“
I'm sorry." He sounded so...earnest, which made Lila instantly suspicious. Alucard was many things, but genuine wasn't usually one of them.
"For growing on me?" she asked.
He shook his head. "For whatever happened to you. For whoever hurt you so deeply that you see things like friends and fondness as weapons instead of shields.
”
”
Victoria E. Schwab (A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic, #2))
“
I hadn't fully realized just how powerful words could be before this. Whoever came up with the saying 'sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me' was talking out of his or her armpit.
”
”
Malorie Blackman (Noughts & Crosses (Noughts & Crosses, #1))
“
Eliza: The problem with YOU is that you don't take the RESPONSIBILITY for anything@ You think you can just run around, doing whatever you want to whoever you want, and that it's going to be fine. That everything is just going to be TAKE CARE of for you, with no consequences.
Cooper: No. I don't, and I have had consequences from what happened with me and you.
Eliza: Yeah? Like what?
Cooper: I lost you, that was my consequence.
”
”
Lauren Barnholdt (One Night That Changes Everything (One Night That Changes Everything, #1))
“
You are the last Five left in the competition, yes? Do you think that hurts your chances of becoming the princess?"
The word sprang from my lips without thought. "No!"
"Oh, my! You do have a spirit there!" Gavril seemed pleased to have gotten such an enthusiastic response. "So you think you'll beat out all the others, then? Make it to the end?"
I thought better of myself. "No, no. It's not like that. I don't think I'm better than any of the other girls; they're all amazing. It's just...I don't think Maxon would do that, just discount someone because of their caste."
I heard a collective gasp. I ran over the sentence in my head. It took me a minute to catch my mistake: I'd called him Maxon. Saying that to another girl behind closed doors was one thing, but to say his name without the word "Prince" in front of it was incredibly informal in public.
And I'd said it on live television.
I looked to see if Maxon was angry. He had a calm smile on his face. So he wasn't mad...but I was embarrassed. I blushed fiercely.
"Ah, so it seems you really have gotten to know our prince. Tell me, what do you think of Maxon?"
I ahd thought of several answers while I was waiting for my turn. I was going to make fun of his laugh or talk about the pet name he wanted his wife to call him. It seemed like the only way to save the situation was to get back the comedy. But as I lifted my eyes to make one of my comments, I saw Maxon's face.
He really wanted to know.
And I couldn't poke fun at him, not when I had a chance to say what I'd really started to think now that he was my friend. I couldn't joke about the person who'd saved me from facing absolute heartbreak at home, who fed my family boxes of sweets, who ran to me worried that I was hurt if I asked for him.
A month ago, I had looked at the TV and seen a stiff, distant, boring person-someone I couldn't imagine anyone loving. And while he wasn't anything close to the person I did love, he was worthy of having someone to love in his life.
"Maxon Schreave is the epitome of all things good. He is going to be a phenomenal king. He lets girls who are supposed to be wearing dresses wear jeans and doesn't get mad when someone who doesn't know him clearly mislabels him." I gave Gavril a keen look, and he smiled. And behind him, Maxon looked intrigued. "Whoever he marries will be a lucky girl. And whatever happens to me, I will be honored to be his subject."
I saw Maxon swallow, and I lowered my eyes.
"America Singer, thank you so much." Gavril went to shake my hand. "Up next is Miss Tallulah Bell."
I didn't hear what any of the girls said after me, though I stared at the two seats. That interview had become way more personal than I'd intended it to be. I couldn't bring myself to look at Maxon. Instead I sat there replaying my words again and again in my head.
”
”
Kiera Cass (The Selection (The Selection, #1))
“
He is never going to be here, I thought. He is never coming back.
Was I okay with it? No. But missing him every day for the rest of my life was still easier than the fight Sebastian had: to stuff himself inside a box every morning and tuck that box inside his heart and pray that his heart kept beating around the obstacle. Every day I could go to class as exactly the person I am, and meet new people, and come outside later for some fresh air and Frisbee. Every day I would be grateful that no one who matters to me questions whether I am too masculine, too feminine, too open, too closed.
Every day I would be grateful for what I have, and that I can be who I am without judgment.
So every day I would fight for Sebastian, and people in the same boat, who don’t have what I do, who struggle to find themselves in a world that tells them white and straight and narrow gets first pick in the schoolyard game of life.
My chest was congested with regret, and relief, and resolve. Give me more of those, I thought to whoever was listening—whether it was God, or Oz, or the three sisters of Fate. Give me those moments where I think he’s coming back. I can take the hurt. The reminder that he’s not coming back—and why—will keep me fighting.
”
”
Christina Lauren (Autoboyography)
“
Whoever said ‘sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me’ clearly hasn’t been on the receiving end of people who spend the vast majority of their time using hateful words.
”
”
Matt Shaw (The 8th)
“
Whoever came up with the saying ‘sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me’ was talking out of his or her armpit.
”
”
Malorie Blackman (Noughts & Crosses (Noughts & Crosses, #1))
“
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.' Yeah, well, whoever wrote that was a friggin' idiot.
”
”
Marley Gibson (The Awakening (Ghost Huntress, #1))
“
This makes it Lawful for a Man to Kill a Thief, who has not in the least hurt him, nor declared any design upon his life, any farther then by the use of Force, so to get him in his Power, as to take away his Money, or what he pleases from him.: because using force, where he has no Right, to get me into his Power, let his pretense be what it will, I have no reason to purpose that he, who would take away my Liberty, would not when he had me in his Power, take away every thing else. And therefore it is Lawful for me to treat him, as one who has put himself into a State of War with me, I.e. kill him if I can; for to that hazard does he justly expose himself, whoever introduces a State of War, and is Aggressor in it.
