Holding Back Quotes

1. "She is holding on tight to this talk of flowers, as I did before, when I was afraid and alone. If you sing and speak of blooms and petals that come back after a long time of being winter-still, you don't have to think about things that don't."
Author: Ally Condie

2. "It's not all gone. She loved someone before and so did I. The Society and the Rising and the world are all still out there, pressing against us. But Lei holds them away. She's made enough space for two people to stand up together, whether or not any Society or Rising says that they can. She's done it before. The amazing thing is that she's not afraid to do it again. When we fall in love the first time, we don't know anything. We risk a lot less than we do if we choose to love again.There is something extraordinary about the first time falling.But if feels even better to find myself standing on solid ground, with someone holding on to me, pulling me back, and know that I'm doing the same for her."
Author: Ally Condie

3. "Thomas was still outside, so I knocked once and opened the door without waiting for a response. Loki was in the middle of changing clothes as I came in. He'd already traded his worn slacks for a pair of pajama pants, and he was holding a white T-shirt, preparing to put it on.He had his back to me, and it was even worse than I'd thought."Oh, my god, Loki," I gasped."I didn't know you were coming." He turned around to face me, smirking. "Shall I leave the shirt off, then?""No, put the shirt on," I said, and I closed the door behind me so nobody could see or overhear us talking."You're no fun." He wrinkled his nose and pulled the shirt over his head."Your back is horrific.""And I was just going to tell you how beautiful you look today, but I'm not going to bother now if you're going to talk that way." Loki sat back down on his bed, more lying than sitting."
Author: Amanda Hocking

4. "I need you to be better," I said."You're really not concerned about him eating me?" he asked, holding his arm out again."It'll grow back in a minute.""That's totally not the point. I'm traumatized."
Author: Amy Tintera

5. "Faelan stuffed his mouth with the granola bar like a starving toddler and moved down the aisle with the loaded cart. Bree grabbed an empty one and squeaked back. She rounded the corner and stopped. Faelan wasn't chewing. That was a good sign. The package he was reading wasn't. He glanced up, mouth parted, eyes dark, and the hand holding the box of extra large condoms darted behind his back."
Author: Anita Clenney

6. "Unlike white commentators, who were hamstrung by the fear that they would be labeled racist, I could voice my criticisms of the feudal, religious, and repressive mechanisms that were holding back women from Muslim communities."
Author: Ayaan Hirsi Ali

7. "You never lose by loving. You always lose by holding back."
Author: Barbara De Angelis

8. "He tasted deeper, holding himself over me, and suddenly he was everywhere; his knee trapping my leg, his lips grazing warm, rough, sensuous. He splayed his hand at the small of my back, holding me tightly, driving me to sink my fingers deeper into him, clinging to him as if letting go would mean losing part of myself."
Author: Becca Fitzpatrick

9. "Rick could not move and it had nothing to do with Brew's crushing weight on top of him. Behind his closed eyes, he saw the stars of the universe and they beckoned him to join them. He felt as if he was levitating off the bed, accepting that invitation, and the only thing holding him back was Brew. If the man so much as moved, lifted up onto his forearms, Rick was sure he would float away. As if Brew read his mind, he moved and the floating feeling that was coursing through Rick's body was so strong that his body ignored his mind's intent to grab onto Brew."
Author: Brenda Cothern

10. "You have to let go of what is holding you back."
Author: Celso Cukierkorn

11. "Give me all of you for one night, no holding back. Please, Chloe, I'll leave you alone after that but I haven't seen you in almost two weeks and...I just need tonight."
Author: Christina Lauren

12. "Cyril had staked out his claim and refused to move. "Move over!" I said, freeing one hand from holding the cat to push. "Dogs are supposed to sleep at the foot of the bed." Cyril had never heard of this rule. He jammed his body up against my back and began to snore. I tugged at the rugs, trying to get enough to cover me, and turned on my side, the cat cradled in my arms. Princess Arjumand paid no attention to the regulations of animals on the bed either. She promptly wriggled free and walked round the bed, treading on Cyril, who responded with a faint "oof," and kneading her claws in my leg. Cyril shoved and shoved again until he had the entire bed and all the covers, and Princess Arjumand draped herself across my neck with her full weight on my Adam's apple. Cyril shoved some more. An hour into this little drama it began to rain in earnest, and everyone moved in under the covers and began jockeying for position again."
Author: Connie Willis

