Violent J Quotes

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

The sunlight gilded the balcony as Asterin whispered, so softly that only Manon could hear, “Bring my body back to the cabin.” Something in Manon's chest broke—broke so violently that she wondered if it was possible for no one to have heard it.
Sarah J. Maas (Empire of Storms (Throne of Glass, #5))
That wildness, that untamed fierceness...They weren't born of a free heart, but of one that had known despair so complete that living brightly, living violently, was the only way to outrun it.
Sarah J. Maas (Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass, #4))
I hope you looked west while I was looking east, and that for a moment you met my eyes without knowing it. I know you never look away, ever when your eyes are closed, but I'm never certain you can see what's really there. I miss you to pieces. Yours Always - J
Micah Nemerever (These Violent Delights)
Humanity is awful, angry, and violent. But we are also magical and musical. We dance. We sing. We create. We live and laugh and rage and cry and despair and hope. We are a bundle of contradictions without rhyme or reason. And there is no one like us in all the universe.
T.J. Klune (In the Lives of Puppets)
I see you brought along your violent little girlfriend. What a nice surprise!" - Saint Dane (The Reality Bug)
D.J. MacHale
She had been born wrong. Had been born with claws and fangs and had never been able to keep from using them, never been able to quell the part of her that raged at betrayal, that could hate and love more violently than anyone ever understood.
Sarah J. Maas (A ​Court of Silver Flames (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #4))
She drew in a shuddering breath. “I love you.” And let it out. “God.” The emotion that swept through him was like a summer storm, quick, violent, then clean. Swamped with it, he rested his brow on hers. “You didn’t choke on it.
J.D. Robb (Glory in Death (In Death, #2))
Mary-Lynnette felt a violent wrench in her chest. For a moment everything seemed suspended-and changed. If Ash were dead-if Ash had been killed… Things would never be all right. She would never be all right. It would be like the night with the moon and stars gone. Nothing that anybody could do would make up for it. Mary-Lynnette didn't know why-it didn't make any sense-but she suddenly knew it was true.
L.J. Smith (Night World, No. 1 (Night World, #1-3))
The theologian Paul Tillich wrote that "loneliness can be conquered only by those who can bear solitude." Because the borderline finds solitude so difficult to tolerate, she is trapped in a relentless metaphysical loneliness from which the the only relief comes from of the physical presence of others. So she will often rush to singles bars or with crowded haunts, often with disappointing--or even violent--results.
Jerold J. Kreisman (I Hate You—Don't Leave Me: Understanding the Borderline Personality)
He had been hunting for her since the moment she was taken from him. His mate. He barely remembered his own name. And only recalled it because his three companions spoke it while they searched for her across violent and dark seas, through ancient and slumbering forests, over storm-swept mountains already buried in snow.
Sarah J. Maas (Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass, #7))
He told us that most of us would die violently, and those who did not would be brought down to the level of beasts.
Ernest J. Gaines (A Lesson Before Dying)
A terrorist bomb not only killed its victims, but forced a violent rift through time and space, and ruptured the logic that held the world together.
J.G. Ballard
Krystal flung herself violently off the chair, away from her mother. She was surprised to feel warm liquid flowing down her cheeks, and thought confusedly of blood, but it was tears, only tears, clear and shining on her fingertips when she wiped them away.
J.K. Rowling (The Casual Vacancy)
We romanticize the past with our period dramas and glossy film adaptations. A bit like we do with nature. Nature is violent, unpredictable and unforgiving. Eat or be eaten. That's nature. However much Attenborough or Coldplay you wrap it up in.
C.J. Tudor (The Hiding Place)
You're a chain-smoking, alcoholic hyper-violent sociopath with daddy issues!" "When you say it like that it sounds bad...
S.L.J. Shortt (Revelations (Blood Heavy, #3))
well," he said, trying to sound as though he found the whole thing a joke, "if you want to -- er -- what is it?" (He checked Percy's letter.) "Oh yeah -- 'sever ties' with me, I swear I won't get violent." "Give it back," said Ron, holding out his hand. He is --" Ron said jerkily, tearing Percy's letter in half, "the world's" -- he tore it into quarters -- "biggest" -- he tore it into eighths -- "git." He threw the pieces into the fire.
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, #5))
That wildness, that untamed fierceness... They weren't born of a free heart, but of one that had known despair so complete that living brightly, living violently, was the only way to outrun it.
Sarah J. Maas (Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass, #4))
Anyone can shoot a gun but the real power comes from non-violent means.
J.C. Phillips (If History Is Our Guide: Commentary of Events that shaped 2011-2015)
That Zsadist was late was no big surprise. Z was one giant, violent fuck-you to the world.
J.R. Ward (Dark Lover (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #1))
They'd bitten her the little monsters. And now they were sitting on the floor and composedly licking the blood off their chops. A surge of violent revulsion passed through Cassie. From the doorway Faye chuckled. Maybe theyre not getting all their vitamins and minerals from the kitten chow she said.
L.J. Smith (The Initiation / The Captive Part I (The Secret Circle, #1-2))
The ambiguous role of the car crash needs no elaboration—apart from our own deaths, the car crash is probably the most dramatic event in our lives, and in many cases the two will coincide. Aside from the fact that we generally own or are at the controls of the crashing vehicle, the car crash differs from other disasters in that it involves the most powerfully advertised commercial product of this century, an iconic entity that combines the elements of speed, power, dream and freedom within a highly stylized format that defuses any fears we may have of the inherent dangers of these violent and unstable machines.
J.G. Ballard (The Atrocity Exhibition)
Le problème c'est que ma tête n'est jamais reposée. Mon cerveau est une maison de campagne pour démons. Ils y viennent souvent et de plus en plus nombreux. Ils se font des apéros à la liqueur de mes angoisses. Ils se servent de mon stress car ils savent que j'en ai besoin pour avancer. Tout est question de dosage. Trop de stress et mon corps explose. Pas assez, je me paralyse. Mais le démon le plus violent, c'est bien moi. Surtout depuis que j'ai perdu la guerre mondiale de l'amour
Mathias Malzieu (Le plus petit baiser jamais recensé)
In the talcum on the floor around him he could see the imprints of his mother's feet. She had moved from side to side, propelled by an over-eager partner, perhaps one of the Japanese officers to whom she was teaching to tango. Jim tried out the dance steps himself, which seemed far more violent than any tango he had ever seen, and managed to fall and cut his hand on the broken mirror.
