Serious Quotes - Page 17

• Pen-bereavement is a serious matter.

  Anne Fadiman

  Bereavement, Matter, Pens

  Anne Fadiman (2011). “Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader”, p.89, Macmillan

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• Doctor, I had never had anybody like her in my life, she was the fulfillment of my most lascivious adolescent dreams– but marry her, can she be serious? You see, for all her preening and perfumes, she has a very low opinion of herself, and simultaneously– and here is the source of much of our trouble-a ridiculously high opinion of me. And simultaneously, a very low opinion of me! She is one confused Monkey, and, I'm afraid, not too very bright.

  Philip Roth

  Dream, Confused, Doctors

  Philip Roth (1969). “Portnoy's complaint”, Random House Inc

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• How to please the public - that's the test, But nowadays I find I'm in a fix; I know they're not accustomed to the best, But they've all read so much they know the tricks. How can we give then something fresh and new That's serious, but entertaining too?

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Giving, Tests, Tricks

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (2016). “The Essential Goethe”, p.250, Princeton University Press

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• I suppose he could have changed," Neal said dryly. "I myself have noticed my growing resemblance to a daffodil." The other pages snorted. Kel eyed her friend. "You do look yellow around the edges," she told him, her face quite serious. "I hadn’t wanted to bring it up." "We daffodils like to have things brought up," Neal said, slinging an arm around her shoulders. "It reminds us of spring.

  Tamora Pierce

  Spring, Yellow, Looks

  Tamora Pierce (2014). “Protector of the Small Quartet”, p.315, Random House Books for Young Readers

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• My brother could not write about trifles. Even in society he became animated only when some serious discussion was engaged in, and he complained of feeling 'a dull pain in the brain'--a physical pain, as he used to say--when he was with people who cared only for small talk.

  Peter Kropotkin

  Brother, Pain, Writing

  Peter Kropotkin, Georg Brandes (2009). “Memoirs of a Revolutionist”, p.94, Cosimo, Inc.

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• Perfectionism doesn't believe in practice shots. It doesn't believe in improvement. Perfectionism has never heard that anything worth doing is worth doing badly--and that if we allow ourselves to do something badly we might in time become quite good at it. Perfectionism measures our beginner's work against the finished work of masters. Perfectionism thrives on comparison and competition. It doesn't know how to say, "Good try," or "Job well done." The critic does not believe in creative glee--or any glee at all, for that matter. No, perfectionism is a serious matter.

  Julia Cameron

  Jobs, Believe, Practice

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• That memory made a lump form in my throat as I remembered his face, serious and gorgeous, those brown eyes intense and passionate as he spoke up for me and convinced the others of my value.

  Richelle Mead

  Memories, Eye, Passionate

  Richelle Mead (2010). “Spirit Bound: A Vampire Academy Novel”, p.104, Penguin

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• The most serious mistakes are not being made as a result of wrong answers. The true dangerous thing is asking the wrong question.

  Peter Drucker

  Business, Mistake, Wrong Answers

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• Your problem, it is not here' - he pointed the pen at Max-Ernest's throat - 'it is here' - he pointed the pen at Max-Ernest's chest. 'My heart is heavy, too. But you must be strong. This situation, it is very serious. It is not only Cass's life that is at stake. If she dies, the Secret, it will die too.

  Pseudonymous Bosch

  Strong, Heart, Secret

  Pseudonymous Bosch (2012). “This Isn't What It Looks Like: The Secret Series”, p.34, Usborne Publishing Ltd

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• I can't stomach any kind of notion that serious fiction is good for us, because I don't believe that everything that's wrong with the world has a cure.

  Jonathan Franzen

  Believe, Fiction, World

  Jonathan Franzen (2007). “How to Be Alone: Essays”, p.73, Macmillan

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• You have absolutely no regard but yourself and your damned kicks. All you think about is what's hanging between your legs and how much money or fun you can get out of people and then you just throw them aside. Not only that but you're silly about it. It never occurs to you that life is serious and that there are people trying to make something decent out of it instead of just goofing all the time.

  Jack Kerouac

  Fun, Silly, Thinking

  Jack Kerouac (2011). “On the Road”, p.228, Penguin UK

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• Anyone who is willing to work and is serious about it will certainly find a job. Only you must not go to the man who tells you this, for he has no job to offer and doesn't know anyone who knows of a vacancy. This is exactly the reason why he gives you such generous advice, out of brotherly love, and to demonstrate how little he knows the world.

