“
Alright then, I guess that’s settled,” Lilly said, then she turned to Fane, “Lay a paw on my little girl and you will be a three legged Lassie, got it?”
Fane winced and then asked, “You both do realize I’m a wolf not a dog right?
”
”
Quinn Loftis (Prince of Wolves (The Grey Wolves, #1))
“
Lilly says I have an overactive imagination and a pathological need to invent drama in my life.
”
”
Meg Cabot (The Princess Diaries (The Princess Diaries, #1))
“
For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds; Lillies that fester smell far worse than weeds.
”
”
William Shakespeare (The Sonnets (The Pelican Shakespeare))
“
Happiness is the only thing worth fighting for in life.
”
”
Lilly Singh
“
Despite the forecast, live like it's spring.
”
”
Lilly Pulitzer
“
Maybe the purpose in life is just to live
”
”
Lilly Singh
“
I have to ask. Why do you like me?”
He shifted away from me then, his brows pulled together making him look even cuter, if that was possible. “I don’t understand the question.” His hands were squeezing mine tightly as he looked down at them. “You’re my Lilly. You’ve always been my Lilly.
”
”
Amber L. Johnson (Puddle Jumping (Puddle Jumping, #1))
“
Today was a difficult day. Tomorrow will be better
”
”
Kevin Henkes (Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse)
“
A most mediocre person can be the object of a love which is wild, extravagant, and beautiful as the poison lillies of the swamp.
”
”
Carson McCullers (The Ballad of the Sad Café and Other Stories)
“
No,” he whispered. “You’re my beautiful Lilly. The one who makes everything right in my world.
”
”
Amber L. Johnson (Puddle Jumping (Puddle Jumping, #1))
“
Talking with you would be much more enjoyable than talking with Talia, Lilly.” His eyes scanned the floor by my feet. “She’s paint by number; you’re a watercolor.
”
”
Amber L. Johnson (Puddle Jumping (Puddle Jumping, #1))
“
Words lie; actions can lie too. Consistency speaks the truth.
”
”
Lilly Singh (How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life)
“
Dreams are made of your potential.
”
”
Lilly Singh
“
Life is meant to be lived, and if you're offered the chance to experience things with an extraordinary person, then there isn't one reason in the world to say no.
”
”
Amber L. Johnson (Puddle Jumping (Puddle Jumping, #1))
“
Hey,” his fingers went to my chin, lifting my eyes to his, “we can take this slowly.” “What is this?” I asked. His eyes went warm, making my pulse speed up. “This…is the beginning of us.
”
”
Aurora Rose Reynolds (Until Lilly (Until, #3))
“
You were created for more than to bear the weight of your shadows- but you have to choose to no longer let them define you. You have to choose to let the light shine through the shattered pieces.” – Tiger Lilly
”
”
Kara Swanson (Dust (Heirs of Neverland, #1))
“
Don't they always go from bad to worse? There's no turning back--your
old self rejects you, and shuts you out. ~Lilly Bart
”
”
Edith Wharton (The House of Mirth)
“
If a book is worth reading, it is worth buying.
”
”
John Ruskin (Sesame and Lillies: Three Lectures)
“
Lilly was not crazy. She left a serious suicide note.
'Sorry,' said the note.
'Just not big enough.
”
”
John Irving (The Hotel New Hampshire)
“
You’re my quiet, Lilly.
”
”
Amber L. Johnson (Puddle Jumping (Puddle Jumping, #1))
“
Yako went to the boxes holding Lilly and Candice, undid the bungee cords, and opened them. She used smelling salts to arouse them.
”
”
Karl Braungart (Triple Deception (Remmich/Miller, #4))
“
You’re my beautiful Lilly. The one who makes everything right in my world.
”
”
Amber L. Johnson (Puddle Jumping (Puddle Jumping, #1))
“
Think of discomfort as currency- it's the price you pay to learn some pretty crucial things.
”
”
Lilly Singh (How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life)
“
Everyone breathing is broken. Keep breathing light into them until the stained glass collage takes your breath away.
”
”
Ryan Lilly (Write like no one is reading)
“
Say what you mean, but don't say it mean.