J.G. Ballard
J'ai un but, une tâche, disons le mot, une passion. Le métier d'écrire en est une violente et presque indestructible." ("I have an object, a task, let me say the word, a passion. The profession of writing is a violent and almost indestructible one.") [Letter to Jules Boucoiran, 4 March 1831]
George Sand (Correspondance (French Edition))
it is the violent peotry of the times written in the blood of the youth
Luis J. Rodríguez
She curled up beside him, realizing they both needed this space of intimacy as much as they'd needdd the reassurance and release. Her world had been rocked. She only understood how violent the shake had been now that it was stead again.
J.D. Robb (Divided in Death (In Death, #18))
-Mon cher jeune homme, dit Aglaé en souriant, j'ai été professeur de chimie et je vous ferai remarquer qu'il peut y avoir des réactions en chaîne, qui partent très doucement et, s'alimentant elles-mêmes, peuvent se terminer de façon violente.
Boris Vian (L'Herbe rouge)
What exactly was Jesus’ take on violent capitalism? I also have some big ideas for changing the way we think about literary morals as they pertain to legislation. Rather than suffer another attempt by the religious right to base our legalese upon the Bible, I would vote that we found it squarely upon the writings of J. R. R. Tolkien. The citizens of Middle Earth had much more tolerant policies in their governing bodies. For example, Elrond was chosen to lead the elves at Rivendell not only despite his androgynous nature but most likely because of the magical leadership inherent in a well-appointed bisexual elf wizard. That’s the person you want picking shit out for your community. That’s the guy you want in charge. David Bowie or a Mormon? Not a difficult equation.
Nick Offerman (Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man's Principles for Delicious Living)
Peter Parker: I mean, what I do sometimes requires violence, but I'm not a violent man, I'm really not. But I just-- Mary Jane: You wanted to deck her. Peter: Twice. And I hate feeling that way. Why is it that people feel the need to take whatever little authority they have and shove it down your throat? And the smaller the authority, the bigger the shove. Aunt May: It offends you, doesn't it? Peter: Yeah, it does. Aunt May: Why? Peter: I -- What do you mean, why? Aunt May: Why does it offend you? Peter: Shouldn't it? Aunt May: If a lion broke out of its cage at the zoo, and bit you, it would hurt, sure, and you'd be upset, of course. But would you be offended? Peter: No, of course not. Aunt May: Why? Peter: Because that's the nature of a lion. Aunt May: Some people by nature are kind and charitable. You could say that some people, including at least one person at this table, are by their nature heroes. Ben always reminded me that we each contain all the nobler and meaner aspects of humanity, but some get a bigger dose than others of one thing or another. Some are petty, and mean, and uncharitable. That's their nature. You can hope for better, even try to lead them to be and you may even succeed. But when they behave badly, it's right to be upset by it, or hurt by it, but you can be no more offended by it than you can when a lion bites you.
J. Michael Straczynski
In the silence that followed, violent anger hit Blay from out of nowhere. Now his hands shook for a different reason. “So,” Saxton said hoarsely. “How was your night?” “What the hell happened down there?” Saxton loosened his tie. Unbuttoned his collar. Took yet another deep breath. “Family tiff, as it were.” “Bullsh*t.” Saxton shifted exhausted eyes over. “Must we do this?” “What happened—” “I think you and Qhuinn need to talk. And once you do, I won’t have to worry about being jumped like a felon again.” Blay frowned. “He and I have nothing to say to each other—” “With all due respect, the ligature marks around my neck would suggest otherwise.” -Lover at Last, pg. 188 of the galleys
J.R. Ward (Lover at Last (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #11))
Be regular and orderly with your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.
S.J. Scott (Level Up Your Day: How to Maximize the 6 Essential Areas of Your Daily Routine)
These violent delights have violent ends, and in their triumph die, like fire and powder.
T.J. Klune (Under the Whispering Door)
She had been born wrong. Had been born with claws and fangs and had never been able to keep from using them, never been able to quell the part of her that roared at betrayal, that could hate and love more violently than anyone ever understood.
Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Silver Flames (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #4))
Eve woke, violently aroused. It was Roarke’s hands on her. She knew their texture, their rhythm. Her heart tripped against her ribs, then bounded into her throat as his mouth covered hers. His was greedy, hot, giving her no choice, really no choice at all but to respond in kind. Even as she fumbled for him, those long, clever fingers pierced her, diving into her so that she bowed up into the frenzy of orgasm. His mouth on her breast, sucking, teeth scraping. His elegant hands relentless so that her cries came out in whimpers of shock and gratitude. Another staggering climax to layer thick over the first. Her hands sought purchase in the tangled sheets, but nothing could anchor her. As she flew up again, she gripped him, nails scraping down his back, up to grab handfuls of his hair. “God!” It was the single coherent word she managed as he plunged into her, so hard, so deep she was amazed she didn’t die from the pleasure of it. Her body bucked helplessly, frantically, continued to shudder even after he’d collapsed on her. He let out a long, satisfied sigh and lazily nuzzled her ear. “Sorry to wake you.
J.D. Robb (Glory in Death (In Death, #2))
Anyone can shoot a gun but the real power comes from non-violent means. (If History Is Our Guide,2015)
J.C. Phillips
blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 
J.F. Penn (Pentecost (Arkane, #1))
The violent orange sky bled into the darkening clouds, creating a cluster of purple bruises.
J.M. Forster (Shadow Jumper (Shadow Jumper #1))
In our data set of 218 violent insurgencies since 1900, democratic governments succeeded only about 5 percent of violent insurgencies.
Erica Chenoweth;Maria J. Stephan (Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict)
The most striking finding is that between 1900 and 2006, nonviolent resistance campaigns were nearly twice as likely to achieve full or partial success as their violent counterparts.
Erica Chenoweth;Maria J. Stephan (Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict)
That’s it, Niklas,” I hear her breathy voice somewhere amid the rage that my mind has become. “That’s it… take it out on me. All of your anger, your hatred—this is how I like it, violent and cruel.
J.A. Redmerski (The Black Wolf (In the Company of Killers, #5))
J'ai vu avec étonnement la faiblesse de l'empire des Osmanlins. Ce corps malade ne se soutient pas par un régime doux et tempéré, mais par des remèdes violents, qui l'épuisent et le minent sans cesse.
Montesquieu (Lettres persanes)
A weak mind is a malleable one. Once it is convinced it has been lied to, it begins to lie to itself. Once persuaded that it is hated, it becomes hateful. Once made to fear violence, it becomes violent.
J. Zachary Pike (Son of a Liche (The Dark Profit Saga, #2))
I was coming so hard I literally saw stars. My orgasm seemed to go on forever, blacking out my vision and tearing through my body so violently I felt it had to leave a scar—and God, I’d wear that scar with pride.
J.L. Merrow (Hard Tail (Southampton Stories #2))
She didn’t even know where she was going—only that she had to walk, had to find a way to sort herself out, sort the world out, before she stopped moving, or else she would never move again. They weren’t born of a free heart, but of one that had known despair so complete that living brightly, living violently, was the only way to outrun it.
