'. Those who say 'yes' are rewarded by the adventures they have. Those who say 'no' are rewarded by the safety they attain.
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Keith Johnstone
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We can get too easily bogged down in the academic part of homeschooling, a relatively minor part of the whole, which is to raise competent, caring, literate, happy people.
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Diane Flynn Keith
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Abraham Lincoln did not shoot John Wilkes Booth. Titanic did not sink a North Atlantic iceberg. And Fox News is neither fair nor balanced. These are simple historical facts intelligible to all adults, most children, and some of your more discerning domesticated animals. But not... to Bill O
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Keith Olbermann
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Shyness is just egoism out of its depth.
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Penelope Keith
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Preaching is tax free. Very little to do with God, a lot to do with money
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Keith Richards (Life)
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Everybody needs somebody sometimes.
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Keith Urban (Keith Urban - Love, Pain & The Whole Crazy Thing)
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I don't regret nuthin...
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Keith Richards
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Relationships are never chance events.
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Keith Ablow (Denial (Frank Clevenger, #1))
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When she emerged, Keith was watching the tiny round window of the under-the-counter washing machine.
"Put your clothes in for a wash," he said. "They were disgusting."
Ginny always thought that the only way of getting clothes clean was by drowning them in scalding water and then whipping them around in a violent centrifugal motion that caused the entire washing machine to vibrate and the floor to shake. You beat them clean. You made them suffer. This machine used about half a cup of water and was about as violent as a toaster, plus it stopped every few minutes, as if it were exhausted from the effort of turning itself.
Sluff, sluff, sluff sluff. Rest. Rest. Rest.
Click.
Sluff, sluff, sluff, sluff. Rest. Rest. Rest.
"Who thought to put a window on a washing machine?" Keith asked. "Does anyone just sit and watch their wash?"
You mean, besides us?"
"Well," he said, "yeah. Is there any coffee?
”
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Maureen Johnson (13 Little Blue Envelopes (Little Blue Envelope, #1))
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If ever I could love
I think it could be with you
If ever thought I found somebody so true
I wonder if you feel
The same way that I do
If ever I could love
I think it could be with you
”
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Keith Urban
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What kind of a house doesn't have salt? Low sodium freaks!
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Keith R.A. DeCandido (Nevermore (Supernatural, #1))
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I'd rather have people hate me with the knowledge that I tried to save them.
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Keith Green
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Children know something that most people have forgotten.
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Keith Haring (Journals)
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[John] Belushi was an extreme experience even by my standards.
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Keith Richards (Life)
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Just at present you only see the tree by the light of the lamp. I wonder when you would ever see the lamp by the light of the tree.
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G.K. Chesterton
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Keith was just bringing the glass to his lips when Adrian said, "Mmm. O positive, my favourite."
Keith sprayed out the wine he'd just drunk and promptly started coughing. I was relieved that none got on me. Jill burst into giggles, and Clarence stared at his glass wonderingly.
"Is it? I thought it was a Cabernet Sauvignon."
"So it is," said Adrian, straight-faced. "My mistake.
”
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Richelle Mead (Bloodlines (Bloodlines, #1))
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What is it that makes you want to write songs? In a way you want to stretch yourself into other people’s hearts. You want to plant yourself there, or at least get a resonance, where other people become a bigger instrument than the one you’re playing. It becomes almost an obsession to touch other people. To write a song that is remembered and taken to heart is a connection, a touching of bases. A thread that runs through all of us. A stab to the heart. Sometimes I think songwriting is about tightening the heartstrings as much as possible without bringing on a heart attack.
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Keith Richards (Life)
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There's something beautifully friendly and elevating about a bunch of guys playing music together. This wonderful little world that is unassailable. It's really teamwork, one guy supporting the others, and it's all for one purpose, and there's no flies in the ointment, for a while. And nobody conducting, it's all up to you. It's really jazz__that's the big secret. Rock and roll ain't nothing but jazz with a hard backbeat.
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Keith Richards (Life)
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And he loves to read. He loves the whisper of the pages and the way his fingertips catch on rough paper, the pour of the words up from the leaves, through soft light, into his eyes, the mute voice in his ears.
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Keith Miller (The Book of Flying)
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In reading, friendship is restored immediately to its original purity. With books there is no forced sociability. If we pass the evening with those friends—books—it’s because we really want to. When we leave them, we do so with regret and, when we have left them, there are none of those thoughts that spoil friendship: “What did they think of us?”—“Did we make a mistake and say something tactless?”—“Did they like us?”—nor is there the anxiety of being forgotten because of displacement by someone else. All such agitating thoughts expire as we enter the pure and calm friendship of reading.
