“
I’d said it before and meant it: Alive or undead, the love of my life was a badass.
”
”
Richelle Mead (Blood Promise (Vampire Academy, #4))
“
I envy people that know love. That have someone who takes them as they are.
”
”
Jess C. Scott (The Devilin Fey (Naked Heat #1))
“
Friends are the family you choose (~ Nin/Ithilnin, Elven rogue).
”
”
Jess C. Scott (The Other Side of Life)
“
Gansey had once told Adam that he was afraid most people didn't know how to handle Ronan. What he meant by this was that he was worried that one day someone would fall on Ronan and cut themselves.
”
”
Maggie Stiefvater (The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle, #1))
“
The sunset bled into the edges of the village. Smoke curled out of the cottage chimney like a crooked finger.
”
”
Sara Pascoe (Being a Witch, and Other Things I Didn't Ask For)
“
That took balls."
"Please," I said with a snort, "that took ovaries. Of which I have two.
”
”
Darynda Jones (First Grave on the Right (Charley Davidson, #1))
“
Maybe I needed sensitivity training. I once signed up for an anger management class, but the instructor pissed me off.
”
”
Darynda Jones (First Grave on the Right (Charley Davidson, #1))
“
Okay, God, I thought. Get me out of this and I’ll stop my half-assed church-going ways. You got me past a pack of Strigoi tonight. I mean, trapping that one between the doors really shouldn't have worked, so clearly you're on board. Let me get out of here, and I’ll...I don’t know. Donate Adrian’s money to the poor. Get baptized. Join a convent. Well, no. Not that last one.
”
”
Richelle Mead (Blood Promise (Vampire Academy, #4))
“
If I couldn't be a good example, I'd just have to be a horrible warning.
”
”
Darynda Jones (First Grave on the Right (Charley Davidson, #1))
“
... there is no shame in not knowing. The problem arises when irrational thought and attendant behavior fill the vacuum left by ignorance.
”
”
Neil deGrasse Tyson (The Sky Is Not the Limit: Adventures of an Urban Astrophysicist)
“
Urban survival rule 22: Never annoy an armed man.
”
”
Kelley Armstrong (Bitten (Otherworld, #1))
“
You know children, always playing with the forces of darkness.
”
”
Kelley Armstrong (The Reckoning (Darkest Powers, #3))
“
Inseparable as sibs—strained as a couple.
”
”
Andri E. Elia (Borealis: A Worldmaker of Yand Novel)
“
Oo, I like a good cat fight – especially when it doesn’t involve me,’ Oscar said.
‘Shut up!’ Bryony and Raya said simultaneously. A hairline crack formed in the ice between them.
”
”
Sara Pascoe (Being a Witch, and Other Things I Didn't Ask For)
“
Oscar looked up from his plate, and if a cat could laugh, he would have. ‘Boy, that’s ugly, even for a jinn. Looks like a cross between a rat, a frog and a bottlebrush.
”
”
Sara Pascoe (Being a Witch, and Other Things I Didn't Ask For)
“
The summer sun bowing out threw slashes of colour between the buildings. London looked big, empty, and lonely. She stood in the doorway, like a cat trying to make up its mind.
”
”
Sara Pascoe (Being a Witch, and Other Things I Didn't Ask For)
“
He was trying to tell me something."
Derek snorted. "Aren’t they all? Must be a rule in the ghost handbook—if in danger of evaporating, make sure you’re in the middle of a dire pronouncement.
”
”
Kelley Armstrong (The Reckoning (Darkest Powers, #3))
“
Where’s my uncle?” she asked.
“I don’t know who your uncle is, but if it as the guy who owned this place before I bought it, then he’s pushing up daisies.”
“But it can’t be, he’s still young.
”
”
Max Nowaz (The Three Witches and the Master)
“
I haven’t got a clue why his bones disintegrated, but look at the bright side,” laughed Adam. “We won’t have to dispose of the body. I’ll get a pan and brush in a minute and flush him down the toilet.
”
”
Max Nowaz (The Three Witches and the Master)
“
Then Raya saw Rebecca West, the fourteen-year-old who only saved her own life by testifying against her mother, and then she saw her own face reflected in these girls – a swirl of chance, and life and sorrow.
