“
You and I won't lose each other, I will always find you again. No matter how well you hide. I'm unstoppable.
”
”
Stephenie Meyer (The Host (The Host, #1))
“
She was unstoppable. Not because she did not have failures or doubts, bit because she continued on despite them.
”
”
Beau Taplin
“
Death is unstoppable. One must face it as a fact of life
”
”
D. Aswini (Saffron - The Blood Swan)
“
When a poet digs himself into a hole, he doesn't climb out. He digs deeper, enjoys the scenery, and comes out the other side enlightened.
”
”
Criss Jami (Venus in Arms)
“
Everything worthwhile in life is won through surmounting the associated negative experience. Any attempt to escape the negative, to avoid it or quash it or silence it, only backfires. The avoidance of suffering is a form of suffering. The avoidance of struggle is a struggle. The denial of failure is a failure. Hiding what is shameful is itself a form of shame.
Pain is an inextricable thread in the fabric of life, and to tear it out is not only impossible, but destructive: attempting to tear it out unravels everything else with it. To try to avoid pain is to give too many fucks about pain. In contrast, if you’re able to not give a fuck about the pain, you become unstoppable." ~~~~ Mark Manson
”
”
Mark Manson (The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life)
“
Tomorrow, I will take on all of these things. I will be unstoppable.
”
”
Marie Lu (The Young Elites (The Young Elites, #1))
“
If it weren’t for physics and law enforcement, I’d be unstoppable.
”
”
Darynda Jones (Fifth Grave Past the Light (Charley Davidson, #5))
“
Your love makes me strong, your hate makes me unstoppable.
”
”
Cristiano Ronaldo
“
She was fierce, she was strong, she wasn’t simple. She was crazy and sometimes she barely slept. She always had something to say. She had flaws and that was ok. And when she was down, she got right back up. She was a beast in her own way, but one idea described her best.
She was unstoppable and she took anything she wanted with a smile.
”
”
R.M. Drake
“
This is unstoppable, no holds barred. This is beautiful. Crazy. A beginning. Betrayal. Addictive. Aggressive. Alive. This is something to be afraid of.
”
”
Ellen Hopkins (Fallout (Crank, #3))
“
So many people will tell you ”no”, and you need to find something you believe in so hard that you just smile and tell them ”watch me”. Learn to take rejection as motivation to prove people wrong. Be unstoppable. Refuse to give up, no matter what. It’s the best skill you can ever learn.
”
”
Charlotte Eriksson
“
Women intrinsically understand human dynamics, and that makes them unstoppable. Unfortunately, the average man is less adroit at fostering such rivalries, which is why most men remain average; males are better at hating things that can't hate them back (e.g., lawnmowers, cats, the Denver Broncos, et cetera). They don't see the big picture.
”
”
Chuck Klosterman (Chuck Klosterman IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas)
“
There’s nothing as unstoppable as a freight train full of fuck-yeah.
”
”
Jen Sincero (You Are a Badass®: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life)
“
He kisses Henry until it feels like he can’t breathe, until it feels like he’s going to forget both of their names and titles, until they’re only two people tangled up in a dark room making a brilliant, epic, unstoppable mistake.
”
”
Casey McQuiston (Red, White & Royal Blue)
“
So fierce is the passion that burns within my heart ,a raging forest fire,unstoppable and consuming.
”
”
Michael Faudet
“
As long as we’re together, that’s how we’ll be. No trembling. No faltering. We’re unstoppable.
”
”
Richelle Mead (The Fiery Heart (Bloodlines, #4))
“
She was unstoppable. not because she did not have failures or doubts. but because she continued on despite them.
”
”
Beau Taplin
“
They may try to stop you by their words and deeds, but like air you will rise above it all. You are unstoppable
”
”
Bernard Kelvin Clive (Your Dreams Will Not Die)
“
Hazel screamed at the top of her lungs, but it was a scream of delight. For the first time in her life-in her two lives-she felt absolutely unstoppable.
”
”
Rick Riordan (The Son of Neptune (The Heroes of Olympus, #2))
“
Together we will be unstoppable.
”
”
Eoin Colfer (The Eternity Code (Artemis Fowl, #3))
“
You could love me, you know." He's smiling a strange sort of smile. "We would be unstoppable. We would change the world. I could make you happy." he says to me.
