Quotes4study

Have I begun this path of heavenly love and knowledge now? Am I progressing in it? Do I feel some dawnings of the heavenly light, earnests and antepasts of the full day of glory? Let all God's dealings serve to quicken me in my way. Let every affection it may please Him to send, be as the moving pillar-cloud of old, beckoning me to move my tent onward, saying, "Arise ye and depart, for this is not your rest." Let me be often standing now on faith's lofty eminences, looking for "the day of God"--the rising sun which is to set no more in weeping clouds. Wondrous progression! How will all earth's learning, its boasted acquirements and eagle-eyed philosophy sink into the lispings of very infancy in comparison with this manhood of knowledge! Heaven will be the true "_Excelsior_," its song, "_a song of degrees_," Jesus leading His people from height to height of glory, and saying, as He said to Nathaniel, "_Thou shalt see GREATER things than these!_"--_Macduff._

Various     Thoughts for the Quiet Hour

When I see a young profligate squandering his fortune in bagnios, or at the gaming-table, I cannot help looking on him as hastening his own death, and in a manner digging his own grave.--_Goldsmith._

Maturin M. Ballou     Pearls of Thought

We got ready and were out the door an hour later, J grumbling that it had taken me so long to get ready. “I’m not sure why it takes you so long, babe.” I pointed at my face and my hair. “Do you think women just wake up looking this good?” I asked him. “You >looked good to me an hour ago, before you put all that shit on your face,” he said,

Nina Levine

>You will do as follows if you wish to represent a man talking to a number of people: you must consider the matter which he has to treat, and suit his action to the subject; that is to say, if the matter is persuasive, let his action be appropriate to it; if the matter is argumentative, let the speaker hold one finger of the left hand with two fingers of the right hand, closing the two smaller ones, and with his face turned towards the people and his mouth half open, let him seem to be about to speak, and if he is sitting let him appear as though about to rise, with his head forward; if you represent him standing up, let him lean slightly forward, with his body and head towards the people. You must represent the people silent and attentive, looking at the orator's face with gestures of admiration, and depict some old men with the corners of their mouths pulled down in astonishment at what they hear, their cheeks drawn in and full of lines, their eyebrows raised, and thus causing a number of wrinkles on the forehead; again, some must be sitting with the fingers of their hands clasped and resting on their knee; another, a bowed old man, with one knee crossed over the other, and on the knee let him hold his hand, and let his other elbow rest on his hand, and let the hand support his bearded chin.

Leonardo da Vinci     Thoughts on Art and Life

[ Death scene of Cyrano ] It is coming... I feel Already shod with marble... gloved with lead... Let the old fellow come now! He shall find me On my feet sword in hand [ He draws his sword. ] I can see him there he grins He is looking at my nose that skeleton What's that you say? Hopeless? Why, very well! But a man does not fight merely to win! No no better to know one fights in vain! ... You there Who are you? A hundred against one I know them now, my ancient enemies [ He lunges at the empty air. ] Falsehood! ... There! There! Prejudice Compromise Cowardice [ Thrusting ] What's that? No! Surrender? No! Never never! ... Ah, you too, Vanity! I know you would overthrow me in the end No! I fight on! I fight on! I fight on!

Edmond Rostand

Whence comes it that a man who within a few months has lost his only son, or who this morning was overwhelmed with law suits and wrangling, now thinks of them no more? Be not surprised; he is altogether taken up with looking out for the boar which his hounds have been hunting so hotly for the last six hours. He needs no more. However full of sadness a man may be, he is happy for the time, if you can only get him to enter into some diversion. And however happy a man may be, he will soon become dispirited and miserable if he be not diverted and occupied by some passion or pursuit which hinders his being overcome by weariness. Without diversion no joy, with diversion no sadness. And this forms the happiness of persons in high position, that they have a number of people to divert them, and that they have the power to keep themselves in this state.