”
”
Sara Pascoe (Being a Witch, and Other Things I Didn't Ask For)
“
Do you think we can be friends?” I asked.
He stared up at the ceiling. “Probably not, but we can pretend.
”
”
Priya Ardis (Ever My Merlin (My Merlin, #3))
“
I turned to leave and paused before the gap in the ruined wall. "One last thing, Your Majesty. I'd like a name I can put into my report, something shorter than typing out 'The Leader of the Southern Shapechanger Faction.' What should I call you?"
"Lord."
I rolled my eyes.
He shrugged. "It's short.
”
”
Ilona Andrews (Magic Bites (Kate Daniels, #1))
“
She peeped through one of the small holes in the outer wall rising up from the walkway. The world on the outside was nothing but countryside now. Dirt roads, like chocolate ribbons, disappeared into woods or green fields in the distance.
”
”
Sara Pascoe (Being a Witch, and Other Things I Didn't Ask For)
“
..And now you've lost the only thing that ever made you feel alive
”
”
Keith Urban
“
And she was right. No matter how they tried, the two humans, with the cat but without the microchip, couldn’t connect to headquarters. Raya heard a loud popping sound in her mind, like a huge rubber band being snapped, like a glider plane released from a Piper Cub.
”
”
Sara Pascoe (Being a Witch, and Other Things I Didn't Ask For)
“
Cities were always like people, showing their varying personalities to the traveler. Depending on the city and on the traveler, there might begin a mutual love, or dislike, friendship, or enmity. Where one city will rise a certain individual to glory, it will destroy another who is not suited to its personality. Only through travel can we know where we belong or not, where we are loved and where we are rejected.
”
”
Roman Payne (Cities & Countries)
“
Too many adults wish to 'protect' teenagers when they should be stimulating them to read of life as it is lived.
”
”
Margaret A. Edwards
“
In Ireland, you go to someone's house, and she asks you if you want a cup of tea. You say no, thank you, you're really just fine. She asks if you're sure. You say of course you're sure, really, you don't need a thing. Except they pronounce it ting. You don't need a ting. Well, she says then, I was going to get myself some anyway, so it would be no trouble. Ah, you say, well, if you were going to get yourself some, I wouldn't mind a spot of tea, at that, so long as it's no trouble and I can give you a hand in the kitchen. Then you go through the whole thing all over again until you both end up in the kitchen drinking tea and chatting.
In America, someone asks you if you want a cup of tea, you say no, and then you don't get any damned tea.
I liked the Irish way better.
”
”
C.E. Murphy (Urban Shaman (Walker Papers, #1))
“
I was going to fight vampires, and my name wasn't Buffy--I was so screwed.
”
”
Patricia Briggs (Frost Burned (Mercy Thompson, #7))
“
Is it still a fish cart when there’s no fish in it? When its false bottom is filled with children?
”
”
Andri E. Elia (Borealis: A Worldmaker of Yand Novel)
“
Most people in Atlanta don't have an accent. It's pretty urban. A lot of people speak gangsta, though," I add jokingly.
"Fo' shiz," he replies in his polite English accent.
I spurt orangey-red soup across the table. St. Clair gives a surprised ha-HA kind of laugh, and I'm laughing too, the painful kind like abdominal crunches. He hands me a napkin to wipe my chin. "Fo'. Shiz." He repeats it solemnly.
Cough cough. "Please don't ever stop saying that. It's too-" I gasp. "Much."
"You oughtn't to have said that. Now I shall have to save it for special occasions."
"My birthday is in February." Cough choke wheeze. "Please don't forget.
”
”
Stephanie Perkins (Anna and the French Kiss (Anna and the French Kiss, #1))
“
I am convinced that the act of thinking logically cannot possibly be natural to the human mind. If it were, then mathematics would be everybody's easiest course at school and our species would not have taken several millennia to figure out the scientific method.
”
”
Neil deGrasse Tyson (The Sky Is Not the Limit: Adventures of an Urban Astrophysicist)
“
Vane grabbed me. “DuLac, let’s chat.”
Chat. British-speak for “Stand still while I yell at you.
