Two days after his twelfth birthday, a fortnight before his father was jailed for debt, Charles Dickens was sent to work in a blacking factory. There, in a rat-infested room by the docks, he sat for twelve hours a day, labelling boot polish and learning the pain of abandonment. While he never spoke publicly of this ordeal, it would always be with him: in his social conscience and burning ambition, in the hordes of innocent children who languished and died in his fiction. Pete thinks we all have a blacking factory: some awful moment, early on, when we surrender our childish hearts as surely as we lose our baby teeth. And the outcome can't be called. Some of us end up like Dickens, others like Jeffrey Dahmer. It's not a question of good or evil, Pete believes. Just the random brutality of the universe and our native ability to withstand it.
Armistead Maupin
Related I like to open for a band as it brings on sort of a challenge and it makes things more interesting. ... KELLY JONES (All the grief she had suffered over her lifetime had moulded her face into a mask of eternal sadnes... JEAN SASSON You must save what you can of your life; you musn't lose it all simply because you've lost a part. HENRY JAMES You're full of contradictions, Ms. Wallace." I looked up at him and arched a brow. "I'm a girl... TAMMARA WEBBER Empathy is the new measurement of everything. It doesn't matter what religion you have, what God you... C. JOYBELL C. For starters, that’s a rather simple principle of Time Travel right there – and according to the... CHRISTINA ENGELA She wasn't bitter. She was sad, though. But it was a hopeful kind of sad. The kind of sad that just ... STEPHEN CHBOSKY So, I guess we are who we are for alot of reasons. And maybe we'll never know most of them. But even... STEPHEN CHBOSKY I love my mom so much. I don't care if that's corny to say. I think on my next birthday, I'm going t... STEPHEN CHBOSKY We Are All Infinite STEPHEN CHBOSKY You can't just sit there and put everyone's lives ahead of yours and think that counts as love. You ... STEPHEN CHBOSKY I saw other people there. Old men sitting alone. Young girls with blue eye shadow and awkward jaws. ... STEPHEN CHBOSKY That one moment when you know you are not a sad story. You are ALIVE. STEPHAN CHBOSKY Somos quienes somos por un montón de razones.Quizás nunca conozcamos la mayoría de ellas.Pero aun... STEPHEN CHBOSKY Ambos dijeron que tomara asiento y parecían hablar en serio, así que me senté. STEPHEN CHBOSKY I know these will all be stories some day, and our pictures will become old photographs. We all beco... STEPHEN CHBOSKY So I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybewe'll never know most of them. STEPHEN CHBOSKY So I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we'll never know most of them. STEPHEN CHBOSKY There's nothing like the deep breathes after laughing that hard. Nothing in the world like a sore st... STHEPHEN CHBOSKY no more pencils, no more books, no more teachers' dirty looks, when the teacher rings the bell, drop... STEPHEN CHBOSKY I don't know the significance of this, but I find it very interesting. STEPHEN CHBOSKY Maybe it’s sad that these are now memories. And maybe it’s not sad. STEPHEN CHBOSKY You're still lovely," Mor said a bit gently. Elain offered a half smile. "I suppose that war m... SARAH J. MAAS Wake up to a brand new day and realize why you woke up to meet the day! Live to the end of another d... ERNEST AGYEMANG YEBOAH The only way he could have her was to shatter this stubborn faith of hers. In doing so, would he sha... FRANCINE RIVERS You deserve to be with somebody, who knows you're the one, from that very first moment he lays eyes ... C. JOYBELL C. I am often asked how it is that I am able to value people to such a deep degree. Apparently, I exhib... C. JOYBELL C. History is a wheel, for the nature of man is fundamentally unchanging. What has happened before will... GEORGE R.R. MARTIN If I provide for this life and turn away from the Lord, I am wise for a moment, but lost forever. FRANCINE RIVERS The only way he could have her was to shatter this stubborn faith of hers. In doing so, would he sha... FRANCINE RIVERS Absoballylutely top hole, wot. A and B the C of D I'd say. . . Above and Beyond the Call of Duty. BRIAN JACQUES Never give up on you. In order to make a difference you would have to somehow be different. JOHNNIE DENT JR. The Chorus Line: The Birth of Telemachus, An Idyll Nine months he sailed the wine-red sea... MARGARET ATWOOD Each man lives in his own universe and when he dies the world is over BANGAMBIKI HABYARIMANA The issue isn't whether he loved you, it's how much. Too much. Love can be poison SARAH J. MAAS I am broken and healing, but every piece of my heart belong to you. SARAH J. MAAS He thinks he'll be remembered as the villain in the story. But I forgot to tell him that the villain... SARAH J. MAAS Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold ... GEORGE R.R. MARTIN Hodor," said Hodor. GEORGE R.R. MARTIN You do what you love, what you need SARAH J. MAAS I turned. Rhysand leaned against the archway into the sitting room, arms crossed, wings nowhere... SARAH J. MAAS Oh happy day! A day to make a hay! And when it is mid-day, think about the day! And when you think a... ERNEST AGYEMANG YEBOAH I was very grateful to have heard it again. Because I guess we