13. "He reached forward to cup my cheek, the touch surprising me. "Please understand that no matter what I am or what has happened in the past, I am yours. I am devoted to you above all else, including my own life."I exhaled after holding my breath for what felt like forever. "That's pretty heavy, Will." His expression was impassioned, and the backs of his fingers brushed the side of my neck."It is a burden I am glad to carry."
Author: Courtney Allison Moulton

14. "Again," I whisper. The corner of his mouth lifts, and then I kiss him. Not so gently this time. His hands drop from my face and grab my waist and pull me to him. A small soft groan excapes him, and that noise makes me feel absolutely crazy. I lose it. I wind my hands around his neck and kiss him without holding anything back. I can feel his heart thundering like mine, his breath coming faster, his arms tightening around me. And then I can feel what he feels. He's waited for this moment. He loves how I feel in his arms. He loves the smell of my hair. He loves the way I looked at him just now, flushed and wanting more from him. He loves the color of my lips and now the taste of my mouth is making his knees feel weak and he doesn't want to seem weak in front of me. So i draw back, and his breath comes out in a rush. His arms drop away from me."
Author: Cynthia Hand

15. "Beholding the flash drive that may contain so many keys, intuition dawns: I've always been a butterfly trapped in Donovan's net. My heart knows Donovan and I traveled together before, yet I've never allowed myself to think of the logistics. If the more I pull back, the more I crave his enclosure, what happens if I learn my deprivation has been for centuries, or even millenniums? Is being an old soul why I have always felt and sounded older than my years? Why doI have the passions I do? How did I become me?"
Author: Diane Rinella

16. "H---how did we get in the water?""You were burning. I needed to do something to cool you. As soon as I carried you in, though, you started flailing around. Scared me," he added on a whisper.That explained the dream. But it didn't change what she knew was coming. She pressed her face against his neck and drew in the sweet scent of his skin. Loved the rasp of his stubbly cheek against her flesh."Why do I get the feeling you're holding something back?" he asked softly.Because he was smart. And because even in the short amount of time they'd been together, he'd learned more about her than anyone else in her entire life. "I believe in signs. I never did before but…I dreamed about you.""You did?"She nodded. "I think I have for a while, I just…I didn't know it was you. But now…"She swallowed hard. "I should have waited for you. It's the biggest regret I have. I'm sorry I didn't wait."
Author: Elisabeth Naughton

17. "People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that is holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then leave. A soul mates purpose is to shake you up, tear apart your ego a little bit, show you your obstacles and addictions, break your heart open so new light can get in, make you so desperate and out of control that you have to transform your life, then introduce you to your spiritual master..."
Author: Elizabeth Gilbert

18. "Dead ButterflyBy Ellen BassFor months my daughter carried a dead monarch in a quart mason jar. To and from school in her backpack, to her only friend's house. At the dinner table it sat like a guest alongside the pot roast. She took it to bed, propped by her pillow. Was it the year her brother was born? Was this her own too-fragile baby that had lived—so briefly—in its glassed world? Or the year she refused to go to her father's house? Was this the holding-her-breath girl she became there? This plump child in her rolled-down socks I sometimes wanted to haul back inside me and carry safe again. What was her fierce commitment? I never understood. We just lived with the dead winged thing as part of her, as part of us, weightless in its heavy jar."
Author: Ellen Bass

19. "And when I looked outside the window, something inside of me churned, swallowing hard I looked up and saw blue. I squeezed my eyes shut, holding back the tears and emotions that were swelling inside of me. And then I realized, the only time that I could feel anything at all, was when I could feel him."
Author: Everance Caiser

20. "Like a girl, a baby running after her mother, begging to be picked up, and she tugs on her skirts, holding her back as she tries to hurry off—all tears, fawning up at her, till she takes her in her arms… That's how you look, Patroclus, streaming live tears."
Author: Homer

21. "I'm holding back, delaying the information. I'm lingering in the prior moment because it was a time when other outcomes were still possible."
Author: Ian McEwan