Sarah J. Maas (Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass, #4))
Even though Christ Himself would not deliver us from the power of the Totalitarian State, as He did not deliver Himself, we must see His purpose in it all. Maybe his children are being persecuted by the world in order that they might withdraw themselves from the world. Maybe His most violent enemies may be doing His work negatively, for it could be the mission of totalitarianism to preside over the liquidation of a modern world that became indifferent to God and His moral laws.
Fulton J. Sheen (Characters of the Passion: Lessons on Faith and Trust)
A spirit of license makes a man refuse to commit himself to any standards. The right time is the way he sets his watch. The yardstick has the number of inches that he wills it to have. Liberty becomes license, and unbounded license leads to unbounded tyranny. When society reaches this stage, and there is no standard of right and wrong outside of the individual himself, then the individual is defenseless against the onslaught of cruder and more violent men who proclaim their own subjective sense of values. Once my idea of morality is just as good as your idea of morality, then the morality that is going to prevail is the morality that is stronger.
Fulton J. Sheen (On Being Human: Reflections on Life and Living)
Many [Tudor-era religious radicals] believed then, exactly as Christian fundamentalists do today, that they lived in the 'last days' before Armageddon and, again just as now, saw signs all around in the world that they took as certain proof that the Apocalypse was imminent. Again like fundamentalists today, they looked on the prospect of the violent destruction of mankind without turning a hair. The remarkable similarity between the first Tudor Puritans and the fanatics among today's Christian fundamentalists extends to their selective reading of the Bible, their emphasis on the Book of Revelation, their certainty of their rightness, even to their phraseology. Where the Book of Revelation is concerned, I share the view of Guy, that the early church fathers released something very dangerous on the world when, after much deliberation, they decided to include it in the Christian canon." [From the author's concluding Historical Note]
C.J. Sansom (Revelation (Matthew Shardlake, #4))
My transformations in those days were terrible. It is very painful to turn into a werewolf. I was separated from humans to bite, so I bit and scratched myself instead. The villagers heard the noise and the screaming and thought they were hearing particularly violent spirits.
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3))
Je me souviens qu'à un moment, m'étend appuyée à la machine, j'avais regardé le disque se lever, lentement, pour aller se poser de biais contre le saphir, presque tendrement, comme une joue. Et, je ne sais pourquoi, j'avais été envahie d'un violent sentiment de bonheur; de l'intuition physique, débordante, que j'allais mourir un jour, qu'il n'y aurait plus ma main sur ce rebord de chrome, ni ce soleil dans mes yeux.
Françoise Sagan (A Certain Smile)
She cried for fully five minutes. She cried without trying to suppress any of the noisier manifestations of grief and confusion, with all the convulsive throat sounds that a hysterical child makes when the breath is trying to get up through a partly closed epiglottis. And yet, when finally she stopped, she merely stopped, without the painful, knifelike intakes of breath that usually follow a violent outburst-inburst.
J.D. Salinger (Franny and Zooey)
What was true of an ancient community of Christian believers struggling with a powerful and appealing philosophy is also true for Christians in a postmodern context. Arguments that deconstruct the regimes of truth at work in the late modern culture of global capitalism are indispensable. So also is a deeper understanding of the counterideological force of the biblical tradition. But such arguments are no guarantee that the biblical metanarrative will not be co-opted for ideological purposes of violent exclusion, nor do arguments prove the truth of the gospel. Only the nonideological, embracing, forgiving and shalom-filled life of a dynamic Christian community formed by the story of Jesus will prove the gospel to be true and render the idolatrous alternatives fundamentally implausible.
Brian J. Walsh (Colossians Remixed: Subverting the Empire)
He had told us then that most of us would die violently, and those who did not would be brought down to the level of beasts. Told us that there was no other choice but to run and run. That he was living testimony of someone who should have run. That in him—he did not say all this, but we felt it—there was nothing but hatred for himself as well as contempt for us. He hated himself for the mixture of his blood and the cowardice of his being, and he hated us for daily reminding him of it. No, he did not tell us this, but daily he showed us this. As clearly as anything, he showed his hatred for himself, and for us. He could teach any of us only one thing, and that one thing was flight. Because there was no freedom here. He said it, and he didn’t say it. But we felt it. When we told our people how we felt, they told us to go back and learn all we could. There were those who did go back to learn. Others who only went back. And having no place to run, they went into the fields; others went into the small towns and cities, seeking work, and did even worse.
Ernest J. Gaines (A Lesson Before Dying)
Every person will battle with false pride, a sense of loss and aloneness, and feeling defenseless in a world of endless trauma and tragedy.
Kilroy J. Oldster (Dead Toad Scrolls)
Angling is tightly woven in a fabric of moral, social, and philosophical threads which are not easily rent by the violent climate of our times.
A.J. McClane
Harry’s heart was beating a violent tattoo against his Adam’s apple. He swallowed hard, turned the heavy iron door handle, and stepped inside the courtroom.
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5 - Part 2))
The tap of literature must keep running. The tap of literature must run in a violent frothing spurt and flood the universe, or we must blow out our brains.
M.J. Nicholls (Trimming England)
I wish they could understand what I know—willful ignorance is violent.
Saraciea J. Fennell (Wild Tongues Can't Be Tamed: 15 Voices from the Latinx Diaspora)
Other prophets, other messiahs, came and went in Jesus’ day. Routinely, they died violently at the hands of the pagan enemy. Their movements either died with them, sometimes literally, or transformed themselves into a new movement around a new leader. Jesus’ movement did neither. Within days of his execution it found a new lease of life; within weeks it was announcing that he was indeed the messiah; within a year or two it was proclaiming him to pagans as their rightful Lord. How can a historian explain this astonishing transformation?
Marcus J. Borg (The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions (Plus))
Rave emerged spontaneously, neither planned or designed. It was a genuine grass roots phenomenon, egalitarian and welcoming. Thousands danced in fields all through the night, out under the moon, in order to achieve a trance-like, ecstatic state. It was a form of communion and it was pagan as fuck. Needless to say, it couldn't last. The press and the government, appalled by such non-violent having-of-a-good-time, moved quickly to crush it. Ultimately, though, they weren't quick enough. Rave grew too big too quickly, and it attracted the attention of those who felt they could make money from such events. Once this happened and the superstar DJs and the superclubs arrived, the focus shifted from the raw crowd back to the event itself. Rave's spell was broken.
J.M.R. Higgs (KLF: Chaos Magic Music Money)
I often think that in the world we live in today, where we are threatened by forces as violent and primitive as anything we have ever faced, that it would be wise to look back a little ourselves and embrace our heritage. We were once a nation of hunters. And not the effete, European-style hunters who did it for sport. We hunted for our food, our independence. It’s what made us who we are. But, like so many other virtues that made us unique, we have, as a society, forgotten where we came from and how we got here. What was once both noble and essential has become perverted and indefensible.