  B. Traven

  Jobs, Men, Giving

  B. Traven (1963). “The Treasure the Sierra Madre”

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• Life was dense, dark, ancient. They watched Dean, serious and insane at his raving wheel, with eyes of hawks. All had their hands outstretched. They had come down from the back mountains and higher places to hold forth their hands for something they thought civilization could offer, and they never dreamed the sadness and the poor broken delusion of it.

  Jack Kerouac

  Sadness, Eye, Dark

  "On the Road".

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• Hey, just be grateful I’m old. When an Arcadian first starts time-walking, we only have about a three percent chance of success. I once ended up on Pluto. (Sebastian) Are you serious? (Channon) They’re not kidding about it being the coldest planet. (Sebastian)

  Sherrilyn Kenyon

  Grateful, Three, Hey

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• Japanese-owned cargo ship Tsimtsum, flying Panamanian flag, sank July 2nd, 1977, in Pacific, four days out of Manila. Am in lifeboat. Pi Patel my name. Have some food, some water, but Bengal tiger a serious problem. Please advise family in Winnepeg, Canada. Any help very much appreciated. Thank you.

  Yann Martel

  July, Names, Water

  Yann Martel (2015). “Life of Pi - CANCELED”, p.246, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• In every idea of genius or in every new human idea, or, more simply still, in every serious human idea born in anyone's brain, there is something that cannot possibly be conveyed to others.

  Fyodor Dostoevsky

  Ideas, Brain, Genius

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• I'd heard of Evergreen Care Center before. Cass and I had always made fun of the stupid ads they ran on TV, featuring some dragged-out woman with a limp perm and big, painted-on circles under her eyes, downing vodka and sobbing uncontrollably. "We can't heal you at Evergreen", the very somber voiceover said. "But we can help you to heal yourself." It had become our own running joke, applicable to almost anything. "Hey Cass, "I'd say, "hand me that toothpaste." "Caitlin," she'd say, her voice dark and serious. "I can't hand you the toothpaste. But I CAN help you hand the toothpaste to yourself.

  Sarah Dessen

  Running, Fun, Stupid

  Sarah Dessen (2004). “Dreamland”, p.222, Penguin

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• There's a big difference between being alone and being lonely. And I'm guessing that once you've discovered this distinction you can't go back to solitary confinement without serious emotional repercussions.

  Tiffanie DeBartolo

  Lonely, Emotional, Differences

  Tiffanie DeBartolo (2005). “How to Kill a Rock Star”, p.80, Sourcebooks, Inc.

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• I begged her, 'Please don't leave me stranded in the middle of some primitive zarking forest with no medical help and a head injury. I could be in serious trouble and so could she.'" "What did she say?" "She hit me on the head with the rock again," Ford responded curtly. "I think i can confirm that was my daughter." "Sweet kid." "You have to get to know her," said Arthur. "She eases up, does she?" "No, but you get a better sense of when to duck.

  Douglas Adams

  Daughter, Sweet, Kids

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• Obviously, if I was serious about having a relationship with some one long-term, the last people I would introduce him to would be my family.

  Chelsea Handler

  Funny, Women, Love You

  Chelsea Handler (2009). “Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea”, p.112, Simon and Schuster

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• It was sad, like those businessmen who came to work in serious clothes but wore colorful ties in a mad, desperate attempt to show there was a free spirit in there somewhere.

  Terry Pratchett

  Clothes, Ties, Mad

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• You are putting yourself in serious danger...' I think that I preferred to put myself in serious danger rather than confront my shame. My shame at not having become someone, the shame of not having made my parents proud after all the sacrifices they had made for me. The shame of having become a mediocre nihilist.

  Marjane Satrapi

  Sacrifice, Thinking, Parent

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• A Centaur has a man-stomach and a horse-stomach. And of course both want breakfast. So first of all he has porridge and pavenders and kidneys and bacon and omlette and cold ham and toast and marmalade and coffee and beer. And after that he tends to the horse part of himself by grazing for an hour or so and finishing up with a hot mash, some oats, and a bag of sugar. That's why it's such a serious thing to ask a Centaur to stay for the weeekend. A very serious thing indeed.

  C. S. Lewis

  Horse, Coffee, Beer

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• Norah watched him, serious and utterly absorbed in his task, overcome by the simple fact of his existence.

  Kim Edwards

  Simple, Facts, Overcoming

  Kim Edwards (2006). “The Memory Keeper's Daughter: A Novel”, p.129, Penguin

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• ..this indiscriminate love feels entirely serious to her, as if everything in the world is part of a vast, inscrutable intention and everything in the world has its own secret name, a name that cannot be conveyed in language but is simply the sight and feel of the thing itself.

  Michael Cunningham

  Sight, Names, Secret

  Michael Cunningham (1998). “The Hours: A Novel”, p.12, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux

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