Witness Quotes - Page 9

• It's a journalist's job to be a witness to history. We're not there to worry about ourselves. We're there to try and get as near as we can, in an imperfect world, to the truth and get the truth out.

  Robert Fisk

  Jobs, Imperfect World, Worry

  "Robert Fisk, Injured in Line of Duty" by Matthew Rothschild, progressive.org. December 10, 2001.

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• I wished that I were the owner of every southern slave, that I might cast off the shackles from their limbs, and witness the rapture which would excite them in the first dance of their freedom.

  Thaddeus Stevens

  Southern, Might, Firsts

  Thaddeus Stevens (1997). “The Selected Papers of Thaddeus Stevens, Volume 1: April 1865-August 1868”, p.59, University of Pittsburgh Pre

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• Every time we witness an injustice and do not act, we train our character to be passive in its presence and thereby eventually lose all ability to defend ourselves and those we love.

  Julian Assange

  Love, Courage, Character

  "Witnessing". Selected Correspondence, Julian Assange's old blog, IQ.org (via Archive.org), web.archive.org. January 3, 2007.

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• There is, in lovers, a certain infatuation of egotism; they will have a witness of their happiness, cost that witness what it may.

  Charlotte Bronte

  May, Cost, Lovers

  Charlotte Bronte (2009). “Villette: Easyread Large Edition”, p.320, ReadHowYouWant.com

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• Witness also that when we talk about literature, we do so in the present tense. When we speak of the dead, we are not so kind.

  John Green

  Literature, Kind, Speak

  "The Fault in Our Stars". Book by John Green, January 10, 2012.

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• I let it all out--my mom's date,my dad's conversation,my confusion about it all.Caleb doesn't laugh,he doesn't pull away,he doesn't talk .. He just lets me be me. When I settle down,I lean back and witness the mess I've made on his shirt."I made ur shirt all gross," I say between sniffles. "Forget the shirt.What's going on? I could.nt understand a word you mumbled into my chest." Now I'm half laughing and half crying.

  Simone Elkeles

  Mom, Dad, Laughing

  Simone Elkeles (2011). “Leaving Paradise”, p.201, North Star Editions, Inc.

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• Children are most impressed with the importance of a moment when they witness a parent breaking the parents' own rule.

  John Irving

  Children, Parent, Moments

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• "So?" he asked.
  She was stunned and amazed - and happier than she'd ever been before. It couldn't possibly be real, she thought - unless she spoke the truth aloud, with Daniel and the rest of the fallen angels there to witness.
  "I'm Lucinda," she said. "I'm your angel."

  Lauren Kate

  Real, Angel, Spokes

  "The Fallen Series: 4-Book Collection". Book by Lauren Kate, 2013.

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• There are many perks to living for twenty-one centuries, and foremost among them is bearing witness to the rare birth of genius. It invariably goes like this: Someone shrugs off the weight of his cultural traditions, ignores the baleful stares of authority, and does something his countrymen think to be completely batshit insane. Of those, Galileo was my personal favorite. Van Gogh comes in second, but he really was batshit insane.

  Kevin Hearne

  Thinking, Insane, Twenties

  Kevin Hearne (2014). “The Iron Druid Chronicles 6-Book Bundle: Hounded, Hexed, Hammered, Tricked, Trapped, Hunted”, p.12, Del Rey

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• I came to witness. I stay to fight.

  Stephenie Meyer

  Twilight, Fighting, Breaking Dawn

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• For nothing is fixed, forever and forever, it is not fixed; the earth is always shifting, the light is always changing, the sea does not cease to grind down rock. Generations do not cease to be born, and we are responsible to them because we are the only witnesses they have. The sea rises, the light fails, lovers cling to each other and children cling to us. The moment we cease to hold each other, the moment we break faith with one another, the sea engulfs us and the light goes out.

  James A. Baldwin

  Change, Children, Acceptance

  "The Fire Next Time". Book by James A. Baldwin, 1963.

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• My surface is myself. Under which to witness, youth is buried. Roots? Everybody has roots.

  William Carlos Williams

  Roots, Youth, Conformity

  William Carlos Williams (1995). “Paterson”, p.31, New Directions Publishing

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• It's like he has emotional amnesia... I think you have to accept that the person you knew isn't there at the moment. I was witness to how much he loved you. I have the photos. This isn't the person we knew. I don't recognize this person. He's shed his skin." Her heart is broken too. She has to say the thing that will give me back my life. She draws on every reserve. I see how much it hurts her and it hurts me too. I came from her joy and her pain, I lived in it and I live in it now.

