Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Thursday Thirteen 354: Literary Quotes



I have a habit of marking passages I like as I read — whether it be something profound, a bit of humerous dialogue, or a description that resonates. Here are thirteen noted in recent reads.


1. There is some music that is so terrible that it consumes all those who approach it.
~Gaston Leroux, The Phantom of the Opera


2. Unfortunately for the rest of society, some poor souls outgrew adolescence and went straight into personality disorder.
~ Deborah Webb, Urban Sensation


3. The scene of a crime isn’t merely a place; it's a continuum that extends across both time and space. It springs into existence when the idea is first formed to commit a crime and the scene conceivably has to terminus point.
~ John J. Lamb, The Mournful Teddy


4. (S)sometimes it is easier to fall in love within the safety of a book.
~ Jenn McKinlay, Due or Die


5. Just because you have the paper and do the time does not make you the best leader.
~ Jenn McKinlay, Due or Die


6. You can boast about anything if it's all you have. Maybe the less you have, the more you are required to boast.
~ John Steinbeck, East of Eden


7. Sometimes a man wants to be stupid if it lets him do a thing his cleverness forbids.
~ John Steinbeck, East of Eden


8. No story has power, nor will it last, unless we feel in ourselves that it is true and true of us.
~ John Steinbeck, East of Eden


9. One cannot find peace in work or in pleasure, in the world or in a convent, but only in one's soul.
~W. Somerset Maugham, The Painted Veil


10. I'm not saying that people can't be condescending. I'm just saying they should get to know us first.
~ Hy Conrad, Mr. Monk Gets on Board


11. People say "I don't know what you’re talking about" only when they know damn well what you’re talking about.
~ Hy Conrad, Mr. Monk Gets on Board


12. That was the worst truth of all: alone. The word was a kind of death.
~Anne Perry, No Graves as Yet


13. You can like people and still betray them, if it was for a cause you believed in passionately enough. You have to betray other people rather than betray yourself—if that's what it comes to.
~Anne Perry, No Graves as Yet



LINKING TO: Thursday Thirteen




6 comments:

Jennifer Leeland said...

These are awesome! I didn't enjoy "East of Eden" at all so I had forgotten the gems of wisdom that were in that story.

colleen said...

I good quotes. #6 really made me stop and think.

Heather said...

Jennifer: The writing of East of Eden was good, but I didn't enjoy the story itself all that much.

Heather said...

Colleen: Thanks, I'm glad that one resonated with people. There's a lot of truth in it, I think, if you consider how much some people are prone to swagger.

CountryDew said...

I love #2. Very true, I think!

Heather said...

Anita: Yes, all too true and a sad commentary on society, no?