Emmanuel Whitehead > Emmanuel's Quotes

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

“Today I hit rock bottom but didn’t busy myself with activity to take my mind off it, like I usually do. I allowed myself to sink as deep as possible. It’s like an infection: let it run its course and be done with it. Rising, I felt cleansed.”
― Larry Godwin, Transcending Depression: Quest Without a Compass

“There are two types of men, Karolina. The ones who can admire the greatness of the little flower. Or the ones who try to control it.”
― M. R. Noble, Karolina Dalca, Dark Eyes

“Just a middle-age man with all the privilege that unasked for gift affords. When in truth it seems, we see suffering as the province of children, mothers, wives and lovers. Broken, struck by the hand of a man’s blind ambition, brutish strength. What of the gentle-man with the soft voice…”
― Peter B. Forster, More Than Love, A Husband's Tale

“And that damn Jew lawyer! They thought he was a lightweight. They thought they could buy him off. All they did was piss him off, and he's better than they thought he'd be.”
― Mark M. Bello, Betrayal of Faith

“I am Bane -- and I could kill you... but death would only end your agony -- and silence your shame. Instead, I will simply...

BREAK YOU!

Broken... and done.”
― Chuck Dixon, Batman: Knightfall, Vol. 1

“It’s in English,” I call out as it comes into focus. “It says ‘Made in China.’” At first Sister Loretta thinks I must be wrong, but when she sees the words for herself, she explains to us that God anticipated that the Communists in China would create technology that makes medals, rosaries, and plastic figurines really cheaply, and He was ready to temporarily forgive them for not being a democracy and for being pagans if they were willing to sell these holy goods to us at a fantastic discount, which shows us that God, like everyone else, goes out of His way to get a good deal on something He really needs. Who doesn’t like a bargain?”
― Kathleen Zamboni McCormick, Dodging Satan: My Irish/Italian, Sometimes Awesome, But Mostly Creepy, Childhood

“I am the most miserable person who ever lived," he said... "You are young, and in love," said Primus. "Every young man in your position is the most miserable young man who ever lived.”
― Neil Gaiman, Stardust

“When it came to gunfire Jumper didn’t have any more sense than a red ant in a hot skillet.”
― Fred Gipson, Old Yeller

“Last time of anything has the poignancy of death itself”
― Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

“If I could live again my life,
In the next - I'll try,
- to make more mistakes,
I won't try to be so perfect,
I'll be more relaxed...
I'll take fewer things seriously..
I'll take more risks,
I'll take more trips,
I'll watch more sunsets,
I'll climb more mountains,
I'll swim more rivers,
I'll go to more places I've never been
I'll eat more ice ...I'll have more real problems and less imaginary ones

If I could live again - I will travel light
If I could live again - I'll try to work bare feet at the beginning of spring till the end of autumn,
I'll watch more sunrises ...If I have the life to live”
― Anonymous

“The final sound of the rifle shot bounced around the lake.”
― Gabriel F.W. Koch, Death Leaves a Shadow

“You understand that you are being manipulated by others and you become overwhelmed by hospital bureaucracy. It feels as though you have been violated by administrators who have robbed you of your passion for helping children. That passion that drove you to become a healthcare provider is replaced with mistrust, negativity, and hopeless skepticism.”
― DEAN MAFAKO, M.D., Burned Out

“  “I am running back my tent to get my sub-machinegun. There are too many Noggies to kill using a pistol!” He then ran to where his scrape was and returned with the weapon.”
― Michael G. Kramer

“She stabbed the earth with her big fork as if she could make Cookie Mac’s blood sprout from it.”
― Susan Rowland, The Alchemy Fire Murder

“Faith continued, “My uncle brought Aleana to the house last autumn, September I think. She didn’t stay long, but she was nice, my mother and I liked her. My mother, Lachlan’s sister, and I both work for my uncle, looking after the house. You must be her friend Raimund. She talked about you and told me to look out for you. She was certain you would come to find her.”
― Robert Reid, The Thief

“We can be beacons of light”
― Aimee Cabo Nikolov, Love is the Answer God is the Cure

“Be okay with having health-essential boundaries.”
― Gregory S. Works, Triumph: Life on the Other Side of Trials, Transplants, Transition and Transformation

“If any white lady reads my story, that’s what I want them to know. Saying thank you, when you really mean it, when you remember what some done for you” – she shakes her head, stares down at the scratched table – “it’s so good.”
― Kathryn Stockett, The Help

“There is a dark side to religious devotion that is too often ignored or denied. As a means of motivating people to be cruel or inhumane -- as a means of inciting evil, to borrow the vocabulary of the devout -- there may be no more potent force than religion. When the subject of religiously inspired bloodshed comes up, many Americans immediately think of Islamic fundamentalism, which is to be expected in the wake of the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington. But men have been committing heinous acts in the name of God ever since mankind began believing in deities, and extremists exist within all religions. Muhammad is not the only prophet whose words have been used to sanction barbarism; history has not lacked for Christians, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, and even Buddhists who have been motivated by scripture to butcher innocents. Plenty of these religious extremists have been homegrown, corn-fed Americans.
Faith-based violence was present long before Osama bin Laden, and it ill be with us long after his demise. Religious zealots like bin Laden, David Koresh, Jim Jones, Shoko Asahara, and Dan Lafferty are common to every age, just as zealots of other stripes are. In any human endeavor, some fraction of its practitioners will be motivated to pursue that activity with such concentrated focus and unalloyed passion that it will consume them utterly. One has to look no further than individuals who feel compelled to devote their lives to becoming concert pianists, say, or climbing Mount Everest. For some, the province of the extreme holds an allure that's irresistible. And a certain percentage of such fanatics will inevitably fixate on the matters of the spirit.
The zealot may be outwardly motivated by the anticipation of a great reward at the other end -- wealth, fame, eternal salvation -- but the real recompense is probably the obsession itself. This is no less true for the religious fanatic than for the fanatical pianist or fanatical mountain climber. As a result of his (or her) infatuation, existence overflows with purpose. Ambiguity vanishes from the fanatic's worldview; a narcissistic sense of self-assurance displaces all doubt. A delicious rage quickens his pulse, fueled by the sins and shortcomings of lesser mortals, who are soiling the world wherever he looks. His perspective narrows until the last remnants of proportion are shed from his life. Through immoderation, he experiences something akin to rapture.
Although the far territory of the extreme can exert an intoxicating pull on susceptible individuals of all bents, extremism seems to be especially prevalent among those inclined by temperament or upbringing toward religious pursuits. Faith is the very antithesis of reason, injudiciousness a crucial component of spiritual devotion. And when religious fanaticism supplants ratiocination, all bets are suddenly off. Anything can happen. Absolutely anything. Common sense is no match for the voice of God...”
― Jon Krakauer, Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith

“But I do say that educated and scholarly men, if they’re brilliant and creative to begin with—which, unfortunately, is rarely the case—tend to leave infinitely more valuable records behind them than men do who are merely brilliant and creative. They tend to express themselves more clearly, and they usually have a passion for following their thoughts through to the end.”
― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

“Don't get in a blue car on a Thursday.'
'Which Thursday?'
'Any Thursday.'
'What kind of car?'
'A blue one. On a Thursday.'
'Okay.”
― Jasper Fforde, The Last Dragonslayer

“I just...feel like I need to save everyone. To redeem myself.”
― James Dashner, The Maze Runner

“I felt dreadfully inadequate. The trouble was, I had been inadequate all along, I simply hadn’t thought about it.”
― Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar