Elia Markowitz > Elia's Quotes

“When I'm hung-over I try to imagine being old and look- ing back fondly on now, on this bit I'm currently living, and how in retrospect it might seem adventurous. In the future when I only ever sit in a chair because I'm too gnarled for pleasure or movement I'll remember when I stayed out all night and had life-changing conversations and walked all the way home because I lost my phone.”
― Sara Pascoe, Weirdo

“Her unexpected outburst rocked Flaminius to his core. Suddenly, she didn't seem so angelic. Her face twisted with rage; veins in her neck throbbed with fury in a scene all too familiar. Her reaction switched him off to her instantly as all his worst fears came to life.”
― Therisa Peimer, Taming Flame

“Somehow, creation manages to form without species intervention.”
― Kyle Keyes, Matching Configurations

“As puzzled as I was by my classmates’ assumptions, their classification of me as a Black American nonetheless comforted me. Could it be that now, finally, I had my own group to belong to? Would Black Americans claim me just because the whites assigned me to them?”
― Maria Nhambu, America's Daughter

“The north wind and the sun were disputing which was the stronger, and agreed to acknowledge as the victor whichever of them could strip a traveler of his clothing. The wind tried first. But its violent gusts only made the man hold his clothes tightly around him, and when it blew harder still the cold made him so uncomfortable that he put on an extra wrap. Eventually the wind got tired of it and handed him over to the sun. The sun shone first with moderate warmth, which made the man take off his topcoat. Then it blazed fiercely, till, unable to stand the heat, he stripped and went off to a bathe in a nearby river. Persuasion is more effective than force. ”
― Aesop

“Don't wait for one last look at the ocean, the sky, the stars, or a loved one. Go look now.”
― Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Life Lessons: Two Experts on Death and Dying Teach Us About the Mysteries of Life and Living

“Curiouser and curiouser!”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

“The door opened.
"We're here," said Mrs. Rogers.
Aunt Myra came in.
"Now!" said Amelia Bedelia.
"Greetings, greetings, greetings,"
said the three children.
"What's that about?" said Mrs. Rogers.
"You said to greet Aunt Myra with Carols," said Amelia Bedelia.
"Here's Carol Lee, Carol Green, and Carol Lake."
"What lovely Carols," said Aunt Myra.
"Thank you.”
― Peggy Parish, Merry Christmas, Amelia Bedelia

“The stream of orbs rises in the sky and floats northeast. I shiver despite the climate, wondering what kind of magick controls them. If Lucifer allowed them to be released, it cannot be good. And what if, whoever is orchestrating this, their aim for me is as Mother foresees? Are we flying into a trap?”
― Tricia Copeland, To Be a Fae Queen

“I held my breath and closed my eyes, just listening to the wordless song of falling.”
― J. Rose Black, Chasing Headlines

“t felt like stepping into a spa, or a dream, or a memory she hadn’t known she missed.”
― D.L. Maddox, The Dog Walker: The Prequel

“Every night I dream a lot. Every day I live a little.”
― Max Nowaz, Get Rich or Get Lucky

“Why does what was beautiful suddenly shatter in hindsight because it concealed dark truths? Why does the memory of years of happy marriage turn to gall when our partner is revealed to have had a lover all those years?”
― Bernhard Schlink, The Reader

“One of the new things people began to find out in the last century was that thoughts--just mere thoughts--are as powerful as electric batteries--as good for one as sunlight is, or as bad for one as poison. To let a sad thought or a bad one get into your mind is as dangerous as letting a scarlet fever germ get into your body. If you let it stay there after it has got in you may never get over it as long as you live.”
― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

“I had been to Amsterdam a couple of times with Eric; we loved the museums and the Concertgebouw (it was here that I first heard Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes, in Dutch). We loved the canals lined with tall, stepped houses; the old Hortus Botanicus and the beautiful seventeenth-century Portuguese synagogue; the Rembrandtplein with its open-air cafés; the fresh herrings sold in the streets and eaten on the spot; and the general atmosphere of cordiality and openness which seemed peculiar to the city.”
― Oliver Sacks, On the Move: A Life

“People who have a religion should be glad, for not everyone has the gift of believing in heavenly things. You don't necessarily even have to be afraid of punishment after death; purgatory, hell, and heaven are things that a lot of people can't accept, but still a religion, it doesn't matter which, keeps a person on the right path. It isn't the fear of God but the upholding of one's own honor and conscience. How noble and good everyone could be if, every evening before falling asleep, they were to recall to their minds the events of the while day and consider exactly what has been good and bad. Then, without realizing it you try to improve yourself at the start of each new day; of course, you achieve quite a lot in the course of time. Anyone can do this, it costs nothing and is certainly very helpful. Whoever doesn't know it must learn and find by experience that: "A quiet conscience mades one strong!”
― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

“The Doctor: Sorry, do you have a name?
Idris: Seven hundred years and finally he asks.
The Doctor: But what do I call you?
Idris: I think you call me... Sexy?
The Doctor: [embarrassed] Only when we're alone.
Idris: We are alone.
The Doctor: Oh. Come on then, Sexy.”
― Neil Gaiman

“Did you ever notice that all machines are made for some reason? … They are built to make you laugh, like the mouse here, or to tell the time, like clocks, or to fill you with wonder like the automaton. Maybe that's why a broken machine always makes me a little sad, because it isn't able to do what it was meant to do. … Maybe it's the same with people: if you lose your purpose, it's like you're broken.”
― Brian Selznick, The Invention of Hugo Cabret