Shelley > Shelley's Quotes

“Good things come, but they're never perfect; are they? You have to twist them into something perfect.”
― Maud Hart Lovelace, Betsy and the Great World / Betsy's Wedding

“Perhaps, after all, romance did not come into one’s life with pomp and blare, like a gay knight riding down; perhaps it crept to one’s side like an old friend through quiet ways; perhaps it revealed itself in seeming prose, until some sudden shaft of illumination flung athwart its pages betrayed the rhythm and the music, perhaps . . . perhaps . . . love unfolded naturally out of a beautiful friendship, as a golden-hearted rose slipping from its green sheath.”
― L.M. Montgomery

“The universe is big, its vast and complicated, and ridiculous. And sometimes, very rarely, impossible things just happen and we call them miracles. And that's the theory. Nine hundred years, never seen one yet, but this would do me.”
― Steven Moffat

“Lucky for you, I have another scheme. First I need a hundred ducks, but after that it will be pretty simple."
"What do you need the ducks for?"
"I´m going to put a whole bunch of them in a giant catapult and launch them over Aurimere," Kami said. "This will create a distraction. My message will be: Look at all the ducks I give.”
― Sarah Rees Brennan, Unmade

“Was life always like that? she wondered. A game of hide and seek in which you only occasionally found the person you wanted to be?”
― Maud Hart Lovelace, Betsy and the Great World

“Actually, writers have no business writing about their own works. They either wax conceited, saying things like: 'My brilliance is possibly most apparent in my dazzling short story, "The Cookiepants Hypotenuse."' Or else they get unbearably cutesy: 'My cat Ootsywootums has given me all my best ideas, hasn't oo, squeezums?”
― Connie Willis, The Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories

“Isn't it mysterious to begin a new journal like this? I can run my fingers through the fresh clean pages but I cannot guess what the writing on them will be.”
― Maud Hart Lovelace, Betsy in Spite of Herself

“It's not worth doing something unless someone, somewhere, would much rather you weren't doing it.”
― Terry Pratchett

“Betsy returned to her chair, took off her coat and hat, opened her book and forgot the world again.”
― Maud Hart Lovelace, Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown

“Bah! Suffragettes. I've no time for suffragettes. They made the biggest mistake in history. They went for equality. They should have gone for power!”
― Jennifer Worth, Shadows of the Workhouse

“Jamie let go of me. "Shut your mucky gob, man." He stepped close to our fearless leader in the dark, took hold of his jacket by the collar, and in a dead quiet voice that had gone dangerously Scots, threatened heatedly, "Talk like that again wi' these brave lassies listenin' an' Ah'll tear the filthy English tongue frae yer heid, so Ah will.”
― Elizabeth Wein, Code Name Verity

“She thought of the library, so shining white and new; the rows and rows of unread books; the bliss of unhurried sojourns there and of going out to a restaurant, alone, to eat.”
― Maud Hart Lovelace, Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown

“I wish you knew how I value you; and what an inexpressible blessing it is to have one whom one can always trust, one always the same, always ready to give comfort, sympathy and the best advice. God bless you, my dear, you are too good for me.' -Charles to Emma, 1859”
― Deborah Heiligman, Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith

“Do you like Moby Dick?" he asks.

"I hate it," she says. "And I don't say that about many things. Teachers assign it, and parents are happy because their kids are reading something of 'quality.' But it's forcing kids to read books like that that make them think they hate reading.”
― Gabrielle Zevin, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

“It is important not to confuse “patriotism” with “nationalism.” As I define it, nationalism is a monologue in which you place your country in a position of moral and cultural supremacy over others. Patriotism, while deeply personal, is a dialogue with your fellow citizens, and a larger world, about not only what you love about your country but also how it can be improved.”
― Dan Rather, What Unites Us: Reflections on Patriotism

“We are a nation not only of dreamers, but also of fixers. We have looked at our land and people, and said, time and time again, "This is not good enough; we can be better.”
― Dan Rather, What Unites Us: Reflections on Patriotism

“We often hear about how we need to be more tolerant: to make room for people, ideas, and actions with which we may not agree. This is a prerequisite for a functional democracy. But tolerance alone is not sufficient; it allows us to accept others without engaging with them, to feel smug and self-satisfied without challenging the boundaries within which too many of us live.”
― Dan Rather, What Unites Us: Reflections on Patriotism

“We're growing up," Betsy said aloud. She wasn't even sure she liked it. But it happened, and then it wasn't irrevocable. There was nothing you could do about it except try and see that you grew up into the kind of human being you wanted to be. "I'd like to be a fine one," Betsy thought quickly and urgently.”
― Maud Hart Lovelace

“It was three o'clock in the morning – the wisest and most accursed hour of the clock. But sometimes it sets us free.”
― Lucy Maud Montgomery, The Blue Castle

“There's no "should" or "should not" when it comes to having feelings. They're part of who we are and their origins are beyond our control. When we can believe that, we may find it easier to make constructive choices about what to do with those feelings.”
― Fred Rogers, The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember

“I give Hunter shit, but what he did was brave. Kissing his boyfriend on TV like that. And the speech at the awards.”
“It was. It really…made me hopeful. That things might be changing.”
Ilya shot the puck back to Shane. “It made me jealous,” he admitted.
Shane laughed. "You wanna kiss me on television?"
"Yes. After I win the Stanley cup."
Shane spread his arms out. "Oh, so in this scenario, you've just defeated me?"
"Yes. Sorry."
“I’m not going to be in the mood to kiss you if I’ve just lost the Stanley Cup, Rozanov.”
“But you would be so proud of me!”
― Rachel Reid, Heated Rivalry

“…And I want to learn Russian. I wasn’t kidding about that.”

“I’ll teach you.”

Shane smiled so wide and bright, Ilya almost had to look away.

“I should let you sleep,” Shane said.

“Da. Yes. Okay.”

And then… Shane kissed the tips of two fingers and reached out and touched them to the screen. And Ilya’s heart fucking stopped.”
― Rachel Reid, Heated Rivalry