”
”
Tahereh Mafi (Shatter Me (Shatter Me, #1))
“
Owen Meany believed that “coincidence” was a stupid, shallow refuge sought by stupid, shallow people who were unable to accept the fact that their lives were shaped by a terrifying and awesome design – more powerful and unstoppable than the Yankee Flyer. (a train)
”
”
John Irving (A Prayer for Owen Meany)
“
You are lightning made flesh. Colder than falling snow. Unstoppable as the desert sands riding the wind. You are Stormling, Aurora Pavan. Believe it.
”
”
Cora Carmack (Roar (Stormheart, #1))
“
Use what you've been through as fuel, believe in yourself and be unstoppable!
”
”
Yvonne Pierre (The Day My Soul Cried: A Memoir)
“
You can't judge people and touch their souls at the same time.
”
”
Tama Kieves (Inspired and Unstoppable: Wildly Succeeding in your life's work)
“
She thought of the orchids spreading across the plains below, choking the life out of other plants, out of the soil itself, selfish and unstoppable. Tally Youngblood was a weed. And, unlike the orchids, she wasn't even a pretty one.
”
”
Scott Westerfeld (Uglies (Uglies, #1))
“
I opened my veins. Unstoppably
life spurts out with no remedy.
Now I set out bowls and plates.
Every bowl will be shallow.
Every plate will be small.
And overflowing their rims,
into the black earth, to nourish
the rushes unstoppably
without cure, gushes
poetry ...
”
”
Marina Tsvetaeva (Selected Poems (Oxford Poets))
“
History provides a compelling argument that every scientist who tinkers around with unstoppable shit needs a reliable flamethrower.
”
”
Andrew Smith (Grasshopper Jungle)
“
Love is selfish. Love is raw. Love is unfair, and unpredictable, and unstoppable.
”
”
L.J. Shen (Broken Knight (All Saints High, #2))
“
Yako, the egotistical, ruthless spy, felt unstoppable and hurried to her downed partner. She had a 40-round Glock pistol, quickly firing six rounds to cover herself while she moved.
”
”
Karl Braungart (Triple Deception (Remmich/Miller, #4))
“
How do we beat her? I asked.
You pretty much don’t, Horus said. She is the incarnation of the sun’s wrath. Back in the day when Ra was active, she would have been much more impressive, but still. .She’s unstoppable. A born killer. A slaying machine—
“Okay, I get it!” I yelled.
”
”
Rick Riordan (The Red Pyramid (The Kane Chronicles, #1))
“
Fuck “try.” Trying is an open invitation to failure, just another way of saying, “If I fail, it’s not my fault, I tried.
”
”
Tim S. Grover (Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable (Tim Grover Winning Series))
“
When certain parts of our bodies are touched, certain enzymes and chemicals that trigger sexual desire are released into our system. The more our bodies are stimulated, the more chemicals are released and the greater our sexual desire grows until it becomes a virtually unstoppable flood.
”
”
Myles Munroe (Waiting and Dating: A Sensible Guide to a Fulfilling Love Relationship)
“
It means that two people start loving each other. I guess because it can feel really sudden and because it's powerful. Like gravity--an unstoppable force.
”
”
Heather Anastasiu (Glitch (Glitch, #1))
“
I will be kind, I will be brave, I will be unstoppable.
”
”
Connie Glynn (Undercover Princess)
“
Fate is a quantity very much like TV: an unstoppable narrative, written, produced and directed by somebody else.
”
”
Zadie Smith
“
Easily mistaken, it is not about a love for adversity, it is about knowing a strength and a faith so great that adversity, in all its adverse manifestations, hardly even exists.
”
”
Criss Jami (Killosophy)
“
Being relentless means demanding more of yourself than anyone else could ever demand of you, knowing that every time you stop, you can still do more. You must do more.
”
”
Tim S. Grover (Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable (Tim Grover Winning Series))
“
There is a fire against us. And in the end, the fire could burn us, or ignite us into an unstoppable force.
”
”
Israh Azizi (The Cavalier (Heroes of the Empire, #1))
“
The drive to close the gap between near-perfect and perfect is the difference between great and unstoppable.
”
”
Tim S. Grover (Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable (Tim Grover Winning Series))
“
Progress is unstoppable. It is a drumbeat to which we must all march. Technology helps and good ideas spread – these are two lows of nature. If you don’t let technology help you, if you resist good ideas, you condemn yourself to dinosaurhood! I am utterly convinced of this.
”
”
Yann Martel (Life of Pi)
“
Dan didn’t want to say anything, but the words were unstoppable. “I fucking love you. Don’t leave me. You’ve got to find me.” Again, fucking tears. Vadim shook his head, then pressed his face into the crook of Dan’s shoulder, hoped to hide his weakness and felt like a man condemned to die.