”
”
John Locke (Second Treatise of Government (Hackett Classics))
“
I can be whoever the world wants me to be - so I decided to be a scandal: being completely myself.
”
”
Laura Chouette
“
Whoever hurt you had a choice to hurt you or love you. It was his choice whoever he is, not yours. It is the same as how Hank made the choice to beat on me and Mom instead of loving us the way he should have. As you told me, that was not my fault either. I believe it is the option of choice that makes evil possible. When he made his choice, you really had no choice.” [said Craig]
”
”
Sarah Richards (Taken in the Woods (Woodmere #2))
“
Sweet for a little even to fear, and sweet,
O love, to lay down fear at love’s fair feet;
Shall not some fiery memory of his breath
Lie sweet on lips that touch the lips of death?
Yet leave me not; yet, if thou wilt, be free;
Love me no more, but love my love of thee.
Love where thou wilt, and live thy life; and I,
One thing I can, and one love cannot—die.
Pass from me; yet thine arms, thine eyes, thine hair,
Feed my desire and deaden my despair.
Yet once more ere time change us, ere my cheek
Whiten, ere hope be dumb or sorrow speak,
Yet once more ere thou hate me, one full kiss;
Keep other hours for others, save me this.
Yea, and I will not (if it please thee) weep,
Lest thou be sad; I will but sigh, and sleep.
Sweet, does death hurt? thou canst not do me wrong:
I shall not lack thee, as I loved thee, long.
Hast thou not given me above all that live
Joy, and a little sorrow shalt not give?
What even though fairer fingers of strange girls
Pass nestling through thy beautiful boy’s curls
As mine did, or those curled lithe lips of thine
Meet theirs as these, all theirs come after mine;
And though I were not, though I be not, best,
I have loved and love thee more than all the rest.
O love, O lover, loose or hold me fast,
I had thee first, whoever have thee last;
Fairer or not, what need I know, what care?
To thy fair bud my blossom once seemed fair.
Why am I fair at all before thee, why
At all desired? seeing thou art fair, not I.
I shall be glad of thee, O fairest head,
Alive, alone, without thee, with thee, dead;
I shall remember while the light lives yet,
And in the night-time I shall not forget.
Though (as thou wilt) thou leave me ere life leave,
I will not, for thy love I will not, grieve;
Not as they use who love not more than I,
Who love not as I love thee though I die;
And though thy lips, once mine, be oftener prest
To many another brow and balmier breast,
And sweeter arms, or sweeter to thy mind,
Lull thee or lure, more fond thou wilt not find.
”
”
Algernon Charles Swinburne (Poems and Ballads)
“
For growing on me?” she asked.
He shook his head. “For whatever happened to you. For whoever hurt you so deeply that you see things like friends and fondness as weapons instead of shields.” Lila felt the heat rising to her cheeks.
“It’s kept me alive, hasn’t it?”
“Perhaps. But life is pointless without pleasure.
”
”
Victoria E. Schwab (A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic, #2))
“
We can forgive but we can’t forget. Whoever says otherwise hasn’t known true pain. Hear me out. Hearts are muscles, and muscles have memory. So, of course our hearts can’t forget. They remember what hurts them. They remember so they can grow stronger. I think that’s why we must remember. If we forgot the moment we forgave, we wouldn’t receive the strength that comes from hurting. And something good must come from all the bad. Something. Anything. Even the faintest good.
”
”
Caroline George (Dearest Josephine)
“
Tetu Palaita is one of those for me. He is my son, my brother, my friend. I hurt for him so much right this moment I’m incapable of describing it. I’m finding it hard to be rational. I want revenge. Not justice. Revenge. I want to hurt whoever did this to Tetu’s family in the most brutal ways I can conceive. My perspective has taken a leave of absence.
”
”
John M Vermillion (Packfire (Simon Pack, #9))
“
Whoever had come up with the chant “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me” had been an idiot.
”
”
Nevada Barr (Deep South (Anna Pigeon, #8))
“
The day it starts to hurt you, leave it alone, and that’s with whatever. Men, friends, whoever. The moment it hurts, you cancel niggas. You hear me?
”
”
Ashley Antoinette (Butterfly)
“
Whoever coined the phrase “sticks and stones” is an asshole, don’t you think? Words indeed hurt more than stones. Thanks for trying to gaslight me out of it though. It didn’t work.
”
”
K.M. Moronova (The Fabric of Our Souls)
“
Growing up, I believed in all sorts of fantastic things. Ghosts and aliens, monsters that brought on nightmares and fed on fear. The fantasies materialized every time I closed my eyes, making me afraid to fall asleep. I'm still scared of sleeping alone. The yawn the sneeze, the breath of whoever's lying next to me retrieves me from the nightmares. Even though I'm all grown up. I say it like a joke, and it usually gives people a laugh. "You're still a little kid," they say. It's lonely being in a big bed all by myself. It's never hurt my feelings. They're only strangers.
”
”
Youngha (Love or Hate)
“
Whoever he was, no matter how pimpled and squeaky, if he was big enough to hurt me, I wanted him. It's something I've come to understand about myself - I want someone who can hurt me but won't.
