Derek Bok

"If you think education is expensive, try ignorance."

Derek Bok

Anthony Doerr

"Here's what I mean by the miracle of language. When you're falling into a good book, exactly as you might fall into a dream, a little conduit opens, a passageway between a reader's heart and a writer's, a connection that transcends the barriers of continents and generations and even death..... and here's the magic. You're different. You can never go back to being exactly the same person you were before you disappeared into that book.

Anthony Doerr

Jane Austen

"I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years and a half ago. Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant. You alone have brought me to Bath. For you alone, I think and plan. Have you not seen this? Can you fail to have understood my wishes? I had not waited even these ten days, could I have read your feelings, as I think you must have penetrated mine. I can hardly write. I am every instant hearing something which overpowers me. You sink your voice, but I can distinguish the tones of that voice when they would be lost on others. Too good, too excellent creature! You do us justice, indeed. You do believe that there is true attachment and constancy among men. Believe it to be most fervent, most undeviating, in F. W.

I must go, uncertain of my fate; but I shall return hither, or follow your party, as soon as possible. A word, a look, will be enough to decide whether I enter your father's house this evening or never.

Captain Wentworth to Anne Elliot"

Jane Austen

Stolen ... but inspired

• Thou shalt not steal if there is a direct victim.
• Thou shalt not worship pop idols or follow lost prophets.
• Thou shalt not take the names of Johnny Cash, Joe Strummer, Johnny Hartman, Desmond Decker, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix or Syd Barret in vain.
• Thou shalt not read NME.
• Thou shalt not stop liking a band just because they’ve become popular.
• Thou shalt not question Stephen Fry.
• Thou shalt not judge a book by its cover.
• Thou shalt not judge Lethal Weapon by Danny Glover.
• Thou shalt not buy Coca-Cola products.
• Thou shalt not buy Nestle products.
• Thou shalt not go into the woods with your boyfriend’s best friend, take drugs and cheat on him.
• Thou shalt not fall in love so easily.
• Thou shalt not use poetry, art or music to get into girls’ pants. Use it to get into their heads.
• Thou shalt not watch Hollyoaks.
• Thou shalt not attend an open mic and leave
  

The Sex Pistols ... just a band.
The Clash ... just a band.
Crass ... just a band.
Minor Threat ... just a band.
The Cure ... just a band.
The Smiths ... just a band.
Nirvana… Just a band.
The Pixies ... just a band.
Oasis ... just a band.
Radiohead ... just a band.
Bloc Party ... just a band.
The Arctic Monkeys ... just a band.
The Next Big Thing ... JUST A BAND.

• Thou shalt give equal worth to tragedies that occur in non-English speaking countries as to those that occur in English speaking countries.
• Thou shalt remember that guns, bitches and bling were never part of the four elements and never will be.
• Thou shalt not make repetitive generic music,
• thou shalt not make repetitive generic music,
• thou shalt not make repetitive generic music,
• thou shalt not make repetitive generic music.
• Thou shalt not pimp my ride.
• Thou shalt not scream if you wanna go faster.
• Thou shalt not move to the sound of the wickedness.
• Thou shalt not make some noise for Detroit.
• When I say “Hey” thou shalt not say “Ho”.
• When I say “Hip” thou shalt not say “Hop”.
• When I say, he say, she say, we say, make some noise … kill me.
• Thou shalt not quote me happy.
• Thou shalt not shake it like a Polaroid picture.
• Thou shalt not wish your girlfriend was a freak like me.
• Thou shalt spell the word “Pheonix” P-H-E-O-N-I-X not P-H-O-E-N-I-X, regardless of what the Oxford English Dictionary tells you.
• Thou shalt not express your shock at the fact that Sharon got off with Bradley at the club last night by saying “Is it”.
• Thou shalt think for yourselves.
• And thou shalt always… thou shalt always..to thine own self be true.

John Dunlop

Adriana Trigiani

"...I've made it my business to observe fathers and daughters. And I've seen some incredible, beautiful things. Like the little girl who's not very cute - her teeth are funny, and her hair doesn't grow right, and she's got on thick glasses - but her father holds her hand and walks with her like she's a tiny angel that no one can touch. He gives her the best gift a woman can get in this world: protection. And the little girl learns to trust the man in her life. And all the things that the world expects from women - to be beautiful, to soothe the troubled spirit, heal the sick, care for the dying, send the greeting card, bake the cake - all of those things become the way we pay the father back for protecting us..."

Adriana Trigiani

Adriana Trigiani

"...I've made it my business to observe fathers and daughters. And I've seen some incredible, beautiful things. Like the little girl who's not very cute - her teeth are funny, and her hair doesn't grow right, and she's got on thick glasses - but her father holds her hand and walks with her like she's a tiny angel that no one can touch. He gives her the best gift a woman can get in this world: protection. And the little girl learns to trust the man in her life. And all the things that the world expects from women - to be beautiful, to soothe the troubled spirit, heal the sick, care for the dying, send the greeting card, bake the cake - allof those things become the way we pay the father back for protecting us..."

Adriana Trigiani

Janet Evanovich

"Romance novels are birthday cake and life is often peanut butter and jelly. I think everyone should have lots of delicious romance novels lying around for those times when the peanut butter of life gets stuck to the roof of your mouth."

