Skip to main content

Some favorite quotes

Update 5/2009: This was originally posted back in 2007, but I've added a few more quotes and I'm always looking for more that strike my fancy. So comment with your favs--I might like it enough to add it to my list!

(I decided to start a list of favorite quotes. Yes, it's rather short right now. I'll keep adding as I find more I like)

The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon.--Robert Cormier

"It would be ridiculous for the donkey that carried Jesus to think that all the celebration and applause was for him."

A King may move a man, a father may claim a son, but remember that even when those who move you be Kings, or men of power, your soul is in your keeping alone. When you stand before God, you cannot say, "But I was told by others to do thus." Or that, "Virtue was not convenient at the time." This will not suffice. Remember that. –King Baldwin IV, Kingdom of Heaven (2005)

Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure. --Elizabeth Bennett, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

If you are cold, tea will warm you. If you are heated, it will cool you. If you are depressed, it will cheer you. If you are excited, it will calm you. --William Gladstone, British Prime Minister

A woman’s heart should be so hidden in Christ that a man should have to seek Him first to find her. --Maya Angelou

Sometimes you're the windshield
Sometimes you're the bug
--"The Bug" by Mary Chapin Carpenter

If stupidity got us into this mess, then why can't it get us out? --Will Rogers (1879-1935)

I love being married. It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life. --Rita Rudner

I found simply imitating Jesus and leaving the results to God to be the scriptural approach. If God thought my contribution significant, He would arrange a wider hearing. It was not my business to be concerned about it. With this new outlook, obscurity was no threat, and fame no temptation. My reality was better, the anxiety space was closed, and my anxiety receded. --Anxious for Nothing by Bill Hull (thanks to Cynthia Ruchti for this quote)

"If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving's not for you." --unknown, I got this from my friend Erin Kawaye

Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank piece of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead. --Gene Fowler (thanks to James Scott Bell for this quote)

If people were meant to pop out of bed, we'd all sleep in toasters. --Author unknown

Got any good ones?

Comments

Unknown said…
My favorite is by Anis Anis......No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.
Elysa said…
I love the quotes, Camy. Back in my single, pre-seven children days, I used to keep a journal of quotes and poems that I liked. I still will put them on my blog when I find ones that really connect with me.

Have you seen the Father Tim journals by Jan Karon? They are great inspiration for writers and quote lovers.
It's a rather long quote, as far as quotes go, but something about it just speaks to me.

"As little, I should think, can it matter whether the writer so designated is a man, or a woman, as one or two of my critics profess to have discovered. I take the imputation in good part, as a compliment to the just delineation of my female character; and though I am bound to attribute much of the severity of my censors to this suspicion, I make effort to refute it, because in my own mind, I am satisfied that if a book is a good one, it is so whatever the sex of the author may be." Anne Bronte, 1848 in response to a scathing review.
Brittanie said…
I found this in the November issue of Ladies Home Journal today.

"We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures."
Thorton Wilder
Alexia said…
Here's just a few of my favorites - I have a whole WORD document full of them!

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those that mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." ---Dr. Suess

“Life is not about how many breaths you take; it’s about how many of life’s moments take your breath away.”

"Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart." ---Kahlil Gibran
bigguysmama said…
Sometimes you have to be in a certain mood to have a quote seem right to you. This one was in an email I received today and I'm the type of person who might try doing it for the sheer fun of it. Not only that, I'd love to see the faces of the people when they found out what I was trying to do!

"For those of you that say nothing is impossible.....try slamming a revolving door."
Elysa said…
"Not a day passes over the earth, but men and women of no note do great deeds, speak great words, and suffer noble sorrows."

The Cloister and the Hearth (1861) --- Charles Reade
Unknown said…
Love that Kingdom of Heaven quote...I'm going to have to rent that movie now.
Anonymous said…
I'm not religious, but that doesn't matter; that Kingdom of Heaven quote really spoke to me.

I'm glad you shared it.
Amy said…
One of my favorite quotes is from C.S. Lewis: We're not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be.Not necessarily encouraging and uplifting, but very real in my experience.
Crystal Laine said…
"You must keep sending work out; you must never let a manuscript do nothing but eat its head off in a drawer. You send that work out again and again, while you're working on another one. If you have talent, you will receive some measure of success - but only if you persist."