Blaise Pascal     The Thoughts of Blaise Pascal

Why would you say that?” “It’s true enough. His father’s name is Caleb. He’s my uncle. He’s one of the leaders of our people. He’s from a very fine family, but I’m not.” “I don’t believe that.” “If you ever visit our camp, just ask about me.” He smiled at her. He was a good-looking fellow, she noted, with an easy manner about him, quite unlike his cousin. “They wouldn’t send a man who wasn’t reliable on a mission like this,” she said. “You know I haven’t figured that out yet. It was a strange choice.” Rahab was quiet for a time, and he studied her. She was one of the most attractive women he had ever seen, much fairer than the women of his people.

Gilbert Morris

Still, I again remind you that faith is only the channel or aqueduct, and not the fountainhead, and we must not look so much to it as to exalt it above the divine source of all blessing which lies in the grace of God. Never make a Christ out of your faith, nor think of as if it were the independent source of your salvation. Our life is found in "looking unto Jesus," not in looking to our own faith. By faith all things become possible to us; yet the power is not in the faith, but in the God upon whom faith relies. Grace is the powerful engine, and faith is the chain by which the carriage of the soul is attached to the great motive power. The righteousness of faith is not the moral excellence of faith, but the righteousness of Jesus Christ which faith grasps and appropriates. The peace within the soul is not derived from the contemplation of our own faith; but it comes to us from Him who is our peace, the hem of whose garment faith touches, and virtue comes out of Him into the soul.

Charles H. Spurgeon

>You're beautiful and sad," I said finally, not looking at him when I did. "Just like your eyes. You're like a song that I heard when I was a little kid but forgot I knew until I heard it again." For a long moment there was only the whirring sound of the tires on the road, and then Sam said softly, "Thank you.

Maggie Stiefvater

One day this guy is finally fed up with his middle-class existence and

decides to do something about it.  He calls up his best friend, who is a

mathematical genius.  "Look," he says, "do you suppose you could find some

way mathematically of guaranteeing winning at the race track?  We could

make a lot of money and retire and enjoy life."  The mathematician thinks

this over a bit and walks away mumbling to himself.

    A week later his friend drops by to ask the genius if he's had any

success.  The genius, looking a little bleary-eyed, replies, "Well, yes,

actually I do have an idea, and I'm reasonably sure that it will work, but

there a number of details to be figured out.

    After the second week the mathematician appears at his friend's house,

>looking quite a bit rumpled, and announces, "I think I've got it! I still have

some of the theory to work out, but now I'm certain that I'm on the right

track."

    At the end of the third week the mathematician wakes his friend by

pounding on his door at three in the morning.  He has dark circles under his

eyes.  His hair hasn't been combed for many days.  He appears to be wearing

the same clothes as the last time.  He has several pencils sticking out from

behind his ears and an almost maniacal expression on his face.  "WE CAN DO

IT!  WE CAN DO IT!!" he shrieks. "I have discovered the perfect solution!!

And it's so EASY!  First, we assume that horses are perfect spheres in simple

harmonic motion..."

Fortune Cookie

When alerted to an intrusion by tinkling glass or otherwise, 1) Calm

>yourself 2) Identify the intruder 3) If hostile, kill him.

Step number 3 is of particular importance.  If you leave the guy alive

out of misguided softheartedness, he will repay your generosity of spirit

by suing you for causing his subsequent paraplegia and seek to force you</p>

to support him for the rest of his rotten life.  In court he will plead

that he was depressed because society had failed him, and that he was

>looking for Mother Teresa for comfort and to offer his services to the

poor.  In that lawsuit, you will lose.  If, on the other hand, you kill

>him, the most that you can expect is that a relative will bring a wrongful

death action. You will have two advantages: first, there be only your</p>

story; forget Mother Teresa.  Second, even if you lose, how much could

the bum's life be worth anyway?  A Lot less than 50 years worth of

paralysis.  Don't play George Bush and Saddam Hussein.  Finish the job.

        -- G. Gordon Liddy's "Forbes" column on personal security

Fortune Cookie

>Your Co-worker Could Be a Space Alien, Say Experts

        ...Here's How You Can Tell

Many Americans work side by side with space aliens who look human -- but you</p>

can spot these visitors by looking for certain tip-offs, say experts. They

listed 10 signs to watch for:

    (3) Bizarre sense of humor.  Space aliens who don't understand

    earthly humor may laugh during a company training film or tell

    jokes that no one understands, said Steiger.

    (6) Misuses everyday items.  "A space alien may use correction

    fluid to paint its nails," said Steiger.

    (8) Secretive about personal life-style and home.  "An alien won't

    discuss details or talk about what it does at night or on weekends."

   (10) Displays a change of mood or physical reaction when near certain

    high-tech hardware.  "An alien may experience a mood change when

    a microwave oven is turned on," said Steiger.

The experts pointed out that a co-worker would have to display most if not

all of these traits before you can positively identify him as a space alien.

        -- National Enquirer, Michael Cassels, August, 1984.

    [I thought everybody laughed at company training films.  Ed.]

Fortune Cookie

    Looking for a cool one after a long, dusty ride, the drifter strode

into the saloon.  As he made his way through the crowd to the bar, a man

galloped through town screaming, "Big Mike's comin'!  Run fer yer lives!"

    Suddenly, the saloon doors burst open.  An enormous man, standing over

eight feet tall and weighing an easy 400 pounds, rode in on a bull, using a

rattlesnake for a whip.  Grabbing the drifter by the arm and throwing him over

the bar, the giant thundered, "Gimme a drink!"

    The terrified man handed over a bottle of whiskey, which the man

guzzled in one gulp and then smashed on the bar.  He then stood aghast as

the man stuffed the broken bottle in his mouth, munched broken glass and

smacked his lips with relish.

    "Can I, ah, uh, get you another, sir?" the drifter stammered.

    "Naw, I gotta git outa here, boy," the man grunted.  "Big Mike's

a-comin'."

Fortune Cookie

The Modelski Chain Rule:

(1)    Look intently at the problem for several minutes.  Scratch your</p>

    head at 20-30 second intervals.  Try solving the problem on your</p>

    Hewlett-Packard.

(2)    Failing this, look around at the class.  Select a particularly

    bright-looking individual.

(3)    Procure a large chain.

(4)    Walk over to the selected student and threaten to beat him severely

    with the chain unless he gives you the answer to the problem.

    Generally, he will.  It may also be a good idea to give him a sound

    thrashing anyway, just to show you mean business.

Fortune Cookie

"Oh, do you know? While you were talking in the study I was looking at you," Natasha began, evidently anxious to disperse the cloud that had come over them. "You are as like him as two peas--like the boy." (She meant her little son.) "Oh, it's time to go to him.... The milk's come.... But I'm sorry to leave you."

Leo Tolstoy     War and Peace

Mitya passed to the other side of the curtain and stood stock still. The room was filled with people, but not those who had been there before. An instantaneous shiver ran down his back, and he shuddered. He recognized all those people instantly. That tall, stout old man in the overcoat and forage-cap with a cockade--was the police captain, Mihail Makarovitch. And that "consumptive-looking" trim dandy, "who always has such polished boots"--that was the deputy prosecutor. "He has a chronometer worth four hundred roubles; he showed it to me." And that small young man in spectacles.... Mitya forgot his surname though he knew him, had seen him: he was the "investigating lawyer," from the "school of jurisprudence," who had only lately come to the town. And this man--the inspector of police, Mavriky Mavrikyevitch, a man he knew well. And those fellows with the brass plates on, why are they here? And those other two ... peasants.... And there at the door Kalganov with Trifon Borissovitch....

Fyodor Dostoyevsky     The Brothers Karamazov

"What is it? I'm not insane," said Dmitri, looking intently and earnestly at him. "No fear. I am sending you to father, and I know what I'm saying. I believe in miracles."

Fyodor Dostoyevsky     The Brothers Karamazov

The allotted time ran out, while we were thus; but, looking round, I found the governor of the prison standing near me, and he whispered, "You needn't go yet." I thanked him gratefully, and asked, "Might I speak to him, if he can hear me?"

