I used to live my life at night in the shadow of my dark past, I lived in shadows for so long until the dark became my world, but then you came and flipped on a light, at first I was blinded, It was so bright, but over time my eyes adjusted and I cou...
A short story is a sprint, a novel is a marathon. Sprinters have seconds to get from here to there and then they are finished. Marathoners have to carefully pace themselves so that they don't run out of energy (or in the case of the novelist-- ideas)...
The 'OK Plateau' is that place we all get to where we just stop getting better at something. Take typing, for example. You might type and type and type all day long, but once you reach a certain level, you just don't get appreciably faster. That's be...
If you choose to spend an hour every day tinkering with your Facebook profile, or if you don’t see any difference between reading Jane Austen on a Kindle and reading her on a printed page, or if you think Grand Theft Auto IV is the greatest Gesamtk...
Suddenly this defeat. This rain. The blues gone gray And the browns gone gray And yellow A terrible amber. In the cold streets Your warm body. In whatever room Your warm body. Among all the people Your absence The people who are always Not you. I hav...
If you want to succeed in the world you must make your own opportunities as you go on. The man who waits for some seventh wave to toss him on dry land will find that the seventh wave is a long time a-coming. You can commit no greater folly than to si...
We are all powerless to heal ourselves. Research shows that self-help statements have been found to be ineffective and even harmful by making some people with low self-esteem feel even worse about themselves in the long term.39 As a matter of fact, p...
To put it differently, as long as mind and heart are caught up in want, in desire, there must be emptiness. You want things, ideas, persons, only when you are conscious of your own emptiness, and that wanting creates a choice. When there is craving t...
Four years ago, I was just a guy who had a crush a crush on a girl who had a boyfriend. And I had to do the hardest thing that I've ever had to do, which was just to...wait. And a lot of people told me I was crazy to wait this long for a date with a ...
I really am opinionated, but not for long. I have found myself coming off of what I think of something because the guy I'm talking to makes better sense than I am. I have so many points of view, I can't keep track of 'em, because I talk to too many p...
Young John Reilly: Hey, uh, Father. How long did it take him? You know, paintin' the ceiling and all? Father Bobby: Took him about nine years. Young John Reilly: Nine years? Father Bobby: That's right. Young John Reilly: [laugh] For a ceiling? I had ...
[first lines] The Writer: [voiceover] I was 12 going on 13 the first time I saw a dead human being. It happened in the summer of 1959-a long time ago, but only if you measure in terms of years. I was living in a small town in Oregon called Castle Roc...
Pictures and reminders fill my office. Samuel Cochran, B. H. Hodges, my parents, my wife, my brother and sisters, my fellow Marines from a time of brutal combat in Vietnam, my five children and one stepdaughter; those who went before me, those who we...
Writing a book is a long and difficult process for me. I'm a slow writer, so I spend the year with Elvis Cole and Joe Pike in my head. I was thinking about this the other day. I wrote the first book in 1987. Literally every day since that time, Elvis...
Han: Gentlemen, welcome. You honor our island. I look forward to a tournament of truly epic proportions. We are unique, gentlemen, in that we create ourselves... through long years of rigorous training, sacrifice, denial, pain. We forge our bodies in...
Robbie Preston: Looking for something. If I were you I'd be more careful in future. John Preston: How long? Robbie Preston: Since mom John Preston: And Lisa Robbie Preston: Of course John Preston: How did you know? Robbie Preston: You forget. It's my...
[last lines] Joe: Mmh. Well, guess your government will be glad to see that gold back. Silvanito: And you? You don't want to be here when they get it, eh? Joe: You mean the Mexican goverment on one side? Maybe the Americans on the other side? Me righ...
[Jenny has told Forrest that she has an incurable disease, and the doctors don't know what to do] Forrest Gump: You could come home with me, to my house in Greenbow, Jenny. You and little Forrest. I'll take care of you if you're sick. Jenny Curran: W...
Bryce Loski: When she walked out of the door, I felt back to the first time I saw her. How could anybody, ever, have wanted to run away from Juli Baker? Juli Baker: He looked at me with those eyes, those once again dazzling eyes. And I knew that Bryc...
Mary Ansell Barrie: I'm tired of waiting, James. I'm tired of looking like a fool. J.M. Barrie: Well I can't very well give up the play. Mary Ansell Barrie: No. Just... come home to me at the end of the day. No more trips to the country, no more long...