“I will... find you. If it’s the last thing I’ll do, I’ll come back. Nothing will stop me.
”
”
Aleksandr Voinov (Special Forces - Soldiers (Special Forces, #1))
“
How about we play without special abilities?” she suggested. “That’ll make it fair for everyone.”
Fitz shrugged. “I’m up for the challenge if you are.”
“Lame. I vote for The Unstoppable Team Keefe! Or Team Foster-Keefe if you’re one of those egomaniacs who needs your name in there. I can share some credit.
”
”
Shannon Messenger (Exile (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #2))
“
Perhaps there was an unstoppable magic inherent in music and art.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass, #2))
“
In order to have what you really want, you must first be who you really are.
”
”
Tim S. Grover (Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable (Tim Grover Winning Series))
“
I believe there are only two unstoppable forces in the universe. One is love, the other is intelligence. I also believe that a person's capacity to love is directly related to their intelligence level, just as hate corresponds to a person's level of ignorance. The only thing that makes it impossible for the system to destroy you and grind your spirit into nothing is to be more intelligent than it is.
”
”
Damien Echols (Life After Death)
“
With a philosophy education, one can infuriate his peers, intimidate his date, think of obscure, unreliable ways to make money, and never regret a thing.
”
”
Criss Jami (Diotima, Battery, Electric Personality)
“
Everything is so fragile. There's so much conflict, so much pain...you keep waiting for the dust to settle and then you realize this is it; the dust is your life going on. If happy comes along--that weird, unbearable delight that's actual happy--I think you have to grab it while you can. You take what you can get, 'cause it's here, and then...gone.
”
”
Joss Whedon (Astonishing X-Men, Vol. 4: Unstoppable)
“
Go higher and higher, until it becomes impossible to bring you down, I wanna use a microscope to locate you, don't even dream of coming down.
”
”
Michael Bassey Johnson
“
The end of life is as unstoppable as its beginning, we can't stop the first and last breaths we take any more than we can stop the wind.
”
”
Fredrik Backman (The Winners (Beartown, #3))
“
What's plan b?'
'We all die now.'
'What's plan c?
”
”
Joss Whedon (Astonishing X-Men, Vol. 4: Unstoppable)
“
Decide. Commit. Act. Succeed. Repeat.
”
”
Tim S. Grover (Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable (Tim Grover Winning Series))
“
people who believe in the resurrection, in God making a whole new world in which everything will be set right at last, are unstoppably motivated to work for that new world in the present.
”
”
Tom Wright (Surprised by Hope: Original, provocative and practical)
“
Magic
Whatever had happened, however it had been freed, Manon didn't care.
That mortal, human weight vanished. Strength coursed through her, coating her bones like armor. Invincible, immortal, unstoppable.
Manon tipped her head back to the sky, spread her arms wide, and roared.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass, #4))
“
Doubtless Princess Juliana intended for me to overhear her comment on seeing Theodora in wedding regalia. “She’s like wisteria: beautiful in a vulgarly decorative way, cloyingly scented and an unstoppable climber.” Her eyes met mine and she made a motion as if scribbling in the air, daring me to write down her words.
”
”
Carol Strickland (The Eagle and the Swan)
“
The mindset of loss of a loved one is to understand that the loss will never be undone. You must live with it, like it or not. But, to live well, you must turn that loss into something positive. That way, you can become the best version of yourself; scarred, flawed and unstoppable
”
”
Val Uchendu
“
This is Anakin Skywalker: The most powerful Jedi of his generation. Perhaps of any generation. The fastest. The strongest. An unbeatable pilot. An unstoppable warrior. On the ground, in the air or sea or space, there is no one even close. He has not just power, not just skill, but dash: that rare, invaluable combination of boldness and grace.
”
”
Matthew Woodring Stover (Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars: Novelizations #3))
“
I was a god—the god of cake—and I was unstoppable.
”
”
Allie Brosh (Hyperbole and a Half)
“
So, so you made a lot of mistakes
Walked down the road a little sideways
Cracked a rib when you hit the wall
Yeah, you've had a pocket full of regrets
Pull you down faster than a sunset
Hey, it happens to us all
When the cold hard rain just won't quit
And you can't see your way out of it
You find your faith has been lost and shaken
You take back what's been taken
Get on your knees and dig down deep
You can do what you think is impossible
Keep on believing, don't give in
It'll come and make you whole again
It always will, it always does
Love is unstoppable
”
”
Rascal Flatts
“
Have some fire. Be unstoppable. Be a force of nature. Be better than anyone here, and don’t give a damn what anyone thinks. There are no teams here, no buddies. You’re on your own. Be on your own.
