Tag: Quotes

Simple Sundays

Simple Sunday- Wisdom From the Past

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“The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe in blood for centuries. [Letter objecting to the use of government land for churches, 1803]” ― James Madison

“…legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church & State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties.”
― Thomas Jefferson, Letters of Thomas Jefferson

“I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.”-James Madison

“Encourage free schools and resolve that not one dollar of money appropriated to their support no matter how raised, shall be appropriated to the support of any sectarian school…Leave the matter of religion to the family circle, the church & the private school support[ed] entirely by private contribution. Keep the church and state forever separate.”― Ulysses S. Grant

“For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged, by better information or fuller consideration, to change opinions, even on important subjects, which I once thought right but found to be otherwise.”-Benjamin Franklin

Simple Sundays

Simple Sunday- Fairies

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“This was not a fairy-tale castle and there was no such thing as a fairy-tale ending, but sometimes you could threaten to kick the handsome prince in the ham-and-eggs.”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

“In a utilitarian age, of all other times, it is a matter of grave importance that fairy tales should be respected.”

(Frauds on the Fairies, 1853)”
― Charles Dickens, Works of Charles Dickens

“Once upon a time there was a fairy godmother, but the rest of the time there was none. This story is about one of those other times.”
― Diane Setterfield, The Thirteenth Tale

Everyone thinks of them in terms of poisoned apples and glass coffins, and forgets that they represent girls who walked into dark forests and remade them into their own reflections.”
― Seanan McGuire, Indexing

“Would you say that you’re a good man, Harry?” He had to think about that. “No,” he finally said. “In the fairy tale you mentioned last night, I would probably be the villain. But it’s possible the villain would probably treat you far better than the prince would have.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Tempt Me at Twilight

“We are all anthologies. We are each thousands of pages long, filled with fairy tales and poetry, mysteries and tragedy, forgotten stories in the back no one will ever read.”
― Marisha Pessl, Neverworld Wake

“I’ll tell you a secret about storytelling. Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty… were not perfect in the beginning. It’s only a happy ending on the last page, right? If the princess had everything from the beginning, there wouldn’t be a story. Anyone who is imperfect or incomplete can become the main character in the story.”
― PEACH－PIT, Shugo Chara!, Vol. 2: Friends in Need

Simple Sundays

Simple Sunday- Grief

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“There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love.”-Washington Irving

“The fact is that a man who wants to act virtuously in every way necessarily comes to grief among so many who are not virtuous.”-Niccolo Machiavelli

“Grief has limits, whereas apprehension has none. For we grieve only for what we know has happened, but we fear all that possibly may happen.“-Pliny the Elder

“No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.”-C. S. Lewis

“When grief is deepest, words are fewest.”-Ann Voskamp

Simple Sundays

Simple Sunday- Animals

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“If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans.”- James Herriot

“You can always tell about somebody by the way they put their hands on an animal.”-Betty White

“I want my children and my grandchildren to live in a world with clean air, pure drinking water, and an abundance of wildlife, so I’ve chosen to dedicate my life to wildlife conservation so I can make the world just a little bit better.”-Bindi Irwin

“My mother early on taught us to respect all animals, and I mean all animals – not just cats and dogs but rats and snakes and spiders and fish and wildlife, so I really grew up believing they are just like us and just as deserving of consideration.”-Joanna Lumley

“I find solace in animals. I have got a stray dog at home called Candy. I picked it up while I was waiting at the airport one day. I always wanted to have a ‘macho’ dog but got this sweet little thing instead.”-Randeep Hooda

Simple Sundays

Simple Sunday – Fairy Tales

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“If you ever find yourself in the wrong story, leave.”
― Mo Willems, Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs

“We cling to our fairy tales until the price for believing in them becomes too high.”
― Ransom Riggs, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

“Not all fairy tales have happily ever afters, some just have afters.”
― Chandra Hahn

“If you read fairy tales carefully, you’ll notice they are mostly about people who aren’t heroes. They don’t have special powers, or gifts. Often they are despised as stupid, They are bullied, beaten up, robbed, starved. But they find they are stronger than their misfortunes.”
― Amanda Craig, In a Dark Wood

“He famously defended fairy stories against those who said they told children that there were monsters; children already know that there are monsters, he said, and fairy stories teach them that monsters can be killed. We now know that the monsters may not simply have scales and sleep under a mountain. They may be in our own heads.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents

“This isn’t one of the fairy-tale stories you read in your childhood, where the hero always wins in the end. You’ll have many battles to fight, and you won’t win them all. And at the end of every single day, you’ll always face the same choice: keep fighting, or give up.”
― Amélie Wen Zhao, Blood Heir

