Vernon Quotes

We've searched our database for all the quotes and captions related to Vernon. Here they are! All 100 of them:

Do I look stupid?" snarled Uncle Vernon, a bit of fried egg dangling from his bushy mustache.
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2))
What's that?" he snarled, staring at the envelope Harry was still clutching in his hand. "If it's another form for me to sign, you've got another -" "It's not," said Harry cheerfully. "It's a letter from my godfather." "Godfather?" sputtered Uncle Vernon. "You haven't got a godfather!" "Yes, I have," said Harry brightly. "He was my mum and dad's best friend. He's a convicted murderer, but he's broken out of wizard prison and he's on the run. He likes to keep in touch with me, though...keep up with my news...check if I'm happy....
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3))
They heard the click of the mail slot and flop of letters on the doormat. "Get the mail, Dudley," said Uncle Vernon from behind his paper. "Make Harry get it." "Get the mail, Harry." "Make Dudley get it." "Poke him with your Smelting stick, Dudley.
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter, #1))
Uncle Vernon: What were you doing under our window, boy? Harry Potter: Listening to the news. Uncle Vernon: Listening to the news! Again? Harry: Well, it changes every day, you see.
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, #5))
Oh, these people's minds work in strange ways, Petunia, they're not like you and me," said Uncle Vernon, trying to knock in a nail with the piece of fruitcake Aunt Petunia had just brought him.
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter, #1))
And do I look like the kind of man that can be intimidated?" barked Uncle Vernon. "Well..." said Moody, pushing back his bowler hat to reveal his sinisterly revolving eye. Uncle Vernon lept backward in horror and collided painfully with a luggage trolley. "Yes, I'd have to say you do, Dursley.
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, #5))
I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!" yelled Uncle Vernon. But he had finally gone too far. Hagrid seized his umbrella and whirled it over his head. ‘NEVER –’ he thundered, ‘– INSULT – ALBUS – DUMBLEDORE – IN – FRONT – OF – ME!
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter, #1))
I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying." Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beet with a mustache: "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!" Dudley and Piers sniggered. "I know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream.
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter, #1))
You have succeeded in life when all you really WANT is only what you really NEED.
Vernon Howard
This is the story of how I never stopped running. This is the story of how, when the wolves knocked, I met them at the door and I became the beast, instead.
Ashe Vernon (Belly of the Beast)
You are a language I am no longer fluent in but still remember how to read.
Ashe Vernon (Wrong Side of a Fistfight)
A truly strong person does not need the approval of others any more than a lion needs the approval of sheep.
Vernon Howard
But...surely you know where your nephew is going?' she asked, looking bewildered. 'Certainly we know,' said Vernon Dursley. 'He's off with some of your lot, isn't he? Right, Dudley, let's get in the car, you heard the man, we're in a hurry.' Again, Vernon Dursley marched as far as the front door, but Dudley did not follow. 'Off with some of our lot?' Hestia looked outraged. Harry had met the attitude before: witches and wizards seemed stunned that his closest living family took so little interest in the famous Harry Potter. 'It's fine,' Harry assured her. 'It doesn't matter, honestly.' 'Doesn't matter?' repeated Hestia, her voice rising ominously. 'Don't these people realise what you've been through? What danger you are in? The unique position you hold in the hearts of the anti-Voldemort movement? 'Er - no, they don't,' said Harry. 'They think I'm a waste of space, actually, but I'm used to -' 'I don't think you're a waste of space.' If Harry had not seen Dudley's lips move, he might not have believed it.
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7))
You mustn’t blame yourself for the way the boy’s turned out, Vernon. If there’s something rotten on the inside, there’s nothing anyone can do about it.
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3))
The problem with learning the truth about things is that you lose the confidence that comes from being dumb.
D.B.C. Pierre (Vernon God Little)
I'm falling in love with you." As the words left his mouth, his lips pressed to mine, giving me the most intense and explosive kiss I had ever had. With the coldness of his lips and the warmth of his tongue beneath mine I saw fireworks and felt them through every part of my body.
Magan Vernon (How to Date an Alien (My Alien Romance, #1))
Emma is not a person; Emma is a place that you get stuck in; Emma is a pain that you cannot erase.
Justin Vernon
Inner guidance is heard like soft music in the night by those who have learned to listen.
