If you need something from somebody always give that person a way to hand it to you.

— Sue Monk Kidd

It was easy to conclude: The night was young and alive, in its ever so subtle way.

— Lauren Lola

He said that it was very difficult to become an astronaut. I said that I knew. You had to become an officer in the air force and you had to take lots of orders and be prepared to kill other human beings, and I couldn't take orders. Also I didn't have 20/20 vision, which you needed to be a pilot.

— Mark Haddon

Bring it down.' Veteran leader Han Solo's correction to the overbearing swagger bike which his protégé is attempting to force his will on others.

— Star Wars: The Force Awakens

You have a nicety of awareness of the difference between a blade's edge and its tip.

— Frank Herbert

Atmosphere, not action, is the great desideratum of weird fiction. Indeed, all that a wonder story can ever be is a vivid picture of a certain type of human mood. The moment it tries to be anything else it becomes cheap, puerile, and unconvincing. Prime emphasis should be given to subtle suggestion - imperceptible hints and touches of selective associative detail which express shadings of mood and build up a vague illusion of the strange reality of the unreal. Avoid bald catalogues of incredible happenings which can have no substance or meaning apart from a sustaining cloud of colour and symbolism.

— H.P. Lovecraft

That image of a chessboard — an epic contest between two giant players, carefully nudging their pieces around the globe as part of a grand strategy — has indeed become a familiar metaphor for the Cold War. But it is misleading. Many decisions remembered today for their farsighted, tactical brilliance were denounced in their day as weak-willed. And big, public gestures often made less difference than the small, hidden ones.

— Sam Tanenhaus

Bookish people, who are often maladroit people, persist in thinking they can master any subtlety so long as it's been shaped into acceptable expository prose.

— Carol Shields

He had no desire to grandstand for his country or himself.

— John Taliaferro

One of the presidential campaigns unveiled more of an infrastructure in place for the next contest than was previously thought to be present, with a spokesperson saying that one of the campaign's strengths is that it does not make an effort to draw attention to with every asset.

— New York Times The