”
”
Lilly Singh (How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life)
“
I am one man with a laptop. When I give the world my characters, it's because I don't want to keep them for myself. You don't like what I made them do? Fucking tell me I'm wrong! Rewrite the story. Throw in a new plot twist. Make up your own ending.
”
”
J.C. Lillis (How to Repair a Mechanical Heart (Mechanical Hearts, #1))
“
Get off the treadmill of consumption, replication, and mediocrity. Begin lifting the weights of creativity, originality, and success.
”
”
Ryan Lilly
“
You’d like to think it’s a choice to love him, but it’s not, Lilly. You’ve already decided. I can see it on your face.
”
”
Amber L. Johnson (Puddle Jumping (Puddle Jumping, #1))
“
Pretentious."
"So? I love pretentious people!"
"Why?"
"They try so hard to be interesting, you don't have to do any work.
”
”
J.C. Lillis (How to Repair a Mechanical Heart (Mechanical Hearts, #1))
“
It's so easy to wish for death when nothing's wrong with you! It's so easy to fall in love with death, and I've been all my life, and seen it's most faithful worshippers crumble in the end, screaming just to live, as if all the dark veils and the lillies and the smell of candles, and grandiose promises of the grave meant nothing. I knew that. But I always wished I was dead. It was a way to go on living
”
”
Anne Rice
“
Experience is the hardest teacher. It gives you the test first, and the lesson afterward.
”
”
Aurora Rose Reynolds (Until Lilly (Until, #3))
“
I enjoy self-publishing & sending publishers rejection letters. They're like, 'Who is this guy?' And I'm like, 'the end of your industry.
”
”
Ryan Lilly (Write like no one is reading)
“
I thoroughly believe in crying, yelling, pulling my hair out, and experiencing heartache, BUT once I'm done I dissect the pain and learn lessons from it.
”
”
Lilly Singh (How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life)
“
In Lilly's eyes her beautiful clear water eyes there is what I have sought and never found, wanted and never had, hoped for and never discovered. Love.
”
”
James Frey
“
Life is a web of intersections and choices. Your 1st choice is to recognize an intersection. Your 2nd choice is to be grateful for it.
”
”
Ryan Lilly
“
So if you’re drowning, keep your life jacket on and fight. But once you’re able to swim, don’t convince yourself you forgot how to. Take your life jacket off, front-crawl your way to the shore, walk off that beach, and set your GPS to the top of a hill, because you WILL conquer the climb.
”
”
Lilly Singh (How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life)
“
This Girl with nothing but her own strength and a desire to be free. With nothing but a beating heart that is scared to be alone. With nothing but clear blue eyes that see through me and understand me. With nothing but open arms ready to receive me. To stand by me. To walk with me. To love me. I love her. Lilly. The Girl with nothing and everything. Lilly. I love her. A tear appears. She smiles. She leans forward kisses my lips softly kisses me and as our lips touch barely touch she whispers. I love you too, James. Our lips barely touching she whispers. I love you. Whispers. I love you.
”
”
James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)
“
Society has pretty much taught us that it's inside the lines, or outside. But there's so much more in between.
”
”
Amber L. Johnson (Puddle Jumping (Puddle Jumping, #1))
“
Lilly. Sometimes I don’t think I have the capacity to be what you need in a significant other.
”
”
Amber L. Johnson (Puddle Jumping (Puddle Jumping, #1))
“
IF YOU CAN’T CONTROL PEOPLE, THEN CONTROL YOUR REACTION TO THEM. IF YOU CAN’T CONTROL A SITUATION, THEN PREPARE FOR IT.
”
”
Lilly Singh (How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life)
“
Humans have a tendency to overcomplicate simple things because we overthink them. But if you take a step back and remember your priorities, it becomes easier to make a decision. When
”
”
Lilly Singh (How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life)
“
Well, who doesn't love a good mpreg?"
"A what?"
"Sim gets man-pregnant? Gives birth to twins during a tornado?"
"I'll pretend I never heard that."
"Here, I'll read you the wedding one -"
"NO.