Vernon Howard
There are poets who sing you to sleep and poets who ready you for war and I want to be both.
Ashe Vernon
He [Uncle Vernon] held up the envelope in which Mrs. Weasley’s letter had come, and Harry had to fight down a laugh. Every bit of it was covered in stamps except for a square inch on the front, into which Mrs. Weasley had squeezed the Dursleys’ address in minute writing. “She did put enough stamps on, then,” said Harry, trying to sound as though Mrs. Weasley’s was a mistake anyone could make.
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4))
When the light at Vernon turned green, we stepped into the street and George grabbed my hand and the ghosts of our younger selves crossed with us.
Aimee Bender (The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake)
Dumbledore raised his finger for silence, a silence which fell as though he had struck Uncle Vernon dumb.
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6))
Excuses are tools of incompetence used to build bridges to nowhere and monuments of nothingness, and those who use them seldom specialize in anything else.
Vernon Brundage Jr. (Shoot Your Shot: A Sport-Inspired Guide To Living Your Best Life)
The fridge had been emptied of all Dudley’s favorite things — fizzy drinks and cakes, chocolate bars and burgers — and filled instead with fruit and vegetables and the sorts of things that Uncle Vernon called “rabbit food.
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4))
Never underestimate the power of a good cup of coffee.
Ursula Vernon
That evening, Dudley paraded around the living room for the family in his brand new uniform...As he looked at Dudley in his new knickerbockers, Uncle Vernon said gruffly that if was the proudest moment of his life. Aunt Petunia burst into tears and said she couldn't believe it was her Ickle Dudleykins, he looked so handsome and grown-up. Harry didn't trust himself to speak. He thought two of his ribs might already have cracked from trying not to laugh.
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter, #1))
They run off eckeltricity, do they?" he said knowledgeably. "Ah yes, I can see the plugs. I collect plugs," he added to Uncle Vernon. "And batteries. Got a large collection of batteries.
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4))
By cultivating the beautiful we scatter the seeds of heavenly flowers, as by doing good we cultivate those that belong to humanity.
Vernon Howard
Dudley had been accepted at Uncle Vernon's old private school, Smeltings...Harry, on the other hand, was going to Stonewall High, the local public high school. Dudley thought this was very funny. "They stuff people's heads down the toilet the first day at Stonewall," he told Harry. "Want to come upstairs and practice?" "No, thanks," said Harry. "The poor toilet's never had anything as horrible as your head down it - it might be sick." Then he ran, before Dudley could work out what he'd said.
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter, #1))
Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter, #1))
I am a cathedral of almost-lovers
Ashe Vernon
Always walk through life as if you have something new to learn, and you will.
Vernon Howard
You can't give a Dementor the old one-two!
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, #5))
Okay. Morality in a nutshell. Don't hurt people if you can avoid it. Don't steal stuff unless you're starving or it's really, really important. Work hard. Pay your bills. Try to help others. Always double-check your math if there are explosives involved. If you screwed it up, you need to see it gets fixed. And don't eat anything that talks. If it doesn't fall under one of those categories, just do the best you can.
Ursula Vernon (Digger, Volume One (Digger, #1))
I have buried you in every place I’ve been. You keep ending up in my shaking hands.
Justin Vernon
Do not be impatient with your seemingly slow progress. Do not try to run faster than you presently can. If you are studying, reflecting and trying, you are making progress whether you are aware of it or not. A traveler walking the road in the darkness of night is still going forward. Someday, some way, everything will break open, like the natural unfolding of a rosebud.
Vernon Howard
Dumbledore paused, and although his voice remained light and calm, and he gave no obvious sign of anger, Harry felt a kind of chill emanating from him and noticed that the Dursleys drew very slightly closer together. “You did not do as I asked. You have never treated Harry as a son. He has known nothing but neglect and often cruelty at your hands. The best that can be said is that he has at least escaped the appalling damage you have inflicted upon the unfortunate boy sitting between you.
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6))
I sense a learning: that much dumber people than you end up in charge.
D.B.C. Pierre (Vernon God Little)
What they don’t tell you about standing up for what you believe in is that your feet will bruise and your legs will ache.
Ashe Vernon
I am carving myself into a shape that no one will recognize because it is better being the marble than the monster.