C.J. Box (Blood Trail (Joe Pickett, #8))
Sam swore violently and began yanking on the grate cover again. “Come on,” he whispered, more to himself than to her. “Come on.” The water was around her waist now, and over her chest a moment after that. Rain continued streaming in through the grate, blinding her senses. “Sam,” she said. “I’m trying!” “Sam,” she repeated. “No,” he spat, hearing her tone. “No!” He began screaming for help then. Celaena pressed her face to one of the holes in the grate. Help wasn’t going to come—not fast enough. She’d never given much thought to how she’d die, but drowning somehow felt fitting. It was a river in her native country of Terrasen that had almost claimed her life nine years ago—and now it seemed that whatever bargain she’d struck with the gods that night was finally over. The water would have her, one way or another, no matter how long it took.
Sarah J. Maas (The Assassin's Blade (Throne of Glass, #0.1-0.5))
President Barack Obama and many liberal-minded commentators have been hesitant to call this Islamist ideology by its proper name. They seem to fear that both Muslim communities and the religiously intolerant will hear the word “Islam” and simply assume that all Muslims are being held responsible for the excesses of the jihadist few. I call this the Voldemort effect, after the villain in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books. Many well-meaning people in Ms. Rowling’s fictional world are so petrified of Voldemort’s evil that they do two things: They refuse to call Voldemort by name, instead referring to “He Who Must Not Be Named,” and they deny that he exists in the first place. Such dread only increases public hysteria, thus magnifying the appeal of Voldemort’s power. The same hysteria about Islamism is unfolding before our eyes. But no strategy intended to defeat Islamism can succeed if Islamism itself and its violent expression in jihadism are not first named, isolated and understood. From: Maajid Nawaz's article titled, 'How to Beat Islamic State', December 11th, 2015.
Maajid Nawaz
Jorruk once told a young Asherzu that a weak mind is a malleable one. Once it is convinced it has been lied to, it begins to lie to itself. Once persuaded that it is hated, it becomes hateful. Once made to fear violence, it becomes violent.
J. Zachary Pike (Son of a Liche (The Dark Profit Saga, #2))
During the carriage ride here, Archer had promised that Arobynn Hamel wasn’t attending, and neither was Lysandra—a courtesan with whom Celaena had a long, violent history, and someone she was fairly certain she’d kill if she ever saw again.
Sarah J. Maas (Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass, #2))
Do we think that peace on earth comes from Caesar or Christ? Do we think it comes through violent victory or nonviolent justice? Advent, like Lent, is about a choice of how to live personally and individually, nationally and internationally.
Marcus J. Borg (The First Christmas: What the Gospels Really Say About Jesus's Birth)
Mr. President,” Milley said, “there are two hundred seventy-six cities in America with over one hundred thousand people in them. We track this all the time.” In the last twenty-four hours, Milley said, there were only two cities with violent protests so large that local authorities might have needed reinforcements. Otherwise, he said, “there was some vandalism and some rioting, but they were handled by local police.” Then he turned back to Miller. “Stephen, that’s not burning the country down,” he said.
Carol Leonnig (I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year)
Periods of relaxed social-sexual mores and less structured romantic relationships (such as in the late 1960s and 1970s) are more difficult for borderlines to handle; increased freedom and lack of structure paradoxically imprison the borderline, who is severely handicapped in devising his own individual system of values. Conversely, the sexual withdrawal period of the late 1980s (due in part to the AIDS epidemic) can be ironically therapeutic for borderline personalities. Social fears enforce strict boundaries that can be crossed only at the risk of great physical harm; impulsivity and promiscuity now have severe penalties in the form of STDs, violent sexual deviants, and so on. This external structure can help protect the borderline from his own self-destructiveness.
Jerold J. Kreisman (I Hate You--Don't Leave Me: Understanding the Borderline Personality)
It’s not useless, it’s the future. Tell them Bonaparte’s growing sugar beet.” “I’d rather not, Sir Philip. It wouldn’t help.” “Then tell them I’m a violent eccentric and their very lives depend on doing this properly.” “Mmm,” Lovett said. “Perhaps there’s a middle way?
K.J. Charles (Band Sinister)
Part of our primate heritage is that most of us want to feel that we fit in somewhere and are part of a group. Which group we're part of may matter less to some of us than others, as long as we're part of a group and not left entirely on our own. Although there are individual differences, being alone for too long causes neuro-chemical changes that can result in hallucinations, depression, suicidal thoughts, violent behaviors, and even psychosis. Social isolation is also a risk factor for cardiac arrest and death, even more so than smoking.
Daniel J. Levitin
The four-week period of Advent before Christmas—and the six-week period of Lent before Easter—are times of penance and life change for Christians. In our book The Last Week, we suggested that Lent was a penance time for having been in the wrong procession and a preparation time for moving over to the right one by Palm Sunday. That day’s violent procession of the horse-mounted Pilate and his soldiers was contrasted with the nonviolent procession of the donkey-mounted Jesus and his companions. We asked: in which procession would we have walked then and in which do we walk now?
Marcus J. Borg (The First Christmas: What the Gospels Really Say About Jesus's Birth)
Je dois dire qu'en dehors des cas où elle m'exposa au ridicule, cette timidité insurmontable n'a jamais tourné à mon désavantage. Bien au contraire, j'ai mis ce handicap à profit en apprenant à devenir concis. Jadis je cherchais mes mots. Aujourd'hui je prends plaisir à en réduire le nombre.
Mahatma Gandhi (Non-Violent Resistance (Satyagraha))
Humanity is awful, angry, and violent. But we are also magical and musical. We dance. We sing. We create. We live and laugh and rage ad cry and despair and hope=; We are a bundle of contradictions without. rhyme or reason. And there is no one like us in all the universe. Don't you think we should make the most of it?
T.J. Klune (In the Lives of Puppets)
Humanity is awful, angry, and violent. But we are also magical and musical. We dance. We sing. We create. We live and laugh and rage and cry and despair and hope. We are a bundle of contradictions without rhyme or reason. And there is no one like us in all the universe. Don’t you think we should make the most of it? TJ
T.J. Klune (In the Lives of Puppets)
it was violent and needy. It was a cancer, spreading inside my body, multiplying into hundreds and thousands of new cells with every beat of my heart. No chemotherapy, no miracle cure. Every heartbeat, I slipped a little more. Drowned a little deeper. Fell a little further into the bottomless ocean of feelings for him. I
L.J. Shen (Sparrow (Boston Belles #0.5))
There is no God, at least not like you're thinking. He's a human construct, one capable of great peace and violent wrath. It's a dichotomy only found in the human mind, so of course he'd be made in your image. But I'm afraid he's nothing but a fairytale in a book of fiction. The truth is infinitely more complicated than that.