”
”
Cristina Yang
“
we are the lizard, but we are also the moon. Some of us will die, but others of us will keep doing what we always have, continuing on our own oblivious way, doing what our nature compels us to, silent and unknowable and unstoppable in our rhythms.
”
”
Hanya Yanagihara (To Paradise)
“
Out here the wild things are healthy, the old trees whose roots find sustenance far below the ill-used layer of topsoil, the occasional rosebush gone to green thicket and thorns, the unstoppable kudzu. It is as if they have decided to take back the land for their own.
”
”
Poppy Z. Brite (Drawing Blood)
“
Clockwork could not run counter to its nature. The seconds, minutes, and hours moved only forward. Patient, precise, and unstoppable. Memory was an indulgence, an illusion that broke like a wave upon the juggernaut of time. The past remained the past.
”
”
Matthew J. Kirby (The Clockwork Three)
“
Faithfulness imparts God's reason for all circumstances. No matter what the world says, losing is no longer an option.
”
”
Criss Jami (Venus in Arms)
“
Being the best means engineering your life so you never stop until you get what you want, and then you keep going until you get what’s next. And then you go for even more.
”
”
Tim S. Grover (Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable (Tim Grover Winning Series))
“
When you decide to be the immovable object standing in front of the unstoppable force, you'd better pray that you're right about being immovable, and they're wrong about being unstoppable.' 'Otherwise, you'll wind up like a bug on a windshield.
”
”
Seanan McGuire (Discount Armageddon (InCryptid, #1))
“
So my heart goes out to them. Figuratively. I would never actually entrust my heart to scientists—they'd probably implant it in a baboon. And a baboon with my heart would be practically unstoppable. Baboon strength and agility combined with my determination and media savvy? It would be a threat to all of humanity.
”
”
Stephen Colbert (I Am America (And So Can You!))
“
The only way you can light other people on fire is to be lit yourself, from the inside.
”
”
Tim S. Grover (Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable (Tim Grover Winning Series))
“
The last light, in the last window, went out. Only the unstoppable machine of the sea still tears away at the silence with the cyclical explosion of nocturnal waves, distant memories of sleepwalking storms and the shipwrecks of dream.
”
”
Alessandro Baricco
“
It was odds on they would find out one of the team had escaped the blast, and it wouldn’t be long before they knew which one. Then they would come looking for him.
And Conor intended they should find him.
”
”
Michael Parker (The Eagle's Covenant)
“
Do. The. Work. Every day, you have to do something you don’t want to do. Every day. Challenge yourself to be uncomfortable, push past the apathy and laziness and fear. Otherwise, the next day you’re going to have two things you don’t want to do, then three and four and five, and pretty soon, you can’t even get back to the first thing. And then all you can do is beat yourself up for the mess you’ve created, and now you’ve got a mental barrier to go along with the physical barriers.
”
”
Tim S. Grover (Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable (Tim Grover Winning Series))
“
Indian food is like classical music raga- it takes time to build up to a crescendo.
”
”
Shobhaa Dé (Superstar India: From Incredible to Unstoppable)
“
What would happen if a man's face could adequately express his suffering, if his entire inner agony would be objectified in his facial expression? Could we still communicate? Wouldn't we then cover our faces with our hands while talking? Life would really be impossible if the infinitude of feelings we harbor within ourselves would be fully expressed in the lines of our face. Nobody would dare look at himself in the mirror, because a grotesque, tragic image would mix in the contours of his face with stains and traces of blood, wounds which cannot be healed, and unstoppable streams of tears. I would experience a kind of voluptuous awe if I could see a volcano of blood, eruptions as red as fire and as burning as despair, burst into the comfortable and superficial harmony of everyday life, or if I could see all our hidden wounds open, making of us a bloody eruption forever. Only then would be truly understand and appreciate the advantages of loneliness, which silences our suffering and makes it inaccessible. The venom drawn out from suffering would be enough to poison the whole world in a bloody eruption, bursting out of the volcano of our being. There is so much venom, so much poison, in suffering!