”
”
Jessica Knoll (Luckiest Girl Alive)
“
quality. Spend extra time on your assignments. Write papers for her that she didn’t even assign! Come early to class. Ask questions. Pay attention. Show her who you are and want to be. If it’s a boss, work around the clock. Get to work before them. Leave after they go home. Make sure they see that shit, and when it’s time to deliver, surpass their maximum expectations. Whoever
”
”
David Goggins (Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds)
“
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said that if someone makes you go one mile, go with him two miles (see Matthew 5:41). Whoever you are, and whatever experiences or doubts you bring to this discussion, will you walk with me as I share the evidence that changed my dad’s mind? I ask as a brother in Christ—one who has sometimes been hurt by others’ unwillingness to listen, and who continues to see fresh wounds open up in the body of Christ. Perhaps you are convinced your views will not change. Perhaps you hope they will. Either way, I invite you to join me for the journey.
”
”
Matthew Vines (God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships)
“
most people don’t know what Pride is about. The anguish, and the hurt, and the reason why Pride started in the first place—it was an anti-cop event. Look, yes—I know there are trans police officers. You have Black people who are police officers, and women police officers. All that’s cute, but guess what: It’s blue first, your other allegiances second. Once you get on that blue, child, it goes straight through to your brain, dyes your brain blue, and you’re no longer whoever the fuck you were before. So no, they don’t need to be there. That’s where their loyalty lies. So stay the fuck away from me.
”
”
Toshio Meronek (Miss Major Speaks: Conversations with a Black Trans Revolutionary)
“
The most vital weapons at the disposal of a special forces soldier are his intellect and his mental toughness. Sometimes it all comes down to 'who wants it most', i.e. whoever is more willing to keep fighting and trying to survive. Being able to keep your head and look for advantages or escape routes is a big plus too.
Getting into 'survival mode' requires shifting mental gears when you need to. Good training helps with this as well as giving you the skills you need, but ultimately the will that drives your bid to survive is yours.
If you give in to fear or go into denial, pretending that it is not happening, then you will fail. Instead you must accept that it IS really happening and deal with it. So if you find yourself thinking, "What's he going to do to me?', you have to force yourself to answer, 'Nothing. I'm not going to let him.'
If you have done all you can to avoid trouble and it finds you anyway, then it is down to you to make a way out of the situation with as little harm to yourself as possible. Yes, you will be scared. Yes, you might indeed get hurt. Yes, it is possible that you could fail to defend yourself... but not for lack of trying. If the bad guy will not let you withdraw or de-escalate the situation, if he insists on fighting then he has decided that someone is going to get hurt. But it is you, not him, that gets to decide who.
”
”
Martin J. Dougherty (Special Forces Unarmed Combat Guide: Hand-to-Hand Fighting Skills From The World's Most Elite Military Units)
“
You must also know clearly what you want out of the situation, and be prepared to clearly articulate your desire. It’s a good idea to tell the person you are confronting exactly what you would like them to do instead of what they have done or currently are doing. You might think, “if they loved me, they would know what to do.” That’s the voice of resentment. Assume ignorance before malevolence. No one has a direct pipeline to your wants and needs—not even you. If you try to determine exactly what you want, you might find that it is more difficult than you think. The person oppressing you is likely no wiser than you, especially about you. Tell them directly what would be preferable, instead, after you have sorted it out. Make your request as small and reasonable as possible—but ensure that its fulfillment would satisfy you. In that manner, you come to the discussion with a solution, instead of just a problem. Agreeable, compassionate, empathic, conflict-averse people (all those traits group together) let people walk on them, and they get bitter. They sacrifice themselves for others, sometimes excessively, and cannot comprehend why that is not reciprocated. Agreeable people are compliant, and this robs them of their independence. The danger associated with this can be amplified by high trait neuroticism. Agreeable people will go along with whoever makes a suggestion, instead of insisting, at least sometimes, on their own way. So, they lose their way, and become indecisive and too easily swayed. If they are, in addition, easily frightened and hurt, they have even less reason to strike out on their own, as doing so exposes them to threat and danger (at least in the short term). That’s the pathway to dependent personality disorder, technically speaking.198 It might be regarded as the polar opposite of antisocial personality disorder, the set of traits characteristic of delinquency in childhood and adolescence and criminality in adulthood. It would be lovely if the opposite of a criminal was a saint—but it’s not the case. The opposite of a criminal is an Oedipal mother, which is its own type of criminal.
”
”
Jordan B. Peterson (12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos)
“
Tell me something, Brahman: Do friends and colleagues, relatives and kinsmen, ever come to your house as guests?” “Yes,” the Brahman answered. “And tell me something, Brahman,” Buddha continued. “Do you serve them foods and delicacies when they arrive?” “Yes,” the Brahman answered, “I do.” “And tell me something, Brahman,” Buddha continued. “If they don’t accept them, to whom do those foods belong?” “Well, I suppose if they don’t accept them, those foods are all mine.” “Yes,” said Buddha. “In the same way, Brahman, I do not accept your anger and your criticism. It is all yours.” The Brahman was stunned and could think of nothing to say. His anger continued to bubble up inside him, but he had nowhere to put it. Nobody was accepting it or taking it from him. Buddha continued: “That with which you have insulted me, who is not insulting, that with which you have taunted me, who is not taunting, that with which you have berated me, who is not berating, that I don’t accept from you. It’s all yours, Brahman. It’s all yours. “If you become angry with me and I do not get insulted, then the anger falls back on you. You are then the only one who becomes unhappy. All you have done is hurt yourself. If you want to stop hurting yourself, you must get rid of your anger and become loving instead. “Whoever returns insult to one who is insulting, returns taunts to one who is taunting, returns a berating to one who is berating, is eating together, sharing company, with that person. But I am neither eating together nor sharing your company, Brahman. It’s all yours. It’s all yours.