T.J. Klune (Under the Whispering Door)
Is that a type of food
Miles J. Unger (Magnifico: The Brilliant Life and Violent Times of Lorenzo de' Medici)
Je parcours la salle du regard, et un violent dégoût m'envahi. Que fais-je ici? Qu'ai-je été me mêler de discourir sur l'humanisme? Pourquoi ces gens sont-ils là? Pourquoi mangent-ils? C'est vrai qu'ils ne savent pas, eux, qu'ils existent. J'ai envie de partir, de m'en aller quelque part où je serais vraiment à ma place, où je m'emboîterais...Mais ma place n'est nulle part; je suis de trop.
Jean-Paul Sartre (Nausea)
Depuis des années, je tourne autour de cet événement de ma vie. Lire dans un roman le récit d'un avortement me plonge dans un saisissement sans images ni pensées, comme si les mots se changeaient instantanément en sensation violente. De la même façon, entendre par hasard La javanaise, J'ai la mémoire qui flanche, n'importe quelle chanson qui m'a accompagnée durant cette période, me bouleverse.
Annie Ernaux (L'événement)
Thus, Lincoln “saved” the federal union in the same sense that a man who has been abusing his wife “saves” his marital union by violently forcing his wife back into the home and threatening to shoot her if she leaves again. The union may well be saved, but it is not the same kind of union that existed on their wedding day. That union no longer exists. The American union of the founding fathers ceased to exist in April of 1865.
Thomas J. DiLorenzo (Lincoln Unmasked: What You're Not Supposed to Know About Dishonest Abe)
America at a turning point! But in 1813 the United States and Nathan Jeffries may lose everything; blockaded, imprisoned, raided, massacred, Americans are feeling the wrath of British forces on land and sea. Nathan Jeffries, son of Captain William Jeffries and Quaker wife Amy, is also haunted by betrayal and a relentless, deadly enemy seeking to destroy him. Facing his own worst fears, Nathan is hunter and hunted in a violent world at war.
Bert J. Hubinger (1813: Reprisal)
Toute ma vie, j'ai été habitué à ce que les autres se trompent sur mon compte. C'est le lot de tout homme public. Il lui faut une solide cuirasse; car s'il fallait donner des explications pour se justifier quand on se méprend sur vos intentions, la vie deviendrait insupportable. Je me suis fait une règle de ne jamais intervenir pour rectifier ce genre d'erreur, à moins que ne l'exige la cause que je défends. Ce principe m'a épargné bien du temps et bien des tracas.
Mahatma Gandhi (Non-Violent Resistance (Satyagraha))
A historian once speculated on what would happen if a time-traveller from 1945 arrived back in Europe just before the First World War, and told an intelligent and well-informed contemporary that within thirty years a European nation would make a systematic attempt to kill all the Jews of Europe and exterminate nearly six million in the process. If the time-traveller invited the contemporary to guess which nation it would be, the chances were that he would have pointed to France, where the Dreyfus affair had recently led to a massive outbreak of virulent popular antisemitism. Or might it be Russia, where the Tsarist 'Black Hundreds' had been massacring large numbers of Jews in the wake if the failed Revolution of 1905. That Germany, with its highly acculturated Jewish community and its comparitive lack of overt or violent political antisemitism, would be the nation to launch this exterminatory campaign would hardly have occurred to him.
Richard J. Evans (The Coming of the Third Reich (The History of the Third Reich, #1))
My passions are extremely violent; while under their influence, nothing can equal my impetuosity; I am an absolute stranger to discretion, respect, fear, or decorum; rude, saucy, violent, and intrepid: no shame can stop, no danger intimidate me. My mind is frequently so engrossed by a single object, that beyond it the whole world is not worth a thought; this is the enthusiasm of a moment, the next, perhaps, I am plunged in a state of annihilation. Take me in my moments of tranquility,
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (The Confessions of J. J. Rousseau - Complete)
In countries in which violent insurgencies have been victorious, we find, however that the country is much less likely to become a peaceful democracy after the conflict has ended. On the other hand, in analogous countries where mass, nonviolent campaigns have occurred, we see a much higher rate of postconflict democracies and a much lower rate of relapse into civil war. This does not mean that there will not be any sharp political contention or democratic backsliding following a successful nonviolent transition. But it does mean that political contention is more likely to transpire through nonviolent channels. Some may cite the American Revolution against the British as a counterexample to the above assertion. It should be remembered, however, that the armed insurgency against British forces, notably in the form of guerrilla warfare, was preceded by a decade of parallel institution building, nonviolent boycotts, civil disobedience, noncooperation, and other nation-building methods.
Erica Chenoweth;Maria J. Stephan (Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict)
The point to remember is that the issue is not nature versus nurture. It is the balance between nature and nurture. Genes do not make a man gay, or violent, or fat, or a leader. Genes merely make proteins. The chemical effect of these proteins may make the man's brain and body more receptive to certain environmental influences. But the extent of those influences will have as much to do with the outcome as the genes themselves. Furthermore, we humans are not prisoners of our genes or our environment. We have free will. Genes are overruled every time an angry man restrains his temper, a fat man diets, and an alocholic refuses to take a drink. On the other hand, the environment is overruled every time a genetic effect wins out, as when Lou Gehrig's athletic ability was overruled by his ALS. Genes and the environment work together to shape our brains, and we can manage them both if we want to. It may be harder for people with certain genes or surroundings, but "harder" is a long way from pedetermination.
John J. Ratey
The organic and inorganic structures supporting human life are changing. Breathtaking technological developments, coupled with rapid advances in medicine, supported a dramatic explosion in the human population worldwide. Increases in human population placed pressure upon the habitat. Lack of foresight and commercial ogres fused to a consumptive consumer mentality fostered a radical reduction in habitat for other creatures and spawned a predictable environmental crisis. Commercial enterprises nimbly renamed the “environmental crisis” the “energy crisis,” effectively downplaying the dramatic cost inflicted upon the ecosystem in the name of preserving cheap energy sources for Americans. We live on the brink of impending disaster. Nonetheless, we must carry on. It is humankind’s greatest challenge to place our self-gratification in check in order to ensure that our species and other creatures survive the violent onslaught raging against the ecosystem. Despite the rapid expansion of new technology, which alters how human beings live and communicate with each other, the fundamental challenge of humanity remains consistent. Every generation must address how to live a purposeful life, one filled with joy and contentment.