Janet Evanovich

Thomas Jefferson

"But friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life; and thanks to a benevolent arrangement of things, the greater part of life is sunshine."

Thomas Jefferson

George Bernard Shaw

"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing."

George Bernard Shaw

Jeanette Winterson

"I have a theory that every time you make an important choice, the part of you left behind continues the other life you could have had."

Jeanette Winterson

Jodi Picoult

"In the space between yes and no, there's a lifetime. It's the difference between the path you walk and the one you leave behind; it's the gap between who you thought you could be and who you really are; its the legroom for the lies you'll tell yourself in the future."

Jodi Picoult

Emily Giffin

"Maybe that's what it all comes down to. Love, not as a surge of passion, but as a choice to commit to something, someone, no matter what obstacles or temptations stand in the way. And maybe making that choice, again and again, day in and day out, year after year, says more about love than never having a choice to make at all."

Emily Giffin

Sherman Alexie

"He loved her, of course, but better than that, he chose her, day after day.
Choice: that was the thing."

Sherman Alexie

Stephenie Meyer

I didn't know if there ever was a choice, really. I was already in too deep. Now that I knew - if I knew - I could do nothing about my secret. Because when I thought of him, of his voice, his hypnotic eyes, the magnetic force of his personality, I wanted nothing more than to be with him ... "

Stephenie Meyer

John Steinbeck

"But the Hebrew word, the word timshel—‘Thou mayest’— that gives a choice. It might be the most important word in the world. That says the way is open. That throws it right back on a man. For if ‘Thou mayest’—it is also true that ‘Thou mayest not.’"

John Steinbeck

Sylvia Plath

"I have the choice of being constantly active and happy or introspectively passive and sad. Or I can go mad by ricocheting in between."

Sylvia Plath

J.K. Rowling

"It is our choices, Harry, that show us who we truly are, far more than our abilities."

J.K. Rowling

H Jackson Brown Jr

• Never give up on anybody. Miracles happen every day.
• Be brave. Even if you're not, pretend to be. No one can tell the difference.
• Think big thoughts, but relish small pleasures.
• Overtip breakfast waitresses.
• Never deprive someone of hope; it might be all they have.
• Never resist a generous impulse.
• Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know.
• Never go to bed with dirty dishes in the sink.
• Leave everything a little better than you found it.
• Call your mother.
• Accept a breath mint if someone offers you one.
• Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt, but it's the only way to live life completely.
• Never drive while holding a cup of hot coffee between your knees.
• In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.
• Eat a piece of chocolate to cure bad breath from onions or garlic.
• Never remind someone of a kindness or act of generosity you have shown him or her.
• Bestow a favour and forget it.
• When you get really angry, stick your hands in your pockets.
• Accept the fact that regardless of how many times you're right, you will sometimes be wrong.
• Every once in a while ask yourself the question, If money weren't a consideration, what would I like to be doing?
• Never give anybody a fondue set or anything painted avocado green.
• Remember the 3 Rs: Respect for self; Respect for others; Responsibility for all your actions.
• Plant zucchini only if you have lots of friends.
• Take along a small gift for the host or hostess when you're a dinner guest. A book is a good choice.
• Never be photographed with a cocktail glass in your hand.
• Don't marry a woman who picks at her food.
• Take off the convention badge as soon as you leave the convention hall.
• Write a short note inside the front cover when giving a book as a gift.
• Never give a gift that's not beautifully wrapped.
• Don't think expensive equipment will make up for a lack of talent or practice.
• Learn to say "I love you" in French, Italian, and Swedish.
• When you are totally exhausted but have to keep going, wash your face and hands and put on clean socks and a clean shirt. You will feel remarkably refreshed.
• Life will sometimes hand you a magical moment. Savour it.
• Don't confuse comfort with happiness.
• Check for toilet paper before sitting down.
• Marry a woman you love to talk to. As you get older, her conversational skills will be as important as any other.
• Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have, or sleep all you want.
• Live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll get to enjoy it a second time.
• Purchase one piece of original art each year, even if it's just a small oil painting by a high school student.
• Keep your private thoughts private.
• Don't do business with anyone who has a history of suing people.
• Never say anything uncomplimentary about your wife or children in the presence of others.
• Apologise immediately when you lose your temper, especially to children.
• Get organised. Know where you are headed. But if something wonderful and unexpected comes along, be flexible enough to follow it.
• Remember that nothing important ever happens until someone takes a chance.
• Never pick up anything off the floor of a cab.
• In disagreements with loved ones, deal with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.
• Leave change where a child can find it.
• Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.
• When travelling the back roads, stop whenever you see a sign that reads "Honey for Sale."
• Don't outlive your money.
• When your dog dies, frame its collar and put it in a window facing west.
• Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
• Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
• Let some things remain mysterious.
• Never eat a sugared doughnut when wearing a dark suit.
• Keep and file the best business letters you receive.
• Hire people more for their judgement than for their talents.
• Love someone who doesn't deserve it.
• Regardless of the situation, react with class.

H. Jackson Brown Jr

H. Jackson Brown Jr

"Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon"

H. Jackson Brown Jr