”
”
J.C. Lillis (How to Repair a Mechanical Heart (Mechanical Hearts, #1))
“
Lily?”, she whispered. Lily didn’t move. “Can I tell you something?” Lilly breathed deeply, clearly asleep. “I think all my life my heart’s been broken,” Adri whispered, “and I didn’t even notice. And I don’t even know by what.
”
”
Jodi Lynn Anderson (Midnight at the Electric)
“
Don't give up before you even try.
”
”
Lilly Singh (How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life)
“
You don't have to suffer continual chaos in order to grow.
”
”
John C. Lilly
“
Cosmic Love is absolutely Ruthless and Highly Indifferent: it teaches its lessons whether you like/dislike them or not.
”
”
John C. Lilly
“
Abel snores pornographically, like a prince sleeping off an orgy.
”
”
J.C. Lillis (How to Repair a Mechanical Heart (Mechanical Hearts, #1))
“
Oh, so does that mean I’m in trouble? Should I lift my skirt and get on all fours?” I asked, teasingly.
”
”
Lilly Wilde (Touched (Untouched #2))
“
I do not regret one moment of my life.
”
”
Lillie Langtry
“
A Bawse understands that there are many things in life you have no control over and it is inefficient to become frustrated by that reality.
”
”
Lilly Singh (How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life)
“
That wasn’t sex talk, Lilli. I’m tellin’ you I love you. Don’t make a fuss. Just sayin’ what I feel.
”
”
Susan Fanetti (Move the Sun (Signal Bend, #1))
“
In the province of the mind, what one believes to be true, either is true or becomes true within certain limits. These limits are to be found experientially and experimentally. When the limits are determined, it is found that they are further beliefs to be transcended. In the province of the mind, there are no limits. The body imposes definite limits.
”
”
John C. Lilly (The Deep Self: Consciousness Exploration in the Isolation Tank (Consciousness Classics))
“
The universe might respect the law of attraction, but it respects a good hustle even more.
”
”
Lilly Singh (How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life)
“
I sleep during the day. I still dream about drinking and drugs. Sometimes I wake to a hang-over, sometimes I wake to a trickle of blood from my nose, sometimes I wake scared and shaking. I read, go to museums and visit Lilly in the afternoon. Sometimes I read to her, sometimes I talk to her, sometimes I just sit and remember the times, remember the times, remember the times." (James Frey, pg.119)
”
”
James Frey (My Friend Leonard)
“
I can tell I'm being annoying, the kind of annoying where it feels like I haven't showered for days and everyone should just stay away.
”
”
J.C. Lillis (How to Repair a Mechanical Heart (Mechanical Hearts, #1))
“
God is like junior high, Brandon. Graduate already.
”
”
J.C. Lillis (How to Repair a Mechanical Heart (Mechanical Hearts, #1))
“
Every little bit of stress you eliminate contributes to a more productive day. That’s not being a diva; it’s placing yourself in a situation that allows you to be in optimal form.
”
”
Lilly Singh (How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life)
“
I think of all the things I will miss. I think about coffee, red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, Little Women, and Channing Tatum. Oh, how I will miss Channing Tatum.
”
”
Kimberly Russell (The Truth about Lilly Barnes)
“
Legacy accounting: Will you have been an asset or a liability on the world's balance sheet?
”
”
Ryan Lilly
“
want to ask you a question.” He nodded. “Take me to the dance next weekend.” He tilted his head to the side and frowned. “Lilly, that was not in the form of a question. A question is a request that ends with a question mark. What you just said was a statement.
”
”
Amber L. Johnson (Puddle Jumping (Puddle Jumping, #1))
“
As I say at the beginning of my workshops, 'Everything I say here is a lie -- bullshit, in other words -- because anything that you put in words is not experience, is not the experiment. It's a representation -- a misrepresentation.
”
”
John C. Lilly
“
Status: Naked. On bed. With boy. Systems overheating. Sudden doubts multiplying. Meltdown imminent.