Ashe Vernon (Wrong Side of a Fistfight)
When told that man lives in delusion everyone thinks of himself as the exception; hence his delusion.
Vernon Howard
And that unconscious ease that comes of being so young — still oblivious to the blows that will destroy parts of her. Past the age of forty, everyone is like a bombed-out city.
Virginie Despentes (Vernon Subutex 1 (Vernon Subutex, #1))
Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards.
Vernon Sanders Law
Trouble is, I love better at a distance...
Ashe Vernon
don’t you dare, for one minute, believe that my kindness makes me anything but insurmountable. i did not unzip my chest to every kind of hurt, and stagger back, wounded and alive, just to hear you call me weak for trying. i opened my door to heartache— i gave her the fucking key. my softness for wayward strangers has made me nothing less than a halfway house for aching soles. so when you open your mouth and call me ‘baby’ understand that i am not your next victim in a laundry list of broken girls. you think i don’t know you? people like you? people with mouths for hands. i’ve got skin like topsoil and your teeth could never take root. so when you go looking to make a plaything of a sunburst, you better look for someone with less fire than me. because softness or no, i will eat you alive before i let you make a meal of me.
Ashe Vernon
This is God’s universe, and God does things his way. You may have a better way, but you don’t have a universe.
Vernon McGee
Well, honey, it is the south. These debutantes know how to verbally kick anyone’s ass. They learned it from their mamas in the womb.
Magan Vernon (On Paper Wings (My Paper Heart #2))
Just be honest with yourself. That opens the door.
Vernon Howard
The council meeting was soon over, and Manon paused as she walked past Vernon on her way out. She put a hand on his shoulder, her nails digging into his skin, and he yelped as she brought her iron teeth close to his ear. "Just because she is dead, Lord, do not think I will forget what you tried to do to her." Vernon paled. "You can't touch me." Manon dug her nails in deeper. "No, I can't," she purred into his ear. "But Aelin Galathynius is alive. And I hear that she has a score to settle." She yanked out her nails and squeezed his shoulder, setting the blood running down Vernon's green tonic before she stalked from the room.
Sarah J. Maas (Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass, #4))
When it comes to giving, some people stop at nothing.
Vernon McLellan
And running away doesn’t make a fucking difference because I follow me wherever I go.
P.J. Vernon (Bath Haus)
This is a story of survival. It is your story, even when you feel like that word does not belong to you.
Ashe Vernon (Wrong Side of a Fistfight)
Uncle Vernon made another funny noise, like a mouse being trodden on.
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter, #1))
He hurried to car and set off home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination.
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter, #1))
Are you threatening me, sir?” he said, so loudly that passersby actually turned to stare. “Yes, I am,” said Mad-Eye, who seemed rather pleased that Uncle Vernon had grasped this fact so quickly. “And do I look like the kind of man who can be intimidated?” barked Uncle Vernon. “Well...” said Moody, pushing back his bowler hat to reveal his sinisterly revolving magical eye. Uncle Vernon leapt backward in horror and collided painfully with a luggage trolley. “Yes, I’d have to say you do, Dursley.
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, #5))
God knows I tried my best to learn the ways of this world, even had inklings we could be glorious; but after all that's happened, the inkles ain't easy anymore. I mean - what kind of fucken life is this?
D.B.C. Pierre (Vernon God Little)
But who buries the hatchet and who buries the bodies? And who says they’re not the same thing these days?
Ashe Vernon (Wrong Side of a Fistfight)
Socks are Dobby’s favorite, favorite clothes, sir!” he said, ripping off his odd ones and pulling on Uncle Vernon’s. “I has seven now, sir. . . . But sir . . .” he said, his eyes widening, having pulled both socks up to their highest extent, so that they reached to the bottom of his shorts, “they has made a mistake in the shop, Harry Potter, they is giving you two the same!
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4))
Baby, where we're going, you won't need a shirt.
Vernon D. Burns (Gods of the Jungle Planet)
What they don’t tell you about the illusion is that I am as much lion as I am lion tamer. And I got good at inflicting pain the same way I got good at soothing it. This, we call unfortunate, but inevitable.