all forget sometimes. And I think eve... STEPHEN CHBOSKY I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we'll never know most of them. But even if... STEPHEN CHBOSKY The answer isn't more time but a greater awareness of the time we have. CRAIG GROESCHEL The mark of a real man, is a man who can allow himself to fall deeply in love with a woman. But the ... C. JOYBELL C. Once on a yellow piece of paper with green lines he wrote a poem And he called it "Chops"... STEPHEN CHBOSKY ...He can recite to you the nomenclature of a machine gun or grenade launcher and use either one eff... SARAH PALIN The goal in life is not to try and live forever, but to create something that will forever in people... KARON WADDELL The Isle of Pines was Circe's isle, with white marble columns here and there in the dark, green, and... HENRY KUTTNER Mindfulness is observing the beauty of every moment unfolding before us. AMIT RAY we sat there smoking cigarettes at 5 in the morning. CHARLES BUKOWSKI ...Not yet dry behind the ears, not old enough to buy a beer, but old enough to die for his country.... SARAH PALIN THERE was a man in our town, and he was wondrous rich; He gave away his millions to the colleges... FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS Beaming into the thick of a tree without becoming a lifelong tree hugger was a tricky business. A pr... CHRISTINA ENGELA She made a fence of phrases, which seemed a treachery to herself. ELIZABETH TAYLOR You are the blood of the dragon. You can make a hat. GEORGE R.R. MARTIN Most of us think we're too busy or too important to rest for a day. CRAIG GROESCHEL Now is the only time we have, and the only time that we have any control over. RICHARD CARLSON (from his random observations after reading David Copperfield by Charles Dickens) In the ... NICK HORNBY Clay in the hands of a good potter suffers so many good turns, but in the end, we see its real and t... ERNEST AGYEMANG YEBOAH If you have read this far in the chronicle of the Baudelaire orphans - and I certainly hope you have... LEMONY SNICKET He was a strong and noble lord with piercing eyes of grey. He sat upon his noble throne shinin... LAUREL A. ROCKEFELLER The point of this good-day-bad-day comparison is this: Regardless of our performance, we are always ... JERRY BRIDGES Now is the only time we have, and the only time we have any control over. RICHARD CARLSON In a world in which the common rule which binds and regulates what the general masses feel is underm... ERNEST AGYEMANG YEBOAH At last we heard Father's footsteps winding up the stairs. It was the best moment in every day, when... CORRIE TEN BOOM We are children, perhaps, at the very moment when we know that it is as children that God loves us -... FREDERICK BUECHNER I have two great duties in each day: firstly, to identify why I woke up and secondly to be convinced... ERNEST AGYEMANG YEBOAH I have two great duties in each day: firstly, to identify why I woke up and secondly to be convinced... ERNEST AGYEMANG YEBOAH In one horrible moment the last piece of the prophecy became clear. So bid him take care,... SUZANNE COLLINS Life is neither a glorious highlight reel nor a monstrous tragedy. Every day is a good day to live a... KILROY J. OLDSTER He brings the greatest conflict into the history of mankind. He will come soon to our world just lik... TOBA BETA I was suddenly very aware of the fact it was me standing up in that tunnel with the wind over my fac... STEPHEN CHBOSKY The only perspective is to really be there. STEPHEN CHBOSKY I didn't feel like reading that night, so I went downstairs and watched a half-hour long commercial ... STEPHEN CHBOSKY Why is England manufacturing bigger and better airplanes and bombs and at the same time churning out... ANNE FRANK Life begins somewhere and ends somewhere with time but to get somewhere with the life you have depen... ERNEST AGYEMANG YEBOAH I want to share this bed with you, though," I breathed. "I want you to hold me." Stars flicker... SARAH J. MAAS The rat turned his glowing eyes on him, and Gregor was shocked by what he saw there. The intelligenc... SUZANNE COLLINS We die a day at a time BANGAMBIKI HABYARIMANA 35. God is entitled to a portion of our income—not because He needs it but because we need to give... JAMES C. DOBSON It is much more valuable to look for the strength in others. You can gain nothing by criticizing the... DAISAKU IKEDA the deceased don’t want you to forget about them. They just want you to move past it; not to dwell... JUSTIN PYFROM As soon as he was half-awake he slipped his knickers off. Holding them close to his face, he handled... DEREK RAYMOND There is no greater glory than to die for love. GABRIEL GARCíA MáRQUEZ Together they had overcome the daily incomprehension, the instantaneous hatred, the reciprocal nasti... GABRIEL GARCíA MáRQUEZ She would defend herself, saying that love, no matter what else it might be, was a natural talent. S... GABRIEL GARCíA MáRQUEZ His gut was stitched up good and tight, but that didn’t prevent it from flopping. He wiped his dam... SANDRA BROWN I frowned at the eye in my palm. "What, literally shout at the tattoo?" "You could try rubbing ... SARAH J. MAAS That boy had wanted to be Ser Arthur Dayne, but someplace along the way he had become the Smiling Kn... GEORGE R.R. MARTIN Avoid the temptation to force a moment so you won’t