”
”
Emil M. Cioran (On the Heights of Despair)
“
Here’s the key: I’m not going to tell you how to change. People don’t change. I want you to trust who you already are, and get to that Zone where you can shut out all the noise, all the negativity and fear and distractions and lies, and achieve whatever you want, in whatever you do.
”
”
Tim S. Grover (Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable (Tim Grover Winning Series))
“
I’ve never understood the appeal of drinking. It’s not like liquor tastes good. I mean, I know it’s not about that. It’s about feeling loose and unstoppable. Simon described it to me once. He said drinking lets you say and do things without filtering or overthinking. But I don’t get how that’s a good thing
”
”
Becky Albertalli (Leah on the Offbeat (Simonverse, #3))
“
Nobody would dare look at himself in the mirror, because a grotesque, tragic image would mix in the contours of his face with stains and traces of blood, wounds which cannot be healed, and unstoppable streams of tears. I would experience a kind of voluptuous awe if I could see a volcano of blood, eruptions as red as fire and as burning as despair, burst into the midst of the comfortable and superficial harmony of everyday life, or if I could see all our hidden wounds open, making of us a bloody eruption forever. Only then would we truly understand and appreciate the advantage of loneliness, which silences our suffering and makes it inaccessible. The venom drawn out from suffering would be enough to poison the whole world in a bloody eruption, bursting out of the volcano of our being. There is so much venom, so much poison, in suffering!
”
”
Emil M. Cioran (On the Heights of Despair)
“
Always be yourself. Unless you can be a unicorn. Then always be a unicorn. Truer words have never been spoken.
”
”
Scott Hildreth (Unstoppable (Fighter Erotic Romance, #2))
“
The thing about being an unstoppable force is that you can really only enjoy the experience of being one when you have something to bash yourself against. You need to have things trying to stop you so that you can get a better sense of how fast you are going as you smash through them. And whenever I was inside the dinosaur costume, that is the only thing I wanted to do.
”
”
Allie Brosh (Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened)
“
At first it's bliss. It's drunken, heady, intoxicating. It swallows the people we were - not particuarly wonderful people, but people who did our best, more or less - and spits out the monsters we are becoming.
Our friends despise us. We are an epic. Everything is grand, crashing, brilliant, blinding. It's the Golden Age of Hollywood, and we are a legend in our own minds, and no one outside can fail to see that we are headed for hell, and we won't listen, we say they don't understand, we pour more wine, go to the parties, we sparkle, fly all over the country, we're on an adventure, unstoppable, we've found each other and we race through our days like Mr. Toad in his yellow motorcar, with no idea where the brakes are and to hell with it anyway, we are on fire, drunk with something we call love.
”
”
Marya Hornbacher (Madness: A Bipolar Life)
“
But there is one thing better than going to heaven and that is to encourage at least one other person to go with me,
”
”
Nick Vujicic (Unstoppable)
“
In anything you do, it takes no talent to work hard. You just have to want to do it.
”
”
Tim S. Grover (Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable (Tim Grover Winning Series))
“
I’m not telling you to love it. I’m telling you to crave the result so intensely that the work is irrelevant.
”
”
Tim S. Grover (Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable (Tim Grover Winning Series))
“
That this tragic war that’s been waged in and around each of us, this battle that’s gone on in our souls—that’s ravaged us and beaten us down and clawed away our humanity—has simply been evil trying to destroy who we are. Because evil knows what we will become: Stronger. Wiser. Unstoppable. Don’t let him take who you are. Make him fear who you will become.
”
”
Mary Weber (Storm Siren (Storm Siren, #1))
“
If we, as women, embrace each other we will be unstoppable. We must stand together and be counted as one.
As one we are strong.
As one we are tough.
As one we can challenge what the future holds.
As one we are survivors.
As one we have unbelievable courage.
As one we can face any obstacle.
As one we are centered and balanced.
As one we will transform the world.
As one we are pioneers and trailblazers.
As one our opportunities are endless.
”
”
Charlena E. Jackson (A Woman's Love Is Never Good Enough)
“
Greatness makes you a legend; being the best makes you an icon. If you want to be great, deliver the unexpected. If you want to be the best, deliver a miracle.
”
”
Tim S. Grover (Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable (Tim Grover Winning Series))
“
Do. The. Work. Every day, you have to do something you don’t want to do. Every day. Challenge yourself to be uncomfortable, push past the apathy and laziness and fear.
”
”
Tim S. Grover (Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable (Tim Grover Winning Series))
“
Talk never goes up in price, it’s always free, and you usually get what you pay for.