Ashe Vernon (Belly of the Beast)
Uncle Vernon rounded on Harry. “And you?” “I’ll be in my bedroom, making no noise and pretending I’m not there,” said Harry tonelessly. “Exactly,” said Uncle Vernon nastily. At eight-fifteen—” “I’ll announce dinner,” said Aunt Petunia. “And, Dudley, you’ll say —” “May I take you through to the dining room, Mrs. Mason?” said Dudley. “And you?” said Uncle Vernon viciously to Harry. “I’ll be in my room, making no noise and pretending I’m not there,” said Harry dully. “Precisely. Now, we should aim to get in a few good compliments at dinner. “How about — ‘We had to write an essay about our hero at school, Mr. Mason, and I wrote about you.’” This was too much for both Aunt Petunia and Harry. Aunt Petunia burst into tears while Harry ducked under the table so they wouldn’t see him laughing. “And you, boy?” Harry fought to keep his face straight as he emerged. “I’ll be in my room, making no noise and pretending I’m not there,” he said.
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2))
We are exactly where we have chosen to be.
Vernon Howard
Ministry of magic?' bellowed Uncle Vernon. 'People like you in government? Oh this explains everything, everything, no wonder the country's going to the dogs...
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, #5))
For now, I'll let you plead temporary amnesia," he said and lifted my chin to him. "But I'm never going to forget what it felt like when you were biting my lip instead of your own.
Magan Vernon (The Only Exception (Only, #1))
I love boats. Boats are great. You can get all kinds of places and meet all kinds of interesting people, and you never know if they're going to try to eat you or worship you.
Ursula Vernon (Nurk: The Strange, Surprising Adventures of a (Somewhat) Brave Shrew)
Okay. There it is. I dressed up. As an owl. And fought crime. Perhaps you begin to see why I half expect this summary of my career to raise more laughs than poor cuckolded Moe Vernon with his foam teats and his Wagner could ever hoped to have done.
Alan Moore (Watchmen)
She stretched out her hand, saying, “Vernon! My dear, what a delightful surprise!” “What’s surprising about it?” he enquired, lifting his black brows. “Didn’t you ask me to come?” The smile remained pinned to Lady Buxted’s lips, but she replied with more than a touch of acidity: “To be sure I did, but so many days ago that I supposed you had gone out of town!” “Oh, no!” he said, returning her smile with one of great sweetness.
Georgette Heyer (Frederica)
I was a wolf, and they dressed me in sheepskin
Ashe Vernon (Wrong Side of a Fistfight)
First, quit picking old wounds and going for walks in the aches and pains you already made it through - you call it healing, but it sounds like a good way to take a haunting home with you.
Ashe Vernon (Wrong Side of a Fistfight)
Isn't all that rage so ugly? And isn't it mine, still? Good God, isn't it mine?
Ashe Vernon (Not a Girl)
Trolls have a longstanding animosity for goats--"Who's that trip-tapping across my bridge!?"--and this led me to think that perhaps trolls are related to goats, since it seems a lot more plausible to me that your relatives would make you insane than some random hooved mammal, however ecologically destructive it might be. What if trolls evolved from goats? Or, no, better yet, what if goats evolved from trolls? Or were domesticated from trolls by human shepherds? And the trolls despise their domesticated cousins as a disgrace to the once-proud troll race, (much as I assume wolves would despise Chihuahuas if they ever gave them much thought) and eat them at every opportunity.
Ursula Vernon
It is a mistake for anyone to think he has lived too long in his old, unsatisfactory ways to make the great change. If you switch on the light in a dark room, it makes no difference how long it was dark because the light will still shine. Be teachable. That is the whole secret.
Vernon Howard
Listen, in a few hours our little world will turn herself right-side-up-again, and you will forget about all the ways this lonely night sang you watered-down blues and your hands will start to make sense again. You think you've seen every ugly corner of this whole rotten world, but listen: There is an infinite number of things we don't know and, statistically speaking, at least half of them are probably very, very, beautiful.
Ashe Vernon (Wrong Side of a Fistfight)
A clear understanding of negative emotions dismisses them.
Vernon Howard
The terrible immoralities are the cunning ones hiding behind masks of morality, such as exploiting people while pretending to help them.
Vernon Howard
Does your blood run blue or red? You decide. If it runs blue, it turns out I have jurisdiction over you. Little shits like Vernon can’t do as they will to my kind–not without my permission. If your blood runs red … Well, I don’t particularly care about humans, and seeing what Vernon does with you might be entertaining.” “Why would you offer this?” Manon gave her a half smile, all iron teeth and no remorse. “Because I can.