- Isaac Asimov


If God gives you something you can do, why in God’s name wouldn’t you do it?
~Stephen King

"Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere." Anne Lamott

"Wipe the blood off...and continue." Crystal Laine Miller (ha, while playing golf...)
Josanne said…
“If ever there is tomorrow when we’re not together… There is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we’re apart…I’ll always be with you.”
~ Winnie the Pooh (A.A. Milne)

Popular Posts

Michael’s Scarf knitting pattern

Michael’s Gray and Brown Scarf I had just written a scene in Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 5: Prisoner where my character Michael gives the heroine a very significant scarf. When looking for a stitch pattern, I found the one used in “#31 Comfort either for a Lady or Gentleman” in The Lady's Assistant , volume 2 , published in 1842 by Mrs. Jane Gaugain, pages 125-126 (click on the link to view and/or download the free PDF of the digitally scanned book). When I did test swatches, it turned out to be a pretty eyelet pattern that looks like branches or vines winding upward. I tried the pattern as a parallelogram scarf and discovered that the pattern has a changeable orientation, looking vertical or diagonal depending on how you looked at it. So I decided to use this pattern, knitted as a parallelogram, as Michael’s scarf. I decided to use a smaller needle and add a slip stitch in the pattern to make the eyelets a bit more close and less lacy. When paired with a brown an

September and October Christian Fiction new releases

The Lone Rice Ball releases next month in a Christian Contemporary Romance multi-author box set, Once Upon a Starry Night: A Very Merry Christmas Romance Collection . It's included in this promo with other Christian Fiction new releases for September and October. You can preorder it for only $2.99, and the price will go up on the release date in October. If you prefer to read it on Kindle Unlimited, sign up for my newsletter so you can hear when it’s available to read in KU. Check out the Sept/Oct Christian Fiction new releases

CWO – Girly girls

Captain’s Log, Stardate 09.12.2006 Blog book giveaway: My Thursday book giveaway is A FAMILY FOREVER by Brenda Coulter . My Monday book giveaway is JADE by Marilynn Griffith . You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for A FAMILY FOREVER and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Check out Christian Women Online (click on the button above) to see what other women are blogging about this quote. "Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one!'" ~ C.S. Lewis ~ I am NOT a girly-girl. I prefer jeans and pants over skirts (a remnant of having my skirt lifted in middle school—traumatic, I tell you). I rarely wear makeup. I prefer sports bras over the lacy ones, or the underwire ones, or even the “boost your bust a cup size” wonder ones. I was also never a jock in school (think pudgy and slow). I was a brainiac, with

No Cold Bums toilet seat cover

Captain's Log, Stardate 08.22.2008 I actually wrote out my pattern! I was getting a lot of hits on my infamous toilet seat cover , and I wanted to make a new one with “improvements,” so I paid attention and wrote things down as I made the new one. This was originally based off the Potty Mouth toilet cover , but I altered it to fit over the seat instead of the lid. Yarn: any worsted weight yarn, about 120 yards (this is a really tight number, I used exactly 118 yards. My suggestion is to make sure you have about 130 yards.) I suggest using acrylic yarn because you’re going to be washing this often. Needle: I used US 8, but you can use whatever needle size is recommended by the yarn you’re using. Gauge: Not that important. Mine was 4 sts/1 inch in garter stitch. 6 buttons (I used some leftover shell buttons I had in my stash) tapestry needle Crochet hook (optional) Cover: Using a provisional cast on, cast on 12 stitches. Work in garter st until liner measures

Grace Livingston Hill romances free to read online

I wanted to update my old post on Grace Livingston Hill romances because now there are tons more options for you to be able to read her books for free online! I’m a huge Grace Livingston Hill fan. Granted, not all her books resonate with me, but there are a few that I absolutely love, like The Enchanted Barn and Crimson Roses . And the best part is that she wrote over 100 books and I haven’t yet read them all! When I have time, I like to dive into a new GLH novel. I like the fact that most of them are romances, and I especially appreciate that they all have strong Christian themes. Occasionally the Christian content is a little heavy-handed for my taste, but it’s so interesting to see what the Christian faith was like in the early part of the 20th century. These books are often Cinderella-type stories or A Little Princess (Frances Hodgson Burnett) type stories, which I love. And the best part is that they’re all set in the early 1900s, so the time period is absolutely fasci

Fall Into Sweet Clean Christian Romance Bookfunnel promo

Volumes 1, 2, and 3 in my Lady Wynwood’s Spies series are in this promo featuring Christian romance novels! Check out the promo and all the great Christian romance ebooks! You might find a new favorite author!

