Tag: Quotes

Simple Sundays

Simple Sunday- Stars

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“Stars, too, were time travelers. How many of those ancient points of light were the last echoes of suns now dead? How many had been born but their light not yet come this far? If all the suns but ours collapsed tonight, how many lifetimes would it take us to realize we were alone? I had always known the sky was full of mysteries—but not until now had I realized how full of them the earth was.-“Ransom Riggs

“Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven, Blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels.”-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,

“I like the stars. It’s the illusion of permanence, I think. I mean, they’re always flaring up and caving in and going out. But from here, I can pretend…I can pretend that things last. I can pretend that lives last longer than moments. Gods come, and gods go. Mortals flicker and flash and fade. Worlds don’t last; and stars and galaxies are transient, fleeting things that twinkle like fireflies and vanish into cold and dust. But I can pretend…”-Neil Gaiman

“Not just beautiful, though–the stars are like the trees in the forest, alive and breathing. And they’re watching me.”-Haruki Murakami

“We have calcium in our bones, iron in our veins, carbon in our souls, and nitrogen in our brains. 93 percent stardust, with souls made of flames, we are all just stars that have people names.”-Nikita Gill

“Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.”-Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

“The glitter in the sky looks as if I could scoop it all up in my hands and let the stars swirl and touch one another but they are so distant so very far apart that they cannot feel the warmth of each other even though they are made of burning.”-Beth Revis, Across the Universe

Simple Sundays

Simple Sunday- Chinese Proverbs

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If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people.

If your strength is small, don’t carry heavy burdens. If your words are worthless, don’t give advice.

If you must play, decide upon three things at the start: the rules of the game, the stakes, and the quitting time.

Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.

Simple Sundays

Simple Sunday- Tea

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“I must drink lots of tea or I cannot work. Tea unleashes the potential which slumbers in the depth of my soul.” – Leo Tolstoy

“There’s always time for tea.” – Seanan McGuire, An Artificial Night

“Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it as the axis on which the world revolves” – Thich Nhat Hanh

“As far as her mom was concerned, tea fixed everything. Have a cold? Have some tea. Broken bones? There’s a tea for that too. Somewhere in her mother’s pantry, Laurel suspected, was a box of tea that said, ‘In case of Armageddon, steep three to five minutes’.”-Aprilynne Pike, Illusions

“Making tea is a ritual that stops the world from falling in on you.” – Jonathan Stroud, The Creeping Shadow

Simple Sundays

Simple Sunday- Books/Authors I’ve Enjoyed

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Here are some quotes from books I’ve enjoyed recently. A lot of them are fantasy. Actually, I think all but First Frost is and even that one has magic of a sort. I’m pretty predictable when it seems to reading: romance, dragons, humor, puns, or fairy tales.

“We are all dealt a hand at birth. A good hand can ultimately lose – just as a poor hand can win – but we must all play the cards the fate deals. The choices we face may not be the choices we want, but they are choices nonetheless.”― Brigid Kemmerer, A Curse So Dark and Lonely (Retelling of Beauty and the Beast made into a fantasy series. Some urban fantasy.)

Reluctantly, I pulled out my necklace and showed it to them. Samuel frowned. The little figure was stylized; I suppose he couldn’t tell what it was at first.” A dog?” asked Zee, staring at my necklace. “A lamb,” I said defensively, tucking it safely back under my shirt. “Because one of Christ’s names is ‘The Lamb of God.'” Samuel’s shoulders shook slightly. “I can see it now, Mercy holding a roomful of vampire at bay with her glowing sheep.” I gave his shoulder a hard push, aware of the heat climbing to my cheeks, but it didn’t help. He sang in a soft taunting voice, “Mercy had a little lamb…”― Patricia Briggs, Moon Called (Fantasy)

“A happily-ever-after is never the real ending to a story. It’s where the real story begins.”― Sarah Addison Allen, First Frost (Mostly normal, but her books are all gorgeous, lush, and thought provoking stories.)