”
”
Priya Ardis (My Merlin Awakening (My Merlin, #2))
“
And to think of all the colors in the world, blood chose to be red.
”
”
Nelou Keramati
“
When he kisses me again, the last part of me that could stand myself dies.
”
”
Karen Marie Moning (Shadowfever (Fever, #5))
“
One hand was behind his back, and he held it out, presenting a bouquet of white and smoky purple lilies.
“They’re straight from the underworld, by the way. They are everlasting. They won’t die.
”
”
Jess C. Scott (The Devilin Fey (Naked Heat #1))
“
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
”
”
Keith Urban
“
Vulnerability is the only authentic state. Being vulnerable means being open, for wounding, but also for pleasure. Being open to the wounds of life means also being open to the bounty and beauty. Don’t mask or deny your vulnerability: it is your greatest asset. Be vulnerable: quake and shake in your boots with it. the new goodness that is coming to you, in the form of people, situations, and things can only come to you when you are vulnerable, i.e. open.
”
”
Stephen Russell (Barefoot Doctor's Guide to the Tao: A Spiritual Handbook for the Urban Warrior)
“
I try to be a good cop. I try to be a good little soldier and follow orders up to a point. But in the end I’m not really a cop, or a soldier. I am a legally sanctioned murderer. I am the Executioner.
”
”
Laurell K. Hamilton (Skin Trade (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #17))
“
The brightest light casts the darkest shadow.
”
”
Jess C. Scott (The Darker Side of Life)
“
You can't understand a city without using its public transportation system.
”
”
Erol Ozan
“
The pessimist says, ‘It can’t get any worse!’ And the optimist replies, ‘Oh yes it can!
”
”
Madeleine Urban (Fish & Chips (Cut & Run, #3))
“
It took a while for her to figure out she could run but when she did she was long gone, Long gone..
”
”
Keith Urban
“
Edward smiled, I smiled, even Bernardo smiled. Olaf just looked sinister.
”
”
Laurell K. Hamilton (Skin Trade (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #17))
“
Tease,” Ty accused softly.
“Do I have your attention now?” Zane drawled.
“You never lost it,” Ty responded before thinking better of it.
”
”
Madeleine Urban (Cut & Run (Cut & Run, #1))
“
Here I am with a seriously hunky guy and I'm covered in demon pee. Why does the universe hate me?
”
”
Jana Oliver (Forsaken (The Demon Trappers, #1))
“
Life is a balance of holding on and letting go.
”
”
Keith Urban
“
So in the sweltering heat of a July night, I sang a Christmas carol to a room full of fae, who had been driven out of their homelands by Christians and their cold-iron swords.
”
”
Patricia Briggs (Blood Bound (Mercy Thompson, #2))
“
She's got a big belt around her hips. It has a shiny buckle with PRADA on it, which is Italian for insecure.
”
”
Jennifer Donnelly (Revolution)
“
I figured even the most jaded and cynical inhabitant might report a bloody girl in a party dress carrying a severed head by its hair.
”
”
Faith Hunter (Skinwalker (Jane Yellowrock, #1))
“
Once you admit to yourself that you are or aren't something, then you can begin searching for the reason why," Deuce went on. "And once you've found that, you can begin to take steps toward making it better. So, tell yourself you're an asshole, stop being an asshole, your problem's solved," Deuce said in a pleased voice.
”
”
Abigail Roux (Sticks & Stones (Cut & Run, #2))
“
Beautiful people don't need coats. They've got their auras to keep them warm.
”
”
Jennifer Donnelly (Revolution)
“
Vane’s lips tightened to suppress a smile. “Why so hostile, love?”
“You whacked me on the head with a ball!”
“You deserved it.
”
”
Priya Ardis (My Merlin Awakening (My Merlin, #2))
“
Pick up your clothes. I am not your maid. How do I know this? A maid cannot kill you with a tube sock. I can.
”
”
Rob Thurman
“
I caught his hand. “What do you want me to do?”
Leaning down, he kissed the pulse beating on my neck just above the damaged skin. “Tomorrow, I need you to die.