Charles Dickens     Great Expectations

"I communicated to Magwitch--in New South Wales--when he first wrote to me--from New South Wales--the caution that he must not expect me ever to deviate from the strict line of fact. I also communicated to him another caution. He appeared to me to have obscurely hinted in his letter at some distant idea he had of seeing you in England here. I cautioned him that I must hear no more of that; that he was not at all likely to obtain a pardon; that he was expatriated for the term of his natural life; and that his presenting himself in this country would be an act of felony, rendering him liable to the extreme penalty of the law. I gave Magwitch that caution," said Mr. Jaggers, looking hard at me; "I wrote it to New South Wales. He guided himself by it, no doubt."

Charles Dickens     Great Expectations

It could scarcely be called a trade, in spite of his favourite description of himself as "a honest tradesman." His stock consisted of a wooden stool, made out of a broken-backed chair cut down, which stool, young Jerry, walking at his father's side, carried every morning to beneath the banking-house window that was nearest Temple Bar: where, with the addition of the first handful of straw that could be gleaned from any passing vehicle to keep the cold and wet from the odd-job-man's feet, it formed the encampment for the day. On this post of his, Mr. Cruncher was as well known to Fleet-street and the Temple, as the Bar itself,--and was almost as in-looking.

Charles Dickens     A Tale of Two Cities

"Your touching tears are but a relief to your spirit and will serve to gladden your dear heart," he added to himself, walking away from Alyosha, and thinking lovingly of him. He moved away quickly, however, for he felt that he too might weep looking at him.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky     The Brothers Karamazov

"Is it hot?" Kolya inquired hurriedly, with a business-like air, taking the meat. "Dogs don't like hot things. No, it's all right. Look, everybody, look, Ilusha, look, old man; why aren't you<b> looking? He does not look at him, now I've brought him."

Fyodor Dostoyevsky     The Brothers Karamazov

"I am very, very grateful to you, mon cher," or "ma chere"--he called everyone without exception and without the slightest variation in his tone, "my dear," whether they were above or below him in rank--"I thank you for myself and for our two dear ones whose name day we are keeping. But mind you come to dinner or I shall be offended, ma chere! On behalf of the whole family I beg you to come, mon cher!" These words he repeated to everyone without exception or variation, and with the same expression on his full, cheerful, clean-shaven face, the same firm pressure of the hand and the same quick, repeated bows. As soon as he had seen a visitor off he returned to one of those who were still in the drawing room, drew a chair toward him or her, and jauntily spreading out his legs and putting his hands on his knees with the air of a man who enjoys life and knows how to live, he swayed to and fro with dignity, offered surmises about the weather, or touched on questions of health, sometimes in Russian and sometimes in very bad but self-confident French; then again, like a man weary but unflinching in the fulfillment of duty, he rose to see some visitors off and, stroking his scanty gray hairs over his bald patch, also asked them to dinner. Sometimes on his way back from the anteroom he would pass through the conservatory and pantry into the large marble dining hall, where tables were being set out for eighty people; and looking at the footmen, who were bringing in silver and china, moving tables, and unfolding damask table linen, he would call Dmitri Vasilevich, a man of good family and the manager of all his affairs, and while looking with pleasure at the enormous table would say: "Well, Dmitri, you'll see that things are all as they should be? That's right! The great thing is the serving, that's it." And with a complacent sigh he would return to the drawing room.

Leo Tolstoy     War and Peace

"Oh, dear me, I assure you there is no need to stand on ceremony with him," the general explained hastily. "He is quite a child, not to say a pathetic-looking creature. He has fits of some sort, and has just arrived from Switzerland, straight from the station, dressed like a German and without a farthing in his pocket. I gave him twenty-five roubles to go on with, and am going to find him some easy place in one of the government offices. I should like you to ply him well with the victuals, my dears, for I should think he must be very hungry."

Fyodor Dostoyevsky     The Idiot

"Sir," said Monte Cristo to him, "I do not recommend my pictures to you, who possess such splendid paintings; but, nevertheless, here are two by Hobbema, a Paul Potter, a Mieris, two by Gerard Douw, a Raphael, a Vandyke, a Zurbaran, and two or three by Murillo, worth looking at."