”
”
Neil Pasricha (The Happiness Equation: Want Nothing + Do Anything = Have Everything)
“
He actually does the opposite. He says, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.”1 If Jesus wanted to grow a church, didn’t he know telling people they need to daily pick up an instrument of torture, death, and shame wasn’t the way to do it? Jesus opposed the pharisaical legalism of his time, but he also opposed the watered-down, flimsy, cultural religion. He was essentially saying, “I know my miracles are awesome. I know I have immense power. But don’t follow me for the wrong reason. The cost is high. The road to follow me is tough, it’s painful, it hurts, and you might even face death, but I promise there is joy on the other side. Do you want in?
”
”
Jefferson Bethke (Jesus > Religion: Why He Is So Much Better Than Trying Harder, Doing More, and Being Good Enough)
“
warmer tan; I looked less creepy in the summer. Maybe that was why the girls had been digging into me so hard. I looked rather witchy. The unease that made them mock me was probably their souls warning them, urging them to notice I was different and dangerous. At my worst, it feels like the fire that could easily shoot from my palm is raging inside of me. My heart picks up, more than when I’m scared. It pounds, I can’t hear. My blood dances, taunting me, begging me to hurt whoever’s hurt me. And I know that I can. I feel that I can. But I don’t. I breathe and pray and let the magic cool. I didn’t want to be this way—consumed by rage and thoughts of death. I’d much rather be normal and not feel so distant from everyone around me. It would be nice to join the art club and not have to worry about what I’d do to the catty girls there. Before the powers, I’d thought that was where my life was headed—being the quiet girl with the natural artistic abilities. The nuns had thought drawing and painting would bring me out of my shell, make me finally want to talk to someone, connect
”
”
M. Lathan (Hidden (Hidden #1))
“
I won’t know where we’re going until we get there.” Skylar was completely unfazed by my snapping. “And once we get there, I probably won’t know why until you guys tell me what’s going on.”
“You’re the psychic,” Bethany muttered. “Shouldn’t you be able to figure it out for yourself?”
If anything, Skylar seemed enthused by the pointed question. “Reading your minds on command would require being significantly psychic, and I’m not. I never know when I’m going to pick up something, and it comes in pieces and feelings, not in words. So who wants to clue the sophomore in?”
Not me.
I didn’t want to drag Skylar into this. There was just something about her that screamed protect me! Whoever the men looking for the “anemic cheerleader” were, I was fairly certain I didn’t want them anywhere near the Little Optimist That Could.
Unfortunately, Bethany had no such predilection. “Sometime in the past week, I got bitten by a chupacabra. Somehow—no idea how—Kali lured it out of my body and into hers. She’s already far enough gone that medical science can’t do a thing to save her, and she’s got some kind of plan—probably a risky, unreliable one riddled with holes—to get the bloodsucker out.” Bethany blew out a long breath and then glanced back over her shoulder at Skylar. “There. You know what I know about the current situation. So, any time now, feel free to do your whole ‘psychic’ thing and tell me where the bedazzler we’re going, or I might be forced to physically hurt you.”
Skylar made a pfft sound with her lips. “Five brothers,” she said, pointing to herself. Then she pointed to Bethany. “Only child. I could totally take you. Turn left.”
Bethany slammed on the brakes. “Seriously?”
“Please?” Skylar smiled winningly, and after a long moment, Bethany turned left onto an access road that dead-ended into a large parking lot.
”
”
Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Every Other Day)
“
It's funny, you know. We're free. We make choices. We weigh things in our minds, consider everything carefully, use all the tools of logic and education. And in the end, what we mostly do is what we have no choice but to do.
Makes you think, why bother? But you bother because you do, that's why. Because you're a DNA-brand computer running Childhood 1.0 software. They update the software but the changes are always just around the edges.
You have the brain you have, the intelligence, the talents, the strengths and weaknesses you have, from the moment they take you out of the box and throw away the Styrofoam padding.
But you have the fears you picked up along the way. The terrors of age four or six or eight are never suspended, just layered over. The dread I'd felt so recently, a dread that should be so much greater because the facts had been so much more horrible, still could not diminish the impact of memories that had been laid down long years before.
It's that way all through life, I guess. I have a relative who says she still gets depressed every September because in the back of her mind it's time for school to start again. She's my great-aunt. The woman is sixty-seven and still bumming over the first day of school five-plus decades ago.
It's sad in a way because the pleasures of life get old and dated fast. The teenage me doesn't get the jolt the six-year-old me got from a package of Pop Rocks. The me I've become doesn't rush at the memories of the day I skated down a parking ramp however many years ago.
Pleasure fades, gets old, gets thrown out with last year's fad. Fear, guilt, all that stuff stays fresh.
Maybe that's why people get so enraged when someone does something to a kid. Hurt a kid and he hurts forever. Maybe an adult can shake it off. Maybe. But with a kid, you hurt them and it turns them, shapes them, becomes part of the deep, underlying software of their lives. No delete.
I don't know. I don't know much. I feel like I know less all the time. Rate I'm going, by the time I'm twenty-one I won't know a damned thing.
But still I was me. Had no choice, I guess. I don't know, maybe that's bull and I was just feeling sorry for myself. But, bottom line, I dried my eyes, and I pushed my dirty, greasy hair back off my face, and I started off down the road again because whatever I was, whoever I was, however messed up I might be, I wasn't leaving April behind.
Maybe it was all an act programmed into me from the get-go, or maybe it grew up out of some deep-buried fear, I mean maybe at some level I was really just as pathetic as Senna thought I was. Maybe I was a fake. Whatever. Didn't matter.