”
”
Priya Ardis (My Merlin Awakening (My Merlin, #2))
“
Dinosaurs are extinct today because they lacked opposable thumbs and the brainpower to build a space program.
”
”
Neil deGrasse Tyson (The Sky Is Not the Limit: Adventures of an Urban Astrophysicist)
“
Estene aleera hesaad de viren aneda." And now, you are forever mine.
”
”
Ilona Andrews (Magic Bites (Kate Daniels, #1))
“
Politeness is the first thing people lose once they get the power.
”
”
Amit Kalantri (Wealth of Words)
“
Let the spirits guide you, but never let them take you.
”
”
E.J. Stevens (Spirit Storm (Spirit Guide, #2))
“
Are you getting hysterical?” Ty asked eagerly. “Can I smack you?
”
”
Madeleine Urban (Cut & Run (Cut & Run, #1))
“
Why did you wear heels? How are you supposed to fight a gargoyle in what you're wearing?
”
”
Priya Ardis (My Boyfriend Merlin (My Merlin, #1))
“
There are eyes everywhere. No blind spot left. What shall we dream of when everything becomes visible? We'll dream of being blind.
”
”
Paul Virilio
“
I've heard of a guy in Chicago who advertises in the phone book under "Wizard",though that's probably a urban legend.
”
”
Benedict Jacka (Fated (Alex Verus, #1))
“
Turn your pain into purpose.
”
”
Nelou Keramati
“
I have always, essentially, been waiting. Waiting to become something else, waiting to be that person I always thought I was on the verge of becoming, waiting for that life I thought I would have. In my head, I was always one step away. In high school, I was biding my time until I could become the college version of myself, the one my mind could see so clearly. In college, the post-college “adult” person was always looming in front of me, smarter, stronger, more organized. Then the married person, then the person I’d become when we have kids. For twenty years, literally, I have waited to become the thin version of myself, because that’s when life will really begin.
And through all that waiting, here I am. My life is passing, day by day, and I am waiting for it to start. I am waiting for that time, that person, that event when my life will finally begin.
I love movies about “The Big Moment” – the game or the performance or the wedding day or the record deal, the stories that split time with that key event, and everything is reframed, before it and after it, because it has changed everything. I have always wanted this movie-worthy event, something that will change everything and grab me out of this waiting game into the whirlwind in front of me. I cry and cry at these movies, because I am still waiting for my own big moment. I had visions of life as an adventure, a thing to be celebrated and experienced, but all I was doing was going to work and coming home, and that wasn’t what it looked like in the movies.
John Lennon once said, “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” For me, life is what was happening while I was busy waiting for my big moment. I was ready for it and believed that the rest of my life would fade into the background, and that my big moment would carry me through life like a lifeboat.
The Big Moment, unfortunately, is an urban myth. Some people have them, in a sense, when they win the Heisman or become the next American Idol. But even that football player or that singer is living a life made up of more than that one moment. Life is a collection of a million, billion moments, tiny little moments and choices, like a handful of luminous, glowing pearl. It takes so much time, and so much work, and those beads and moments are so small, and so much less fabulous and dramatic than the movies.
But this is what I’m finding, in glimpses and flashes: this is it. This is it, in the best possible way. That thing I’m waiting for, that adventure, that move-score-worthy experience unfolding gracefully. This is it. Normal, daily life ticking by on our streets and sidewalks, in our houses and apartments, in our beds and at our dinner tables, in our dreams and prayers and fights and secrets – this pedestrian life is the most precious thing any of use will ever experience.
”
”
Shauna Niequist (Cold Tangerines: Celebrating the Extraordinary Nature of Everyday Life)
“
I’d learned a long time ago that you can’t prove a negative. You can prove that you did something, but it’s the devil to prove you didn’t do something.
”
”
Laurell K. Hamilton (Bullet (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #19))
“
Before she knew it, Remy found herself daydreaming about Logan holding her tight against his lean, muscular body.
”
”
Hope Worthington (Shifting Moon: Shifting Moon Saga, Book 1)
“
You’re easily distracted, aren’t you?” Ty deadpanned.
“Not really,” Zane said smoothly, dragging one hand down Ty’s
chest. “I’m still focused on you.