Simple Sundays

Simple Sunday- Writing

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If he wrote it, he could get rid of it. He had gotten rid of many things by writing them.”
― Ernest Hemingway

Late into the night I write and the pages of my notebook swell from all the words I’ve pressed onto them.
It almost feels like the more I bruise the page the quicker something inside me heals.”
― Elizabeth Acevedo, The Poet X

“You’re writing, you’re coasting, and you’re thinking, ‘This is the best thing I’ve ever written, and it’s coming so easily, and these characters are so great.’ You put it aside for whatever reason, and you open it up a week later and the characters have turned to cardboard and the book has completely fallen apart,” she says. “That’s the moment of truth for every writer: Can I go on from here and make this book into something? I think it separates the writers from the nonwriters. And I think it’s the reason a lot of people have that unfinished manuscript around the house, that albatross.”
― Jacqueline Woodson

“If you want to see the consequences of ideas, write a story. If you want to see the consequences of belief, write a story in which somebody is acting on the ideas or beliefs that she has. ”
― Charles Baxter

Learn to write by doing it. Read widely and wisely. Increase your word power. Find your own individual voice though practicing constantly. Go through the world with your eyes and ears open and learn to express that experience in words.”
― P.D. James, Advice to Writers: A Compendium of Quotes, Anecdotes, and Writerly Wisdom from a Dazzling Array of Literary Lights

Simple Sundays

Simple Sunday- Bookish Quotes

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“I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see.”-John Burroughs

“I have books I like very much, but I don’t think there are any books that everyone should read. I prefer a world in which some people read this, and others read that.”-Tara Westover

“Books have the same enemies as people: fire, humidity, animals, weather, and their own content.”-Paul Valery

“I still buy actual books. The smell, having it in your hands – there’s really no substitute.”-Nathan Fillion

“Books are funny little portable pieces of thought.”-Susan Sontag

“When you are reading about a book, you focus on the main character, of course. When you have something in common with them and connect with them, you remember the lessons they learned, and then you can apply them to your life. So you can live the best life you can.”-Marley Dias

Simple Sundays

Simple Sunday- Ladies

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“I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat.”
Rebecca West

“Men often ask me, ‘Why are your female characters so paranoid?’ It’s not paranoia. It’s recognition of their situation.”
Margaret Atwood

“It’s important to teach our female youth that it’s OK to say, ‘Yes, I am good at this,’ and you don’t hold back.”
Simone Biles

“Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies we are determined to forment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice, or representation.”
― Abigail Adams

“We are not great powers. But we are the light. Nobody can put us out. May all of you shine very bright and steady, today and always.”
― Ursula K. Le Guin

Simple Sundays

Simple Sunday- Spring

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“I had been educated in the rhythms of the mountain, rhythms in which change was never fundamental, only cyclical. The same sun appeared each morning, swept over the valley, and dropped behind the peak. The snows that fell in winter always melted in the spring.”Tara Westover

“In spring, the dead trees, roots, and animals come to life again exactly as they were, thus providing hundreds of thousands of examples, specimens, and proofs of the supreme resurrection.”-Said Nursi

“I had always planned to make a large painting of the early spring, when the first leaves are at the bottom of the trees, and they seem to float in space in a wonderful way. But the arrival of spring can’t be done in one picture.”-David Hockney

“In the Spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours.”-Mark Twain

“Sugaring season is the season when you tap the trees for sugar that turns into maple syrup. I’ve married someone from Vermont, so it’s an expression I kept hearing, and I’m like, ‘What is that? That’s just so beautiful.’ I like the idea it’s the very, very first murmurings of spring.”-Beth Orton

Simple Sundays

Simple Sunday- Science

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“Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.”-Albert Einstein

“Science, my lad, is made up of mistakes, but they are mistakes which it is useful to make, because they lead little by little to the truth.”-Jules Verne

‘We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology.”-Carl Sagan

“Seeing a full display of humanity involved in space is a game-changer for everyone. We’ve all looked at the stars; we’ve all imagined what was going on. Not everyone wants to go, but everyone wants to know what it’s like.”-Mae Jemison

“We should not allow it to be believed that all scientific progress can be reduced to mechanisms, machines, gearings, even though such machinery also has its beauty. Neither do I believe that the spirit of adventure runs any risk of disappearing in our world.”-Marie Curie

“The scientific method is about trying to remove our own bias and subjectivity, and be as objective as possible. But then you can put it back into context and you’re allowed to be emotional and human about the way you engage with it.”-Alice Roberts