Sarah J. Maas
Your ribcage never meant to hurt you. Your windpipe doesn’t know how to be pretty, but she knows how to howl— and here, I’d like to take a moment to submit a formal apology to my soft parts because they kept me warm when I was trying to freeze to death, and I hated them for it. An apology for a starvation that went deeper than my skin. One for the strongest skeleton I will ever own and how I kept using the word girl against it. Or how I turned words like beautiful into shapes I could contort myself into. I didn’t mean to compare myself to faces I can’t have. Or spend years trying to carve myself, like Michelangelo’s angels, from the marble— forgetting what it is to be skin instead of stone. I let myself be afraid. I was taught to be. When you learn you are only as good as your beauty routine, you forget how to define yourself by anything else.
Ashe Vernon (Wrong Side of a Fistfight)
Dragons have been known to have staring contests with mountains. They usually win.
Ursula Vernon (Castle Hangnail)
Once upon a time, there was a little creature that was rather small and rather wicked and it lived all alone in the woods. The little creature lived in a little den, at the bottom of a little ravine, filled with not-at-all little brambles and on the edge of a forest that could only be described as really freakin' huge.
Ursula Vernon
It’s always been you and me, Red. Even before we were us. You’ve always had the control in this relationship. Some things may distract us, but I’ll always come back to you
Magan Vernon (The Only One (Only, #3))
She said Mom closed up the house one day, turned the oven on full, and sat by its open door. Apparently it's still a Cry For Help, even though our oven's electric.
D.B.C. Pierre
To whoever loves me next, I’m sorry if I’m afraid of you or if days of flirting turn to radio silence, without warning. I’m sorry if I make you say the words over and over and over until I believe them. (I’m sorry if I don’t believe them.) I will probably spend more time worrying about losing you than I spend trying to keep you. Trouble is, every single time I’ve ever thought something was too good to be true– I’ve been right. Understand, I will know how to be vulnerable with you, but I won’t know how not to regret it. And I have no idea how deep we’ll be into this relationship before I admit I’ve never done this before. Not really. Not in any way that counts. Before I admit that I know how to put my body inside someone else’s but not how to make it beautiful. I probably won’t be easy to love. Too many people loved me badly, I’m not sure I know how to do it right.
Ashe Vernon
Maybe you should just take it off up in my room and I can help you get dry.” He leaned in, his full lips right on my ear. “Or make you wetter.
Magan Vernon (The Only One (Only, #3))
Self-knowledge is the great power by which we comprehend and control our lives
Vernon Howard
Get what you get honestly. Use what you get frugally. That’s the way to live comfortably And die honorably.
Mary Higgins Clark (Mount Vernon Love Story: A Novel of George and Martha Washington)
If God has saved you, He has saved you by faith--plus nothing. God is not accepting any kind of good works for salvation. But after you are saved, God talks to you about your works.
J. Vernon McGee (Thru the Bible: Genesis through Revelation (Thru the Bible 5 Volume Set))
Have you ever stopped to think in your own personal life why God permits certain people to cross your path? Do you wish that you had never met certain people? Are there people whom you would call your enemies? Someone may have caused you sorrow, but it is all for His purpose. God has permitted all that for a particular purpose. Learn to recognize the hand of God in your life.
J. Vernon McGee (Jeremiah and Lamentations)
When he says he doesn’t love you anymore, roll your shoulders back and look him in the eye even when it feels like your ribs are breaking inward; like spider legs. When he digs up old aches that he swore he forgave you for, smile and ask him why he didn’t leave you sooner. Ignore the way the words feel like sandpaper running all the way up your throat to your mouth. When he blames you for mistakes that wear his face, do not scream. Do not cry. Tell him that there are boys who would be proud to say they’d love you. Tell him that in two years you won’t even remember his name and don’t let him see the way you can taste your own lie. When he leaves, ignore the howling in your blood and do not get up after him. Not even to lock the door. Do not, do not, DO NOT. Smell his shirts when you box them up to give them back. Not one. Swear off dating when you realize you’re chasing ghosts that wear his smile. It’s okay to cry over him. It’s even okay to forgive him. But do not go back to him if he did not know how to love you the first time. He won’t know how to do it the next.