Marketing Information Form, part two

Captain’s Log, Stardate 05.26.2006 Blog book giveaway: My Monday book giveaway is A GIRL’S BEST FRIEND by Kristin Billerbeck . My Thursday book giveaway is LIFE INTERRUPTED by Tricia Goyer . You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Monday, I'll draw the winner for A GIRL’S BEST FRIEND and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Stay tuned. Continued from Marketing Information Form, part one : More stuff they want to know about my book: Other covers: What styles, fonts, colors? This is one area I didn’t really think about, but I listed the few covers that I thought conveyed the sort of atmosphere I wanted for my book: WHAT A GIRL WANTS by Kristin Billerbeck . The cartoon design is fresh, cute, clean. SASSY CINDERELLA AND THE VALIANT VIGILANTE by Sharon Dunn . This book, more than the other Ruby Taylor books, conveyed Ruby’s character—her vibrant red hair, bohemian dress, sassy post-modern attitude. THE TROUBLE WITH LACY B

Grace Livingston Hill romances free on Google Books

I wanted to update my old post on Grace Livingston Hill romances because now there are tons more options for you to be able to read her books for free online! I’m a huge Grace Livingston Hill fan. Granted, not all her books resonate with me, but there are a few that I absolutely love, like The Enchanted Barn and Crimson Roses . And the best part is that she wrote over 100 books and I haven’t yet read them all! When I have time, I like to dive into a new GLH novel. I like the fact that most of them are romances, and I especially appreciate that they all have strong Christian themes. Occasionally the Christian content is a little heavy-handed for my taste, but it’s so interesting to see what the Christian faith was like in the early part of the 20th century. These books are often Cinderella-type stories or A Little Princess (Frances Hodgson Burnett) type stories, which I love. And the best part is that they’re all set in the early 1900s, so the time period is absolutely fasci

Merry Christmas! Enjoy The Spinster's Christmas

As a Merry Christmas gift to all my blog readers, I’m going to be posting my Christian Regency romantic suspense, The Spinster’s Christmas , for free on my blog! I’ll be posting the book in 1000-1500 word segments every Tuesday and Friday. (When I do the calculations, it’ll finish around the end of May.) Why am I posting a Christmas story when it won’t be Christmas in a week? Because I can! :) The Spinster’s Christmas is the prequel volume to my Lady Wynwood’s Spies series . Right now I’m editing volume 1 of Lady Wynwood’s Spies, and it’s on track to release in 2020. (If you’re on my Camille Elliot newsletter , you’ll be sure to hear when it’s available for preorder.) I anticipate that the Lady Wynwood’s Spies series to be about ten volumes. I think the series story will be a lot of fun to tell, and I’m looking forward to writing up a storm! Below, I’ll be listing the links to the parts of The Spinster’s Christmas as I post them. (I created the html links by hand so please

Cleo’s Drawstring Purse knitting pattern w/ @KnitPicks CotLin

Kari Trumbo is one of the twelve authors who participated with me in the Christian Contemporary Romance anthology, Save the Date . Kari’s novella in the anthology is titled January Hope . In celebration, I wrote a knitting pattern for the lace drawstring purse used by Kari’s heroine, Cleo. (In case you missed it, here are the links for my interview with Kari part 1 and part 2 . Tomorrow I’ll post an excerpt of one of Kari’s other books, Better Than First .) This is a pretty and practical little bag used by the heroine Cleo in Kari Trumbo’s novella, January Hope . Knit in a cotton/linen blend yarn, it’s just large enough for a cell phone and a small wallet. In the book, Cleo’s bag was a coral shade, but the bag I knit here is a chocolate brown color. The lace pattern is the Double Rose Leaf stitch pattern originally published on page 195 in The Lady's Assistant, volume 2 by Mrs. Jane Gaugain, published in 1847. ( You can download a scanned .pdf of the book from Archive.