Burt Leif > Burt's Quotes

“Dancer and Waif sprinted toward the edge. Picking up speed. Bad Ass on his one real leg doing a great job of keeping up. Kind of.”
― William Kely McClung, LOOP

“Educate not Legislate
Refusing to pass unnecessary laws requires a converse – encouraging education and understanding. We started by slashing the salaries of legislators (Dubbed “Bloodbath on the Beltway”). That move provided funds to instigate incentive programs for high school teachers – to attract the best and brightest. The result was a generation of bright, energetic 18-year-olds graduating high-school, equipped to tackle the future.”
― Nancy Omeara, The Most Popular President Who Ever Lived [So Far]

“Some people say
Rhyming is but a sin.
Little sins are fun
So try, before you bin.”
― Max Nowaz, Timbi's Dream

“Anika nodded, reflecting on her situation as the sirens grew louder. She had some time, but cops, hurricanes, and jealous women weren’t the party favors she’d expected for her homecoming parade.”
― Chad Boudreaux, Homecoming Queen

“This is what Keynes had meant when he warned of the dangers of economic chaos—you never know what combination of rage, racism and revolution will be unleashed.”
― Naomi Klein, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

“To separate oneself from the burden, the angst, the anguish that we all encounter everyday. To say I am alive, I am wonderful, I am. I am. That is something to aspire to.”
― Garth Stein, The Art of Racing in the Rain

“Come morning, his memory would be of a night spent watching over them all. And each of them - dog and boy, mother and old man - would feel the same.”
― David Wroblewski, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

“But listen to me. For one moment
quit being sad. Hear blessings
dropping their blossoms
around you.”
― Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi

“Embrace her. Embrace her darkness, and when it dawns, you will be stronger.”
― Merlin Franco, Saint Richard Parker

“Elbeth and Angus embraced and stepped back to exchange the rings. As the two lovers grasped each other’s right hands the rings shone with white intensity, dimmed and then reappeared on each of their left hands. Between their right hands a silver quaich appeared with the Cameron motto shining brightly: Aonaibh Ri Chéile – let us unite – and united they were.
But then, as the couple lifted the ancient wedding cup to their lips, Munro once again heard Ala Moire’s voice from beyond the grave, and this time it carried a warning. “To your right Alastair, evil stalks here in the shadows!”

Robert Reid – White Light Red Fire”
― Robert Reid, White Light Red Fire

“I had a close encounter with an alien last week. He returned to visit us and was amazed we were still here.”
― A.R. Merrydew

“Scott glanced at his watch but didn't register what it said. The notion of time had become as absurd as the quietly glowing trees.”
― R.D. Ronald, The Elephant Tree

“Often I felt like two people. One went into the world and did the living for the other, who was stuck in an endless moment of knowing. Yesterday was today and hereon in.”
― Michael Wyndham Thomas, The Erkeley Shadows

“I want to propose a toast!" Taking a spoon he noisily tapped it against the crystal glass.  "Everyone!" He thundered, the large amount of whiskey he had consumed making him reckless.  "To Victor,  Ste. Genevieve's own inventor and my best friend, all the happiness in the world!"  The happy crowd shouted their approval.  "And to the ever, ever fair beauty Celena..." His voice cracking under the strain, and he wondered if he should stop now, before he embarrassed himself, before he made some horrible declaration.”
― Barbara Sontheimer, Victor's Blessing

“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

“A sharp bolt of hunger hit Luther hard. His knees almost buckled, his poker face almost grimaced. For two weeks now his sense of smell had been much keener, no doubt a side effect of a strict diet. Maybe he got a whiff of Mabel's finest, he wasn't sure, but a craving came over him. Suddenly, he had to have something to eat. Suddenly, he wanted to snatch the bag from Kendall, rip open a package, and start gnawing on a fruitcake.”
― John Grisham

“However, there is a way to know for certain that Noah’s Flood and the Creation story never happened: by looking at our mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA).  Mitochondria are the “cellular power plants” found in all of our cells and they have their own DNA which is separate from that found in the nucleus of the cell.  In humans, and most other species that mitochondria are found in, the father’s mtDNA normally does not contribute to the child’s mtDNA; the child normally inherits its mtDNA exclusively from its mother.  This means that if no one’s genes have mutated, then we all have the same mtDNA as our brothers and sisters and the same mtDNA as the children of our mother’s sisters, etc. This pattern of inheritance makes it possible to rule out “population bottlenecks” in our species’ history.  A bottleneck is basically a time when the population of a species dwindled to low numbers.  For humans, this means that every person born after a bottleneck can only have the mtDNA or a mutation of the mtDNA of the women who survived the bottleneck. This doesn’t mean that mtDNA can tell us when a bottleneck happened, but it can tell us when one didn’t happen because we know that mtDNA has a rate of approximately one mutation every 3,500 years (Gibbons 1998; Soares et al 2009). So if the human race were actually less than 6,000 years old and/or “everything on earth that breathed died” (Genesis 7:22) less than 6,000 years ago, which would be the case if the story of Adam and the story of Noah’s flood were true respectively, then every person should have the exact same mtDNA except for one or two mutations.  This, however, is not the case as human mtDNA is much more diverse (Endicott et al 2009), so we can know for a fact that the story of Adam and Eve and the story of Noah are fictional.   There”
― Alexander Drake, The Invention of Christianity

“I'm a Southerner, born and bred, but that doesn't mean I approve of all that goes on here. And there are a lot of other white people who feel the same'
'If you and so many others feel that way,' said Uncle Hammer with a wry sneer, 'then how come them Wallaces ain't in jail.'
'Hammer,' Big Ma started.
'Because,' answered Mr. Jamison candidly. 'There aren't enough of those same white people who would admit how they feel, or even if they did, would hang a white man for killing a black one. It's as simple as that.”
― Mildred D. Taylor, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

“Privation and suffering alone open the mind to all that is hidden to others. (Igjugarjuk)”
― Joseph Campbell

“...but all your 'sorrys' are gone when a person dies... That's why you have to say all your 'sorrys' and 'I love yous' while a person is living, because tomorrow isn't promised.”
― James McBride, The Color of Water

“Mientras contemplábamos el fósil, sentí por un momento que su espiral me absorbía y me hacía retroceder cada vez más lejos en el tiempo hasta que el pasado se perdía en su centro.”
― Tracy Chevalier, Las huellas de la vida