”
”
J.C. Lillis (How to Repair a Mechanical Heart (Mechanical Hearts, #1))
“
From now on start asking yourself WHY you feel a certain way, WHAT made you perform a certain action, and HOW you could do things differently. The information you discover is powerful because it helps you to discover patterns and in turn use your mind productively and efficiently. After all, your mind is your most powerful tool, but it’s not useful if you don’t know how to use it. It’s like trying to fix a printer with a stapler: it doesn’t work. Trust me, I’ve tried.
”
”
Lilly Singh (How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life)
“
His other tattoo runs down his side along his ribs, and says, ‘Experience is the hardest kind of teacher. It gives you the test first, and the lesson afterward.
”
”
Aurora Rose Reynolds (Until Lilly (Until, #3))
“
Were it up to me, I would be with Lilly. Were it up to me I would be asleep in her arms. She's dead, in a cooler in some fucking morgue, and i'll never sleep in her arms again. The thought of it makes me sick, and it makes me want to join her. The rose will help me. It is time to start the killing. Time to fucking start." (James Frey, pg.39)
”
”
James Frey (My Friend Leonard)
“
I have to ask. Why do you like me?” He shifted away from me then, his brows pulled together making him look even cuter, if that was possible. “I don’t understand the question.” His hands were squeezing mine tightly as he looked down at them. “You’re my Lilly. You’ve always been my Lilly.
”
”
Amber L. Johnson (Puddle Jumping (Puddle Jumping, #1))
“
He felt lighter than he had in weeks, and he realized that the monster he had been running from wasn’t really a monster after all. It was simply that place in the heart that holds the measure of your history, the joy and the grief, the laughter and the tears, the magic and the wonder; all the ingredients that add up to the story of a life well lived.
”
”
Lilli Jolgren Day (The Wonder of Ordinary Magic)
“
You can't force creatives into a box. If you try, they'll no longer be creative. And no one will want your box.
”
”
Ryan Lilly
“
The more details people know about you, the weaker you become.
”
”
Lilly Singh (How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life)
“
Procrastination is a hustlers worst enemy.
”
”
Lilly Singh (How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life)
“
I fight with you because i care. Now, when i stop fighting with you, thats when you should really start worrying.
”
”
Katelyn Lillis
“
Some producer actually told Franny that profanity revealed a poor vocabulary and a lack of imagination. And Frank and Lilly and Father and I all loved to shout at Franny, then, and ask her what she had said to that. 'What an anal crock of shit, you dumb asshole!' she'd told the producer. 'Up yours - and in your ear, too!
”
”
John Irving (The Hotel New Hampshire)
“
Sabrina fair
Listen where thou art sitting
Under the glassie, cool, translucent wave,
In twisted braids of Lillies knitting
The loose train of thy amber-dropping hair,
Listen for dear honour's sake,
Goddess of the silver lake,
Listen and save.
”
”
John Milton (Comus and Some Shorter Poems of Milton: Harrap's English Classics)
“
A Bawse knows that if you want to be taken seriously, you need to show people who you are, and then keep showing them.
”
”
Lilly Singh (How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life)
“
I've never written a quote I feel would be suitable for my gravestone. Wouldn't it be ironic if it were this one? Oh, and could you pull a few weeds while you're here?
”
”
Ryan Lilly (Write like no one is reading)
“
The point is, don’t be afraid to ask for things. The worst that will happen is that you’ll be told no. Just remember to smile, stand tall, and look as adorable as possible.
”
”
Lilly Singh (How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life)
“
Wortgewalt bedeutet, dass du gewaltige Gefühle in deinen sanftmütigen Worten verpacken kannst, und gleichzeitig bedeutet es, dass du mit deinen Worten gewaltige Gefühle auslösen kannst.
”
”
Lilly Lindner (Was fehlt, wenn ich verschwunden bin)
“
Working hard feels good. Of course it’s exhausting and stressful and causes you to miss a party or two, but at the end of the day it is so rewarding. One of the best feelings in the world is when you know that luck didn’t play a role in your success. Doing work eliminates the need for luck. I’m not lucky, I just took the stairs. And you should too.
”
”
Lilly Singh (How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life)
“
I don’t know what that is. I don’t have Facebook.”