I was going back to the damned dragon, and then I was getting April out, and everything and everyone else could go screw themselves.
One good thing: For now at least, I was done being scared.
”
”
K.A. Applegate
“
Whoever had been driving that SUV was still out there somewhere. Their first enemy. Not the “She said my hair looked stupid” or “He cut in front of me in the lunch line” kind. A real enemy. The kind who wants to hurt you … or worse. Nick wondered if he should be mad at his mom and dad for shipping him off into this mess. After a while, he decided it wasn’t their fault. But he’d hate soybeans till the day he died.
”
”
Bob Pflugfelder (Nick and Tesla and the High-Voltage Danger Lab: A Mystery with Gadgets You Can Build Yourself ourself)
“
Bein' here with you . . . you've really got under my skin."
"You want to break the rule?"
He nods slowly. "Yeah."
"Why?"
“Because I’m tryin’ to push you away when all I want to do is hold you. I know you say you don’t want a hero, but damn I’d like to be that guy who’ll save you from spiders and whatever and whoever else hurts you.”
His words seep deep into the core of my heart. With our eyes locked, I straddle him on the chair. “I want to break the rule, too.”
My heart pounds rapidly and I grab his shoulders so he can steady me. I’m dizzy with wanting him to love me as much as I love him. He’s soaking wet and now I’m soaking and rain falls on us and around us. I don’t feel hot or cold . . . I’m too caught up in being with Derek, here in the dark in the middle of the night.
”
”
Simone Elkeles (Wild Cards (Wild Cards, #1))
“
When we pray we admit that we don’t know what God is going to do, but remember that we will never find out if we are not open to risks. We learn to stretch out our arms to the deep sea and the high heavens with an open mind and heart. In many ways prayer becomes an attitude toward life that opens itself up to a gift that is always coming. We find courage to let new things happen, things over which we have no control, but which now loom as less threatening. And it is here that we find courage to face our human boundaries and hurts, whether our physical appearance, our being excluded by others, our memories of hurt or abuse, our oppression at the hands of another. As we find freedom to cry out in our anguish or protest someone’s suffering, we discover ourselves slowly led into a new place. We become conditioned to wait for what we in our own strength cannot create or orchestrate. We realize that joy is not a matter of balloons and parties, not owning a house, or even having our children succeed in school. It has to do with a deep experience— an experience of Christ. In the quiet listening of prayer, we learn to make out the voice that says, “I love you, whoever else likes you or not. You are mine. Build your home in me as I have built my home in you.
”
”
Henri J.M. Nouwen (Turn My Mourning into Dancing: Finding Hope in Hard Times)
“
For so long, I’ve only ever felt that for myself, and this… this feels so much worse. Whoever created the word goodbye never knew loss. There’s nothing good about the way he leaves me.
”
”
H.D. Carlton (Does It Hurt?)
“
Choose any competitive situation that you’re in right now. Who is your opponent? Is it your teacher or coach, your boss, an unruly client? No matter how they’re treating you there is one way to not only earn their respect, but turn the tables. Excellence. That may mean acing an exam, or crafting an ideal proposal, or smashing a sales goal. Whatever it is, I want you to work harder on that project or in that class than you ever have before. Do everything exactly as they ask, and whatever standard they set as an ideal outcome, you should be aiming to surpass that. If your coach doesn’t give you time in the games, dominate practice. Check the best guy on your squad and show the fuck out. That means putting time in off the field. Watching film so you can study your opponent’s tendencies, memorizing plays, and training in the gym. You need to make that coach pay attention. If it’s your teacher, then start doing work of high quality. Spend extra time on your assignments. Write papers for her that she didn’t even assign! Come early to class. Ask questions. Pay attention. Show her who you are and want to be. If it’s a boss, work around the clock. Get to work before them. Leave after they go home. Make sure they see that shit, and when it’s time to deliver, surpass their maximum expectations. Whoever you’re dealing with, your goal is to make them watch you achieve what they could never have done themselves. You want them thinking how amazing you are. Take their negativity and use it to dominate their task with
”
”
David Goggins (Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds)
“
I’d like to be with you,” she said, “but only if you’re comfortable with it. It’s not going to hurt the baby—you can call the doctor and ask her yourself. Or talk to Z—he and Bella were together while she was pregnant. She told me so. Talk to whoever you need to, but please rethink where you’re at. Being with you has to have a place in all this.”
As he cracked his knuckles like he was considering things, she stared at the tattoos that ran up his inner forearms. She tried to imagine a son of hers with a set of those and reached out, turning one of his hands over so she could run her fingertips across the symbols.
“Will he get these, too?” So many names, she thought. “Or because I’m his mother, is he not allowed—”
“Fuck that shit. He can abso get them—and I’ll have V do it. But only if he wants them.”
“I’m surprised.”
“About?”
“How much I want him to. I want him to be just like you.”
There was a long pause and Wrath had to clear his throat. “That’s just about the best compliment anyone’s ever paid me.”
“I don’t know. . . . I just feel like you’re the perfect man.”
“Now you’re making me blush.”
She laughed in a rush. “It’s true.”
“I curse. Constantly. I have a short temper. I order people around—including you.”
“You’re also a great fighter. Great lover—although my son will never, ever have sex—nope, not going there, and if we have grandchildren, they will be immaculately conceived. Wait, where was I—oh, yeah, so you’re also very loyal. You’ve never looked at another woman.”
Wrath put his index finger up. “And that would be true even if I could see.”
