“For readers, one of life’s most electrifying discoveries is that they are readers—not just capable of doing it (which Morris already knew), but in love with it. Hopelessly. Head over heels. The first book that does that is never forgotten, and each page seems to bring a fresh revelation, one that burns and exalts: Yes! That’s how it is! Yes! I saw that, too! And, of course, That’s what I think! That’s what I FEEL!”
― Stephen King, quote from Finders Keepers
“A good novelist does not lead his characters, he follows them. A good novelist does not create events, he watches them happen and then writes down what he sees.”
― Stephen King, quote from Finders Keepers
“And you, CONSTANT READER. Thank God you’re still there after all these years. If you’re having fun, I am, too.”
― Stephen King, quote from Finders Keepers
“For readers, one of life’s most electrifying discoveries is that they are readers – not just capable of doing it, but in love with it. Hopelessly. Head over heels.”
― Stephen King, quote from Finders Keepers
“A good novelist realizes he is a secretary, not God.”
― Stephen King, quote from Finders Keepers
“Books were escape. Books were freedom.”
― Stephen King, quote from Finders Keepers
“No. I was going to say his work changed my life, but that’s not right. I don’t think a teenager has much of a life to change. I just turned eighteen last month. I guess what I mean is his work changed my heart.”
― Stephen King, quote from Finders Keepers
“If you look like you belong in a place, most people think you do.”
― Stephen King, quote from Finders Keepers
“For readers, one of life’s most electrifying discoveries is that they are readers—not just capable of doing it (which Morris already knew), but in love with it. Hopelessly. Head over heels.”
― Stephen King, quote from Finders Keepers
“At some point in this course, perhaps even tonight, you will read something difficult, something you only partially understand, and your verdict will be this is stupid. Will I argue when you advance that opinion in class the next day? Why would I do such a useless ting? My time with you in short, only thirty-four weeks of classes, and I will not waste it arguing about the merits of this short story or that poem. Why would I, when all such opinions are subjective, and no final resolution can ever be reached?'
Some of the kids - Gloria was one of them - now looked lost, but Pete understood exactly what Mr. Ricker, aka Ricky the Hippie, was talking about...
'Time is the answer," Mr Ricker said on the first day of Pete's sophomore year. He strode back and forth, antique bellbottoms swishing, occasionally waving his arms. "Yes! Time mercilessly culls away the is-stupid from the not-stupid."
...
"It will occur for you, young ladies and gentlemen, although I will be in your rear-view mirror by the time it happens. Shall I tell you how it happens? You will read something - perhaps 'Dulce et Decorum Est,' by Wilfred Owen. Shall we use that as an example? Why not?'
Then, in a deeper voice that sent chills up Pete's back and tightened his throat, Mr. Ricker cried, " 'Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge...' And son on. Cetra-cetra. Some of you will say, This is stupid."
....
'And yet!" Up went the finger.
"Time will pass! Tempus will fugit! Owen's poem may fall away from your mind, in which case your verdict of is-stupid will have turned out to be correct. For you, at least. But for some of you, it will recur. And recur. Each time it does, the steady march of your maturity will deepen its resonance. Each time that poem sneaks back into your mind, it will seem a little less stupid and a little more vital. A little more important. Until it shines, young ladies and gentlemen. Until it shines.”
― Stephen King, quote from Finders Keepers
“You know what, kid? It's guys like you who give reading a bad name.”
― Stephen King, quote from Finders Keepers
“As the twig is bent the bough is shaped, that was another old saying, and once a pretentious asshole, always a pretentious asshole.”
― Stephen King, quote from Finders Keepers
“People assume any twentieth-century white male writer must be an alcoholic.”
― Stephen King, quote from Finders Keepers
“A good novelist does not lead his characters, he follows them. A good novelist does not create events, he watches them happen and then writes down what he sees. A good novelist realizes he is a secretary, not God.”
― Stephen King, quote from Finders Keepers
“There's nothing I like better than a good book discussion with someone who can hold up his end of the argument.”
― Stephen King, quote from Finders Keepers
“They say half a loaf is better than none, Jimmy, but in a world of want, even a single slice is better than none.”
― Stephen King, quote from Finders Keepers
“literature instead of cleanliness was next to godliness.”
― Stephen King, quote from Finders Keepers
“I think different. And I can think different if I want to.”
― Stephen King, quote from Finders Keepers
“Philosophers have debated the meaning of life for centuries, rarely coming to the same conclusion.”
