Top Ten Tuesday: Inspiring Quotes from Books

Top 10 Tuesday is an original feature and a regular meme hosted at The Broke and The Bookish!


            

               TOP TEN INSPIRING QUOTES FROM BOOKS

1. “I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will, which I now exert to leave you.” Jane Eyre (Bronte). | Why: You’ll find this quote often on my tumblr, twitter, facebook, and so on. It’s one of my hands down favorite quotes of all time. Jane Eyre has been a favorite since I had to read it in High School. The strength of Jane’s moral character, her strength to be free and to be strong in doing so is expressed so clearly in this line. It definitely always resonated with me. I need to be the captain of my own ship, I got my eye on the horizon, and while the rocky waters might slow me down - I’ll get there on my own damn terms, thank you very much! This quote is just one of many things that fuels my journey onward.
2. “If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.” Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett). | Why: A poetically put twist on ‘Half glass full’ within the context of a classic, children’s book. One of my personal favorites. Miss Mary (not at all contrary!) was always a favorite of mine.
3. “Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.” A Fault In Our Stars (John Green) | Why: I am a book lover. And there have been SOOO many times that I’ve experienced that weird evangelical zeal. Hell, I experienced it with The Fault In Our Stars. You can’t sleep. You can’t think of anything else. It becomes the adult version of a blankie that you have to carry with you at all times. This book that has overtaken your heart, soul, and BRAINNNN is the best thing that has ever happened to you and you have to tell it on the mountain! Yea, this quote expresses that emotion.
4. “She was made up of more, too. She was the books she read in the library. She was the flower in the brown bowl. Part of her life was made from the tree growing rankly in the yard. She was the bitter quarrels she had with her brother whom she loved dearly. She was Katie's secret, despairing weeping. She was the shame of her father stumbling home drunk. She was all of these things and of something more...It was what God or whatever is His equivalent puts into each soul that is given life - the one different thing such as that which makes no two fingerprints on the face of the earth alike.” A Tree Grows In Brooklyn (Betty Smith) | Why: We are all made up of different things. Our parts piece together from the ground and the sky and the stuff in between to make up who we are. Betty Smith eloquently and simply puts that when describing her main character. We are all the good and bad, the heritage in our blood, the future out of our sight. We are unique. And no one is a-like. And if you think different or you’re feeling down - come back, read that quote, and remember you’re you and being you is a good place to be.
5. “
Loneliness is the human condition. Cultivate it. The way it tunnels into you allows your soul room to grow. Never expect to outgrow loneliness. Never hope to find people who will understand you, someone to fill that space. An intelligent, sensitive person is the exception, the very great exception. If you expect to find people who will understand you, you will grow murderous with disappointment. The best you'll ever do is to understand yourself, know what it is that you want, and not let the cattle stand in your way.” White Oleander (Janet Fitch) | Why: This quote is a bit dark but truthful. What always bring me strength and hope from this quote is the end. “The best you’ll ever do is to understand yourself, know what it is that you want, and not let the cattle stand in your way.”. The fact is, unless it’s the case of a soulmate, you aren’t going to find someone who understands you. The desire to find someone who understands you stems from the need to find someone to complete you. To be your other-half. And that’s a rare thing indeed (hence mostly-only true in the case of soulmates). So what do you do? Understand yourself, figure out what you want, and go for it. Just do yourself and the world around you a favor - be as positive as you can, lol, and don’t go killing your ex-douchebag-lovers!

1. "Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you've got about a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies—God damn it, you've got to be kind." - Kurt Vonnegut (God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater) This definitely is self-explanatory, I think! :)
2. “I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn't quite make out. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.” - Sylvia Plath (The Bell Jar) This is a long one, but even though I'll be 30 in a few days, this resonates with me just as much as it did as a teen.
3. “Waiting is painful. Forgetting is painful. But not knowing which to do is the worst kind of suffering.” Paulo Coelho (By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept) Right in the feels, right? Paulo Coelho is amazing at that. This is my favourite book of his.
4. “It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.” J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone) Such a true and meaningful quote. I love this series and J.K. Rowling.
5. “If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.” - J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) Another HP quote. I probably could go on and on with these, because the book series was full of wisdom and memorable quotes.