Madison > Madison's Quotes

“Maybe we'd all be much more effective communicators if we all shut up more.”
― Trent Dalton, Boy Swallows Universe

“Do your time before it does you.”
― Trent Dalton, Boy Swallows Universe

“Every day of your life has been leading up to tomorrow. But of course every day of your life led up to today.”
― Trent Dalton, Boy Swallows Universe

“He puts his claw against the divider. “Fist my bump.”

“Fist-bump. It’s just ‘fist-bump.’”

“Understand.”
― Andy Weir, Project Hail Mary

“Good. Proud. I am scary space monster. You are leaky space blob.” He points to the breeder tanks. “Check tanks!”
― Andy Weir, Project Hail Mary

“I’m a scientist! Now we’re getting somewhere! Time for me to use science. All right, genius brain: come up with something! …I’m hungry. You have failed me, brain.”
― Andy Weir, Project Hail Mary

“But this is the interstellar equivalent of a stranger offering me candy.”
― Andy Weir, Project Hail Mary

“Well, you’re not alone anymore, buddy,” I say. “Neither of us are.”
― Andy Weir, Project Hail Mary

“Broadly speaking, the human brain is a collection of software hacks compiled into a single, somehow-functional unit. Each “feature” was added as a random mutation that solved some specific problem to increase our odds of survival. In short, the human brain is a mess.”
― Andy Weir, Project Hail Mary

“For fifty thousand years, right up to the industrial revolution, human civilization was about one thing and one thing only: food. Every culture that existed put most of their time, energy, manpower, and resources into food. Hunting it, gathering it, farming it, ranching it, storing it, distributing it…it was all about food.”
― Andy Weir, Project Hail Mary

“And just like that another climate denier is born. See how easy it is? All I have to do is tell you something you don’t want to hear.”
― Andy Weir, Project Hail Mary

“So I'm a single man in my thirties, who lives alone in a small apartment, I don't have any kids, but I like kids a lot. I don't like where this is going...
A teacher! I'm a schoolteacher! I remember it now!
Oh, thank God. I'm a teacher.”
― Andy Weir, Project Hail Mary

“Knowledge without action is vanity, but action without knowledge is insanity.”
― Hafsah Faizal, We Hunt the Flame

“If you want me obedient, prince, kill me and carry my corpse.”
― Hafsah Faizal, We Hunt the Flame

“Sometimes, when you live a life of captivity, trapped for so long, freedom becomes a thing to fear.”
― Hafsah Faizal, We Hunt the Flame

“There is something lovely, heroic even, about letting another person look at you.”
― Jenny Tinghui Zhang, Four Treasures of the Sky

“At my most alone, I trace English letters in the dirt floor. Next to them, I write the Chinese characters that match their sounds. The one that puzzles me most is the English letter I, companion sound in Chinese love. I, in English, to represent the self. Love, I, in Chinese, a heart to be given away. I, in English, an independence, an identity. Love in Chinese, a giving up of self for another. How funny, I think, that these two sound twins should represent such different things. It is another truth I am learning about English and the people who created it.”
― Jenny Tinghui Zhang, Four Treasures of the Sky

“In calligraphy, you must have respect for what you are writing and who you are writing for. But above all, you must have respect for yourself. It is the monumental task of creating unity between the person you are and the person you could be. Think: What kind of person could you become, both as yourself and as an artist?”
― Jenny Tinghui Zhang, Four Treasures of the Sky

“Master Wong told me that in ancient China, time was kept according to the position of the sun in the sky. Inherent in this character is the understanding that time is circular, that no matter how much the sun moves, it will always come back around again. In English time is spelled with four letters. A finite thing made of finite letters. Maybe this is the difference, I think, for those that speak English, there is a limit to time. That is why it is so important to differentiate between past, present and future. When I know this, I also know I will be able to write time perfectly for the rest of my life in both languages. This is how I begin to understand English.”
― Jenny Tinghui Zhang, Four Treasures of the Sky

“There's no such thing as safety. Only degrees of risk.”
― Christopher Paolini, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars

“The path to our goal is rarely straight. It tends to turn and twist, which makes the journey far more enjoyable than it would otherwise be.”
― Christopher Paolini, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars

“The hardest lesson in life is learning to accept that there are some things we can't change." Falcone paused, his eyes hard and glittering.
[...]
Then he unbuttoned the cuffs on his shirt and rolled back his sleeves to expose the melted surface of his forearms. He held them up for Kira to see.
"Why do you think I keep these scars?"
"Because you feel guilty over ..."
"No," Falcone said harshly.
Then, in a gentler tone, "No. I keep them to remind me of what I can survive. Of what I have survived. If I'm having a rough time, I look at my arms and then I know I'll get through whatever problem I'm dealing with. Life's not gonna break me. It can't break me. It might kill me, but nothing it throws at me is gonna make me give up.”
― Christopher Paolini, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars

“Everyone messes up. How you deal with it is what determines who you are.”
― Christopher Paolini, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars

“A river is easier to channel than to stop.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Shadows of Self

“Open your eyes and see what you can with them before they close forever.”
― Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See

“Don’t you want to be alive before you die?”
― Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See

“what I want to write about today is the sea. It contains so many colors. Silver at dawn, green at noon, dark blue in the evening. Sometimes it looks almost red. Or it will turn the color of old coins. Right now the shadows of clouds are dragging across it, and patches of sunlight are touching down everywhere. White strings of gulls drag over it like beads. It is my favorite thing, I think, that I have ever seen.”
― Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See

“Nothing will be healed in this kitchen. Some griefs can never be put right.”
― Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See

“Isn’t doing nothing a kind of troublemaking?” “Doing nothing is doing nothing.” “Doing nothing is as good as collaborating.”
― Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See

“I am only alive because I have not yet died.”
― Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See