Puck's Quote Board, page 65
Boasting 1613 quotes!
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Written things are not for speech; their form is literary; they are stiff, inflexible, and will not lend themselves to happy effective delivery with the tongue. Where their purpose is merely to entertain, not to instruct, they have to be limbered up, broken up, colloquialized, and turned into the common form of unpremeditated talk; otherwise they will bore the house – not entertain it.
Speaker: Mark TwainPosted: 21 Aug 2008 at 7:10 AMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
If a speech is to be of any importance at all, the speaker should live with the theme or message, turning it over and over in his mind. He will be surprised at how many useful illustrations or ways of putting his case will come to him as he walks the street, or reads a newspaper, or gets ready for bed, or wakes up in the morning. Mediocre speaking very often is merely the inevitable and the appropriate reflection of mediocre thinking, and the consequence of imperfect acquaintance with the subject at hand.
Speaker: Norman ThomasPosted: 21 Aug 2008 at 7:09 AMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
Action seems to follow feeling, but really action and feeling go together; and by regulating the action, which is under the more direct control of the will, we can indirectly regulate the feeling, which is not.
Thus the sovereign voluntary path to cheerfulness, if our spontaneous cheerfulness be lost, is to sit up cheerfully and act and speak as if cheerfulness were already there. If such conduct does not make you feel cheerful, nothing else on that occasion can.
So, to feel brave, act as if we were brave. Use all of our will to that end, and a courage-fit will very likely replace the fit of fear.Speaker: William JamesPosted: 21 Aug 2008 at 7:08 AMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
Brood over your topic until it becomes mellow and expansive… then put all these ideas down in writing, just a few words, enough to fix the idea… put them down on scraps of paper – you will find it easier to arrange and organize these loose bits when you come to set your material in order.
Speaker: Charles Reynold BrownPosted: 21 Aug 2008 at 7:07 AMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
In almost any subject, your passion for the subject will save you. If you care enough for a result, you will most certainly attain it. If you wish to be good, you will be good. If you wish to be rich, you will be rich. If you wish to be learned, you will be learned. Only then you must really wish these things and wish them with exclusiveness and not wish one hundred other incompatible things just as strongly.
Speaker: William JamesPosted: 20 Aug 2008 at 5:03 PMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
Fear defeats more people than any other one thing in the world.
Speaker: Ralph Waldo EmersonPosted: 20 Aug 2008 at 5:02 PMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
I think that if I ever have kids, and they are upset, I won’t tell them that people are starving in China or anything like that because it wouldn’t change the fact that they were upset. And even if somebody else has it much worse, that doesn’t really change the fact that you have what you have. Good and bad. Just like what my sister said when I had been in the hospital for a while. She said that she was really worried about going to college, and considering what I was going through, she felt really dumb about it. But I don’t know why she would feel dumb. I’d be worried, too. And really, I don’t think I have it any better or worse than she does. I don’t know. It’s just different. Maybe it’s good to put things in perspective, but sometimes, I think that the only perspective is to really be there. Like Sam said, Because it’s okay to feel things. And be who you are about them.
Speaker: Stephen ChboskyPosted: 20 Aug 2008 at 4:48 PMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
It’s like if I blamed my aunt Helen, I would have to blame her dad for hitting her and the friend of the family that fooled around with her when she was little. And the person that fooled around with him. And God for not stopping all this and things that are much worse. And I did do that for a while, but then I just couldn’t anymore. Because it wasn’t going anywhere. Because it wasn’t the point.
Speaker: Stephen ChboskyPosted: 20 Aug 2008 at 4:47 PMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
“Charlie, don’t you get it? I can’t feel that. It’s sweet and everything, but it’s like you’re not even there sometimes. It’s great that you can listen and be a shoulder to someone, but what about when someone doesn’t need a shoulder. What if they need the arms or something like that? You can’t just sit there and put everybody’s lives ahead of yours and think that counts as love. You just can’t. You have to do things.”
“Like what?” I asked. My mouth was dry.
“I don’t know. Like take their hands when the slow song comes up for a change. Or be the one who asks someone for a date. Or tell people what you need. Or what you want.”Speaker: Stephen ChboskyPosted: 20 Aug 2008 at 4:46 PMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
I remember going to sleep last night, and I realized something. Something that I think is important. I realized that throughout the course of the evening, I wasn’t happy about Craig and Sam breaking up. Not at all.
I never once thought that it would mean Sam might start liking me. All I cared about was the fact that Sam got really hurt. And I guess I realized at that moment that I really did love her. Because there was nothing to gain, and that didn’t matter.Speaker: Stephen ChboskyPosted: 20 Aug 2008 at 4:45 PMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
There was this one part where the main character, who is this architect, is sitting on a boat with his best friend, who is a newspaper tycoon. And the newspaper tycoon says that the architect is a very cold man. The architect replies that if the boat were sinking, and there was only room in the lifeboat for one person, he would gladly give up his life for the newspaper tycoon. And then he says something like this…
“I would die for you. But I won’t live for you.”