― Stephen King, quote from Finders Keepers
“Some of you will say, This is stupid. Will I break my promise not to argue the point, even though I consider Mr. Owen’s poems the greatest to come out of World War I? No! It’s just my opinion, you see, and opinions are like assholes: everybody has one.” They all roared at that, young ladies and gentlemen alike. Mr. Ricker drew himself up. “I may give some of you detentions if you disrupt my class, I have no problem with imposing discipline, but never will I disrespect your opinion. And yet! And yet!” Up went the finger. “Time will pass! Tempus will fugit! Owen’s poem may fall away from your mind, in which case your verdict of is-stupid will have turned out to be correct. For you, at least. But for some of you it will recur. And recur. And recur. Each time it does, the steady march of your maturity will deepen its resonance. Each time that poem steals back into your mind, it will seem a little less stupid and a little more vital. A little more important. Until it shines, young ladies and gentlemen. Until it shines.”
― Stephen King, quote from Finders Keepers
“when someone says they’re going to be honest with you, they are in most cases preparing to lie faster than a horse can trot.”
― Stephen King, quote from Finders Keepers
“Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.” That’s from the original Godfather,”
― Stephen King, quote from Finders Keepers
“Morris’s face is melting. He shrieks and begins hugging the blazing, dissolving remnants of Rothstein’s work to his burning chest.”
― Stephen King, quote from Finders Keepers
“For your family, you do all that you can.”
― Stephen King, quote from Finders Keepers
“It’s true what they say—sometimes the neuros are crazier than the patients.”
― Stephen King, quote from Finders Keepers
“Don’t let your good nature cloud your critical eye. The critical eye should always be cold and clear.”
― Stephen King, quote from Finders Keepers
“I knew there were no ghosts in there, but on the other hand, what if there were?”
― Stephen King, quote from Finders Keepers
“the most basic rule of human discourse: when someone says they’re going to be honest with you, they are in most cases preparing to lie faster”
― Stephen King, quote from Finders Keepers
Stephen King
Born place: in Portland, Maine, The United States
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“We were the centre of that liquid universe, for we were the night sun and we said to ships, do not come too close, we have rocks at our feet. And the crash of waves sent white spray flying, and I am scared and exhilarated and a little bit in love too.”
― Sarah Winman, quote from A Year of Marvellous Ways
“A Persian, a Turk, an Arab, and a Greek were traveling to a distant land when they began arguing over how to spend the single coin they possessed among themselves. All four craved food, but the Persian wanted to spend the coin on angur; the Turk, on uzum; the Arab, on inab; and the Greek, on stafil. The argument became heated as each man insisted on having what he desired. A linguist passing by overheard their quarrel. “Give the coin to me,” he said. “I undertake to satisfy the desires of all of you.” Taking the coin, the linguist went to a nearby shop and bought four small bunches of grapes. He then returned to the men and gave them each a bunch. “This is my angur!” cried the Persian. “But this is what I call uzum,” replied the Turk. “You have brought me my inab,” the Arab said. “No! This in my language is stafil,” said the Greek. All of a sudden, the men realized that what each of them had desired was in fact the same thing, only they did not know how to express themselves to each other. The four travelers represent humanity in its search for an inner spiritual need it cannot define and which it expresses in different ways. The linguist is the Sufi, who enlightens humanity to the fact that what it seeks (its religions), though called by different names, are in reality one identical thing. However—and this is the most important aspect of the parable—the linguist can offer the travelers only the grapes and nothing more. He cannot offer them wine, which is the essence of the fruit. In other words, human beings cannot be given the secret of ultimate reality, for such knowledge cannot be shared, but must be experienced through an arduous inner journey toward self-annihilation. As the transcendent Iranian poet, Saadi of Shiraz, wrote, I am a dreamer who is mute, And the people are deaf. I am unable to say, And they are unable to hear.”
― Reza Aslan, quote from No god but God: The Origins, Evolution and Future of Islam
“I offer you a second way of approaching the moment where everything in your life just stops, this one from the actor Robert Duvall: "I exist very nicely between the words 'action' and 'cut.'"
And even a third way: "It doesn't present as pain," I once heard an oncological surgeon say of cancer.”
― Joan Didion, quote from Blue Nights
“Playing chess with my father is torture. I have to sit very upright on the edge of my chair and respect the rules of impassivity while I consider my next move. I can feel myself dissolving under his stare. When I move a pawn he asks sarcastically, 'Have you really thought about what you're doing?' I panic and want to move the pawn back. He doesn't allow it: 'You've touched the piece, now you have to follow through. Think before you act. Think.”
― quote from The Only Girl in the World: A Memoir
“La vida es una sucesión de elecciones que después hay que asumir”
― Joël Dicker, quote from La verdad sobre el caso Harry Quebert
The Art of Choosing
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