Kilroy J. Oldster (Dead Toad Scrolls)
[On] a accoutumé les peuples à croire que leur intérêt consistait à ruiner tous leurs voisins ; chaque nation en est venue à jeter un oeil d'envie sur la prospérité de toutes les nations avec lesquelles elle commerce, et à regarder tout ce qu'elles gagnent comme une perte pour elle. Le commerce, qui naturellement devait être, pour les nations comme pour les individus, une lien de concorde et d'amitié, est devenu la source la plus féconde des haines et des querelles. Pendant ce siècle et le précédent, l'ambition capricieuse des rois et des ministres n'a pas été plus fatale au repos de l'Europe, que la sotte jalousie des marchands et des manufacturiers. L'humeur injuste et violente de ceux qui gouvernent les hommes est un mal d'ancienne date, pour lequel j'ai bien peur que la nature des choses humaines ne comporte pas de remède ; mais quant à cet esprit de monopole, à cette rapacité basse et envieuse des marchands et des manufacturiers, qui ne sont, ni les uns ni les autres, chargés de gouverner les hommes, et qui ne sont nullement faits pour en être chargés, s'il n'y a peut-être pas moyen de corriger ce vice, au moins est-il bien facile d'empêcher qu'il ne puisse troubler la tranquillité de personne, si ce n'est de ceux qui en sont possédés.
Adam Smith (An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations)
Tu veux rester propre. Tu crois que tu es arrivé couvert de savon et tu crois que tu repartiras couvert de savon, et entre-temps tu ne veux pas risquer de puer, même cinq minutes." Il me saisit par le col de ma chemise, à la fois violent et tendre, souple et du comme l'acier ; la salive sortait de ses lèvres, ses yeux étaient baignés de larmes, mais les os de son visage saillaient et les muscles de ses bras, de son cou, étaient agités d'un tremblement. "Tu veux quitter Giovanni parce qu'avec lui tu pues. Tu veux mépriser Giovanni parce qu'il n'a pas peur de la puanteur de l'amour. Tu veux le tuer au nom de toute ta sale petit morale hypocrite. C'est toi...toi qui est immoral. Tu es de loin l'homme le plus immoral que j'aie jamais rencontré de ma vie.
James Baldwin (Giovanni’s Room)
Wrecked and despondent at midlife, I need to undertake a strict personal evaluation that will lead to personal transformation. I must be willing to start afresh and attempt to make myself anew. In order to begin all over and not culminate in the same deadhead rut as before, I admit to harboring personal insecurities and boldly confront my greatest fears. In order to establish an altered foundation that will support a revised self, I commence by asking the pertinent questions. If I run fast enough and long enough, can I quash slavish personal demons and capture an elusive self? Can I exercise the self-discipline to eliminate the artificial screens that I hide behind in order to peer out at the formidable world? Do I possess the personal audacity to explore unfamiliar terrain and the internal grit to dual the primal flex of nature’s power while accepting on equal terms the thrall and tragic beauty of surviving in a violent habitat?
Kilroy J. Oldster (Dead Toad Scrolls)
Mon ami, vous m'avez facilement appris à ne vivre que pour vous ; apprenez-moi maintenant à vivre loin de vous... Non, ce n'est pas là ce que je veux dire, c'est plutôt que, loin de vous, je voudrais ne point vivre, ou au moins oublier mon existence. Abandonnée à moi-même, je ne puis supporter ni mon bonheur, ni ma peine; je sens le besoin du repos, et tout repos m'est impossible; j'ai vainement appelé le sommeil, le sommeil a fui de moi; je ne puis ni m'occuper ni rester oisive; tour-à-tour un feu brûlant me dévore, un frisson mortel m'anéantit: tout mouvement me fatigue et je ne saurais rester en place. Enfin ! que dirai-je ? je souffrirais moins dans l'ardeur de la plus violente fièvre, et, sans que je puisse ni l'expliquer ni le concevoir, je sens très bien pourtant que cet état de souffrance ne vient que de mon impuissance à contenir ou diriger une foule de sentiments au charme desquels cependant je me trouverais heureuse de pouvoir livrer mon âme toute entière.
Laclos Pierre Choderlos De (Les Liaisons dangereuses)
He’s having a laugh. We can’t let him have that sword.” “Is it true?” Harry asked Hermione. “Was the sword stolen by Gryffindor?” “I don’t know,” she said hopelessly. “Wizarding history often skates over what the wizards have done to other magical races, but there’s no account that I know of that days Gryffindor stole the sword.” “It’ll be one of those goblin stories,” said Ron, “about how the wizards are always trying to get one over on them. I suppose we should think ourselves lucky he hasn’t asked for one of our wands.” “Goblins have got good reason to dislike wizards, Ron,” said Hermione. “They’ve been treated brutally in the past.” “Goblins aren’t exactly fluffy little bunnies, though, are they?” said Ron. “They’ve killed plenty of us. They’ve fought dirty too.” “But arguing with Griphook about whose race is most underhanded and violent isn’t going to make him more likely to help us, is it?” There was a pause while they tried to think of a way around the problem. Harry looked out of the window at Dobby’s grave. Luna was arranging sea lavender in a jam jar beside the headstone. “Okay,” said Ron, and Harry turned back to face him, “how’s this? We well Griphook we need the sword until we get inside the vault, and then he can have it. There’s a fake in there, isn’t there? We switch them, and give him the fake.” “Ron, he’d know the difference better than we would!” said Hermione. “He’s the only one who realized there had been a swap!” “Yeah, but we could scarper before he realizes--” He quailed beneath the look Hermione was giving him. “That,” she said quietly, “is despicable. Ask for his help, then double-cross him? And you wonder why goblins don’t like wizards, Ron?” Ron’s ears had turned red. “All right, all right! It was the only thing I could think of! What’s your solution, then?” “We need to offer him something else, something just as valuable.” “Brilliant. I’ll go and get one of our other ancient goblin-made swords and you can gift wrap it.
