Quotes by American Authors - Page 65

If the world appears abundant in smiles or overwhelmed by scowls, you might ask yourself if you're not to blame.
Richelle E. Goodrich
Aging is a mortal term that my immortal spirit doesn't quite grasp.
Richelle E. Goodrich
Life is a voyage across troubled waters where our days are often spent clinging to the top of the highest mast, scouting for a comforting glimpse of shore.
Richelle E. Goodrich
The search only ends when you finally find the one who truly gets you.
Richelle E. Goodrich
Enemies may unite to eliminate a common threat, but never without a wary eye fixed on their ally.
Richelle E. Goodrich
Tell me you didn’t,” she groaned, knowing it would not be the truth. “Please tell me you didn’t take advantage of these poor people.”t“I didn’t,” he chirped.t“Liar.”tWith an irritated sigh he tried to convince her. “Amora, you’re not seeing things from an immortal perspective. The people who built this temple…”t“Temple?” she cried, cutting him off. “You forced these people to build you a temple? Why? Because all of a sudden you’re God now?”tPerturbed by her interruption, he raised a warning finger. “No, no, Amora, not God. But from their viewpoint I may seem a bit…..god-like.”tShe rolled her eyes in an exaggerated manner.t“If you would let me finish,” he went on, “these particular individuals had no part in the construction of that monument; it was their ancestors who erected it. And I must say, they did a fine job. My likeness has weathered the centuries quite well.”t“You’re despicable.”tHe frowned at the insult. “Nobody was forced to build us a temple, Amora. They chose to do so.”t“You were that impressive to them, huh?”t“Apparently.” His eyes twinkled at the memory. He took a few steps toward the distant city, pulling Eena along. “Come on, let’s go have some fun.”t“No way.” She planted her feet, refusing. Surprisingly it put a stop to him. t“And why not?”t“Because your sudden appearance will upset them! No doubt you’ll want to show off with some shockingly grand entrance. I’m not going to take part in a game of deceit.”t“I’m not deceiving anyone,” Edgar disputed. “I can’t help it if they happen to think I’m perfectly magnificent.”tHis pompous view of himself earned a nasty look as well as a lecture. “I can’t believe you’re okay with selling people lies that affect the way they live and think! You’re not even close to being a god, Edgar, and yet you allow them to accept you as some sort of deity because of your unusual abilities. For centuries now you’ve abandoned this world and a population who probably looked to you and your lousy sisters for help. It’s all a big, disgusting sham!”tEdgar pouted like a child. “Fine—spoil all my fun. We’ll go do something else. Something that doesn’t include your poor, fragile, stupid mortals.”t“They’re not stupid.”t“They think I’m a god,” he sn
Richelle E. Goodrich
You know the story.” The Nalnom rotated his hand in the air as if she should recall it.t“I don’t. I’ve never heard the story.”tJoshlon summarized it for her. “Prometheus was turned into a dragon by his angry lover, Naradite. She refused to turn him back into his manly form. He became the first fire-breathing dragon—Naga the Terrible.”tEena dropped her lower jaw. “What?”t“Naradite turned Prometheus into a dragon,” Joshlon repeated. “Naga.”t“And Prometheus is Edgar’s father?” She was sure the surrounding stares were the result of her virtually shouting out the question.tJoshlon answered with some hesitance in his voice. “I don’t know who Edgar is, but Edgarmetheus was supposedly the son of Prometheus, the illegitimate child of him and his lover, Naradi
Richelle E. Goodrich
Freedom is essential to the pursuit of happiness. Freedom is essential to artistic evolution and expression. Freedom is essential to the expansion of the human mind. Freedom is essential to the development and application of basic humanitarianism.Freedom is essential to the creation of an individual's will, motivations, preferences, and unique talents. In essence, freedom is essential to the success and progress of humanity.
