Prize Quotes

1. "In a society that tries to standardize thinking, individuality is not highly prized."
Author: Alex Grey

2. "One kiss, my bonny sweetheart; I'm after a prize tonight, But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light. Yet if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day, Then look for me by moonlight, Watch for me by moonlight, I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way."
Author: Alfred Noyes

3. "I thought maybe I would become a god, or a goddess, or a president or a Nobel Prize winner."
Author: Amelie Nothomb

4. "Writers, naturally, dream of becoming authors. Authors dream of writing a bestseller. Bestselling authors want to write more bestsellers. And everyone hopes for big prizes. Why? Because we believe in magic." Publisher's Weekly magazine, Dec. 12, 2011"
Author: Amy Hill Hearth

5. "You know, if they ever gave a Nobel Prize for avoiding work, every year some white guy in Iowa would get a million bucks and a trip to Sweden."
Author: Andrew Smith

6. "This could be the biggest mistake of my life. Or it could be the most perfect prize. One you've earned."
Author: Belle Aurora

7. "By the eighteenth century the most reliable way to get a bath was to be insane. Then they could hardly soak you enough. In 1701, Sir John Floyer began to make a case for cold bathing as a cure for any number of maladies. His theory was that plunging a body into chilly water produced a sensation of "Terror and Surprize" which invigorated dulled and jaded senses."
Author: Bill Bryson

8. "Let me conclude by saying in my experience the glittering prizes in life come more to those who persevere despite setback and disappointment than they do to the exceptionally gifted who, with the confidence of the talents bestowed upon them, often pursue the tasks leading to success with less determination."
Author: Bryce Courtenay

9. "The rule seems to be that there are no absolutes, that what is rare is prized. Thus, in times of relative affluence, thin models become dominant."
Author: Charles Jencks

10. "Courage, Lucy Snowe! With self-denial and economy now, and steady exertion by-and-by, an object in life need not fail you. Venture not to complain that such an object is too selfish, too limited, and lacks interest; be content to labour for independence until you have proved, by winning that prize, your right to look higher."
Author: Charlotte Brontë

11. "I kissed him, let him kiss me, let him clutch my hips, curl his fingers into the fabric of my shirt, slide his hands around my waist and splay them against my back, pull me infinitesimally closer. He made a sound, a growl or purr, some predatory noise that rumbled in his throat, then said my name. And this time, it wasn't a question but a sound of victory, a claim on his prize."
Author: Chloe Neill

12. "It was my TBR-my TO Be Read stack. The usual subjects were there. Chick lit. Action. A Pulitzer Prize winner. A romance novel about a pirate and a damsel in a low-cut blouse (What? Even vampire enjoys a little bodice ripping now and again.)"
Author: Chloe Neill

13. "She set out for revenge, to run them through, to do what an elf, an elf must do." The next verse was Merill's to improvise. "Climbed that roost, alighted right there. Made mush of his head for the onlooker bears." "A two-pronger her prize, a meat most rare. Do-gooders will pay. Do-gooders will fear." "Ballad of the loneliest ones," lamented Merill. "The loneliest ones," said Almi. She accepted that title; they were the loneliest. The elf gloomed."
Author: Darrell Drake

14. "Philip wasn't the sort of man to make a friend of a woman. He wanted devotion. I gave him that. I did, you know. But I couldn't stand being made a fool of. I couldn;t stand being put on probation, like an office-boy, to see if I was good enough to be condescended to. I quite thought he was honest when he said he didn't believe in marriage -- and then it turned out that it was a test, to see whether my devotion was abject enough. Well, it wasn't. I didn't like having matrimony offered as a bad-conduct prize."
Author: Dorothy L. Sayers

15. "But Sir Alistair's gaze was different. Those other men had looked at her with lust or speculation or crass curiosity, but they hadn't been looking at her really. They'd been looking at what she represented to them: physical love or a valuable prize or an object to be gawked at. When Sir Alistair stared at her, well, he was looking at her."
Author: Elizabeth Hoyt

16. "This is not my favorite way to wake up. My favorite way to wake up is to have a certain French movie star whisper to me softly at two thirty in the afternoon that if I want to get to Sweden in time to pick up my Nobel Prize for Literature I had better ring for breakfast. This occurs rather less often than one might wish."
Author: Frances Ann Lebowitz

17. "Host: For those of you just tuning in, our guests tonight are the amazing Murder Magician, and his lovely minion, The Assistant...Assistant: Charmed, I'm sureHost: Who recently killed The Rumor. And you were awarded the Oppenheimer prize for villainy at last week's annual summit for dastardly deeds-- what are you going to do with all that money?Murder Magician: Well, I'm so glad you asked that-- because I spent all the money on this giant MURDERBOT, and I've been dying to show it off!Assistant: It's true... every penny.Host: Wow! That's impressive! So what does it do?Murder Magician: Well, Mr. Clark... it murders people.Laughter.Murder Magician: I'm serious.Assistant: He is."
Author: Gerard Way