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7))
Violent anti-communist fears by the military and munition makers justified the transformation of a once democratic nation into the fascist state we have today. Members of the Nazi Party now hold key positions in our universities, factories, aircraft and aerospace programs.14 When the Nazi empire collapsed in 1945, General Reinhard Gehlen joined forces with our OSS. Gehlen was placed in charge of wartime intelligence for Foreign Armies East. “It was not long before Gehlen was back in business, this time for the United States. Gehlen named his price and terms.”15 A series of meetings was arranged at the Pentagon with Nazi Gehlen, Allen Dulles, J. Edgar Hoover and others.16 The Gehlen organization combined forces and agents with the OSS, which was soon to become known as the CIA. Experts in clandestine and illegal control of Germany through political assassinations and reversal of judicial processes became the teachers of Allen Dulles and Richard Helms. They helped form the new CIA in 1947, based upon clandestine activities in Nazi Germany.17
Mae Brussell (The Essential Mae Brussell: Investigations of Fascism in America)
Et puis, le manque est arrivé, dans le moment où je m’y attendais le moins, il est arrivé alors que j’avais presque fini par croire à mon amnésie. C’est terrible, la morsure du manque. Ça frappe sans prévenir, l’attaque est sournoise tout d’abord, on ressent juste une vive douleur qui disparaît presque dans la foulée, c’est bref, fugace, ça nous plie en deux mais on se redresse aussitôt, on considère que l’attaque est passée, on n’est même pas capable de nommer cette effraction, et pourquoi on la nommerait, on n’a pas eu le temps de s’inquiéter, c’est parti si vite, on se sent déjà beaucoup mieux, on se sent même parfaitement bien, tout de même on garde un souvenir désagréable de cette fraction de seconde, on tente de chasser le souvenir, et on y réussit, la vie continue, le monde nous appelle, l’urgence commande. Et puis, ça revient, le jour d’après, l’attaque est plus longue ou plus violente, on ploie les genoux, on a un méchant rictus, on se dit : quelque chose est à l'œuvre à l’intérieur, on pense à ces transports au cerveau qui annoncent les tumeurs, qui sont le signal enfin visible de cancers généralisés jusque-là insoupçonnables, on éprouve une sale frayeur, un mauvais pressentiment. Et puis, le mal devient lancinant, il s’installe comme un intrus qu’on n’est pas capable de chasser, il est moins mordant et plus profond, on comprend qu’on ne s’en débarrassera pas, qu’on est foutu. Oui, un jour, le manque est arrivé. Le manque de lui. Au début, j’ai fait comme si je ne m’en rendais pas compte, le traitant par l’indifférence, par le mépris, je me savais plus fort que lui, j’étais en mesure de le dominer, de l’éliminer, c’était juste une question de volonté ou de temps, je n’étais pas le genre à me laisser abattre par quelque chose d’aussi ténu, d’aussi risible. Et puis, il m’a fallu me rendre à l’évidence : ce match, je n’étais pas en train de le gagner, j’allais peut-être même le perdre, et je ne possédais pas le moyen d’échapper à cette déroute et plus je luttais, plus je cédais du terrain ; plus je niais la réalité, plus elle me sautait au visage. Autant le reconnaître : j’étais dévoré par ça, le manque de lui.
Philippe Besson (Un homme accidentel)
Esther n'était certainement pas bien éduquée au sens habituel du terme, jamais l'idée ne lui serait venue de vider un cendrier ou de débarrasser le relief de ses repas, et c'est sans la moindre gêne qu'elle laissait la lumière allumée derrière elle dans les pièces qu'elle venait de quitter (il m'est arrivé, suivant pas à pas son parcours dans ma résidence de San Jose, d'avoir à actionner dix-sept commutateurs); il n'était pas davantage question de lui demander de penser à faire un achat, de ramener d'un magasin où elle se rendait une course non destinée à son propre usage, ou plus généralement de rendre un service quelconque. Comme toutes les très jolies jeunes filles elle n'était au fond bonne qu'à baiser, et il aurait été stupide de l'employer à autre chose, de la voir autrement que comme un animal de luxe, en tout choyé et gåté, protégé de tout souci comme de toute tâche ennuyeuse ou pénible afin de mieux pouvoir se consacrer à son service exclusivement sexuel. Elle n'en était pas moins très loin d'être ce monstre d'arrogance, d'égoïsme absolu et froid, au, pour parler en termes plus baudelairiens, cette infernale petite salope que sont la plupart des très jolies jeunes filles; il y avait en elle la conscience de la maladie, de la faiblesse et de la mort. Quoique belle, très belle, infiniment érotique et désirable, Esther n'en était pas moins sensible aux infirmités animales, parce qu'elle les connaissait ; c'est ce soir-là que j'en pris conscience, et que je me mis véritablement à l'aimer. Le désir physique, si violent soit-il, n'avait jamais suffi chez moi à conduire à l'amour, il n'avait pu atteindre ce stade ultime que lorsqu'il s'accompagnait, par une juxtaposition étrange, d'une compassion pour l'être désiré ; tout être vivant, évidemment, mérite la compassion du simple fait qu'il est en vie et se trouve par là-même exposé à des souffrances sans nombre, mais face à un être jeune et en pleine santé c'est une considération qui paraît bien théorique. Par sa maladie de reins, par sa faiblesse physique insoupçonnable mais réelle, Esther pouvait susciter en moi une compassion non feinte, chaque fois que l'envie me prendrait d'éprouver ce sentiment à son égard. Étant elle-même compatissante, ayant même des aspirations occasionnelles à la bonté, elle pouvait également susciter en moi l'estime, ce qui parachevait l'édifice, car je n'étais pas un être de passion, pas essentiellement, et si je pouvais désirer quelqu'un de parfaitement méprisable, s'il m'était arrivé à plusieurs reprises de baiser des filles dans l'unique but d'assurer mon emprise sur elles et au fond de les dominer, si j'étais même allé jusqu'à utiliser ce peu louable sentiment dans des sketches, jusqu'à manifester une compréhension troublante pour ces violeurs qui sacrifient leur victime immédiatement après avoir disposé de son corps, j'avais par contre toujours eu besoin d'estimer pour aimer, jamais au fond je ne m'étais senti parfaitement à l'aise dans une relation sexuelle basée sur la pure attirance érotique et l'indifférence à l'autre, j'avais toujours eu besoin, pour me sentir sexuellement heureux, d'un minimum - à défaut d'amour - de sympathie, d'estime, de compréhension mutuelle; l'humanité non, je n'y avais pas renoncé. (La possibilité d'une île, Daniel 1,15)
Michel Houellebecq
A friend once told me a story about a former Black Panther leader in a Midwest community who in the 1960s had his phone tapped, while federal agents followed him everywhere. Forced to go underground, he later entered the drug trade & eventually got good at it. However, he told my friend, soon after this nobody kept tabs on him--he wasn't followed or harassed. He later became the number one drug dealer in the area. As he said this, my friend noted a breaking in his voice; the pain, perhaps, of being pushed away from being a committed community activist.