“And you’re smart. Great-looking—”
He leaned in. “Are you trying to butter me up so I’ll have sex with you?”
“Is it working?”
“Maybe.” He kissed her lips softly. “Just give me a little time. Only yesterday you were rushed to the doc’s because you were throwing up.”
She ran her hand down his cheek and his hard jaw. “I’ll wait for you. Always.”
-Beth & Wrath
”
”
J.R. Ward (The King (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #12))
“
So his nerves were set on high before he walked in. When he opened the door, scanned the room, he quickly spotted what was his. Flirting heavily at the bar. And obviously waiting and watching for Prophet, since he waved happily to him. Seemed like Tom’s hurt and anger over last night’s admissions had faded away somewhat easily. Too easily. And Prophet wasn’t fooled, but he was pissed that Tom would try to fool him to get him pissed. Because really, Tom was here, the place that was literally the whole source of the fight. And even though it was more of a symbol of a bigger issue, it was still fucking weird being here with Tom, because this wasn’t a place he associated with Tom. He wouldn’t do this with Tom—not in a club, anyway, and not even in a private room. And Tom wouldn’t want it here, either. Having Tom here was . . . Prophet didn’t know how to explain it. Because Tom and Mal needed a lot of the same things, but they weren’t the same. No way. “Hey baby. Looking for a daddy?” Prophet looked up at a big man wearing full leathers. A definite bear. Handsome too. “Saw you here a couple of weeks ago. I’m Ray.” “Yeah?” Prophet had two options here, and the one that’d piss Tom off the most won. “Why don’t you buy me a drink, Ray?” He was a quick three shots in when a hand clasped on the back of his neck. Normally, the urge to grab it, twist it, and slam whoever it was to the bar would hit him immediately. But this place was all about touching. Besides, Prophet knew that touch. “S’up Tom?” Tom moved beside him, eyes narrowed. “What’re you doing?” “You said to come for a drink.” Prophet held up another shot. “’S’what I’m doing. With Ray.
”
”
S.E. Jakes (Not Fade Away (Hell or High Water, #3.5))
“
They say that if you’re in pain, you know you’re alive. I want a time machine so I can meet whoever it was that started that mindset. I’ll shake his hand and promptly kick him in the nuts. I’m not like other people. Pain HURTS me.
”
”
James Crawford (Blood Soaked and Invaded (Blood Soaked #2))
“
You thought I was bringing you flowers?” I was incredulous at his fancy.
He looked from me suddenly, and I perceived that my words and tone shamed him. Head bowed, he walked slowly toward his bedchamber. He made no reply to my words and I felt a sudden rush of sympathy for him. As my friend, I loved him. I could not change my feelings about his unnatural desires, but I had no wish to see him shamed or hurt. So of course I made it worse as I blundered in with “Fool, why do you not let your desires go where they would be welcome? Garetha is a fairly attractive woman. Perhaps, if you gladly received her attention—”
He rounded on me suddenly, and the true anger that flared up in his eyes lit them to a deep gold. His face flushed darker with emotion as he demanded caustically, “Then? Then what? Then I could be like you, sate myself with whoever was available merely because it was offered to me? That, I would find ‘distasteful’. I would never use Garetha or any person that way. Unlike some we both know.” He weighted those last two words for me. He took two more steps toward his room, then rounded on me again. A terrible, bitter smile was on his face. “Wait. I see. You imagine that I have never known intimacy of that sort. That I have been ‘saving myself’ for you.” He gave a contemptuous snort. “Don’t flatter yourself, FitzChivalry. I doubt you would have been worth the wait.
”
”
Robin Hobb (Golden Fool (Tawny Man, #2))
“
Love is the sweetness of life.”
“Pray is gold, whereas love is a diamond.”
“Love does not wear hatred and bias.”
“Love is a fulfillment of life; without that, life is nothing.”
Love cannot appear and become true love without respect, tolerance, empathy, sympathy, care, and sacrifice.”
“One can love whoever and whenever one wants; however, expecting similar feelings from that whom one loves is a risk of self-hurting.”
“Love speaks in your words, sights with your eyes, grows on your conduct, and finally resides in your heart, becoming your heartbeat.”
“When your mind is rich in wisdom, and your heart is sensitive and filled with love, you are a person who can change the world.”
“Love does not recognize the terms hide and seek. When it happens, it becomes visible without any fear or hesitation.”
“Those who care for self-respect show real and true love, and they do not break the trust and certainty of their beloved. Love cannot stay where there is no self-respect.”
“If you love someone, and you are also keeping the options, it is not fair to your lover, not even yourself. You are just an opportunist. True love knows no options.”
“Love for humanity is the mother of every love; no other love can prevail over it.”
“Etiquette, respect, and love embellish and beautify the character while also helping to reach and qualify for success in life.”
“Love with motives does not have success and embraces shame and sorry.”
“My religion is love, which I have learned from my religion.”
“Beauty hits eyes, and love touches heartbeats.”
“The billions of beautiful faces exist in the world, but I fell in love with one face.”
“The silent love has more truth than the spoken one.”
“Please pray for me. I am going to fall in love.”
“I do not search for a true friend and true love. I practice becoming a true friend and giving true love.”
“I can never feel again such love which I had felt for the first time in my youth.”
“If there is no current, the lamp does not light up; similarly, if there is no passion, love does not become the heartbeat.”
“Love with the heart validates purity and truth. Love with the mind may evidence diplomacy and tact.”
“Real and pure love exists at the age of nine and ninety years; between that lies a risk. However, an exception may become a wonder.”