Ashe Vernon
I was by myself for a pretty long time. I needed to do that. I think everyone that I know has wanted to do that or needed to do that at some point. I think when you spend enough time when it’s quiet around you and you don’t open your mouth for three or four days, there’s parts of your brain that can kind of rest. I think when we’re out in the world and we have to talk to people, we edit ourselves. You know, we have to like, act a little bit. As honest as we may be as humans, when we’re out here, we’re all kind of wearing mirrors on our faces. You know, constantly reacting to how to react to the people around you. And I think when you’re alone for a long enough time, you can feel a lot more peace.
Justin Vernon
Is your mom afraid something will happen to you?” “I,” said Harriet, with absolute confidence, “am something that happens to OTHER people.
Ursula Vernon (Whiskerella (Hamster Princess, #5))
One of the medical profession's greatest boasts is that it eradicated smallpox through the use of the smallpox vaccine. I myself believed this claim for many years. But it simply isn't true!
Dr. Vernon Coleman
In my opinion, the greatest sin in the church of Jesus Christ in this generation is ignorance of the Word of God. Many times I have heard a church officer say, "Well I don't know much about the Bible, but..." and then he gives his opinion, which often actually contradicts the Word of God! Why doesn't he know much about the Bible? These things were written aforetime for our learning. God wants you to know His Word.
J. Vernon McGee (Romans 9-16)
But my mother is a fish. Vernon seen it. He was there. "Jewel's mother is a horse," Darl said. "Then mine can be a fish, can't it, Darl? I said. Jewel is my brother. "Then mine will have to be a horse, too," I said. "Why? Darl said. "If pa is your pa, why does your ma have to be a horse just because Jewel's is?" "Why does it? I said. "Why does it, Darl?" Darl is my brother. "Then what is your ma, Darl?" I said. "I haven't got ere one," Darl said. "Because If I had one, it is was. And if it is was, it can't be is. Can't it?" "No," I said. "Then I am not," Darl said. "Am I?" "No," I said. I am. Darl is my brother. "But you are, Darl," I said. "I know it," Darl said. "That's why I am not is. Are is too many for one woman to foal.
William Faulkner (As I Lay Dying)
THE WASHINGTON POST headline across page one in its editions of Wednesday, January 21, 1998, was shocking: “Clinton Accused of Urging Aide to Lie.” Bill had spent a tense night and early morning on the phone with Vernon Jordan, Bob Bennett, Bruce Lindsey, David Kendall, and Betty Currie, talking about the story and trying to keep his legal ducks aligned. Hillary said later he nudged her awake just after 7 A.M. and sat on the edge of their bed. “You’re not going to believe this,” she quoted him telling her, but there were “news reports” blanketing the Internet and airwaves as well, that he had had an affair with a young White House intern named Monica Lewinsky and had asked her to lie about it to Paula Jones’s lawyers.
Carl Bernstein (A Woman in Charge)
Over a quarter of a century ago she and Vernon had made a household for almost a year, in a tiny rooftop flat on the rue de Seine. There were always damp towels on the floor then, and cataracts of her underwear tumbling from drawers she never closed, a big ironing board that was never folded away, and in the one overfilled wardrobe dresses , crushed and shouldering sideways like commuters on the metro. Magazines, makeup, bank statements, bead necklaces, flowers, knickers, ashtrays, invitations, tampons, LPs, airplane tickets, high heeled shoes- not a single surface was left uncovered by something of Molly's, so that when Vernon was meant to be working at home, he took to writing in a cafe along the street. And yet each morning she arose fresh from the shell of this girly squalor, like a Botticelli Venus, to present herself, not naked, of course, but sleekly groomed, at the offices of Paris Vogue.
Ian McEwan (Amsterdam)
The river itself is not a hundred yards across, and pa and Vernon and Vardaman and Dewey Dell are the only things in sight not of that single monotony of desolation leaning with that terrific quality a little from right to left, as though we had reached the place where the motion of the wasted world accelerates just before the final precipice. Yet they appear dwarfed. It is as though the space between us were time: an irrevocable quality. It is as though time, no longer running straight before us in a diminishing line, now runs parallel between us like a looping string, the distance being the doubling accretion of the thread and not the interval between. The mules stand, their fore quarters already sloped a little, their rumps high. They too are breathing now with a deep groaning sound; looking back once, their gaze sweeps across us with in their eyes a wild, sad, profound and despairing quality as though they had already seen in the thick water the shape of the disaster which they could not speak and we could not see.
