Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish that other bloggers are welcome to join in, to create Top Ten lists on varying topics. This week it’s Top Ten Inspiring Quotes from Books.

Paein

 I used to (clumsily) collect quotes! Tracking them down and finding out where they’re from is a little harder though…

1. “What people remember about us? That matters. What are we, really, but acts of courage or cowardice, generosity or greed?”

This was one of the many quotes I’ve highlighted in my ebook copies of Sebastien De Castell’s Greatcoats series. This particular one is from book two. There’s another I’ve read recently, but I couldn’t tell you where, which has the same sentiment; how we influence the world is our legacy and your actions are how you’ll  be remembered. Kind of scary, in the days where your every move on the internet is permanently recorded…

2. “You know what a hero is? 99 times out of 100 he’s somebody tired enough and cold enough and hungry enough not to give a damn.”

I think this is from the last book in the Last Herald-Mage Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey. Every once in a while you find an amazing character who gives their all, which to them is all in a days work. This is how this character describes his acts of heroism. To him, quitting when the going gets tough is not an option. Characters like this always inspire me to dream a little bigger.

3. “It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be.”

Ah, one of the very many great lines by Dumbledore from Harry Potter. He was a wise old man, mainly because he was a reckless young one. He’s seen a lot through his years and one of the things he’s seen is that, two people with the same backgrounds can grow to be very different people. It’s not about finding yourself but creating yourself.

4. “Our memories make us…even the darkest of them all.”

This is from Archangels Consort by Nalini Singh. I like this one because it encourages us to respond to the question ‘if you could change something about your past what would it be?’ with the answer “Nothing.” Our memories make us who we are, no matter how bad they were we wouldn’t be who we are today, and we’re pretty amazing people!

5. “If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. If you don’t step forward, you’re always in the same place.”

This is a quote from one of the many Nora Roberts books out there. I think, one of the trilogies. It’s a pretty powerful few sentences but it’s also one of those things that’s so simple you tend to miss it.

Ms4Tune

6 “The point of being good is doing it when it’s tough, not when it’s easy.”

I came across this one recently while reading Half Wild by Sally Green. It’s very true, you can be a good person but in the face of something bad, make the wrong choices or be indecisive because its easy. Being good can be difficult at times but you should always strive for it.

7 “I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed this, but first impressions are often entirely wrong”

This is from Lemony Snicket and i love it. I feel I always give an odd first impression so I presume others must give bad first impressions too. I believe everyone should at least get a second chance, nerves can do terrible things to a person. On the other side though some people an turn out to be complete arses…

8 “Nothing really dies as long as it’s not forgotten.”

I think this was from L J Smith’s Forbidden Games Series, unsure as to which book though, probably The Kill (number 3). To be honest though its so cliched that it can probably be found in many other books but its clichéd for a reason : )

9 “You can’t stay in your corner of the forest waiting for others to come to you, you have to go to them sometimes”

Children’s books are always full of such profound quotes that give you the chance of the best moral standing in life. A A Milne is a great example of that. This is from Winnie-The-Pooh : )

10 “It is better to remain silent at the risk of being thought a fool, than to talk and remove all doubt of it.”

In all honesty I have no clue where this comes from, and by the looks of things, if you google it, neither does anyone else, but I’ve included it anyway. Perhaps some people need to remember this from time to time. Too often do we see people making fools of themselves and (as the saying goes) digging themselves larger and larger holes.