Richelle E. Goodrich
But you will die, Amor
Richelle E. Goodrich
They went back to scooping up breakfast, licking the mess off their fingers. Soon the pile of berry mush was gone and their tongues were dyed a nice midnight blue. Ian seemed in a good mood, sticking his tongue out playfully at his best friend. Eena did likewise, right back at him. She was happy he was smiling, even if his teeth were purple. t(You’re too much fun, Eena,) Ian announced in her mind. (I’m really glad we’re friends.)t(Me too,) she agreed. (Best friends.)tIan leaned back on his hands and watched the waves roll in from far off. The swells were building into large, flat-crested waves. (Angelle never thought like you do. You’re creative and kinda crazy. Her thoughts were always more simple and, well…..normal.) t(Yeah, well, deadly dragons and evil witches tend to suck all the normal right out of you,) she grumbled.t(I suppose.)
Richelle E. Goodrich
It's too bad we're not all teddy bears. More stuffing would only make us cuter and cuddlier.
Richelle E. Goodrich
Announcing the intended arrival of some people is kind of like issuing a hurricane warning. 
Richelle E. Goodrich
Your tongue tends to say more about you when it blabs about other people.
Richelle E. Goodrich
Saying 'I'm sorry' is saying 'I love you' with a wounded heart in one hand and your smothered pride in the other.
Richelle E. Goodrich
There are no rest stops on the road of life. Otherwise they'd be congested with traffic.
Richelle E. Goodrich
Minutes turn into hours that add up to days amounting to weeks that become  months melting into yearsaccumulating for decadesto pile up for centuriesand ultimately form minutes again―just on a grander, divine scale.
Richelle E. Goodrich
Obsessing over something that has jarred your world is called coping.
Richelle E. Goodrich
Anyone who looks good with a bald head is seriously sexy.
Richelle E. Goodrich
Moms are life's number one cheerleaders without uniforms.
Richelle E. Goodrich
They say to never look back.But sometimes I do. It’s gratifying to see how far I’ve come.
Richelle E. Goodrich
I think I'd rather be liked than loved. It just seems as if more criticism and chastening is shown to those we love, while kind manners and compassion are reserved for those we simply like. So, I hope you like me.
Richelle E. Goodrich
I dream of defeating tyrants and ogres as well as circumstances and consequences that I cannot conquer in life. I dream of a love as sweet and addictive as chocolate-coated rose petals yet as tenacious as a thirsty vampire and as enduring as immortality. I dream of things improbable and boldly insane.
Richelle E. Goodrich
What a mother wants is to hold her babies when they’re small and to be held by them once they’ve grown tall. It’s empty arms a mother dreads.
Richelle E. Goodrich
It is my belief that almost anyone can be had with breadcrumbs. For if you leave a trail of the right variety, your prey will come straight to you.
Richelle E. Goodrich
Humans are forever discontent—always thinking there are better alternatives to their present circumstances.
Richelle E. Goodrich
If we were to behave half as well as we believe others ought to behave, we might prove ourselves as grand in character as excuses and justifications prevent us from being.
Richelle E. Goodrich
If all of our sins, bad habits, and poor choices were permanently inked into our skin like tattoos, we would all dress quite modestly.
Richelle E. Goodrich
One day a week I seek to rest from earthly toil and sorrow.Revitalized, I find the strength to battle new tomorrows.
Richelle E. Goodrich
I know they don’t respect the lives of others…”“Mortals,” he specified, “who exist for a brief moment and then die off.”Her voice rose as she argued with him. “I speak of people with very valued lives, Edgar. It may seem like a moment to you, but to me it is eternity.”“That makes no sense.”“It makes perfect sense, Edgar! Life is valuable—period. And because mine can be easily taken away, it becomes even more valuable and precious. Yours, you take for granted because you’ll never lose it. Mine, I cherish because it’s fleeting. For that reason alone I can argue that my life is of the greatest worth.”His eyebrows pulled together over a tangled scowl. She couldn’t tell if he was trying to understand her reasoning or if she had merely managed to upset him.“Never mind,” she mumbled. “I don’t think you can appreciate what you’ve never experienced.“That works both ways, Amora.”“Whatever.