“Fear is a tool, like anything else. The trick is learning to use it without it turning on you.”― Matt Wallace, Idle Ingredients (Urban Fantasy)

“To dream of something more is the greatest gift one owns. Without them, there is nothing to strive for. No reason to continue breathing. We might as well become the rock and stone beneath our feet.”― Bec McMaster, Heart of Fire (Steampunk Romance)

Simple Sundays

Simple Sunday- Motivation

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“People deal too much with the negative, with what is wrong. Why not try and see positive things, to just touch those things and make them bloom? “- Thich Nhat Hanh

“You are the sum total of everything you’ve ever seen, heard, eaten, smelled, been told, forgot – it’s all there. Everything influences each of us, and because of that I try to make sure that my experiences are positive.”-Maya Angelou

“A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.”-Ayn Rand

“If you ask me what I came into this life to do, I will tell you: I came to live out loud.”-Emile Zola

“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.”-Michelangelo

Simple Sundays

Simple Sunday-Winter

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“Winter lingered so long in the lap of Spring that it occasioned a great deal of talk.”- Bill Nye

“Winter is the time for stories, staying fast by the glow of fire. And outside, in the darkness, the stars are brighter than you can possibly imagine.” – Isabel Greenberg, The Encyclopedia of Early Earth

“How could it be winter without snow?I appreciated every season, but winter was my favorite.I loved when it was time to pull out my thick sweaters.I loved the smell of a wood fire.I loved skiing and snow boarding and sledding, when i could find the time-although time was in a short supply when school was in session.I even enjoyed the cold, wintry weather, it was great for snuggling.” -Rachel Hawthorne, Suite Dreams

“Outside, snow solidified itself into graceful forms. The peace of winter stars seemed permanent.” – Toni Morrison, Beloved

“A sad tale’s best for winter: I have one of sprites and goblins.”
― William Shakespeare, The Winter’s Tale

Simple Sundays

Simple Sunday- New Year

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“If you want an interesting party sometime, combine cocktails and a fresh box of crayons for everyone.”-Robert Fulghum

“A year of ending and beginning, a year of loss and finding…and all of you were with me through the storm. I drink your health, your wealth, your fortune for long years to come, and I hope for many more days in which we can gather like this.”-C.J. Cherryh, Fortress of Eagles

“Ring out the false, ring in the true.”-Alfred Lord Tennyson

At Rainbow Cake, January’s special flavors would be dark chocolate and coffee, those pick-me-ups we all needed to start the day- or a new year. To me, their toasty-toasty flavors said that even if you only had a mere handful of beans and your life went up in flames, you could still create something wonderful. A little trial by fire could do you good. After all, if it worked so well with raw cacao and coffee beans, it could work for others, including me.”- Judith Fertig, The Cake Therapist

“We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten. Don’t let yourself be lulled into inaction.”-Bill Gates

“The spring, summer, is quite a hectic time for people in their lives, but then it comes to autumn, and to winter, and you can’t but help think back to the year that was, and then hopefully looking forward to the year that is approaching.”-Enya

Simple Sundays

Simple Sunday- Holidays

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“There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say,’ returned the nephew. ‘Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round—apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that—as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and willdo me good; and I say, God bless it!”
― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

“I was just thinking about how Christmas is right around the corner, but no matter how you choose to celebrate the holidays, books in general make great gifts!”
― Lauren Graham, Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls

“Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.”-Norman Vincent Peale

“Pets, like their owners, tend to expand a little over the Christmas period.”-Frances Wright

“The nutcracker sits under the holiday tree, a guardian of childhood stories. Feed him walnuts and he will crack open a tale…”
― Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

Simple Sundays

Simple Sunday- Joy

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“I want people to fall in love with themselves and to be really proud and full of joy for the space they take up. If someone else appreciates the space you take up, then that’s icing on the cake.”- Jonathan Van Ness

“I like joy; I want to be joyous; I want to have fun on the set; I want to wear beautiful clothes and look pretty. I want to smile, and I want to make people laugh. And that’s all I want. I like it. I like being happy. I want to make others happy.”-Doris Day

“Every breath we take, every step we make, can be filled with peace, joy and serenity.”- Thich Nhat Hanh

“Joy doesn’t betray but sustains activism. And when you face a politics that aspires to make you fearful, alienated and isolated, joy is a fine initial act of insurrection.”-Rebecca Solnit

“The most valuable possession you can own is an open heart. The most powerful weapon you can be is an instrument of peace.”-Carlos Santana

“My mother is a big believer in being responsible for your own happiness. She always talked about finding joy in small moments and insisted that we stop and take in the beauty of an ordinary day. When I stop the car to make my kids really see a sunset, I hear my mother’s voice and smile.”-Jennifer Garner