22. "There was a clatter as the basilisk fangs cascaded out of Hermione's arms. Running at Ron, she flung them around his neck and kissed him full on the mouth. Ron threw away the fangs and broomstick he was holding and responded with such enthusiasm that he lifted Hermione off her feet. "Is this the moment?" Harry asked weakly, and when nothing happened except that Ron and Hermione gripped each other still more firmly and swayed on the spot, he raised his voice. "OI! There's a war going on here!" Ron and Hermione broke apart, their arms still around each other. "I know, mate," said Ron, who looked as though he had recently been hit on the back of the head with a Bludger, "so it's now or never, isn't it?" "Never mind that, what about the Horcrux?" Harry shouted. "D'you think you could just --- just hold it in, until we've got the diadem?" "Yeah --- right --- sorry ---" said Ron, and he and Hermione set about gathering up fangs, both pink in the face."
Author: J.K. Rowling

23. "Sir -- Professor Dumbledore. Can I ask you something." "Obviously, you've just done so," Dumbledore smiled. "You may ask me one more thing, however." "What do you see when you look in the mirror." "I— I see myself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks." Harry stared."One can never have enough socks," said Dumbledore. "Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn't get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books."It was only when he was back in bed that it struck Harry that Dumbledore might not have been quite truthful."
Author: J.K. Rowling

24. "Ah. Medieval-style ransom."Toot looked confused. "He did run some, but I stopped him, my lord. Like, just now. In front of you. Right over there." There were several conspicuous sounds behind me, the loudest from my apprentice, and I turned to eye everyone else. They were all either covering smiles or holding them back— poorly. "Hey, peanut gallery," I said. "This isn't as easy as I'm making it look.""You're doing fine," Karrin said, her eyes twinkling.I sighed."Come on, Toot," I said, and walked over to Hook."
Author: Jim Butcher

25. "I don't know the first thing about holding together a family, especially one that resembles an heirloom vase, shattered but glued back together for its beauty, and no one mentions that you can see the cracks as plain as day."
Author: Jodi Picoult

26. "Trusting someone was like holding a little water in your cupped hands - it was so easy to spill the water, and you could never get it back."
Author: Ken Follett

27. "Are these from you?"The voice so startled me that I whirled around. Unfortunately, I was still holding the rake inmy hand. Even more unfortunately, the wooden handle caught him right along the side of hisface. He staggered back, stunned, the bottle of wine I'd just left at his door slipping from hisgrasp and shattering on the path with a crash. The scent of merlot drifted up around us, cancelingout the smells of spring."Oops," I said in a strangled voice."Jesus Christ, lady," my new neighbor cursed, rubbing his cheek. "What is your problem?"
Author: Kristan Higgins

28. "Why should we girls not have the same privileges as men? Why do we police ourselves so stringently- whittling each other down with cutting remarks or holding ourselves back from greatness with a harness woven of fear and shame and longing? If we do not deem ourselves worthy first, how shall we ever ask for more?"
Author: Libba Bray

29. "I've read that the dying often wait to be by themselves. They need the freedom to go, with nobody holding them back."
Author: Linda Barrett

30. "Just as he'd done to her, she slowly moved up and down, caressing him with her body, drawing out his response. He ground his teeth together, fighting not to come when she was just as determined he would.Frustrated, she wondered why he was holding back—until she heard herself moan, and realized the friction was working on her, too.The battle there in the shower was in close-combat conditions. With the clinging grip of her body she tried to wring a climax from him, locking her legs around him and pumping hard. He slowed her down with that one arm around her hips, grinding her against him and sending her response rocketing."
Author: Linda Howard

31. "... He didn't know how to say good-bye. His throat ached from the strain of holding back his emotions. "I don't want to leave you," he said humbly, reaching for her cold, stiff hands.Emma lowered her head, her tears falling freely. "I'll never see you again, will I?"He shook his head. "Not in this lifetime," he said hoarsely.She pulled her hands away and wrapped her arms around his neck. He felt her wet lashes brush his cheek. "Then I'll wait a hundred years," she whispered. "Or a thousand, if I must. Remember that, Nikki. I'll be waiting for you to come to me."
Author: Lisa Kleypas

32. "It wasn't intentional. Seeing you wobble on your toes while holding a windowpane that I've had on order for almost a month was more than I could stand.""I wasn't wobbling!""I see.You would prefer to think that I was so enthralled by your charms that I would use any convenient excuse to-""No,I wouldn't!..I..oh,get out of here!"He indicated the stairway with a gesture that was at once mocking and deferential,his eyes shining with amusement."After you, Miss Caldwell."She preceded him regally, walking back into the main part of the store and stopping at her usual spot behind the counter. Accepting his money without bothering to count it, Lucy went over to the cash drawer."
Author: Lisa Kleypas