”
”
Tim S. Grover (Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable (Tim Grover Winning Series))
“
A woman’s strength is unstoppable as she takes on the loads she is given in life. We, as women, shouldn’t ever underestimate our ability. We are warriors, and if it wasn’t for our great strength of perseverance, what would the world be like today?
We have to learn how to put ourselves first. We have to stop cheating ourselves by putting other people’s needs first, and our needs and wants last.
”
”
Charlena E. Jackson (A Woman's Love Is Never Good Enough)
“
I’m assuming you’re as mystified by this as the rest of us, Rasputin.
No. I’m not. I have been planning to destroy the Breakworld since I was a child.
[silence]
This is why I don’t make so many jokes. I never know when is good.
”
”
Joss Whedon (Astonishing X-Men, Vol. 4: Unstoppable)
“
I don’t care how good you think you are, or how great others think you are—you can improve, and you will. Being relentless means demanding more of yourself than anyone else could ever demand of you, knowing that every time you stop, you can still do more. You must do more. The minute your mind thinks, “Done,” your instincts say, “Next.
”
”
Tim S. Grover (Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable (Tim Grover Winning Series))
“
You can’t control what people say about you and what they think about you. You can’t plan for bad luck. You can only work your hardest and do your best and tell the truth. In the end, it’s the effort that matters. The rest is beyond your control.
”
”
Maria Sharapova (Unstoppable: My Life So Far)
“
Tearing through the room like an F5 tornado of hyperactive joy was Taylor Hawkins, my brother from another mother, my best friend, a man for whom I would take a bullet. Upon first meeting, our bond was immediate, and we grew closer with every day, every song, every note that we ever played together. I am not afraid to say that our chance meeting was a kind of love at first sight, igniting a musical “twin flame” that still burns to this day. Together, we have become an unstoppable duo, onstage and off, in pursuit of any and all adventure we can find. We are absolutely meant to be, and I am grateful that we found each other in this lifetime.
”
”
Dave Grohl (The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music)
“
By dread things I am compelled. I know that. I see the trap closing. I know what I am. But while life is in me I will not stop this violence. No. Oh my friends who is there to comfort me? Who understands? Leave me be, let me go, do not soothe me. This is a knot no one can untie. There will be no rest, there is no retrieval. No number exists for griefs like these.
”
”
Sophocles (Electra)
“
Human beings across every culture I know about require such stories, stories with cool winds and wood smoke. They speak to something deep within us, the capacity to conceptualize, objectify and find patterns, thereby to create the flow of events and perceptions that find perfect expression in fiction. We are built this way, we create stories by reflex, unstoppably. But this elegant system really works best when the elements of the emerging story, whether is is being written or being read, are taken as literal fact. Almost always, to respond to the particulars of the fantastic as if they were metaphorical or allegorical is to drain them of vitality.
”
”
Peter Straub (American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny from Poe to the Pulps)
“
Suffering is the nature of this world. It is the golden standard by which all things are measured. It is not happiness that sets the bar, but agony. Even happiness cannot be fully recognized without the right measure of misery to contrast its borders. Suffering magnifies hunger-exhaustion-prods you to move when prosperity is just a dream out of reach. It is the mortal twin of eternal hope. How you respond to its touch molds you, shapes your future as it rains down oppression like fire over your shoulders.
Deception. It laid over my world like a bruise. Covered it so completely I bought the lie that the shadow offered and found comfort nestled in its thorny arms. I walked the trail it dusted with breadcrumb, walked in the slip noose it had skillfully wove and dove off the cliff without realizing- willingly, with vigor.
Heartbreak. There is no bigger void, no darker shade of soot- no ache more unstoppable than that of a broken heart.
A heart in pieces can very much kill you-without love’s healing touch, you will surely die.
They say time heals all wounds.
They lied.
”
”
Addison Moore (Expel (Celestra, #6))
“
The greats never stop learning. Instinct and talent without technique just makes you reckless, like a teenager driving a powerful, high-performance vehicle. Instinct is raw clay that can be shaped into a masterpiece, if you develop skills that match your talent. That can only come from learning everything there is to know about what you do.
”
”
Tim S. Grover (Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable (Tim Grover Winning Series))
“
Well, fuck a duck,” comes Morris’s delighted voice.
I jerk in surprise, then spin around to glare at him for sneaking up on me from behind. Judging by the amusement dancing in his eyes, it’s obvious he peeked over my shoulder and caught a glimpse of the photo I’d been drooling over.
