Dictionary Quotes - Page 10

• Sydney had been horrified to discover my home library consisted of a bartending dictionary and an old copy of Esquire, and at her pleading, I'd promised to read something more substantial. I was trying to think deep thoughts as I read Gatsby, but mostly I wanted to throw some parties.

  Richelle Mead

  Party, Home, Thinking

  Richelle Mead (2013). “The Fiery Heart: A Bloodlines Novel”, p.66, Penguin

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• I pity the fellow who has to create a dialect or paraphrase the dictionary to get laughs. I can't spell, but I have never stooped to spell cat with a 'k' to get at your funny bone. I love a drink, but I never encouraged drunkenness by harping on its alleged funny side.

  Mark Twain

  Humor, Cat, Laughing

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• Acedia is not in every dictionary; just in every heart.

  Mignon McLaughlin

  Heart, Mankind

  Mignon McLaughlin (2014). “Aperçus: The Aphorisms of Mignon McLaughlin”, p.65, BookBaby

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• Learning is the dictionary, but sense the grammar of science.

  Laurence Sterne

  Learning, Science, Grammar

  Laurence Sterne (1805). “The Works of Laurence Sterne, A. M.: A sentimental journey through France and Italy. The Koran: or, The life, character and sentiments of Tria Juncta in Uno. A political romance”, p.339

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• Beware of charisma . . . Representative Men; was Ralph Waldo Emerson's 1850 phrase for the great men in a democracy . . . Is there some common quality among these Representative Men who have been most successful as our leaders? I call it the need to be authentic-or, as our dictionaries tell us, conforming to fact and therefore worthy of trust, reliance or belief. While the charismatic has an uncanny outside source of strength, the authentic is strong because he is what he seems to be.

  Daniel J. Boorstin

  Strong, Successful, Men

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• This is a God who is not identified with the help of a dictionary but through a relationship.

  Kathleen Norris

  Helping

  Kathleen Norris (1999). “Amazing Grace”, p.110, Penguin

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• ¡Lástima que el Amor un diccionario no tenga donde hallar cuándo el orgullo es simplemente orgullo y cuándo es dignidad! What a shame that love has no dictionary in which to ascertain when pride is simply pride and when it's 'dignity'!

  Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer

  Pride, Amor, Dignity

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• A song doesn't just come on. I've always had to tease it out, squeeze it out. 'No thesaurus can give you those words, no rhyming dictionary. They must happen out of you.

  Dorothy Fields

  Song, Writing, Giving

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• He would say her name over and over until it devolved into meaningless sounds - mah REI kuh, mah REI kuh - it became an entry in a dictionary of loneliness.

  Audrey Niffenegger

  Loneliness, Names, Sound

  Audrey Niffenegger (2009). “Her Fearful Symmetry: A Novel”, p.50, Simon and Schuster

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• Hey. Not sure what’s going on-gonna go find out. Be careful and don’t do anything stupid. Don’t come after me-your better on your own. See you. F I sat on the edge of the bed, holding the note. Okay, so Fang had looked up vague in the dictionary and this was what it had said to write.

  James Patterson

  Stupid, Writing, Bed

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• Why don’t you purchase an Italian dictionary? I will assume the expense.” “I have one,” she said, “but I don’t think it’s very good. Half the words are missing.” “Half?” “Well, some,” she amended. “But truly, that’s not the problem.” He blinked, waiting for her to continue. She did. Of course. “I don’t think Italian is the author’s native tongue,” she said. “The author of the dictionary?” he queried. “Yes. It’s not terribly idiomatic.

  Julia Quinn

  Thinking, Italian, Waiting

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• Since then I've always thought that under rape in the dictionary it should tell the truth. It is not just forcible intercourse; rape means to inhabit and destroy everything.

  Alice Sebold

  Mean, Telling The Truth, Should

  Alice Sebold (2009). “Lucky”, p.131, Simon and Schuster

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• If you look up "charming" in the dictionary, you'll see that it not only has references to strong attraction, but to spells and magic. Then again, what are liars if not great magicians?