18. "I suppose my little Martin acoustic guitar is quickly becoming a prize possession. It's a lovely guitar. I bought it at the Cambridge Folk Festival in 2001 before I had cleaned up."
Author: Graham Coxon

19. "Its reward is in the doing,And the rapture of pursuingIs the prize"
Author: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

20. "By Gryffindor, the bravest werePrized far beyond the rest;For Ravenclaw, the cleverestWould always be the best;For Hufflepuff, hard workers wereMost worthy of admission;And power-hungry SlytherinLoved those of great ambition."
Author: J.K. Rowling

21. "If there is a Nobel prize for dirt and filth, India will win it, no doubt."
Author: Jairam Ramesh

22. "High expectations weren't nurtured in my neck of nowhere back then - children weren't fawned over from an early age as 'gifted' and groomed for a prizewinning future; self-esteem was considered something you had to pick from the garden yourself."
Author: James Wolcott

23. "Was it new for one, perhaps too busy to seek, to be the prize of a girl who would seek him?"
Author: Jane Austen

24. "To this motive which encourages me is added another which made up my mind: after I have upheld, according to my natural intelligence, the side of truth, no matter what success I have, there is a prize which I cannot fail to win. I will find it in the depths of my heart."
Author: Jean Jacques Rousseau

25. "Without the book business it would be difficult or impossible for true books to find their true readers and without that solitary (and potentially subversive) alone with a book the whole razzmatazz of prizes, banquets, television spectaculars, bestseller lists, even literature courses, editors and authors, are all worthless. Unless a book finds lovers among those solitary readers, it will not live . . . or live for long."
Author: John McGahern

26. "Success is the prize for those who stand true to their ideas."
Author: Josh Hinds

27. "I got my Nobel Prize for my lab work."
Author: Joshua Lederberg

28. "I took off one of the high-heeled sandals, the white sandals my mother prized, and threw it into the pool. That's when I noticed him. He was on the other side of the pool, dressed in a white shirt and khaki pants. He had lowered the chair until it was flat, and he was lying back on it, face to the night sky, smoking a cigarette. He raised himself on his elbows and looked at the pool like he owned it. "Well?" he said. I didn't say anything... "Aren't you going to let the other shoe drop?" I took off the other one and threw it in. "My kind of women," he said."
Author: Judy Blundell

29. "My Daddy liked physical fitness and wanted me to be a prizefighter."
Author: Judy Johnson

30. "So many of us had been armed that there were holsters and weapons scattered among the passed-out bodies like mercenary prizes in a fleshy Cracker Jack box."
Author: Laurell K. Hamilton

31. "I shouldn't have lost my temper that way. It just pricks his pride, makes him dig in his heels.""So why did you?" I asked, genuinely curious. It was rare for Nikolai's emotions to get the best of him. "I don't know," he said, shredding the leaf. "You got angry. I got angry. The room was too damn hot.""I don't think that's it.""Indigestion?" he offered."It's because you actually care about what happens to this country," I said. "The throne is just a prize to Vasily, something he wants to squabble over like a favorite toy, You're not like that. You'll make a good king."Nikolai froze. "I…" For once, words seemed to have deserted him. Then a crooked, embarrassed smile crept across his face. It was a far cry from his usual self-assured grin. "Thank you," he said.I sighed as we resumed our pace. "You're going to be insufferable now, aren't you?"Nikolai laughed. "I'm already insufferable."
Author: Leigh Bardugo

32. "Recently Mr. Mawdsley's donkey escaped from his stall, raced down the road, and somehow found his way into an enclosed pasture. Mr. Caird's prized mare was innocently grazing when the ill-bred seducer had his way with her. Now it appears the mare has conceived, and a feud is raging between Caird, who demands financial compensation, and Mawdsley, who insists that had the pasture fencing been in better repair, the clandestine meeting would never have occurred. Worse still, it has been suggested that the mare is a shameless lightskirt and did not try nearly hard enough to preserve her virtue."
Author: Lisa Kleypas

33. "Now, every morning when I open my eyes, I long to see my old room full of my things, my clothes all over the floor and my school prizes on the shelves."
Author: Malala Yousafzai

34. "DestinyThe chicken I bought last night,Frozen,Returned to life,Laid the biggest egg in the world,And was awarded the Nobel Prize.The phenomenal eggWas passed from hand to hand,In a few weeks had gone all round the earth,And round the sunIn 365 days.The hen received who knows how much hard currency,Assessed in buckets of grainWhich she couldn't manage to eatBecause she was invited everywhere,Gave lectures, granted interviews,Was photographed.Very often reporters insistedThat I too should poseBeside her.And so, having served artThroughout my life,All of a sudden I've attained to fameAs a poultry breeder."
Author: Marin Sorescu