”
”
Madeleine Urban (Cut & Run (Cut & Run, #1))
“
[...]Are both of you...?"
"Manscaped?" Dante smiled. "I'm fucking Italian; I been mowing my lawn since I was thirteen.
”
”
Damon Suede (Hot Head (Head, #1))
“
You are such a tease, Remy—you just love to lead every guy on. Don’t you? But you’re the one who’s going to get hurt. Logan is a player. Trust me, I know him and his kind.
”
”
Hope Worthington (Shifting Moon: Shifting Moon Saga, Book 1)
“
Gracie: You have an unusual house. Have you lived here long?
Bobby Tom: A couple of years. I don't much like it myself, but the architect is real proud of it. She calls it urban Stone Age with a Japanese Tahitian influence. I sort of just call it ugly.
”
”
Susan Elizabeth Phillips (Heaven, Texas (Chicago Stars, #2))
“
By staging our dreams and spreading our wings into real-life, sheltered from the terror of failure, we can enhance our quest for the benchmarks that can help us build the steppingstones into the expectations of the future. ("Loss of urban benchmarks" )
”
”
Erik Pevernagie
“
He’d used the amulet to read my thoughts again.
I pictured smacking him in the face.
”
”
Priya Ardis (Ever My Merlin (My Merlin, #3))
“
Marines either know how to use an iron or they get married [...]. The iron is less dangerous.
”
”
Madeleine Urban (Divide & Conquer (Cut & Run, #4))
“
Life without madness is mediocrity.
”
”
Nelou Keramati
“
Zane’s good hand flashed out and smacked Ty upside the back of the
head.
“Ow! What the hell?” Ty cried as he rubbed his head and huffed.
“You’re lucky I repress the Instakill for you,” he muttered.
”
”
Madeleine Urban (Cut & Run (Cut & Run, #1))
“
Well, can you tell her that?"
He looked down at his feet. "I will. I will."
Guy-speak for, "I plan to keep avoiding her until she gives up.
”
”
Priya Ardis (My Merlin Awakening (My Merlin, #2))
“
I never arrive unannounced without something big and juicy in hand.
- Simon Hunt
”
”
Dannika Dark (Sterling (Mageri, #1; Mageriverse #1))
“
The photographer is an armed version of the solitary walker reconnoitering, stalking, cruising the urban inferno, the voyeuristic stroller who discovers the city as a landscape of voluptuous extremes. Adept of the joys of watching, connoisseur of empathy, the flâneur finds the world 'picturesque.
”
”
Susan Sontag (On Photography)
“
Zane didn’t reply immediately. After a short pause he spoke quietly.
“I’ll warn you, I’m going to be grouchy as my back really starts hurting.”
“And I’ll be on the lookout for that major change of attitude,” Ty
responded sarcastically.
”
”
Madeleine Urban (Cut & Run (Cut & Run, #1))
“
Sometimes, Gansey forgot how much he liked school and how good he was at it. But he couldn't forget it on mornings like this one—fall fog rising out of the fields and lifting in front of the mountains, the Pig running cool and loud, Ronan climbing out of the passenger seat and knocking knuckles on the roof with teeth flashing, dewy grass misting the black toes of his shoes, bag slung over his blazer, narrow-eyed Adam bumping fists as they met on the sidewalk, boys around them laughing and calling to one another, making space for the three of them because this had been a thing for so long: Gansey-Lynch-Parrish.
”
”
Maggie Stiefvater (Blue Lily, Lily Blue (The Raven Cycle, #3))
“
If you leave a door half open, soon you’ll hear the whispers spoken.
If you play outside alone, soon you won’t be going home.
If your window’s left unlatched, you’ll hear him tapping at the glass.
If you’re lonely, sad, and blue, the Whisper Man will come for you.
”
”
Alex North (The Whisper Man)
“
I mean to say, really, I am near to developing a neurosis - is there anyone around who doesn't want to study or kill me?"
Floote raised a tentative hand.
"Ah, yes, thank you, Floote."
"There is also Mrs Tunstell, madam," he offered hopefully, is if Ivy were some kind of consolation prize.
"I notice you don't mention my fair-weather husband."