“You don’t have Facebook?” I gasp. “How in the world do you know what’s going on with your friends if you don’t have Facebook?”
“I call them and say ‘hey, what’s going on? How are things? Anything new?’”
“Oh, yeah, I guess you could do that.” He squeezes my hand and chuckles.
”
”
Aurora Rose Reynolds (Until Lilly (Until, #3))
“
Mistakes don’t exist just to make us feel bad about ourselves; they are opportunities that we should not ignore or shy away from.
”
”
Lilly Singh (How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life)
“
Nah, you can do better than that. Stop being wacksauce.
”
”
Lilly Singh (How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life)
“
Make something people want and sell that, or be someone people need and sell you.
”
”
Ryan Lilly
“
Family is not an important thing. It's everything.
”
”
Lilli Gilliam
“
The choice to make good choices is the best choice you can choose. Fail to make that choice and on most choices you will lose.
”
”
Ryan Lilly
“
I understand the mechanism of my own thinking. I know precisely how I know, and my understanding is recursive. I understand the infinite regress of this self-knowing, not by proceeding step by step endlessly, but by apprehending the limit. The nature of recursive cognition is clear to me. A new meaning of the term "self-aware."
Fiat logos. I know my mind in terms of a language more expressive than any I'd previously imagined. Like God creating order from chaos with an utterance, I make myself anew with this language. It is meta-self-descriptive and self-editing; not only can it describe thought, it can describe and modify its own operations as well, at all levels. What Gödel would have given to see this language, where modifying a statement causes the entire grammar to be adjusted.
With this language, I can see how my mind is operating. I don't pretend to see my own neurons firing; such claims belong to John Lilly and his LSD experiments of the sixties. What I can do is perceive the gestalts; I see the mental structures forming, interacting. I see myself thinking, and I see the equations that describe my thinking, and I see myself comprehending the equations, and I see how the equations describe their being comprehended.
I know how they make up my thoughts.
These thoughts.
”
”
Ted Chiang (Stories of Your Life and Others)
“
There's always a way to be open and honest while also being respectful. Anyone who behaves other wise is just being lazy.
”
”
Lilly Singh (How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life)
“
Everyone absolutely knows what a strawberry tastes like, even if you are allergic to them. Everyone absolutely knows what the toilet flushing sounds like. Everyone absolutely scratches their mosquito bites. And I know that I was absolutely ready to die. This wasn't a cry for help. I didn't want to be saved. I was ready to call it quits. Done. Terminado.
”
”
Kimberly Russell
“
Lilly: Mia, when I recognize a human soul crying out for self-actualization, I am powerless to stop myself. I must do what I can to see that that person’s dream is realized.
[Gee, I haven’t noticed Lilly doing all that much to help me realize my dream of
French-kissing her brother. But on the other hand, I have not exactly made that dream known to her.]
”
”
Meg Cabot (Princess in the Spotlight (The Princess Diaries, #2))
“
Growing a culture requires a good storyteller. Changing a culture requires a persuasive editor.
”
”
Ryan Lilly
“
I am not my opinion of myself, I am not anything I can describe to me. I am only a part of a large system that cannot describe itself fully; therefore, I relax and I am in the point source of consciousness, of delight, of mobility, in the inner spaces. My tasks do not include describing me nor having an opinion about the system in which I live, biological or social or dyadic. I hereby drop that "responsibility".
I am much more than I can conceive or judge me to be. Any negative or positive opinions I have of me are false fronts, headlines, limited and unnecessary programmes written on a thin paper blowing about and floating around in the vastness of inner spaces.
”
”
John C. Lilly (The Center of the Cyclone: Looking into Inner Space)
“
Whales have been evolving for thirty million years. To our one million. A sperm whale’s brain is seven times the size of mine… The great size of his body has little to do with the great size of his brain, other than as a place to keep it. I have What If fantasies… What if the catalyst or the key to understanding creation lay somewhere in the immense mind of the whale? … Some species go for months without eating anything. Just completely idle.. So they have this incredible mental apparatus and no one has the least notion what they do with it. Lilly says that the most logical supposition, based on physiological and ecological evidence, is that they contemplate the universe… Suppose God came back from wherever it is he’s been and asked us smilingly if we’d figure it out yet. Suppose he wanted to know if it had finally occurred to us to ask the whale. And then he sort of looked around and he said, “By the way, where are the whales?