  Emma Forrest

  Hurt, Pain, Heart

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• Man's maker was made man that He, Ruler of the stars, might nurse at His mother's breast; that the Bread might hunger, the Fountain thirst, the Light sleep, the Way be tired on its journey; that Truth might be accused of false witnesses, the Teacher be beaten with whips, the Foundation be suspended on wood; that Strength might grow weak; that the Healer might be wounded; that Life might die.

  Saint Augustine

  Mother, Teacher, Stars

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• The colors of living things begin to fade with the last breath, and the soft, springy skin and supple muscle rot within weeks. But the bones sometimes remain, faithful echoes of the shape, to bear some last faint witness to the glory of what was.

  Diana Gabaldon

  Echoes, Color, Faithful

  Diana Gabaldon (2015). “The Outlander Series 8-Book Bundle: Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, Voyager, Drums of Autumn, The Fiery Cross, A Breath of Snow and Ashes, An Echo in the Bone, Written in My Own Heart's Blood”, p.277, Dell

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• These scars bear witness but whether to repair or to destruction I no longer know.

  Adrienne Rich

  Bears, Scar, Destruction

  Adrienne Rich (2013). “Diving into the Wreck: Poems 1971-1972”, p.52, W. W. Norton & Company

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• Then said he, ’I am going to my Father’s; and though with great difficulty I am got hither, yet now I do not repent me of all the trouble I have been at to arrive where I am. My sword I give to him that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and skill to him that can get it. My marks and scars I carry with me, to be a witness for me that I have fought His battles who now will be my rewarder.’.... So he passed over, and all the trumpets sounded for him on the other side.

  John Bunyan

  Father, Skills, Giving

  'The Pilgrim's Progress' (1684) pt. 2 (Mr Valiant-for-Truth)

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• Maybe I was praying for him then, in my own way. Does God have a set way of prayer, a way that He expects each of us to follow? I doubt it. I believe some people-- lots of people-- pray through the witness of their lives, through the work they do, the friendships they have, the love they offer people and receive from people. Since when are words the only acceptable form of prayer?

  Dorothy Day

  Prayer, Believe, People

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• We are stronger than we've credited ourselves to be. We have been the victims and the witnesses. We have said a lifetime of good-byes.

  Lauren DeStefano

  Bye, Stronger, Lifetime

  Lauren DeStefano (2013). “Sever”, p.338, Simon and Schuster

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• She missed the built environment of New York City. It was only in an urban landscape, amid straight lines and architecture, that she could situate herself in human time and history. She missed people. She missed human intrigue, drama and power struggles. She needed her own species, not to talk to, necessarily, but just to be among, as a bystander in a crowd or an anonymous witness.

  Ruth Ozeki

  New York, Drama, Struggle

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• If, as a culture, we don’t bear witness to grief, the burden of loss is placed entirely upon the bereaved, while the rest of us avert our eyes and wait for those in mourning to stop being sad, to let go, to move on, to cheer up. And if they don’t — if they have loved too deeply, if they do wake each morning thinking, I cannot continue to live — well, then we pathologize their pain; we call their suffering a disease. We do not help them: we tell them that they need to get help.

  Cheryl Strayed

  Letting Go, Morning, Cheer

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• Dear Heavenly Father, I have a friend who stands as close as a brother, a brave soul. I have seen in him the heart of a warrior... He is gallant, loyal, and true, sacrificing his esteem, forfeiting his comfort, even spilling his blood. But, what color is his soul? My friend has a desperate need, and I have seen it. How can I be his accuser, condemning the one who has gladly poured out his blood in my stead? But shall I deny my witness? There is a darkness, a gnawing void behind those eyes of steel... Will you make him a knight, dressed in holy raiment, fit to take a seat at your table?

  Bryan Davis

  Brother, Father, Eye

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• Have you ever seen a witness? That's what she called herself. Not a ghost, those don't exist, and not an angel, those do, but a witness." "No." "Ever heard the term?" "Outside of a legal trial, no.

  Gena Showalter

  Angel, Trials, Ghost

  Gena Showalter (2013). “Alice in Zombieland”, p.299, Harlequin

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• He's having a vision," I said. "That's what happens." (Maya) "Attractive, I know," Corey said between gritted teeth. "And now I get new witnesses to my humiliation. Wonderful." "We're used to it," Chloe said. "Derek used to do that when he Changed. Only worse." "Thank you for sharing," Derek muttered. She grinned. "You're welcome.

  Kelley Armstrong

  Vision, Teeth, Chloe

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• When Cath's eyes closed, her eyelids stuck. She wanted to open them. She wanted to get a better look at Levi's too-dark eyebrows, she wanted to admire his crazy, vampire hairline--she had a feeling this was never going to happen again and that it might even ruin what was left of her life, so she wanted to open her eyes and bear some witness.

  Rainbow Rowell

  Crazy, Eye, Dark

  Rainbow Rowell (2013). “Fangirl”, p.127, Pan Macmillan

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