Alexandre Dumas, Pere     The Count of Monte Cristo

"I suppose you angered him somehow?" asked the prince, looking at the millionaire with considerable curiosity. But though there may have been something remarkable in the fact that this man was heir to millions of roubles there was something about him which surprised and interested the prince more than that. Rogojin, too, seemed to have taken up the conversation with unusual alacrity it appeared that he was still in a considerable state of excitement, if not absolutely feverish, and was in real need of someone to talk to for the mere sake of talking, as safety-valve to his agitation.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky     The Idiot

In proportion as he drew near, his pace slackened more and more. On arriving at some little distance from the bench, and long before he had reached the end of the walk, he halted, and could not explain to himself why he retraced his steps. He did not even say to himself that he would not go as far as the end. It was only with difficulty that the young girl could have perceived him in the distance and noted his fine appearance in his new clothes. Nevertheless, he held himself very erect, in case any one should be looking at him from behind.

Victor Hugo     Les Miserables

In the evening, soon after Mr. Bennet withdrew to the library, she saw Mr. Darcy rise also and follow him, and her agitation on seeing it was extreme. She did not fear her father's opposition, but he was going to be made unhappy; and that it should be through her means--that _she_, his favourite child, should be distressing him by her choice, should be filling him with fears and regrets in disposing of her--was a wretched reflection, and she sat in misery till Mr. Darcy appeared again, when, looking at him, she was a little relieved by his smile. In a few minutes he approached the table where she was sitting with Kitty; and, while pretending to admire her work said in a whisper, "Go to your father, he wants you in the library." She was gone directly.

Jane Austen     Pride and Prejudice

"There's something worth spending in that there book, dear boy. It's yourn. All I've got ain't mine; it's yourn. Don't you be afeerd on it. There's more where that come from. I've come to the old country fur to see my gentleman spend his money like a gentleman. That'll be my pleasure. My pleasure 'ull be fur to see him do it. And blast you all!" he wound up, looking round the room and snapping his fingers once with a loud snap, "blast you every one, from the judge in his wig, to the colonist a stirring up the dust, I'll show a better gentleman than the whole kit on you put together!"

Charles Dickens     Great Expectations

Jim was laid up for four days and nights. Then the swelling was all gone and he was around again. I made up my mind I wouldn't ever take a-holt of a snake-skin again with my hands, now that I see what had come of it. Jim said he reckoned I would believe him next time. And he said that handling a snake-skin was such awful bad luck that maybe we hadn't got to the end of it yet. He said he druther see the new moon over his left shoulder as much as a thousand times than take up a snake-skin in his hand. Well, I was getting to feel that way myself, though I've always reckoned that looking at the new moon over your left shoulder is one of the carelessest and foolishest things a body can do. Old Hank Bunker done it once, and bragged about it; and in less than two years he got drunk and fell off of the shot-tower, and spread himself out so that he was just a kind of a layer, as you may say; and they slid him edgeways between two barn doors for a coffin, and buried him so, so they say, but I didn't see it. Pap told me. But anyway it all come of looking at the moon that way, like a fool.

Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)     Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

"Why are you<b> looking at the bullet?" asked Pyotr Ilyitch, watching him with uneasy curiosity.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky     The Brothers Karamazov

Balashev went into a small reception room, one door of which led into a study, the very one from which the Russian Emperor had dispatched him on his mission. He stood a minute or two, waiting. He heard hurried footsteps beyond the door, both halves of it were opened rapidly; all was silent and then from the study the sound was heard of other steps, firm and resolute--they were those of Napoleon. He had just finished dressing for his ride, and wore a blue uniform, opening in front over a white waistcoat so long that it covered his rotund stomach, white leather breeches tightly fitting the fat thighs of his short legs, and Hessian boots. His short hair had evidently just been brushed, but one lock hung down in the middle of his broad forehead. His plump white neck stood out sharply above the black collar of his uniform, and he smelled of Eau de Cologne. His full face, rather young<b>-looking, with its prominent chin, wore a gracious and majestic expression of imperial welcome.

Leo Tolstoy     War and Peace

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