”
”
Cormac McCarthy
“
for she is my love, and other women are but big bodies of flame. who in the world would have thot of her like that? when most people looked they only saw a certain collection of bones, a selection of forms filling space. but he saw past the mouth and the eyes. the archetecture of the body, her fleshy masquerade. other boys were happy enuf to enjoy the show, they just wanted to be entertained by the bodys shadow theater but he had to come backstage. he went down into the mines. into the dark, brot up the gold. your new self, a better self. but wat good was it if he was jus gonna leave her behind. his poets lady, his silver lilly. he was a boy who knew things, things that looked one way but proved to be another.
”
”
Janet Fitch (Paint it Black)
“
What happen to ladies first?" Lilly teased, just trying to expel her nervous energy. She knew what the answer was but she just needed something to keep her busy for a few minutes before she saw the man she had once loved with every fiber of her being.
"I don't know what idiot thought it was smarter to let a woman enter a room before him. How does he know if it is safe for her to enter if he doesn't not check it out himself? It's actually a much more caring act to go before her, therefore ensuring that nothing will harm her," Decebel explained, his tone of voice at first sounded with disgust and then it was almost tender when he finished speaking.
”
”
Quinn Loftis (Blood Rites (The Grey Wolves, #2))
“
My philosophy: Don't get caught with a fixed philosophy, a set
of safe beliefs, a particular way of life.
Experiment! With live, with love.
Run an exploration of the real and the true degrees of freedom
of life, of love, of the human condition, inside self and in one's
style of life.
Move! Into new spaces beyond one's present concepts of possible/probable/certain real spaces.
Far vaster than I now know are the innermost/outermost realities.
Far more interesting than I now feel are the deeps of the space, the beyond within, the infinite without.
Love and loving are basic.
Hostility is redundant.
Fear is non-sense.
"Death" is a myth.
I am I.
”
”
John C. Lilly
“
In the recent US elections, we kept hearing of the Lilly Ledbetter law, and if we go beyond that nicely alliterative name, it was really about this: in the US, a man and a woman are doing the same job, with the same qualifications, and the man is paid more because he is a man. So in a literal way, men rule the world. This made sense—a thousand years ago. Because human beings lived then in a world in which physical strength was the most important attribute for survival; the physically stronger person was more likely to lead. And men in general are physically stronger. (There are of course many exceptions.) Today, we live in a vastly different world. The person more qualified to lead is not the physically stronger person. It is the more intelligent, the more knowledgeable, the more creative, more innovative. And there are no hormones for those attributes. A man is as likely as a woman to be intelligent, innovative, creative. We have evolved. But our ideas of gender have not evolved very much.
”
”
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (We Should All Be Feminists)
“
God, you're so sweet.” He holds my face in his hands and kisses me deeply. I slowly unzip his hoodie and touch a hand to his bare chest. I relish in the feel of it. Barely an hour ago I was admiring it from afar, and now it's no longer just a tease. When I slide my hand down to his stomach, he groans and his hands slip just under my shirt. “So that's why you didn't want to change.” I can feel his smile against my lips. “You just wanted me to take your clothes off for you.”
“Guilty.” I lift my arms for him to pull it off. Instead of returning to kissing me, his eyes roam down my body. I fight the urge to cover myself; even though my bra is still on, I feel exposed. His hands lightly touch each side along the seam. My breath catches in my throat.
Meeting my eyes, he says, “You're so damn beautiful.” He leans forward, pressing a soft kiss in between my breasts. I shiver at the light touch of his lips to my sensitive skin. If this is how he makes me feel with such little contact, then how will the rest of this feel? The need is building inside like a spark starting a fire.