35. "Fredrika Bimm, what do you think you're doing?""Freaking out. Losing my mind. Thinking about snapping your husband's spine. Squashing the urge to vomit. Wishing I had died at childbirth.""Oh, you say that when you don't get a prize in your Lucky Charms."
Author: MaryJanice Davidson

36. "Without rich people who want it done now, who would animate the free world? In theory, you want everyone to live peacefully according to their needs, along the banks of a river. In fact, you worry that you'd die of boredom there. In fact, you get a buzz from someone like Carole Potter, who keeps prize chickens and could teach a graduate course in landscaping; who maintains a staff of four (more in the summers, during High Guest Season); a handsome, slightly ridiculous husband; a beautiful daughter at Harvard and an incorrigible son doing something or other on Bondi Beach; Carole who is charming and self-deprecating and capable, if pushed, of a hostile indifference crueler than any form of rage; who reads novels and goes to movies and theater and yes, yes, bless her, buys art, serious art, about which she actually fucking knows a thing or two."
Author: Michael Cunningham

37. "Daydreaming does not enjoy tremendous prestige in our culture, which tends to regard it as unproductive thought. Writers perhaps appreciate its importance better than most, since a fair amount of what they call work consists of little more than daydreaming edited. Yet anyone who reads for pleasure should prize it too, for what is reading a good book but a daydream at second hand? Unlike any other form of thought, daydreaming is its own reward."
Author: Michael Pollan

38. "Many more have died of attempting love than victory, and countless numbers hate love more than war. Honor has often been the dear prize awarded to the killers of lovers. The epics of war have always and still outnumber the epics of love. For those who love deeply and greatly gain a clairvoyant, excruciating awareness of the fear and suffering of the world along with their joy, which few warriors could endure. Who is not more truly afraid of a love story than of a tale of war?"
Author: Patricia Storace

39. "The prize seemed to change my professional life very little."
Author: Philip Warren Anderson

40. "Before I'd signed on with Caldswell, my life had followed a pattern: obey orders, climb the ladder, keep my eyes on the prize. It was a good gig, dangerous and exciting with glory as my reward. Most of all, though, it was simple. A path of my own choosing where I did what I loved, knew where I fit, and understood where I was going. Now, though, I felt like a dollhouse in a tornado."
Author: Rachel Bach

41. "I have tried hard to be a good person and to leave the world a better place. To feel that I have in any small way succeeded is to me a prize beyond measure, the most wonderful wealth that I could ask for, a form of prosperity that I would wish for the whole world to experience and enjoy."
Author: Roz Savage

42. "What you need, what you deserve, is a guy who adores you for what you are. Who doesn't see you as a project, but a prize. you know?"
Author: Sarah Dessen

43. "When you chose to follow the way of purity, did you expect it to be easy? When you decided to wait for the best, did you think that waiting would be fun? Did you think that your faith would not be tested? When you decided to take the narrow path, did no one warn you that difficulties, hardship, and tears would be part of the journey, and that you would often face rejection from others and be forced to walk alone? My daughter, that which you wait for the longest you treasure the most, and through much struggle the prize is won."
Author: Sarah Mally

44. "They told you to get your résumé in order, to punch your ticket, to fit in, and to follow instructions. They told you to swallow your pride, not to follow your dream. They promised trinkets and prizes and possibly riches if you would just suck it up and be part of the system, if you would merely do what you were told and conform. They sold you debt and self-storage and reality TV shows. They sold your daughters and sons, too.All in exchange for what would happen later, when it was your turn. It's your turn."
Author: Seth Godin

45. "Svante Arrhenius, recipient of the Nobel Prize in chemistry (1903), was a declared atheist and the author of The Evolution of the Worlds and other works on cosmic physics."
Author: Svante Arrhenius

46. "There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship."
Author: Thomas Aquinas

47. "No passion is stronger in the breast of a man than the desire to make others believe as he believes. Nothing so cuts at the root of his happiness and fills him with rage as the sense that another rates low what he prizes high."
Author: Virginia Woolf

48. "...this miserable trick the romantic plays upon himself: of setting just beyond his reach the very thing he prizes."
Author: Walker Percy

49. "O captain! My Captain!Our fearful trip is done. The ship has weather'd every wrackThe prize we sought is wonThe port is near, the bells I hearThe people all exultingWhile follow eyes, the steady keelThe vessel grim and daringBut Heart! Heart! Heart! O the bleeding drops of redWhere on the deck my captain liesFallen cold and dead."
Author: Walt Whitman

50. "Pentagon ought to win the Nobel Peace Prize every year, because the U.S. military is the world's foremost guarantor of peace"
Author: William F. Buckley Jr.

Prize Quotes Pictures