"I suspect, at this moment, madam, he probably wants to kill you."
Alexia couldn't help smiling. "Good point.
”
”
Gail Carriger (Blameless (Parasol Protectorate, #3))
“
Nin knew how much humans loved money, riches, and material things—though he never really could understand why. The more technologically advanced the human species got, the more isolated they seemed to become, at the same time. It was alarming, how humans could spend entire lifetimes engaged in all kinds of activities, without getting any closer to knowing who they really were, inside.
”
”
Jess C. Scott (The Other Side of Life)
“
Rather than loitering around, day by day, some prefer to crawl out of the shadow of their squirrel cage and try badly to cuddle up to a brighter side of life by searching out some wiggle room to empower their feeble stance, expecting to eke out some soothing moments of relish and buoyancy in the wings of their expectant quest. ( "Loss of urban benchmarks" )
”
”
Erik Pevernagie
“
So, is there hope for a truly democratic Africa? Long answer: Only if continent-wide improvements in education, human rights and public health are coupled with an aggressive and far-sighted debt-relief program that breaks the cycle of subsistence farming and urban squalor. Short answer: No.
”
”
Jon Stewart (America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction)
“
We are all susceptible to the pull of viral ideas. Like mass hysteria. Or a tune that gets into your head that you keep humming all day until you spread it to someone else. Jokes. Urban legends. Crackpot religions. Marxism. No matter how smart we get, there is always this deep irrational part that makes us potential hosts for self-replicating information.
”
”
Neal Stephenson (Snow Crash)
“
Look, this is all very, very weird. Why are you focusing on rumours and urban legends? You haven’t even asked me any
normal questions.”
“Normal questions? Like what?”
“Like, I don’t know, like if Lynch had any enemies.”
“Did Lynch have any enemies?”
“Well, not that I know of, no.”
“Then there really was no point in me asking that, was there? Unless you wanted to distract me. You didn’t want to distract me, did you, Kenny?”
“No, that’s not—”
“Are you playing a game with me, Kenny?”
“I don’t know what you’re—”
Inspector Me leaned forward. “Did you kill him?”
“No!”
“It’d be OK if you did.”
Kenny recoiled, horrified. “How would that be OK?”
“Well,” Me said, “maybe not
”
”
Derek Landy (Death Bringer (Skulduggery Pleasant, #6))
“
One of my professors once told me that the last official act of the British monarchy was when Queen Victoria refused to sign a law that made same-sex acts illegal. It would have made me think more highly of her, except the reason she objected was because she didn’t believe women would do anything like that. Parliament rewrote the law so it was specific to men, and she signed it. A tribute to enlightenment, Queen Victoria was not. Neither, as I have observed before, are werewolf packs.
”
”
Patricia Briggs (Moon Called (Mercy Thompson, #1))
“
Christians. They’re determined to rid the land of any who worship the Horned One. Murdering all the druids, burning the temples, sometimes whole villages, and knocking over the standing stones.”
The Lady’s face hardened. “This god of peace and love certainly likes to bathe the land in blood.
”
”
Brom (The Child Thief)
“
Very well." He sat cross-legged on the floor of the cage. "You haven't run off so you want to talk. I will hear your explanation now."
"Really, Your Majesty? So good of you to condescend. I'll try to use small words and go slow."
"You're wasting my time. I know Jim betrayed me and you're covering for him. This is your chance to dazzle me wih your brillance or baffle me with your bullshit. You won't get another. When I get out, I won't be in the mood to listen.
”
”
Ilona Andrews (Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels, #3))
“
Rolling his eyes, Zane got on the elevator once the door opened.
“You know, at first I was insulted by the way you treat me. Then I realized
it’s not personal; you treat everyone like shit. I find it doesn’t bother me all
too much anymore,” he said.
“Usually I only don’t bother people I want to see naked,” Ty told him
seriously as the elevator rose. “So stop it. You’re freaking me out.
”
”
Madeleine Urban (Cut & Run (Cut & Run, #1))
“
You also would love to hang out with Logan. And don’t even try to deny, you think Logan is super-hot. I know you. You like him, and he likes you. He was insanely worried about you last night. He’s either head over heels for you or he’s your guardian angel. He was insanely worried about you last night. If I didn’t know you had just met, I would swear he was in love with you.” Meredith said in an excited tone.