”
”
Lilly Avalon (Here All Along)
“
Now some of you will say that the two are one and the same - happiness and joy - but this is not so. Happiness is a feeling. Happiness is fleeting, dependent on the moment, the circumstances, even the weather. Joy is transcendent, enduring, and, in the biblical context, is not an emotion. Joy is an attitude of the heart. Joy brings us peace, a refuge in the midst of troubles. God gives us joy through His Spirit. But the enemy tries to steal your joy and give you temporary happiness instead. Now, is there anything wrong with being happy? Nee, but it cannot last. So, you may wonder why I bring up the difference between these two - it is simple really. [...] marriage is sacred before the Lord, a decision for a lifetime, but too often I think young people look upon it as a source of happiness. Do not look at marriage this way. See it as a reservoir of joy, a deep, welling spring that endures the icy blast of temper, the bite of an angry word, the void of loneliness in a heart hungry for talk when there is no response. [...] Seek joy in each other, not happiness.
”
”
Kelly Long (Lilly's Wedding Quilt (Patch of Heaven, #2))
“
I turn and I walk my tray to the conveyor and I drop it on the belt and I start to walk out of the Dining Hall. As I head through the Glass Corridor separating the men and women, I see Lilly sitting alone at a table. She looks up at me and she smiles and our eyes meet and I smile back. She looks down and I stop walking and I stare at her. She looks up and she smiles again. She is as beautiful a girl as I have ever seen. Her eyes, her lips, her teeth, her hair, her skin. The black circles beneath her eyes, the scars I can see on her wrists, the ridiculous clothes she wears that are ten sizes too big, the sense of sadness and pain she wears that is even bigger. I stand and I stare at her, just stare stare stare. Men walk past me and other women look at me and LIlly doesn’t understand what I’m doing or why I’m doing it and she’s blushing and it’s beautiful. I stand there and I stare. I stare because I know where I am going I’m not going to see any beauty. They don’t sell crack in Mansions or fancy Department Stores and you don’t go to luxury Hotels or Country Clubs to smoke it. Strong, cheap liquor isn’t served in five-star Restaurants or Champagne Bars and it isn’t sold in gourmet Groceries or boutique Liquor stores. I’m going to go to a horrible place in a horrible neighborhood run by horrible people providing product for the worst Society has to offer. There will be no beauty there, nothing even resembling beauty. There will be Dealers and Addicts and Criminals and Whores and Pimps and Killers and Slaves. There will be drugs and liquor and pipes and bottles and smoke and vomit and blood and human rot and human decay and human disintegration. I have spent much of my life in these places. When I leave here I will fond one of the and I will stay there until I die. Before I do, however, I want one last look at something beautiful. I want one last look so that I have something to hold in my mind while I’m dying, so that when I take my last breath I will be able to think of something that will make me smile, so that in the midst of the horror I can hold on to some shred of humanity.
”
”
James Frey
“
Long black hair and deep clean blue eyes and skin pale white and lips blood red she's small and thin and worn and damaged. She is standing there.
What are you doing here?
I was taking a walk and I saw you and I followed you.
What do you want.
I want you to stop.
I breathe hard, stare hard, tense and coiled. There is still more tree for me to destroy I want that fucking tree. She smiles and she steps towards me, toward toward toward me, and she opens he r arms and I'm breathing hard staring hard tense and coiled she puts her arms around me with one hand not he back of my head and she pulls me into her arms and she holds me and she speaks.
It's okay.
I breathe hard, close my eyes, let myself be held.
It's okay.
Her voice calms me and her arms warm me and her smell lightens me and I can feel her heart beat and my heart slows and I stop shaking an the Fury melts into her safety an she holds me and she says.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Something else comes and it makes me feel weak and scared and fragile and I don't want to be hurt and this feeling is the feeling I have when I know I can be hurt and hurt deeper and more terribly than anything physical and I always fight it and control it and stop it but her voice calms me and her arms warm me and her smell lightens me and I can feel her heart beat and if she let me go right now I would fall and the need and confusion and fear and regret and horror and shame and weakness and fragility are exposed to the soft strength of her open arms and her simple word okay and I start to cry. I start to cry. I want to cry.