Luis J. Rodríguez (Hearts and Hands: Creating Community in Violent Times)
It was as Harry dodged another Bludger, which went spinning dangerously past his head, that it happened. His broom gave a sudden, frightening lurch. For a split second, he thought he was going to fall. He gripped the broom tightly with both his hands and knees. He’d never felt anything like that. It happened again. It was as though the broom was trying to buck him off. But Nimbus Two Thousands did not suddenly decide to buck their riders off. Harry tried to turn back toward the Gryffindor goalposts — he had half a mind to ask Wood to call time-out — and then he realized that his broom was completely out of his control. He couldn’t turn it. He couldn’t direct it at all. It was zigzagging through the air, and every now and then making violent swishing movements that almost unseated him. Lee was still commentating. “Slytherin in possession — Flint with the Quaffle — passes Spinnet — passes Bell — hit hard in the face by a Bludger, hope it broke his nose — only joking, Professor — Slytherins score — oh no . . .” The Slytherins were cheering. No one seemed to have noticed that Harry’s broom was behaving strangely. It was carrying him slowly higher, away from the game, jerking and twitching as it went.
J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter #1))
Comment se fait-il que l'humanité, en dépit de ressources planétaires suffisantes et de ses prouesses technologiques sans précédent, ne parvienne pas à faire en sorte que chaque être humain puisse se nourrir, se vêtir, s'abriter, se soigner et développer les potentiels nécessaires à son accomplissement? Comment se fait-il que la moitié du genre humain, constituée par le monde féminin, soit toujours subordonnée à l'arbitraire d'un masculin outrancier et violent? Comment se fait-il que le monde animal, à savoir les créatures compagnes de notre destin et auxquelles nous devons même notre propre survie à travers l'histoire, soit ravalé dans notre société d'hyperconsommation à des masses ou à des fabriques de protéines. Comment les mammifères bipèdes auxquels j'appartiens ont-ils pu se croire le droit d'exercer d’innombrables exactions sur le monde animal, domestique ou sauvage? Comment se fait-il que nous n'ayons pas pris conscience de la valeur inestimable de notre petite planète, seule oasis de vie au sein d'un désert sidéral infini, et que nous ne cessions de la piller, de la polluer, de la détruire aveuglément au lieu d'en prendre soin et d'y construire la paix et la concorde entre les peuples?
Pierre Rabhi (La part du colibri: L'Espèce humaine face à son devenir)
And you,' she hissed at me. 'You,' Her teeth gleamed- turning sharp. 'I'm going to kill you.' Someone cried out, but I couldn't move, couldn't even try to get out of the way as something far more violent than lightning struck me, and I crashed to the floor. 'I'm going to make you pay for your insolence,' Amarantha snarled, and a scream ravaged my throat as pain like nothing I had know erupted through me. My very bones were shattering as my body rose and then slammed onto the hard floor, and I was crushed beneath another wave of torturous agony. 'Admit you don't really love him, and I'll spare you,' Amarantha breathed, and through my fractured vision, I saw her prowl toward me. 'Admit what a cowardly, lying, inconstant bit of human garbage you are.' I wouldn't- I wouldn't say that even if she splattered me across the ground. But I was being ripped apart from the inside out, and I thrashed, unable to out-scream the pain. 'Feyre!' someone roared. No, not someone- Rhysand. But Amarantha still neared. 'You think you're worthy of him? A High Lord? You think you deserve anything at all, human?' My back arched, and my ribs cracked, one by one. Rhysand yelled my name again- yelled it as though he cared. I blacked out, but she brought me back, ensuring that I felt everything, ensuring that I screamed every time a bone broke.
Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1))
each other and build a life together, I say more power to them. Let’s encourage solid, loving households with open-minded policy, and perhaps we’ll foster a new era of tolerance in which we can turn our attention to actual issues that need our attention, like, I don’t know, killing/bullying the citizens of other nations to maintain control of their oil? What exactly was Jesus’ take on violent capitalism? I also have some big ideas for changing the way we think about literary morals as they pertain to legislation. Rather than suffer another attempt by the religious right to base our legalese upon the Bible, I would vote that we found it squarely upon the writings of J. R. R. Tolkien. The citizens of Middle Earth had much more tolerant policies in their governing bodies. For example, Elrond was chosen to lead the elves at Rivendell not only despite his androgynous nature but most likely because of the magical leadership inherent in a well-appointed bisexual elf wizard. That’s the person you want picking shit out for your community. That’s the guy you want in charge. David Bowie or a Mormon? Not a difficult equation. Was Elrond in a gay marriage? We don’t know, because it’s none of our goddamn business. Whatever the nature of his elvish lovemaking, it didn’t affect his ability to lead his community to prosperity and provide travelers with great directions. We should be encouraging love in the home place, because that makes for happier, stronger citizens. Supporting domestic solidity can only create more satisfied, invested patriots. No matter what flavor that love takes. I like blueberry myself.
Nick Offerman (Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man's Principles for Delicious Living)
I might disagree with them, but accept that they have some purpose to play in God’s larger plan, Then Iluvatar arose, and the Ainur perceived that he smiled; and he lifted up his left hand, and a new theme began amid the storm, like and yet unlike to the former theme, and it gathered power and had new beauty. But the discord of Melkor rose in uproar and contended with it, and again there was a war of sound more violent than before, until many of the Ainur were dismayed and sang no longer, and Melkor had the mastery. Then again Ilu´ vatar arose, and the Ainur perceived that his countenance was stern; and he lifted up his right hand, and behold! a third theme grew amid the confusion, and it was unlike the others. For it seemed at first soft and sweet, a mere rippling of gentle sounds in delicate melodies; but it could not be quenched, and it took to itself power and profundity. And it seemed at last that there were two musics progressing at one time before the seat of Iluvatar, and they were utterly at variance. The one was deep and wide and beautiful, but slow and blended with an immeasurable sorrow, from which its beauty chiefly came. The other had now achieved a unity of its own; but it was loud, and vain, and endlessly repeated; and it had little harmony, but rather a clamorous unison as of many trumpets braying upon a few notes. And it essayed to drown the other music by the violence of its voice, but it seemed that its most triumphant notes were taken by the other and woven into its own solemn pattern. In the midst of this strife, whereat the halls of Iluvatar shook and a tremor ran out into the silences yet unmoved, Ilu´ vatar arose a third time, and his face was terrible to behold. Then he raised up both his hands, and in one chord, deeper than the Abyss, higher than the Firmament, piercing as the light of the eye of Iluvatar, the Music ceased. Then Ilu´ vatar spoke, and he said: ‘Mighty are the Ainur, and mightiest among them is Melkor; but that he may know, and all the Ainur, that I am Iluvatar, those things that ye have sung, I will show them forth, that ye may see what ye have done. And thou, Melkor, shalt see that no theme may be played that hath not its uttermost source in me, nor can any alter the music in my despite. For he that attempteth this shall prove but mine instrument in the devising of things more wonderful, which he himself hath not imagined.’ Then the Ainur were afraid, and they did not yet comprehend the words that were said to them; and Melkor was filled with shame, of which came secret anger. But Iluvatar arose in splendour, and he went forth from the fair regions that he had made for the Ainur; and the Ainur followed him.
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Silmarillion)