“I was wondering how he’d pull that one off,” Morris remarks, still grinning like a fool. “Shouldn’t have doubted him, though. That dude is an unstoppable force of nature.”
I narrow my eyes. “He told you about the picture?”
“About the whole list, actually. We hung out last night—Lorris is close to taking over Brooklyn, by the way—and he was moaning and groaning about not being able to track down a red velvet couch.” Morris shrugs. “I offered to throw a red blanket on the sofa in my common room and take some pictures, but he said you’d consider that cheating and deprive him of your love.”
Stifling a sigh, I shove the phone in my purse, then walk over to the mini-fridge across the room and grab a bottle of water. I twist off the cap, doing my best to ignore the sheer enjoyment Morris is getting out of this.
“I wish I was gay,” he says ruefully.
A snicker pops out. “Uh-huh. Go on. I’m willing to follow you down this rabbit hole and see where it leads.”
“Seriously, Gretch, I love him. I have a boner for him.” Morris sighs. “If I’d known he existed, I wouldn’t have asked you out in the first place.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“Oh, shut up. You’re awesome, and I’d tap that in a second. But I can’t compete with this guy. He’s operating on a whole other level when it comes to you.
”
”
Elle Kennedy (The Mistake (Off-Campus, #2))
“
I can do anything I believe I can do! I’ve got it, and every day I get more of it. I have talent, skills, and ability. I set goals and I reach them. I know what I want out of life. I go after it and I get it. People like me, and I feel good about myself. I have a sense of pride in who I am, and I believe in myself. Nothing seems to stop me. I have a lot of determination. I turn problems into advantages. I find possibilities in things that other people never give a chance. I have a lot of energy—I am very alive! I enjoy life and I can tell it and so can others. I keep myself up, looking ahead, and liking it. I know that I can accomplish anything I choose, and I refuse to let anything negative hold me back or stand in my way. I am not afraid of anything or anyone. I have strength, power, conviction, and confidence! I like challenges and I meet them head on, face to face—today especially! I am on top of the world and I’m going for it. I have a clear picture in my mind of what I want. I can see it in front of me. I know what I want and I know how to get it. I know that it’s all up to me and I know I can do it. Roadblocks don’t bother me. They just mean that I am alive and running, and I’m not going to stand still for anything. I trust myself I’ve got what it takes—plenty of it—and I know how to use it. Today, more than ever. Today I am unstoppable! I’ve got myself together and I’m getting more together every day. And today—look out world, here I come! Limitations? I don’t even recognize them as limitations. There is no challenge I can’t conquer; there is no wall I can’t climb over. There is no problem I can’t defeat, or turn around and make it work for me. I stand tall! I am honest and sincere. I like to deal with people and they like me. I think well; I think clearly. I am organized; I am in control of myself, and everything about me. I call my shots, and no one has to call them for me. I never blame anyone else for the circumstances of my life. I accept my failings and move past them as easily as I accept the rewards for my victories. I never demand perfection of myself, but I expect the very best of what I have to give—and that’s what I get! I never give myself excuses. I get things done on time and in the right way. Today I have the inner strength to do more than ever. I am an exceptional human being. My goals and my incredible belief in myself turn my goals into reality. I have the power to live my dreams. I believe in them like I believe in myself. And that belief is so strong that there is nothing that diminishes my undefeatable spirit.
”
”
Shad Helmstetter (What To Say When You Talk To Your Self)
“
The real problem here is that we’re all dying. All of us. Every day the cells weaken and the fibres stretch and the heart gets closer to its last beat. The real cost of living is dying, and we’re spending days like millionaires: a week here, a month there, casually spunked until all you have left are the two pennies on your eyes.
Personally, I like the fact we’re going to die. There’s nothing more exhilarating than waking up every morning and going ‘WOW! THIS IS IT! THIS IS REALLY IT!’ It focuses the mind wonderfully. It makes you love vividly, work intensely, and realise that, in the scheme of things, you really don’t have time to sit on the sofa in your pants watching Homes Under the Hammer.
Death is not a release, but an incentive. The more focused you are on your death, the more righteously you live your life. My traditional closing-time rant – after the one where I cry that they closed that amazing chippy on Tollington Road; the one that did the pickled eggs – is that humans still believe in an afterlife. I genuinely think it’s the biggest philosophical problem the earth faces. Even avowedly non-religious people think they’ll be meeting up with nana and their dead dog, Crackers, when they finally keel over. Everyone thinks they’re getting a harp.