33. "He pulls the door shut behind him and drags me against him, murmuring softly, "I understand why you left. I understand everything." I cling to him, holding on for what feels like dear life. "I should have told you." "You would have." He pulls back to look at me. "When you were ready. We all have to deal with our inner demons in our own way, in our own time."
Author: Lisa Renee Jones

34. "Holding a large object aloft, she went after him, and the fellow ran. Then something struck the back of Rupert's head. The world went black with flashing lights. The ground opened up under his feet, and down he went."
Author: Loretta Chase

35. "Goodbyes are not easy, but I'm ready to move on. I'm not reluctant, Emma, not holding back. I don't have answers to the questions, but I have some good questions. I have loved life, but I believe that life is to be loved, it is a gift." - David"
Author: Madeleine L'Engle

36. "Hell," he finished absurdly. "Because—" He produced a twenty-peso note and laid it on the table. "I like it," he called to them, through the open window, from outside. Cervantes stood behind the bar, with scared eyes, holding the cockerel. "I love hell. I can't wait to get back there. In fact I'm running, I'm almost back there already."
Author: Malcolm Lowry

37. "You know," I said, holding my ground. "I gotta tell you. The goatee thing? Yeah, way over. And you know a little jewelry really does go a long way. Just something you might want to consider. I'm actually glad you stopped by, because I have a couple things I've been meaning to say to you. Number one,about your wife? Yeah, she's a skank. And number two, you know that whole thing where you killed Jesse and then buried his remains out back there? Yeah, way un-cool."
Author: Meg Cabot

38. "Rankin put down his glass and stared at him coldly. "I beg your pardon?" he said. "I gather this is some more of your officious—"Laurence paid no attention, but seized the back of his chair and heaved. Rankin fell forward, scrabbling to catch himself on the floor. Laurence took him by the scruff of his coat and dragged him up to his feet, ignoring his gasp of pain."Laurence, what in God's name—" Lenton said in astonishment, rising to his feet."Levitas is dying; Captain Rankin wishes to make his farewells," Laurence said, looking Lenton squarely in the eye and holding Rankin up by the collar and the arm. "He begs to be excused." The other captains stared, half out of their chairs. Lenton looked at Rankin, then very deliberately sat back down. "Very good," he said, and reached for the bottle; the other captains slowly sank back down as well."
Author: Naomi Novik

39. "It is not easy to hurl snowballs while holding on to a plastic bag of groceries, so my first few efforts were subpar, missing their mark. The nine maybe ten nine-maybe-ten-year-olds ridiculed me - if I turned to aim at one, four others outflanked me and shot from the sides and the back. I was, in the parlance of an ancient day, cruising for a bruising, and while a more disdainful teenager would have walked away, and a more aggressive teenager wouls have dropped the bag and kicked some major preteen ass, I kept fighting snowball with snowball, laughing as if Boomer and I were playing a school yard game, flinging my orbs with abandon."
Author: Rachel Cohn

40. "You're the brightest thing I've ever seen, Kaylee. You're this beautiful ball of fire spitting sparks out at the world, burning fiercely, holding back the dark by sheer will. And I always knew that if I reached out -- if i tried to touch you -- I'd get burned. Because you're not mine. I'm not supposed to feel the fire. I'm not supposed to want it. But I do. I want you, Kaylee, like I've never wanted anything. Ever. I want the fire. I want the heat, and the light, and I want the burn."
Author: Rachel Vincent

41. "Dust in a cloud, blinding weather,Drums that rattle and roar!A mother and daughter stood togetherBeside their cottage door.'Mother, the heavens are bright like brass,The dust is shaken high,With labouring breath the soldiers pass,Their lips are cracked and dry.''Mother, I'll throw them apples down,I'll bring them pails of water.'The mother turned with an angry frownHolding back her daughter.'But mother, see, they faint with thirst,They march away to die,''Ah, sweet, had I but known at firstTheir throats are always dry.''There is no water can supply themIn western streams that flow,There is no fruit can satisfy themOn orchard trees that grow.''Once in my youth I gave, poor fool,A soldier apples and water,So may I die before you coolYour father's drouth, my daughter."
Author: Robert Graves

