“But remember this if nothing else: I love you more than there are words or stars. I love you more than there are thoughts and feelings. I love you more than there are seconds or moments gone or to come. I love you.”
― Malorie Blackman, quote from Checkmate
“For once I didn't look away immediately. I forced myself to meet her contemptuous gaze. I allowed myself be swept away by it, to drown in it - the way I'd done so many times before. The way I would willingly do again. Because at least she was here to hate me. At least I had that. I watched my daughter conjure up the filthiest look in her vast arsenal before she turned away with complete disdain. I didn't mind that so much. It meant I could watch her, drink her in without her protest.
Look at our daughter, Callum. Isn't she beautiful, so very beautiful? She laughs like me, but when she smiles... Oh Callum, when she smiles, it's picnics in Celebration Park and sunsets on our beach and our very first kiss all over again. When Callie Rose smiles at me, she lights up my life.
When Callie Rose smiles at me.”
― Malorie Blackman, quote from Checkmate
“If you're naive - which means immature, inexperienced, or a bit thick - you get eaten alive.”
― Malorie Blackman, quote from Checkmate
“You remind me of a boy I used to know
Same Smile, same easy, laid-back style
And man, could he kiss
Blew my mind the very first time
His lips touched mine.
You remind me
You remind me of a boy I used to like.
Same eyes, strong arms, same open mind
And man, could he dance
Arms around me, lost in a trance
I'd hear his heart
You remind me
I'm scared of you
How did you find me?
Turn and walk away
'Cause you remind me
You remind me of a boy I used to love
Same laughter and tears, shared through the years
And man, how he felt
Made my bones more than melt
He touched my soul.
You remind me
I'm scared of you
How did you find me?
Turn and walk away
'Cause you remind me”
― Malorie Blackman, quote from Checkmate
“When a chance for real happiness comes by, grab it with both hands and devour it. If it lasts five minutes or five lifetimes, it's still worth it.”
― Malorie Blackman, quote from Checkmate
“You have the same smile, the same shaped eyes, the same way of tilting your head to listen, the same stubborn streak, the same common sense. Lots of things about you and him are the same.”
― Malorie Blackman, quote from Checkmate
“But faith is so easy to hold onto when you don't need it. And so hard to find when you do.”
― Malorie Blackman, quote from Checkmate
“like a window had been thrown open inside my head and my heart, where there had been closed shutters before.”
― Malorie Blackman, quote from Checkmate
“He was constantly surprising me like that. I had thought I didn't like surprises, but I found I did when they came from him.”
― Malorie Blackman, quote from Checkmate
“My dad was Callum McGregor. Hanged for political terrorism. Hanged for being a rapist and a murderer. Hanged for being a son of a bitch.”
― Malorie Blackman, quote from Checkmate
“It's only since it's been made impossible that it's been made so damn easy. It's got like prohibition, with bums and crooks making fortunes out of hooch, everyone who might have had a palate losing it, nobody caring how you hold your liquor, you've been smart enough if you get it at all. You can't make good wine in a bathtub in the cellar, you need sun and rain and fresh air, you need pride in a job you can tell the world about. Only you can live without drink if you have to, but you can't live without love.”
― Mary Renault, quote from The Charioteer
“I saw a banner hanging next to city hall in downtown Philadelphia that read, "Kill them all, and let God sort them out." A bumper sticker read, "God will judge evildoers; we just have to get them to him." I saw a T-shirt on a soldier that said, "US Air Force... we don't die; we just go to hell to regroup." Others were less dramatic- red, white, and blue billboards saying, "God bless our troops." "God Bless America" became a marketing strategy. One store hung an ad in their window that said, "God bless America--$1 burgers." Patriotism was everywhere, including in our altars and church buildings. In the aftermath of September 11th, most Christian bookstores had a section with books on the event, calendars, devotionals, buttons, all decorated in the colors of America, draped in stars and stripes, and sprinkled with golden eagles.
This burst of nationalism reveals the deep longing we all have for community, a natural thirst for intimacy... September 11th shattered the self-sufficient, autonomous individual, and we saw a country of broken fragile people who longed for community- for people to cry with, be angry with, to suffer with. People did not want to be alone in their sorrow, rage, and fear.
But what happened after September 11th broke my heart. Conservative Christians rallies around the drums of war. Liberal Christian took to the streets. The cross was smothered by the flag and trampled under the feet of angry protesters. The church community was lost, so the many hungry seekers found community in the civic religion of American patriotism. People were hurting and crying out for healing, for salvation in the best sense of the word, as in the salve with which you dress a wound. A people longing for a savior placed their faith in the fragile hands of human logic and military strength, which have always let us down. They have always fallen short of the glory of God.
...The tragedy of the church's reaction to September 11th is not that we rallied around the families in New York and D.C. but that our love simply reflected the borders and allegiances of the world. We mourned the deaths of each soldier, as we should, but we did not feel the same anger and pain for each Iraqi death, or for the folks abused in the Abu Ghraib prison incident. We got farther and farther from Jesus' vision, which extends beyond our rational love and the boundaries we have established. There is no doubt that we must mourn those lives on September 11th. We must mourn the lives of the soldiers. But with the same passion and outrage, we must mourn the lives of every Iraqi who is lost. They are just as precious, no more, no less. In our rebirth, every life lost in Iraq is just as tragic as a life lost in New York or D.C. And the lives of the thirty thousand children who die of starvation each day is like six September 11ths every single day, a silent tsunami that happens every week.”
― Shane Claiborne, quote from The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical
“Im Augapfel kollidieren Sicht und Einsicht, Schöpfung und späte Überlegung. Die Janusfrüchte des Sehens sind eine magische Schwingtür, wo der erschaffende Geist sich selber im Erschaffenen begegnet. Das Auge, das ins Universum schaut, ist das Auge des Universums selbst.”
― Jostein Gaarder, quote from Maya
“Love is so complicated. I’m glad I don’t suffer from it and hope I never do. It’s amazing how smart, strong people turn into frail, frightened idiots once their hearts are involved.”
― Laurann Dohner, quote from Obsidian
“The future was a living thing, and could never be truly known. It rippled with change whenever someone used free will to make a choice. But”
― Peter V. Brett, quote from The Daylight War
BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.
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