”
”
Hope Worthington (Shifting Moon: Shifting Moon Saga, Book 1)
“
What, you didn’t pack your lunch?” Ty asked sarcastically as he
shifted around in the seat and wedged himself against the door. He kicked a
foot up and propped it on the console between the two front seats.
“Sure, in my SpongeBob SquarePants lunch box. I have the thermos,
too,” Morrison shot right back.
Zane kept his mouth shut, eyes moving between the two men, and
occasionally back to the driver, who was casually paying attention.
Ty stared at the kid and narrowed his eyes further. “Spongewhat?” he
asked flatly.
Zane didn’t even try to hold back the chuckle when Morrison looked
at Ty like he’d lost his mind.
“Spongewha … you’re yanking my chain, aren’t you?” Morrison
said. “Henny, he’s yanking my chain.”
“Yeah, well, that’s what you getting for waving it in his face,” the
driver answered reasonably.
“What the hell is a SpongeBob?” Ty asked Zane quietly in the
backseat.
”
”
Madeleine Urban (Cut & Run (Cut & Run, #1))
“
Are You Ready for New Urban Fragrances?
Yeah, I guess I'm ready, but listen:
Perfume is a disguise. Since the middle ages, we have worn masks of fruit and flowers in order to conceal from ourselves the meaty essence of our humanity. We appreciate the sexual attractant of the rose, the ripeness of the orange, more than we honor our own ripe carnality.
Now today we want to perfume our cities, as well; to replace their stinging fumes of disturbed fossils' sleep with the scent of gardens and orchards. Yet, humans are not bees any more than they are blossoms. If we must pull an olfactory hood over our urban environment, let it be of a different nature.
I want to travel on a train that smells like snowflakes.
I want to sip in cafes that smell like comets.
Under the pressure of my step, I want the streets to emit the precise odor of a diamond necklace.
I want the newspapers I read to smell like the violins left in pawnshops by weeping hobos on Christmas Eve.
I want to carry luggage that reeks of the neurons in Einstein's brain.
I want a city's gases to smell like the golden belly hairs of the gods.
And when I gaze at a televised picture of the moon, I want to detect, from a distance of 239,000 miles, the aroma of fresh mozzarella.
”
”
Tom Robbins (Wild Ducks Flying Backward)
“
She doesn’t need the pack. She doesn’t need me.”
I shot to my feet. “That’s not true,” I said hotly.
He tilted his head a little, his eyes meeting mine. His eyes softened. “I misspoke,” he said in a steady voice. “She doesn’t need me to make sure she has enough food or a place to live-that is my privilege, but she doesn’t need me to do that. She doesn’t need me to keep her safe or to make her a whole person. She doesn’t need me to do anything except love her. Which I do.
”
”
Patricia Briggs (Fire Touched (Mercy Thompson, #9))
“
When people dis fantasy—mainstream readers and SF readers alike—they are almost always talking about one sub-genre of fantastic literature. They are talking about Tolkien, and Tolkien's innumerable heirs. Call it 'epic', or 'high', or 'genre' fantasy, this is what fantasy has come to mean. Which is misleading as well as unfortunate.
Tolkien is the wen on the arse of fantasy literature. His oeuvre is massive and contagious—you can't ignore it, so don't even try. The best you can do is consciously try to lance the boil. And there's a lot to dislike—his cod-Wagnerian pomposity, his boys-own-adventure glorying in war, his small-minded and reactionary love for hierarchical status-quos, his belief in absolute morality that blurs moral and political complexity. Tolkien's clichés—elves 'n' dwarfs 'n' magic rings—have spread like viruses. He wrote that the function of fantasy was 'consolation', thereby making it an article of policy that a fantasy writer should mollycoddle the reader.
That is a revolting idea, and one, thankfully, that plenty of fantasists have ignored. From the Surrealists through the pulps—via Mervyn Peake and Mikhael Bulgakov and Stefan Grabiński and Bruno Schulz and Michael Moorcock and M. John Harrison and I could go on—the best writers have used the fantastic aesthetic precisely to challenge, to alienate, to subvert and undermine expectations.