But believing in an afterlife totally negates your current existence. It’s like an insidious and destabilising mental illness. Underneath every day – every action, every word – you think it doesn’t really matter if you screw up this time around because you can just sort it all out in paradise. You make it up with your parents, and become a better person and lose that final stone in heaven. And learn how to speak French. You’ll have time, after all! It’s eternity! And you’ll have wings, and it’ll be sunny! So, really, who cares what you do now? This is really just some lacklustre waiting room you’re only going to be in for 20 minutes, during which you will have no wings at all, and are forced to walk around, on your feet, like pigs do.
If we wonder why people are so apathetic and casual about every eminently avoidable horror in the world – famine, war, disease, the seas gradually turning piss-yellow and filling with ringpulls and shattered fax machines – it’s right there. Heaven. The biggest waste of our time we ever invented, outside of jigsaws.
Only when the majority of the people on this planet believe – absolutely – that they are dying, minute by minute, will we actually start behaving like fully sentient, rational and compassionate beings. For whilst the appeal of ‘being good’ is strong, the terror of hurtling, unstoppably, into unending nullity is a lot more effective. I’m really holding out for us all to get The Fear. The Fear is my Second Coming. When everyone in the world admits they’re going to die, we’ll really start getting some stuff done.
”
”
Caitlin Moran
“
Hamish Alexander-Harrington knew his wife as only two humans who had both been adopted by a pair
of mated treecats ever could. He'd seen her deal with joy and with sorrow, with happiness and with fury,
with fear, and even with despair. Yet in all the years since their very first meeting at Yeltsin's Star, he
suddenly realized, he had never actually met the woman the newsies called "the Salamander." It wasn't his
fault, a corner of his brain told him, because he'd never been in the right place to meet her. Never at the
right time. He'd never had the chance to stand by her side as she took a wounded heavy cruiser on an
unflinching deathride into the broadside of the battlecruiser waiting to kill it, sailing to her own death, and
her crew's, to protect a planet full of strangers while the rich beauty of Hammerwell's "Salute to Spring"
spilled from her ship's com system. He hadn't stood beside her on the dew-soaked grass of the Landing
City duelling grounds, with a pistol in her hand and vengeance in her heart as she faced the man who'd
bought the murder of her first great love. Just as he hadn't stood on the floor of Steadholders' Hall when
she faced a man with thirty times her fencing experience across the razor-edged steel of their swords,
with the ghosts of Reverend Julius Hanks, the butchered children of Mueller Steading, and her own
murdered steaders at her back.
But now, as he looked into the unyielding flint of his wife's beloved, almond eyes, he knew he'd met the
Salamander at last. And he recognized her as only another warrior could. Yet he also knew in that
moment that for all his own imposing record of victory in battle, he was not and never had been her
equal. As a tactician and a strategist, yes. Even as a fleet commander. But not as the very embodiment of
devastation. Not as the Salamander. Because for all the compassion and gentleness which were so much
a part of her, there was something else inside Honor Alexander-Harrington, as well. Something he himself
had never had. She'd told him, once, that her own temper frightened her. That she sometimes thought she
could have been a monster under the wrong set of circumstances.
And now, as he realized he'd finally met the monster, his heart twisted with sympathy and love, for at last
he understood what she'd been trying to tell him. Understood why she'd bound it with the chains of duty,
and love, of compassion and honor, of pity, because, in a way, she'd been right. Under the wrong
circumstances, she could have been the most terrifying person he had ever met.
In fact, at this moment, she was .
It was a merciless something, her "monster"—something that went far beyond military talent, or skills, or
even courage. Those things, he knew without conceit, he, too, possessed in plenty. But not that deeply
personal something at the core of her, as unstoppable as Juggernaut, merciless and colder than space
itself, that no sane human being would ever willingly rouse. In that instant her husband knew, with an icy
shiver which somehow, perversely, only made him love her even more deeply, that as he gazed into those
agate-hard eyes, he looked into the gates of Hell itself. And whatever anyone else might think, he knew
now that there was no fire in Hell. There was only the handmaiden of death, and ice, and purpose, and a
determination which would not— couldnot—relent or rest.
"I'll miss them," she told him again, still with that dreadful softness, "but I won't forget. I'll never forget,
and one day— oneday, Hamish—we're going to find the people who did this, you and I. And when we
do, the only thing I'll ask of God is that He let them live long enough to know who's killing them.
”
”
David Weber (Mission of Honor (Honor Harrington, #12))