“Love fragrances, and colors, the breath waves that inspire the heart language.”
“Love bears two negative feelings; fear and jealousy, overcoming that beautify life; otherwise, these become self-hurting.”
“Love is not just a remedy for sex frustration; it is a solemn life pledge to be together for all seasons and circumstances.”
“How simple it is, how deep it is, and how true it is, within the two-L-that you are my Life and Love. Do we honestly make also perfumed that?”
“Log in Love; log out Hatred and scan evil threats with the purity of thoughts: Life becomes secure and stays smooth and flowery.”
“Anyone who indulges only in self-love remains devoid of true love.”
"Your words can be constructive or destructive. Love is a positive energy that grows when it is filled up with sweet words and keeps love fresh and alive. If there are destructive words, love will go dry and finally die.
"Love is a context of heartbeats; intimacy is its dictionary; use it carefully and properly; otherwise, typos can cause risks.
”
”
Ehsan Sehgal
“
She said, "Whoever heard of a colored historian?" Head up. Eyes flashing with anger.
He was bewildered and hurt in a funny kind of way. He had looked at her thinking, Why should you who are colored try to destroy me, discourage me, and why should the history teacher who is white, encourage me, keep telling me I can do this thing? Why do you want to hurt me? How can you say that and then turn around and quote your farther, "The black man can do anything if he sets out to do it, if he's willing to work at it, night and day, can do anything, can do anything.
”
”
Ann Petry (The Narrows)
“
Instead, she tracked down my stepfather, killed him, and then saved a child’s life. A child I let down by not being the hero a devil was. Lana Myers, or whoever she really is, survived something so dark that she needs revenge. But Logan is sleeping with her. He’s falling in love. And she’s a fucking psychopath. My own guilt for my failures has me wondering what happens if I stop her. I don’t know enough about her victims to know if they’re hurting others the way I let Kenneth get away with.
”
”
S.T. Abby (Scarlet Angel (Mindf*ck, #3))
“
Control me god, toward my destiny, To wherever you have fixed my destination. I follow cheerfully; and, if I don’t, In sad manner, I have to follow anyway. Whoever properly understands fate is deemed Wise among men, and knows the laws of Heaven. And this also: “If it pleases god, let it be.” “They may kill me; but they cannot hurt me”.
”
”
James Harris (The Enchiridion: Adapted for the Contemporary Reader)
“
Cassian titled his head to the side at her silence. 'What is it?'
'Would you train non-Illyrian females?'
'I'm training you, aren't I?'
'I mean, would you consider...' She didn't know how to elegantly phrase it, not like silver-tongued Rhysand. 'The priestesses in the library. If I invited them to train with us here, where it's private and safe. Would you train them?'
Cassian blinked slowly. 'Yes. I mean, of course, but...' He winced. 'Nesta, many of the females in the library do not want to be- cannot stand to be- around males again.'
'Then we'll ask one of your female friends to join. Mor or anyone else you can think of.'
'The priestesses might not even be able to stomach having me present.'
'You'd never hurt anyone like that.'
His eyes softened slightly. 'It's not about that for them. It's about the fear- the trauma they bear. Even if they know I'd never do that to them, I might still drag up memories that are incredibly difficult for them to face.'
'You said this training would help me with my... problems. Perhaps it could help them. At the very least give them a reason to get outside for a bit.'
Cassian watched her for a long moment. Then he said, 'Whoever you can get up here with us, I'll gladly train. Mor's away, but I can ask Feyre-'
'Not Feyre,' Nesta hated the words. The way his back stiffened. She couldn't look at him as she said, 'I just...' How could she explain the tangle between her and her sister? The self-loathing that threatened to consume her every time she looked at her sister's face?
'All right,' Cassian repeated. 'Not Feyre. But I need to give her and Rhys a heads-up. You should probably ask Clotho for permission, too.' A warm hand clasped her shoulder and squeezed. 'I like this idea, Nes.' His hazel eyes shone bright. 'I like it a lot.'
And for some reason, the words meant everything.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Silver Flames (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #4))
“
Whoever said I wanted you to die down here?”
“Whoever said I’d let you live?” I snap back.
“You’re in no position to hurt me,” she rages.
“I’ve made a pretty good start on your head,” I snarl. “How about I finish the job?
”
”
C.J. Holmes (Destiny's Queen (London Fae Court #3))
“
We'd been playing with fire for months, knowing all it would take was one match to set the world around us alight. But even with all of that hurt, it was worth it. Even if I couldn't have him anymore, I treasured this. Whoever you want to call it—God, the stars, fate—I thanked them. I praised them, even. For bringing him back to me. For letting me have those moments with him. I went into this knowing we would get burned. But, God, we'd burned so beautifully.
”
”
Lance Lansdale (We Burn Beautiful)
“
was driving home today and heard a news report about a young woman in Springfield Gardens, found murdered this morning. Her brother discovered her battered body. Whoever killed her brutalized this poor woman. My heart hurts to think how much she must have suffered. And then, I began thinking... my God...her family. They have to bury their daughter/sister. Their lives changed overnight. And I thought to myself, nothing...absolutely nothing that I had to deal with this week so far (no matter how negative or trying, or irritating or just downright stupid) would matter AT ALL if I woke up and someone I loved was no longer with me. Which means, the energy I did give to any of the above was (is) wasted.
It was just a moment of perspective that really shook me up. I say all of this to, hopefully, inspire anyone who may be focusing on someone or something that is trying to steal your joy, to stop and embrace what really, REALLY matters. Trust and believe, if you were to wake up tomorrow having lost someone who meant everything to you, much of what you are stressing about now, wouldn't even matter.