Of course I'm not saying that any fan of Tolkien is no friend of mine—that would cut my social circle considerably. Nor would I claim that it's impossible to write a good fantasy book with elves and dwarfs in it—Michael Swanwick's superb
Iron Dragon's Daughter
gives the lie to that. But given that the pleasure of fantasy is supposed to be in its limitless creativity, why not try to come up with some different themes, as well as unconventional monsters? Why not use fantasy to challenge social and aesthetic lies?
Thankfully, the alternative tradition of fantasy has never died. And it's getting stronger. Chris Wooding, Michael Swanwick, Mary Gentle, Paul di Filippo, Jeff VanderMeer, and many others, are all producing works based on fantasy's radicalism. Where traditional fantasy has been rural and bucolic, this is often urban, and frequently brutal. Characters are more than cardboard cutouts, and they're not defined by race or sex. Things are gritty and tricky, just as in real life. This is fantasy not as comfort-food, but as challenge.
The critic Gabe Chouinard has said that we're entering a new period, a renaissance in the creative radicalism of fantasy that hasn't been seen since the New Wave of the sixties and seventies, and in echo of which he has christened the Next Wave. I don't know if he's right, but I'm excited. This is a radical literature. It's the literature we most deserve.
”
”
China Miéville
“
Today is such a time, when the project of interpretation is largely reactionary, stifling. Like the fumes of the automobile and of heavy industry which befoul the urban atmosphere, the effusion of interpretations of art today poisons our sensibilities. In a culture whose already classical dilemma is the hypertrophy of the intellect at the expense of energy and sensual capability, interpretation is the revenge of the intellect upon art.
Even more. It is the revenge of the intellect upon the world. To interpret is to impoverish, to deplete the world - in order to set up a shadow world of 'meanings.' It is to turn the world into this world. ('This world'! As if there were any other.)
The world, our world, is depleted, impoverished enough. Away with all duplicates of it, until we again experience more immediately what we have.
”
”
Susan Sontag (Against Interpretation and Other Essays)
“
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.
”
”
Taylor Swift
“
Always choose to be smart
There are two types of people in the world,
the seekers of riches and the wise thinkers,
those who believe that the important thing is money,
and those who know that knowledge is the true treasure.
I, for my part, choose the second option,
Though I could have everything I want
I prefer to be an intelligent person,
and never live in a game of vain appearances.
Knowledge can take you far
far beyond what you imagine,
It can open doors and opportunities for you.
and make you see the world with different eyes.
But in this eagerness to be "wise",
There is a task that is a great challenge.
It is facing the fear of the unknown,
and see the horrors around every corner.
It's easy to be brave when you're sure,
away from dangers and imminent risks,
but when death threatens you close,
"wisdom" is not enough to protect you.
Because, even if you are smart and cunning,
death sometimes comes without mercy,
lurking in the darkest shadows,
and there is no way to escape.
That is why the Greek philosophers,
They told us about the moment I died,
an idea we should still take,
to understand that death is a reality.
Wealth can't save you
of the inevitable arrival of the end,
and just as a hoarder loses his treasures,
we also lose what we have gained.
So, if we have to choose between two things,
that is between being cunning or rich,
Always choose the second option
because while the money disappears,
wisdom helps us face dangers.
Do not fear death, my friend,
but embrace your intelligence,
learn all you can in this life,
and maybe you can beat time and death
for that simple reason always choose to be smart.
Maybe death is inevitable
But that doesn't mean you should be afraid
because intelligence and knowledge
They will help you face any situation and know what to do.
No matter what fate has in store,
wisdom will always be your best ally,
to live a life full of satisfaction,
and bravely face any situation.
So don't settle for what you have
and always look for ways to learn more,
because in the end, true wealth
It is not in material goods, but in knowledge.
Always choose to be smart,
Well, that will be the best investment.
that will lead you on the right path,
and it will make you a better version of yourself.
”
”
Marcos Orowitz (THE MAELSTROM OF EMOTIONS: A selection of poems and thoughts About us humans and their nature)