Richelle E. Goodrich
The whispers you hear in your ear that you fear in the air everywhere,they are ghosts.The moans and the groans in the lowest of tones no one owns or condones, they are ghosts.You might deem them gremlins or water or wind,while others say shadows or rodents or sin.But oh! I say no! ‘Tis not so, child, for lo!The chills that you feel in a thrill that proves goose bumps are frightfully real,they are ghosts!
Richelle E. Goodrich
I never knew what Mother knowed,Like how a thread and needle sewed,And how a kiss healed boo-boos fast.Why family knots were made to last.I never knew how Mother sawA caring man in angry pa,A smile beneath the teary gloom,A game inside a messy room.I never knowed what Mother knew,Like how to smile when days were blue,And how to laugh for laughter’s sake,While giving up her slice of cake.I never saw what Mother see’dLike honor pulling garden weeds,Or deep confessions in a look,And hope alive in storybooks.I never knew how Mother knowedTo hand out carrots when it snowed,And why hot cocoa liked the rain,While naptime kept a person sane.For mother knowed and see’d it all.A winner in a strike-out ball.A 'yes, please' in a shoulder shrug.A 'love you mostest' in a hug.Perhaps, someday, I’ll come to knowWhat Mother saw and knowed as so.Like how 'I’m right' can be all wrong,And why the night requires a song.But of the things I learned and knewI never doubted one thing true.My mother made it crystal clear,she knowed and loved me ever dear.
Richelle E. Goodrich
One of the strongest loves I’ve ever witnessed is the love a mother has for her child.
Richelle E. Goodrich
Problems are never as difficult as when they are your own.
Richelle E. Goodrich
If I were to sit on the ocean floor and look toward the sky,I might see a whale or electric eel or octopus pass by.And if I decided to jump straight up and reach with open arms,I might feel the pleasure of ocean flight propel me ’mid their swarms.But if I were seated upon the shore and looking toward the stars,I might see a comet or falling star near Mercury or Mars.Then if I decided to jump straight up and reach with open hands,I might feel despair when my feet refused to leave the shoreline sand.And so I return to the ocean depths where swimming creatures fly,For there I can soar with the whales and fish that daily touch the sky.
Richelle E. Goodrich
Learn to brush off criticism as easily as you brush aside hollow compliments.
Richelle E. Goodrich
You won’t solve your problems by drowning others in them.
Richelle E. Goodrich
If you mess with dragons, you will get burned. Don’t say no one warned you.
Richelle E. Goodrich
No one believes he is an idiot until the consequences of his actions prove it. Then hindsight rubs it in.
Richelle E. Goodrich
Anyone who takes the time to attentively listen is either an old soul or a romantic one.
Richelle E. Goodrich
Kresh kept silent beside me as Baron rehearsed his deadly plan. I listened with my eyes aimed at the horizon, witnessing the night consume a final red vein of daylight. It struck me that nightfall always drowned the sunset. Never did the sun resurface from where it sank, nor would it ever.
Richelle E. Goodrich
Turn around….you’ve got grass and dead flowers…”My fingers naturally began to comb through my long, black strands, shaking things loose as Sarti carefully removed more stubborn pieces. The flowers had been left over from my forced marriage to Thaddeus. The grass, from a sensual night with Kresh the eve of my honeymoon. Devilish irony.
Richelle E. Goodrich
I let my sword slip to the ground, and for the second time I stood unarmed in the presence of werewolves.Kresh put his lips to my forehead, and my skin burned beneath his kiss. When his hands repositioned to take me by the waist, my breathing—already shallow—ceased entirely. Then his lips fell on mine and I was suddenly everything he claimed me to be—his mate, his wife, his world.The taste of him seemed mysteriously new and old at the same time. Every bit of tension eased as if internally I had come home again, and yet a sense of foreignness made our connection a sweet venture. My breast was afire as he continued to grasp my hips, keeping me close. I burned for him as if vampire venom were coursing through every inch of me. The man was a constellation of suns in my desire, unlike Thaddeus who hardly equaled a speck of stardust. The thought of that coward reminded me of grim news. It took every bit of willpower I possessed to tear my lips away from what they craved, and yet I remained a submissive puddle in this werewolf’s arms.