”
”
Liz Faublas
“
You asked who we are now,” I said, looking up at him. “I think we need to move even further back and ask, are we a ‘we’?”
“What do you mean?” he asked, with sudden intensity.
“What I mean is,” I said, “are we together, or am I just some kind of…warden again, only it’s fate keeping you prisoner this time, instead of my brother?”
“Don’t make it sound simple when it isn’t,” he said. “That’s not fair.”
“Fair?” I laughed. “What, in your entire life so far, has made you think anything will be ‘fair’?” I stepped wider, so I felt like I was rooted to the ground, the way I might have if we had been about to spar. “Just tell me--tell me if I’m something you’re choosing, or not. Just tell me.”
Just get it over with, I thought, because I already knew the answer. I was ready to hear it--even eager, because I had been bracing myself since our first kiss for this rejection. It was the inevitable by-product of what I was. Monstrous, and bound to destroy whoever was in my path, particularly if they were as kind as Akos.
“I,” he said, slowly, “am a Thuvhesit, Cyra. I would never oppose my country, my home, if I felt like I had a choice.”
I closed my eyes. It hurt worse--much worse--than I was expecting it to.
He went on, “But my mother used to say, ‘Suffer the fate, for all else is delusion.’ There’s no point in fighting something that is inevitable.
”
”
Veronica Roth (The Fates Divide (Carve the Mark, #2))
“
and the brother were just… white. I was sick to my stomach and I wanted the whole thing to be over. But it wasn’t.” She turned toward him. “It… destroyed the family. I mean, all of them were a little strange, but it turned into a catastrophe. A few months after the murder, Cassie’s mom committed suicide, then the father had his medical license suspended. I always thought there was something a little weird about the brother… anyway, that’s when these terrible notes started to arrive. They came to my apartment and the office, in different envelopes, usually just a sentence or two. They were awful… calling me names, demanding to know why I hated Cassie or why I wanted to hurt the family. The police talked to the brother and the notes stopped. For a while, anyway, but when they started arriving again, they were… different. More threatening. Way scarier. So the police talked to him again, and I guess he just… snapped. Denied that he was responsible and insisted that I was out to get him, that the police were in cahoots with me. He ended up in a psychiatric hospital. Meanwhile, the father’s threatening to sue me. The police theorized that Cassie’s boyfriend might be responsible for the notes. Of course, when the police talked to him, he denied sending them, too. That’s when the panic attacks started. I had the sense that whoever was sending those notes would never leave me alone and that’s when I knew I had to go home.” Colin said nothing. He knew there was nothing he could say that would make
”
”
Nicholas Sparks (See Me)
“
Sharing difficult truths might come with a cost-the need to face them- but there is also a reward: freedom. The truth releases us form shame."
"There is a term we use in therapy: Forced forgiveness. Sometimes people feel that in order to get past trauma, they need to forgive whoever caused the damage. But too often people feel pressured to forgive and then end up believing that something is wrong with them if they cant quite get there. You can have compassion without forgiving. there are many ways to move on, and pretending to feel a certain way isn’t one."
"I point out to her that pain can be protective; staying in a depressed place can be a form of avoidance. Safe inside her shell of pain, she doesn’t have to face anything, nor does she has to emerge into the world, where she may get hurt again."
"What brings you here now? The now is key, why this year, this month, this day, have you decided to come talk to me?"
"Just as parents raise their kids to loose them one day, therapists work to loose clients, not retain them."
"The inability to say no is largely about approval seeking- people imagine that if they say no, they wont be loved by others. The inability to say yes however, is more about lack of trust in one self."
"You cant get through your pain by diminishing it, you get through your pain by accepting it and figuring out what to do with it."
"We grow in connection with others. It turns out the books grow in the same way."
"Its all you" we tend to say, "I was just here to guide you" And in a sense, that’s true. The fact that they picked up the phone and decided to come to therapy and then work through things every week is something no one else could do for them"
"Its like when someone finally has the guts to tell you that you have a problem, and you feel both defensive and relieved that this person is telling it like it is. That’s the delicate work therapists do.
”
”
Lori Gottlieb (Maybe You Should Talk to Someone)
“
More than anything else, we must understand that our voices have great power. We can use words to build bridges and ships and crews and families, or we can use them to oppress one another, or to rip each other to shreds. Whoever said, "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me," obviously never had a drink with the person who said, "The pen is mightier than the sword." I side with the latter sentiment. Civilizations rise and fall by the written word. The United States certainly rose by these ones: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal," and if we truly believe the spirit of those words, we as Americans will work together until we have achieved them in their fullness.
Use your words to liberate, not subjugate.
Do what is right, even when they tell you to "stop."
Build a better history for tomorrow, today.
”
”
Courtney Alameda (Pitch Dark)
“
raised a brow, leaning back to look at her face as my heart pounded harder. “You really will kill whoever hurt him, won’t you?” “Yes,” she snarled, the fierceness in her eyes driving a hole into my chest. “Even if it kills me to. I have nothing left anyway.
”
”
Caroline Peckham (Savage Fae (Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac, #2))
“
Whoever created the word goodbye never knew loss. There’s nothing good about the way he leaves me.
”
”
H.D. Carlton (Does It Hurt?)
“
It is unjust to blame me for the memory that haunts your eyes. Whatever happened, whoever hurt you, I promise it wasn’t me. It will never be me.
”
”
Misu Loy (Hunted (When Nightmares Reign #1))