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Marcel Proust
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I firmly believe if you want to be a guitar player, you better start on acoustic and then graduate to electric. Don’t think you’re going to be Townshend or Hendrix just because you can go wee wee wah wah, and all the electronic tricks of the trade. First you’ve got to know that fucker. And you go to bed with it. If there’s no babe around, you sleep with it. She’s just the right shape.
”
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Keith Richards (Life)
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Once Pastor Keith hit a crescendo, Sister Gertrude would rise and jump, scream, kick, dance, and pass the hell out. Obviously, she required physical restraints to minimize damage to other parishioners and a cleanup crew for the broken pews, discarded clothing,mangled jewelry, and loose items strewn about. Yes, it took an army of ushers to physically restrain her. She was twice as big as a man. No one smaller than Shaquille O’Neal could take her down. Well, I became her parasite and First Responder. Whenever I saw aglare in her eyes, twitch in her neck, or frown on her face, I knew to move into position. But for me, getting injured was a badge of honor. I just had to be a part of her fiascos. Yet, on one Easter Sunday, I got more than I bargained for. When our youth choir created a stir, Sister Gertrude went haywire. First, she reverse dunked her grandbaby into my breadbasket. Once again, she knew I would be there for the airborne toddler. Second, a whole orchard of mixed fruits flew over my head. Third, a scarf, blouse, wig, and shoe were diverted my way. Finally, a bevy of oversized Ushers and Deacons twisted, pulled, and sacrificed themselves before Sister Gertrude went lax. It was the most outrageous display Zion Gate Union had ever seen. Mind you, she was never a disappointment for a would-be reverend like me.
”
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Author Harold Phifer (My Bully, My Aunt, & Her Final Gift)
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While I was backstage before presenting the Best New Artist award, I talked to George Strait for a while. He's so incredibly cool. So down-to-earth and funny. I think it should be known that George Strait has an awesome, dry, subtle sense of humor. Then I went back out into the crowd and watched the rest of the show. Keith Urban's new song KILLS ME, it's so good. And when Brad Paisley ran down into the front row and kissed Kimberley's stomach (she's pregnant) before accepting his award, Kellie, my mom, and I all started crying. That's probably the sweetest thing I've ever seen.
I thought Kellie NAILED her performance of the song we wrote together "The Best Days of Your Life". I was so proud of her. I thought Darius Rucker's performance RULED, and his vocals were incredible. I'm a huge fan. I love it when I find out that the people who make the music I love are wonderful people. I love Faith Hill and how she always makes everyone in the room feel special. I love Keith Urban, and how he told me he knows every word to "Love Story" (That made my night). I love Nicole Kidman, and her sweet, warm personality. I love how Kenny Chesney always has something hilarious or thoughtful to say. But the real moment that brought on this wave of gratitude was when Shania Twain HERSELF walked up and introduced herself to me. Shania Twain, as in.. The reason I wanted to do this in the first place. Shania Twain, as in.. the most impressive and independent and confident and successful female artist to ever hit country music. She walked up to me and said she wanted to meet me and tell me I was doing a great job. She was so beautiful, guys. She really IS that beautiful. All the while, I was completely star struck. After she walked away, I realized I didn't have my camera. Then I cried.
You know, last night made me feel really great about being a country music fan in general. Country music is the place to find reality in music, and reality in the stars who make that music. There's kindness and goodness and....honesty in the people I look up to, and knowing that makes me smile. I'm proud to sing country music, and that has never wavered. The reason for the being.. nights like last night.
”
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Taylor Swift
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In fact, I take the view that God, in his infinite wisdom, didn't bother to spring for two joints - heaven and hell. They're the same place, but heaven is when you get everything you want and you meet Mummy and Daddy and your best friends and you all have a hug and a kiss and play your harps. Hell is the same place - no fire and brimstone - but they all pass by and don't see you. There's nothing, no recognition. You're waving, "It's me, your father," but you're invisible. You're on a cloud, you've got your harp, but you can't play with nobody because they don't see you. That's hell.
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Keith Richards (Life)
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There are some parts of the world that, once visited, get into your heart and won't go. For me, India is such a place. When I first visited, I was stunned by the richness of the land, by its lush beauty and exotic architecture, by its ability to overload the senses with the pure, concentrated intensity of its colors, smells, tastes, and sounds. It was as if all my life I had been seeing the world in black and white and, when brought face-to-face with India, experienced everything re-rendered in brilliant technicolor.
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Keith Bellows
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Ahem! Ahem!” As I recalled, Aunt Kathy loved Uncle Dan so much, she went grocery shopping during his funeral and failed to attend his burial as well. Apparently, Ham Hocks, Collard greens, Chitlin, Fatback, and Hog-Head cheesetook higher priority over his Last Rites. Then the reverend proceeded cautiously as he introduced my mom. “Let metell y’all about my Ms. Liza. Sister Kathy kept this one close.”