Richelle E. Goodrich
It isn’t always true that a critical end justifies desperate means.
Richelle E. Goodrich
Why hasn't someone lassoed a few teenagers and had them sit down and write out all the supposed answers they have so we can solve the world's problems already?
Richelle E. Goodrich
Vengeance, retaliation, retribution, revenge are deceitful brothers—vile, beguiling demons promising justifiable compensation to a pained soul for his losses. Yet in truth they craftily fester away all else of worth remaining.
Richelle E. Goodrich
The fact is, the man who’d begotten me didn’t want me. In his eyes I should never have been born. And perhaps that would’ve been best. As it was, my existence had proven to be nothing more than a nuisance for everyone. I angered my father, brought strife upon my mother, irritated my teachers, and annoyed the other children who were forced to interact with me in school. All by simply being. tWhen you aren’t loved, you aren’t real. Life is cold, like the stone against my palm.
Richelle E. Goodrich
With a few swift steps, Adrian stood in front of me again. The wall was only a couple inches behind me, and I had nowhere to go. He made no threatening moves, but he did clasp my hands and hold them to his chest while leaning down to me.“No, you will listen. For once, you’re going to hear something that doesn’t fit into your neat, compartmentalized world of order and logic and reason. Because this isn’t reasonable. If you’re terrified, believe me—this scares the hell out of me, too. You asked about Rose? I tried to be a better person for her—but it was to impress her, to get her to want me. But when I’m around you, I want to be better because… well, because it feels right. Because I want to. You make me want to become something greater than myself. I want to excel. You inspire me in every act, every word, every glance. I look at you, and you’re like… like light made into flesh. I said it on Halloween and meant every word: you are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen walking this earth. And you don’t even know it. You have no clue how beautiful you are or how brightly you shine.
Richelle Mead
It’s okay. Everything’s going to be okay. You can let go of the sword.""I can’t. I can’t leave him alone. I have to protect him.""You have.
Richelle Mead
America’s education system has become less a ladder of opportunity than a structure to transmit inequity from one generation to the next.
Nicholas Kristof
If someone offers you an opportunity to get closer to your enemy, you always take it. I know that without having learned it from anyone.
Veronica Roth
Jean-Baptiste Say may have coined the term 'entrepreneur' but he totally missed the opportunity to put it on a t-shirt and sell it.
Ryan Lilly
Opportunity does not waste time with those who are unprepared.
Idowu Koyenikan
Do not despise little beginnings. It'll all make sense as you're staring at an opportunity that you realize the difficult moments merely prepared you for.
Andrena Sawyer
Fifth and finally, do nothing impulsively. Give God an opportunity to speak. Until He does, stall for time and concentrate on the first four approaches.
James C. Dobson
To focus solely on endings is to trade conclusions for the very beginnings that created them. And if this cycle should persist, we will likewise miss the beginning that will follow this ending.
Craig D. Lounsbrough
We want a fresh start only because we didn’t sufficiently care for the last fresh start.
Craig D. Lounsbrough
It’s not about some principled debate as to whether I should focus on what I have, or on what I don’t have. Rather, it’s about being thankful that I have the privilege to enjoy the former, and the opportunity to contemplate the latter.
Craig D. Lounsbrough
You don't have to believe in coincidences because they happen every day. The trick is to be able to discern when something is more than coincidence.
Glenn Jones
Don't hang yourself with the slack you've been given.
Krista Ritchie
NOW is a fact that cannot be dodged.
Sinclair Lewis