William Faulkner (As I Lay Dying)
The truth , when it arrives is always different from what we thought it would be..if we imagine that we already know the truth, that imaginations based on old and habitual ideas. But the truth is always something entirely new to the mind; so we cannot possibly imagine it. Just as we cannot know what a new day is like before we experience it, we cannot think accurately about a new truth until we first live it. As we dare to drop our conditioned opinions, we make room for the truth...
Vernon Howard
Towers’ is the name of the dormitory that I lived in in college; it’s made up of these two towers – North and South – my girlfriend lived in one and I lived in the other. It’s about falling in love, but also about what happens when you’ve long fallen out of love and those reminders are still there. You drive by them, these two buildings, and you look, and you realise that we really built that up. That we really built that love into these things, and for a long time afterward looking at them really made me feel sad; to see these empty buildings that I don’t go in to anymore. But then, as time goes on, they start to become kind of joyous in their own way: you can look at them and think ‘that love was great and these buildings still stand tall’. But there’s also an element of the fact that they’re just buildings – they’re gonna fall down one day, and they’re not that important because there’s new love in your life and you’ve got to break things down that get built up.
Justin Vernon
Harry took a deep, steadying breath and then said, “Okay, I can’t see the World Cup. Can I go now, then? Only I’ve got a letter to Sirius I want to finish. You know — my godfather.” He had done it. He had said the magic words. Now he watched the purple recede blotchily from Uncle Vernon’s face, making it look like badly mixed black currant ice cream. “You’re — you’re writing to him, are you?” said Uncle Vernon, in a would-be calm voice — but Harry had seen the pupils of his tiny eyes contract with sudden fear. “Well — yeah,” said Harry, casually. “It’s been a while since he heard from me, and, you know, if he doesn’t, he might start thinking something’s wrong.” He stopped there to enjoy the effect of these words. He could almost see the cogs working under Uncle Vernon’s thick, dark, neatly parted hair. If he tried to stop Harry writing to Sirius, Sirius would think Harry was being mistreated. If he told Harry he couldn’t go to the Quidditch World Cup, Harry would write and tell Sirius, who would know Harry was being mistreated. There was only one thing for Uncle Vernon to do. Harry could see the conclusion forming in his uncle’s mind as though the great mustached face were transparent. Harry tried not to smile, to keep his own face as blank as possible. And then — “Well, all right then. You can go to this ruddy … this stupid … this World Cup thing. You write and tell these — these Weasleys they’re to pick you up, mind. I haven’t got time to go dropping you off all over the country. And you can spend the rest of the summer there. And you can tell your — your godfather … tell him … tell him you’re going.” “Okay then,” said Harry brightly.
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4))
Notice also that there is a tie between Genesis and Revelation, the first and last books of the Bible. Genesis presents the beginning, and Revelation presents the end. Note the contrasts between the two books: In Genesis the earth was created; in Revelation the earth passes away. In Genesis was Satan’s first rebellion; in Revelation is Satan’s last rebellion. In Genesis the sun, moon, and stars were for earth’s government; in Revelation these same heavenly bodies are for earth’s judgment. In Genesis the sun was to govern the day; in Revelation there is no need of the sun. In Genesis darkness was called night; in Revelation there is “no night there” (see Rev. 21:25; 22:5). In Genesis the waters were called seas; in Revelation there is no more sea. In Genesis was the entrance of sin; in Revelation is the exodus of sin. In Genesis the curse was pronounced; in Revelation the curse is removed. In Genesis death entered; in Revelation there is no more death. In Genesis was the beginning of sorrow and suffering; in Revelation there will be no more sorrow and no more tears. In Genesis was the marriage of the first Adam; in Revelation is the marriage of the Last Adam. In Genesis we saw man’s city, Babylon, being built; in Revelation we see man’s city, Babylon, destroyed and God’s city, the New Jerusalem, brought into view. In Genesis Satan’s doom was pronounced; in Revelation Satan’s doom is executed. It is interesting that Genesis opens the Bible not only with a global view but also with a universal view—“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). And the Bible closes with another global and universal book. The Revelation shows what God is going to do with His universe and with His creatures. There is no other book quite like this.
J. Vernon McGee (Revelation 1-5)