Something like that. I think the idea is that every person has to live for his or her own life and then make the choice to share it with other people. Maybe that is what makes people “participate.” I’m not really certain. Because I don’t know if I would mind living for Sam for a while.Speaker: Stephen ChboskyPosted: 20 Aug 2008 at 4:44 PMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
I walk around the school hallways and look at the people. I look at the teachers and wonder why they’re here. If they like their jobs. Or us. And I wonder ho smart they were when they were fifteen. Not in a mean way. In a curious way. It’s like looking at all the students and wondering who’s had their heart broken that day, and how they are able to cope with having three quizzes and a book report on top of that. Or wondering who did the heart breaking. And wondering why. Especially since I know that if they went to another school, the person who had their heart broken would have had their heart broken by somebody else, so why does it have to be so personal?
Speaker: Stephen ChboskyPosted: 20 Aug 2008 at 4:44 PMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
I know I brought this all on myself. I know that I deserve this. I’d do anything not to be this way. I’d do anything to make it up to everyone. And to not have to see a psychiatrist, who explains to me about being “passive aggressive,” and to not have to take the medicine he gives me, which is too expensive for my dad. And to not have to talk about bad memories with him. Or to be nostalgic about bad things.
Speaker: Stephen ChboskyPosted: 20 Aug 2008 at 4:43 PMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
I asked my sister what I should do, and she said the best thing to do is be honest about my feelings. My psychiatrist said the same thing. And then I felt really sad because I thought maybe I was different from how Mary Elizabeth originally saw me, too. And maybe I was lying by not telling her that it was hard to listen to her all the time without getting to say anything back. But I was trying to be nice like Sam said I should. I don’t know where I went wrong.
Speaker: Stephen ChboskyPosted: 20 Aug 2008 at 4:41 PMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
I like girls. I really do. Because they can think you look good in a bathing suit even when you don’t.
Speaker: Stephen ChboskyPosted: 20 Aug 2008 at 4:40 PMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
Sometimes, I look outside, and I think that a lot of other people have seen this snow before. Just like I think that a lot of other people have read those books before. And listened to those songs.
I wonder how they feel tonight.
…I guess what I’m saying is that this all feels very familiar. But it’s not mine to be familiar about. I just know that another kid has felt this. This one time when it’s peaceful outside, and you’re seeing things move, and you don’t want to, and everyone is asleep. And all the books you’ve read have been read by other people. And all the songs you’ve loved have been heard by other people. And that girl that’s pretty to you is pretty to other people. And you know that if you looked at these facts when you were happy, you would feel great because you are describing “unity.”
It’s like when you are excited about a girl and you see a couple holding hands, and you feel so happy for them. And other times you see the same couple, and they make you so mad. And all you want is to always feel happy for them because you know that if you do, then it means that you’re happy too.Speaker: Stephen ChboskyPosted: 20 Aug 2008 at 4:40 PMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
I walked over to the hill where we used to go and sled. There were a lot of little kids there. I watched them flying. Doing jumps and having races. And I thought that all those little kids are going to grow up someday. And all of those little kids are going to do the things that we do. And they will all kiss someone someday. But for now, sledding is enough. I think it would be great if sledding were always enough, but it isn’t.
Speaker: Stephen ChboskyPosted: 20 Aug 2008 at 4:36 PMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
I really think that everyone should have watercolors, magnetic poetry, and a harmonica.
Speaker: Stephen ChboskyPosted: 20 Aug 2008 at 4:34 PMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
I had an amazing feeling when I finally held the tape in my hand. I just thought to myself that in the palm of my hand, there was this one tape that had all of these memories and feelings and great joy and sadness. Right there in the palm of my hand. And I thought about how many people have loved those songs. And how many people got through a lot of bad times because of those songs. And how many people enjoyed good times with those songs. And how much those songs really mean. I think it would be great to have written one of those songs. I bet if I wrote one of them, I would be very proud. I hope the people who wrote those songs are happy. I hope that they feel it’s enough. I really do because they’ve made me happy. And I’m only one person.
Speaker: Stephen ChboskyPosted: 20 Aug 2008 at 4:33 PMComments: None... Be the first to comment! -
Do you enjoy holidays with your family? I don’t mean your mom and dad family, but your uncle and aunt and cousin family? Personally, I do. There are several reasons for this.
First, I am very interested and fascinated by how everyone loves each other, but no one really likes each other. Second, the fights are always the same.Speaker: Stephen ChboskyPosted: 20 Aug 2008 at 4:32 PMComments: None... Be the first to comment!