Top Ten Tuesday | Most Inspiring Quotes

 Top Ten Most Inspiring Quotes

Friends, I do love quotes. I’ve got journals filled with them, random scraps of paper covered in them, and a woefully incomplete Goodreads list that barely scratches the surface. But honestly, is there anything better than reading a passage–long or short–that just makes you go, “OMG. I’VE BEEN STRUCK BY LIGHTNING JUST NOW. WORD LIGHTNING.”? I don’t think so. Some of the bookish quotes that’ve stuck with me the longest came from exactly these kinds of moments. Not just because they’re pretty and well-said, but because they actually meant something to me.  So this list isn’t just my favorite quotes, nor the ones that I think are the prettiest. They’re the ones that, when I read them, they make me think a little bit more about myself: the things I’m afraid of, the things that give me warm fuzzies, the things that remind me not to be so hard on others or myself, the things that make me different and, frankly, super cool. (You guys, too.)

Sooo, I’ve never read this book. BUT! It just strikes a major chord with me, especially when I’m afraid, which is often. I’m a scaredy cat. But this reminds me to be kind. To try to understand where others are coming from. To make an effort to turn dragons into princesses, if they want to be, and to leave the dragons that want to be dragons as they are.

I love this quote. LOVE IT. I love the way Jandy Nelson explains GROWING. Screwing up and learning from mistakes. Making sure to keep all of the shitty parts so that we can remember how far we’ve come.

“In many ways, unwise love is the truest love.” BOOM, PROPHET ROTHFUSS HAS SPOKEN. This quote is such an important thing to remember in relationships of all kinds, for me. How love is true when you see the nasty parts and love it (or him or her or whomever) anyway. I also love how this quote urges me to not always THINK. FEEL sometimes, Amy.

Listen, when GRRM tells you to WAR UP, you obey. I remember exactly what’s happening when this quote is spoken by Tyrion Lannister. He’s at Winterfell, outside at night talking to Jon Snow, who’s emoing about being a bastard. Tyrion’s like, “DUDE, take it from me: Being dealt a crap hand doesn’t meant you have to fold.” Best. And I love the message. Toughen up. Don’t let the (ahem) bastards get you down.

As someone who reads all the books, words are important to me. I’m better at expressing myself with written words than spoken ones. But words can also be hollow, and this quote is a great reminder that words often need to be backed up. DOING instead of SAYING.

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE, YO. Can’t get much more inspiring than this. God, this book made me weep like an infant.

OMG. Ok. So, I read THE POISONWOOD BIBLE in college when I was going through an Oprah’s book club phase. Of all the books I read then, this is the one that burrowed into my deepest parts, especially this line. Maybe it’s not inspiring so much as it is frank about life. Sometimes good things happen to bad people, and sometimes good people still get screwed. Sometimes, shit’s just not fair. I take it to the next step in my head, though: Don’t get discouraged. Even when things suck, life is fickle. The chances of things being better in five minutes or a day are pretty good.

I always try to see things in a positive light. Being hopeful is something I try to do every day because I do believe that hope has its own magic.

Another quote that inspires me to be tough. To not let me troubles get the best of me. One of these days, I’m actually going to ENVISION this. Me lining up all the crap that’s bugging me and punching each one in the face. I can imagine how awesome that would feel.

There are SOOO many quotes from Harry Potter that are thoughtful and inspiring, but I’ve always loved this one for so many reasons. I think it’s important not to lose some of your childish sense of magic. Which is cheesy, but I believe it’s important. I also love this quote because it reminds me that kids are going to be kids, and it’s important to remember that I was a kid once too, screwing up and barely having any cares in the world. So when those brats in the souped up cars barrel down my street going 50 mph in a 25 at 2 am, I think of this quote and remind myself that I once did annoying things too. … Then I curse them out and call them horrible names and complain for a day that they woke me up in the middle of the night.