miss the one with your name on it. GINA GREENLEE Like a deep sad note played beneath the ocean waving through the orb the memories of ... PAWAN MISHRA Not," Swift said firmly, "for all the tea in China." "That expression has never made sense to m... LISA KLEYPAS If this were a fairy tale, this would be the part where the fishboy appears and Diana shoots him thr... HANNAH MOSKOWITZ Despereaux looked at his father, at his grey-streaked fur and trembling whiskers and his front paws ... KATE DICAMILLO Jason knew his life would never be the same again. British intelligence now had an ace up their slee... MARK A. COOPER Instead, every precaution was taken not to violate his rights. Remember, many administrators have no... JAMES C. DOBSON Oh, I should probably set a few ground rules before we do this.” “Oh?” I turn at the wais... J.A. REDMERSKI I realized that day that blessings come in a variety of shapes, colors, and sizes. CRAIG GROESCHEL
More Armistead Maupin
When I get back from this book tour, I'm planning to learn the internet. Maybe I can hook up in ... ARMISTEAD MAUPIN Like I've always said, love wouldn't be blind if the braille weren't so damned much fun. ARMISTEAD MAUPIN Oh, Mona, we're all damned fools! Some of us just have more fun with it than others. Loosen up, dear... ARMISTEAD MAUPIN Laugh all you want and cry all you want and whistle at pretty men in the street and to hell with any... ARMISTEAD MAUPIN But I'm acutely aware that the possibility of fraud is even more prevalent in today's world because ... ARMISTEAD MAUPIN But I will say that the drugs are much more ferocious then they used to be. There are people wreckin... ARMISTEAD MAUPIN But I love to travel with my partner, reading, sitting in the garden, smoking dope, and going to mov... ARMISTEAD MAUPIN Too much of a good thing is wonderful ARMISTEAD MAUPIN I have always distrusted memoir. I tend to write my memoirs through my fiction. It's easier to get t... ARMISTEAD MAUPIN I surrendered my youth to the people I feared when I could have been out there loving someone. Don't... ARMISTEAD MAUPIN I wish someone older than me and wiser than the people in Orlando had taken me aside. ARMISTEAD MAUPIN My only regret about being gay is that I repressed it for so long. I surrendered my youth to the peo... ARMISTEAD MAUPIN The world changes in direct proportion to the number of people willing to be honest about their live... ARMISTEAD MAUPIN Being in love is the only transcendent experience. ARMISTEAD MAUPIN If you want to know who the oppressed minorities in America are, simply look at who gets their own s... ARMISTEAD MAUPIN I know I can't tell you what it's like to be gay. But I can tell you what it's not. It's not hiding ... ARMISTEAD MAUPIN men and women, both straight and gay, who don’t consider sexuality in measuring the worth of anoth... ARMISTEAD MAUPIN The hostess extended her swanlike neck and opened her mouth to the fullest. "Aaaahhhaaaahhhhheeeeaaa... ARMISTEAD MAUPIN Look," said Mary Ann evenly, "if I think you're really attractive, there must be plenty of me... ARMISTEAD MAUPIN DEAR MAMA, I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to write. Every time I try to write to you and Papa I... ARMISTEAD MAUPIN Her apartment seemed fussier than ever, as if the doilies and tassels had taken to breeding in their... ARMISTEAD MAUPIN Being gay has taught me tolerance, compassion and humility. It has shown me limitless possibilities ... ARMISTEAD MAUPIN The hell of it is, I know the answer. The answer is that you never, ever, rely on another person for... ARMISTEAD MAUPIN I believe very firmly that gay people of every stripe and age should be role models for all children... ARMISTEAD MAUPIN What about San Francisco?" "What about it?" "Did you like it?" She shrugged. "It was ... ARMISTEAD MAUPIN I have nothing I can point to that was an obvious turning point, ... The jury was out for seven hour... LEWIS ARMISTEAD Is this the day Matt will call and tell me he's coming home? Is this the day the Army will call and ... CAROLYN MAUPIN We put 10 pictures inside each box with a little note asking them to please help us find him, and al... CAROLYN MAUPIN I wonder if he hears the bombs of the soldiers and their rifles. CAROLYN MAUPIN We will not let Matt be forgotten. I don't want him left behind. I don't want him left there. CAROLYN MAUPIN They had been putting out posters with a very dark picture of Matt that didn't look much like him. W... CAROLYN MAUPIN It's a lot of money, but we are determined to do this, to remember those who have given their lives. CAROLYN MAUPIN Twice now they've dropped the ball where we've learned about something happening with our son from o... CAROLYN MAUPIN Even though you see a smile, your heart still aches. CAROLYN MAUPIN I didn't carry on very well the first three or four months. Then one day I decided it was time for m... CAROLYN MAUPIN The information we received was helpful and it showed the Army is actively following up leads concer... CAROLYN MAUPIN I guess I was less out of shape than I thought I might be. I was just happy to give my team some goo... ERIC MAUPIN I was a little afraid at first. I didn't have a lot of confidence when I first went out there. But i... ERIC MAUPIN Their (the Panthers') style is a lot different than ours. But we showed that we can run the floor. ERIC MAUPIN