“It's like this old patchwork quilt my momma used to have...Each piece on that quilt meant something. And some of those pieces were the damn ugliest things you've ever seen...But some of the pieces were so beautiful they almost hurt my eyes to look at when I was a kid...That's the best you can hope for, Danny. That your life turns out like that patchwork quilt. That you can add some bright, sparkling pieces to the dirty, stained ones you have so far. That in the end, the bright patches might take up more space on your quilt than the dark ones.”
― quote from Shades of Gray
“Why," he panted into Danny's neck, "why's it so goddamn good?" He was surprised at how full his voice sounded, so close to overflowing its steady banks.
Danny stroked his hair, his lips warm against Miller's cheek. "Because it's us, Miller," he whispered. "Because it's us.”
― quote from Shades of Gray
“Congratulations Danny. You're now the legal equivalent of a male nurse.”
― quote from Shades of Gray
“You make me want to be a better man," Danny said. "You make me want to be worthy of you, Miller. But if that's ever going to stick, if it's ever going to be real, I have to do it for me. I can't do it just because its who you need me to be. It has to be who I need to be too.”
― quote from Shades of Gray
“It’s too late for that. It’s too late to go back,” Danny said, gentle but firm. “Now you have to decide the man you want to be from here on out.”
― quote from Shades of Gray
“Who gets everything they want, Danny, exactly how they want it? You have to decide the most important thing and go from there.”
― quote from Shades of Gray
“You've had his dick in your hand and your tongue in his mouth and you can't sit down and eat a bowl of cereal with him ?”
― quote from Shades of Gray
“It’s always our mistakes, the things we aren’t proud of, that are the first ones to stand up, ready to be counted. That’s human nature and it’s not going to change, not for me or for you, either.”
― quote from Shades of Gray
“That's the best you can hope for, Danny. That your life turns out like that patchwork quilt. That you can add some bright, sparkling pieces to the dirty, stained ones you've got so far. That in the end, the bright patches might take up more space on your quilt than the dark ones.”
― quote from Shades of Gray
“finding what made you happy was only the beginning of the journey—figuring out how to keep it often proved to be the unreachable destination.”
― quote from Shades of Gray
“By letting go, Danny had freed him to pursue, had forced Miller to find the courage to follow.”
― quote from Shades of Gray
“This is the best, most real thing that’s ever happened to me,” Danny said quietly. “I’ve spent my whole life jumping from one bad choice to the next. Choosing this, with you, is probably the only decision I’ve ever been proud of making.” He pressed himself closer to Miller’s back, wrapping his arms around his waist. “I’ll never be sorry.”
― quote from Shades of Gray
“...and then Danny was moving on him in the rhythm they'd found so easily in the past, their bodies remembering the way of it as if they'd never been apart, as if they'd only been waiting to find each other again.”
― quote from Shades of Gray
“He didn’t know if his capacity to love had been stunted, buried beneath the need for survival for so long it had forgotten how to breathe....”
― quote from Shades of Gray
“Danny, whose body made Miller forget the world and whose soul, even marked with shadows, made Miller believe in something beyond the stars.”
― quote from Shades of Gray
“But so far their love had proved deeper than their doubts, their faith in each other more unshakeable than the fear.”
― quote from Shades of Gray
“Something in the mysterious combination of Danny and him burned hotter and brighter than anything he'd ever imagined.”
― quote from Shades of Gray
“Whatever it was Miller did, he did it because he thought you were worth it. He chose you, Danny.”
― quote from Shades of Gray
“That’s the best you can hope for, Danny. That your life turns out like that patchwork quilt. That you can add some bright, sparkling pieces to the dirty, stained ones you’ve got so far. That in the end, the bright patches might take up more space on your quilt than the dark ones.”
― quote from Shades of Gray
“so far their love had proved deeper than their doubts, their faith in each other more unshakeable than the fear. And for today they were happy. Danny didn’t know about tomorrow. But he could live with the uncertainty, because what they had right now was pretty goddamn good.”
― quote from Shades of Gray
“I worry about setting myself up to fail, about letting people down. If I don’t try for a better life, then I don’t have to worry about disappointing anybody. […] You’d be disappointing yourself, though, wouldn’t you, by not taking the chance?”
― quote from Shades of Gray
“But Danny’s feelings for Hinestroza were too complicated for such single-minded emotion. Rage stewed in a melting-pot mix with respect and fear and the humiliating, aching need to be loved.”
― quote from Shades of Gray
“Where beliefs are not checked against facts, but instead facts must meet the test of consonance with the prevailing vision, we are in the process of sealing ourselves off from feedback from reality.Heedless of the past, we are flying blind into the future.”
― Thomas Sowell, quote from Black Rednecks and White Liberals
“It’s okay, kid,” Austin said quietly. “It’s okay to admit that you love her. It’s okay to open yourself up to allow yourself to love. You’ve fought getting close to anyone for too long. Elsie fucking smashed through that wall.”
― Tillie Cole, quote from Sweet Soul
“It was after this trip to our conservation property in the Brigalow Belt that I discovered I was pregnant. I tried to let Steve know by sitting down at the table and tucking into a bowl of ice cream and pickles.
“What are you doing?” asked a totally confused Steve. I explained, and we were both totally overjoyed, keeping our fingers crossed for a boy to go along with our darling daughter.”
― Terri Irwin, quote from Steve & Me
“Personally, if I were trying to discourage people from smoking, my sign would be a little different. In fact, I might even go too far in the opposite direction. My sign would say something like, "Smoke if you wish. But if you do, be prepared for the following series of events: First, we will confiscate your cigarette and extinguish it somewhere on the surface of your skin. We will then run you nicotine-stained fingers through a paper shredder and throw them into the street, where wild dogs will swallow them and then regurgitate them into the sewers, so that infected rats can further soil them before they're flushed out to sea with the rest of the city's filth. After such time, we will sysematically seek out your friends and loved one and destroy their lives."
Wouldn't you like to see a sign like that?”
― George Carlin, quote from When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?
“They lived under supervision, a life without men. Dora knew no men. You could scarcely see how she might meet one, let alone come to know.”
― Shirley Hazzard, quote from The Transit of Venus
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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