“Ahem! Ahem! Ar-choo! Ahem!”
Shockingly, there was a lightening blast that rocked the building once again while dimming the lights for more than 10seconds. The crowd turned restless, took a deep breath, and then allowed Pastor Keith to resume. “I’m gonna tell y’all, they were two kernels on a cob. When you saw Sister Kathy, you saw Sister Liza.
“Ahem! Ahem! Ahem!”
“The two of them raised those boys from seeds to bean stalks. We helped nourish them right here in Zion Gate Union. Now they’re just ripe for the harvest. I hope some of you ladies can take a
hint!” For a brief moment, modest laughter filled the church. Yet, it was needed because Pastor Keith had gone into uncharted waters. No one dared to challenge my mom. Yet, Pastor Keith was speaking glowingly about her. Only a fewwanted to see where the Reverend was going. But most didn’t care to re-open that door. Church members were so afraid of Mom, no one dared to call her by name. All parishioners would go mute and head the other way, or simply hit the exits just to avoid all encounters.
”
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Author Harold Phifer (My Bully, My Aunt, & Her Final Gift)
“
Identify the people in your industries who always seem to be out in front, and use all the relationship skills you've acquired to connect with them. Take them to lunch. Read their newsletters. In fact, read everything you can. Online, there are hundreds of individuals distilling information, analyzing it, and making prognos-tications. These armchair analysts are the eyes and ears of innovation. Now get online and read, read, read. Subscribe to magazines, buy books, and talk to the smartest people you can find. Eventually, all this knowledge will build on itself, and you'll start making connections others aren't.
”
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Keith Ferrazzi (Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time)
“
Children," Johanna drawled out. "They're such a joy. When you get married and have a family of your own, you'll understand what I'm saying. You are going to get married someday, aren't you, Keith?"
"Aye, m'lady," he answered. "Next summer as a matter of fact. Bridgid MacCoy has agreed to become my wife."
"Oh."
She couldn't quite hide her disappointment. She turned her gaze down the table and settled on Michael as a possibility.
He caught her staring at him. He smiled. She nodded. "Children," she began again. "They're wonderful, aren't they, Michael?"
"If you say so, m'lady."
"Oh, I do say," she replied. "When you get married, you'll understand. You do plan to marry someday, don't you, Michael?"
"Eventually," he answered with a shrug.
"Have you anyone in mind?"
"Are you matchmaking, m'lady?" Keith asked.
"Why would you think that?"
"I'll marry Helen when I'm ready," Michael interjected. "I've told her I will, and she agreed to wait."
Johanna frowned. The possibilities were becoming a bit limited. She turned to Niall.
"Children…" she began.
"She is matchmaking," Keith announced.
It was as though he'd just shouted the alarm that they were under siege. The soldiers literally jumped from their stools. They bowed to Johanna and left the room in the space of a single minute. She didn't even have enough time to order them back into their seats.
”
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Julie Garwood (Saving Grace)
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There are six canons of conservative thought:
1) Belief in a transcendent order, or body of natural law, which rules society as well as conscience. Political problems, at bottom, are religious and moral problems. A narrow rationality, what Coleridge called the Understanding, cannot of itself satisfy human needs. "Every Tory is a realist," says Keith Feiling: "he knows that there are great forces in heaven and earth that man's philosophy cannot plumb or fathom." True politics is the art of apprehending and applying the Justice which ought to prevail in a community of souls.
2) Affection for the proliferating variety and mystery of human existence, as opposed to the narrowing uniformity, egalitarianism, and utilitarian aims of most radical systems; conservatives resist what Robert Graves calls "Logicalism" in society. This prejudice has been called "the conservatism of enjoyment"--a sense that life is worth living, according to Walter Bagehot "the proper source of an animated Conservatism."
3) Conviction that civilized society requires orders and classes, as against the notion of a "classless society." With reason, conservatives have been called "the party of order." If natural distinctions are effaced among men, oligarchs fill the vacuum. Ultimate equality in the judgment of God, and equality before courts of law, are recognized by conservatives; but equality of condition, they think, means equality in servitude and boredom.
4) Persuasion that freedom and property are closely linked: separate property from private possession, and Leviathan becomes master of all. Economic levelling, they maintain, is not economic progress.
5) Faith in prescription and distrust of "sophisters, calculators, and economists" who would reconstruct society upon abstract designs. Custom, convention, and old prescription are checks both upon man's anarchic impulse and upon the innovator's lust for power.
6) Recognition that change may not be salutary reform: hasty innovation may be a devouring conflagration, rather than a torch of progress. Society must alter, for prudent change is the means of social preservation; but a statesman must take Providence into his calculations, and a statesman's chief virtue, according to Plato and Burke, is prudence.
”
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Russell Kirk (The Conservative Mind: From Burke to Eliot)