42. "We need to talk," he insisted, opening the door to his jeep that was parked next to my car. I was still holding out hope this would end and I would see his smile soon. "What's wrong?" I retaliated before I go in. "There's something you need to know, something I haven't told you," he said, taking my backpack from me."
Author: S.G. Holster

43. "You and Wes," she said, triumphant, "are just likethis ."She was holding a book, a paperback romance. The title, emblazoned in gold across the cover, wasForbidden, and the picture beneath it was of a man in a pirate outfit, eye patch and all, clutching a small, extremelybusty woman to his chest. In the background, there was a deserted island surrounded by blue water."We're pirates?" I said.She tapped the book with one fingernail. "This story," she said, "is all about two people who can't be togetherbecause of other circumstances. But secretly, they pine and lust for each other constantly, the very fact thattheir love is forbidden fueling their shared passion.""Did you just make that up?""No," she said, flipping the book over to read the back cover. "It's right here! And it's totally you and Wes.You can't be together, which is exactly why you want to be. And why you can't admit it to us, because thatwould make it less secret and thus less passionate."
Author: Sarah Dessen

44. "I was thinking we could get a picture of you holding a pitchfork or something. Maybe a big wooden cross? Sound good?"(Brian)She stared at him. He lifted his hands and leaned back in his seat, as if he was afraid she might start spitting on him. "Hey, only joking." "Very funny." "Oh, I do love jokes." Greyson Dante stood by her side. "Hello, Mr. Dante. I'm afraid this is a private conversation, so you will, of course, be going now."His grin widened. Was there no way to insult the man?"
Author: Stacia Kane

45. "Is it wrong of me to propose a ceasefire agreement between humans and whales and dolphins, I know it is in actuality a one sided massacre, but so was Bosnia and there the ceasefire is holding, so would it be nice to have a declaration backing a ceasefire between us mammals?"
Author: Steve Merrick

46. "He pointed the gun at me. Then he looked up at my hand & tilted his head slightly.- Journey, he said. I had forgotten I was still holding the book.- Céline, I said back in a whisper.- I love that book.- I'm only halfway through.- Have you got to the point where --- Hey, kill me, but don't tell me the end!"
Author: Steve Toltz

47. "Then we're just sitting there, staring at each other. Which has been happening a lot lately. It's likewhatever wall there was between us, however she was holding herself back from me . . . all of thatpretense is gone."And when you find a soul mate," Sara says, "it's undeniable. You have to be together.""That's my philosophy." I look back at her. "You have to go with the flow.""Exactly. I think the universe guides you to make the right choices.""Do you believe in fate?""I guess, but . . . it's more about creating the life you want so you can make that fate a reality. Youknow?"
Author: Susane Colasanti

48. "Wow," Ryan said, taking the excedo in from his bare feet to his worn jeans and wrinkled T-shirt. "Protesting showers?""Bite me." Trance stood aside and let Ryan inside, despite his growled words.Ryan strode to the living room, went straight to Trance's DVD player, and inserted one of his sex discs.Trance stood in the entrance to the living room, arms crossed, leaning against the wall as if it were the only thing holding him up. "I don't remember making a movie date with you.""Keep your dick in your pants, Romeo." Ryan pushed Play and stood back. "What do you know about that?"Trance's eyes shot wide, and he yanked himself off the wall. "I know you need an ass-kicking if you came to watch porn with me—oh, fuck me, that's you. Turn it off! I don't need to see that."Ryan hit the Pause button. "Well?""Well, what?" Trance shuddered. "Christ. I'm going to have to gouge out my eyes now."
Author: Sydney Croft

49. "Clearly recognizing what is happening inside us, and regarding what we see with an open, kind and loving heart, is what I call Radical Acceptance. If we are holding back from any part of our experience, if our heart shuts out any part of who we are and what we feel, we are fueling the fears and feelings of separation that sustain the trance of unworthiness. Radical Acceptance directly dismantles the very foundations of this trance."
Author: Tara Brach

50. "He kissed her. Without warning, without permission. Without even deciding to do it, but simply because he couldn't have done anything else. He needed that breath she was holding. It belonged to him, and he wanted it back."
Author: Tessa Dare

Holding Back Quotes Pictures