It comes in waves. THe waves roll deep and from deep the deep within me and I hold her and she holds me tighter and i let her and I let it and I let this and I have not felt this way this vulnerability or allowed myself to feel this way this vulnerability since I was ten years old and I don't know why I haven't and I don't know why I am now and I only know that I am and that it is scary terrifying frightening worse and better than anything I've ever felt crying in her arms just crying in her ams just crying.
She guides me to the ground, but she doesn't let me go. THe Gates are open and thirteen years of addiction, violence, hell and their accompaniments are manifesting themselves in dense tears and heavy sobs and a shortness of breath and a profound sense of loss. THe loss inhabits, fills and overwhelms me. It is the loss of a childhood of being a Teeenager of normalcy of happiness of love of trust anon reason of God of Family of friends of future of potential of dignity of humanity of sanity f myself of everything everything everything. I lost everything and I am lost reduced to a mass of mourning, sadness, grief, anguish and heartache. I am lost. I have lost. Everything. Everything.
It's wet and Lilly cradles me like a broken Child. My face and her shoulder and her shirt and her hair are wet with my tears. I slow down and I start to breathe slowly and deeply and her hair smells clean and I open my eyes because I want to see it an it is all that I can see. It is jet black almost blue and radiant with moisture. I want to touch it and I reach with one of my hands and I run my hand from the crown along her neck and her back to the base of her rib and it is a thin perfect sheer and I let it slowly drop from the tips of my fingers and when it is gone I miss it. I do it again and again and she lets me do it and she doesn't speak she just cradles me because I am broken. I am broken. Broken.
THere is noise and voices and Lilly pulls me in tighter and tighter and I know I pull her in tighter and tighter and I can feel her heart beating and I know she can feel my heart beating and they are speaking our hearts are speaking a language wordless old unknowable and true and we're pulling and holding and the noise is closer and the voices louder and Lilly whispers.
You're okay.
You're okay.
You're okay.
”
”
James Frey
“
When The Matrix debuted in 1999, it was a huge box-office success. It was also well received by critics, most of whom focused on one of two qualities—the technological (it mainstreamed the digital technique of three-dimensional “bullet time,” where the on-screen action would freeze while the camera continued to revolve around the participants) or the philosophical (it served as a trippy entry point for the notion that we already live in a simulated world, directly quoting philosopher Jean Baudrillard’s 1981 reality-rejecting book Simulacra and Simulation). If you talk about The Matrix right now, these are still the two things you likely discuss. But what will still be interesting about this film once the technology becomes ancient and the philosophy becomes standard? I suspect it might be this: The Matrix was written and directed by “the Wachowski siblings.” In 1999, this designation meant two brothers; as I write today, it means two sisters. In the years following the release of The Matrix, the older Wachowski (Larry, now Lana) completed her transition from male to female. The younger Wachowski (Andy, now Lilly) publicly announced her transition in the spring of 2016. These events occurred during a period when the social view of transgender issues radically evolved, more rapidly than any other component of modern society. In 1999, it was almost impossible to find any example of a trans person within any realm of popular culture; by 2014, a TV series devoted exclusively to the notion won the Golden Globe for Best Television Series. In the fifteen-year window from 1999 to 2014, no aspect of interpersonal civilization changed more, to the point where Caitlyn (formerly Bruce) Jenner attracted more Twitter followers than the president (and the importance of this shift will amplify as the decades pass—soon, the notion of a transgender US president will not seem remotely implausible). So think how this might alter the memory of The Matrix: In some protracted reality, film historians will reinvestigate an extremely commercial action movie made by people who (unbeknownst to the audience) would eventually transition from male to female. Suddenly, the symbolic meaning of a universe with two worlds—one false and constructed, the other genuine and hidden—takes on an entirely new meaning. The idea of a character choosing between swallowing a blue pill that allows him to remain a false placeholder and a red pill that forces him to confront who he truly is becomes a much different metaphor. Considered from this speculative vantage point, The Matrix may seem like a breakthrough of a far different kind. It would feel more reflective than entertaining, which is precisely why certain things get remembered while certain others get lost.
”
”
Chuck Klosterman (But What If We're Wrong?: Thinking about the Present as If It Were the Past)