  Deb Caletti

  Strong, Liars, Magic

  Deb Caletti (2010). “The Secret Life of Prince Charming”, p.129, Simon and Schuster

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• What I didn't say was that each time I picked up a German dictionary or a German book, the very sight of those dense, black, barbed-wire letters made my mind shut like a clam.

  Sylvia Plath

  Book, Sight, Black

  Sylvia Plath (2016). “The Bell Jar”, p.19, Hamilton Books

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• Oooh, that was fun." "That does it," said Jace. "I'm going to get you a dictionary for Christmas this year." "Why?" Isabelle said. "So you can look up 'fun.' I'm not sure you know what it means." Isabelle pulled the long heavy mass of her wet hair forward and wrung it out as if it were wet washing. "You're raining on my parade." "It's a pretty wet parade already, if you hadn't noticed." Jace glanced around.

  Cassandra Clare

  Fun, Rain, Mean

  Cassandra Clare (2009). “City of Ashes”, p.164, Simon and Schuster

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• One dictionary defines denouement as "a final part in which everything is made clear and no questions or surprises remain." By that definition, it is exactly the wrong word to describe this chapter. This chapter will make nothing clear; it will raise many questions; and it may even contain a surprise or two. But I say we call it the denouement anyway because the words sounds so sophisticated and French.

  Pseudonymous Bosch

  Two, Finals, May

  Pseudonymous Bosch (2011). “The Name of this Book is Secret: The Secret Series”, p.193, Usborne Publishing Ltd

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• If I'm a guy who doesn't seem so merry, It's just because I'm so misunderstood. When I was young I ate a dictionary, And that did not do me a bit of good. For I've absorbed so many words and phrases— They drive me dizzy when I want to speak. I start explaining but each person gazes As if I spoke in Latin or in Greek.

  Ira Gershwin

  Latin, Guy, Greek

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• He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.

  William Faulkner

  Music, Sarcastic, Sarcasm

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• Trying to write about love is ultimately like trying to have a dictionary represent life. No matter how many words there are, there will never be enough.

  David Levithan

  Writing, Love Is, Trying

  "The Lover's Dictionary: A Novel by David Levithan - review" by Nicola Barr, www.theguardian.com. February 12, 2011.

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• Will I have to use a dictionary to read your book?" asked Mrs. Dodypol. "It depends," says I, "how much you used the dictionary before you read it.

  Alexander Theroux

  Book, Use, Depends

  Alexander Theroux (1981). “Darconville's cat”, Doubleday Books

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• Don't you think that's the main reason people find [writing] so difficult? If they can write complete sentences and can use a dictionary, isn't that the only reason they find writing hard: they don't know or care about anything?

  Kurt Vonnegut

  Writing, Thinking, People

  Kurt Vonnegut (2009). “Bluebeard: A Novel”, p.27, Dial Press

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• I'm pretty sure that if you looked up the word "nuts" in the dictionary, you'll find my picture. Just another fun feature of my mutant-birdkid-freak package.

  James Patterson

  Fun, Nuts, Mutants

  James Patterson (2010). “Maximum Ride Boxed Set #1”, p.298, Hachette UK

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• We're so special, when you look in the dictionary under short bus, there's a group picture of us,'' Stevie Rae said, sounding weak but definately alive.

  P. C. Cast

  Special, Groups, Looks

  P. C. Cast, Kristin Cast (2010). “Untamed: A House of Night Novel”, p.337, Macmillan

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• I am sure people tell you this constantly but if you looked up 'incredibly beautiful' in the dictionary there would be a picture of you.

  Jonathan Safran Foer

  Beautiful, People, Would Be

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• Sovereign," like "love," means anything you want it to mean; it's a word in dictionary between "sober" and "sozzled.

  Robert A. Heinlein

  Mean, Like Love, Want

  Robert A Heinlein (1966). “Moon Is Harsh Mistres”, Berkley

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