Treading Quotes

1. "Of course, these women ought to have listened when he told them he wasn't looking for anything serious. But on a certain level, it didn't really matter if it was stupid of them. Ethical people don't take advantage of other people's weakness; that's like being a slumlord or a price gouger. And treading on weakness is exactly what dating felt like, with so many of these women--with their wide-open hopefulness, their hunger for connection and blithe assumption that men wanted it just as badly."
Author: Adelle Waldman

2. "Tell me Was Venus more beautiful Than you are When she topped The crinkled waves Drifting shoreward On her plaited shell Was Botticelli's vision Fairer than mine And were the painted rosebuds He tossed his lady Of better worth Than the words I blow about you To cover your too great loveliness As with a gauze Of misted silver For me You stand poised In the blue and buoyant air Cinctured by bright winds Treading the sunlight. And the waves which precede you Ripple and stir The sands at my feet."
Author: Amy Lowell

3. "To ensure that we are leading with our feet firmly planted on the soil of what is, we must live by the seven commandments of current reality:Thou shalt not pretend.Though shalt not turn a blind eye.Thou shalt not exaggerate.Thou shalt not shoot the bearer of bad news.Thou shalt not hide behind the numbers.Thou shalt not ignore constructive criticism.Thou shalt not isolate thyself.Attempting to lead while turning a blind eye to reality is like treading water: It can only go on for so long, eventually you will sink. As a next generation leader, be willing to face the truth regardless of how painful it might be. And if you don't like what you see, change it."
Author: Andy Stanley

4. "I find now, swallowing one teaspoon of pain, that it drops downward to the past where it mixes with last year's cupful and downward into a decade's quart and downward into a lifetime's ocean. I alternate treading water and deadman's float."
Author: Anne Sexton

5. "In the story of Ugly Duckling, when did the Ugly Duckling stop feeling Ugly? When he realized that he was a Swan. Each of us has something Special, a swan of some sort, hidden inside somewhere. But until we recognize that it's there, what can we do but splash around, treading water? The Wise are Who They Are. They work with what they've got and do what they can do."
Author: Benjamin Hoff

6. "Elephant, beyond the fact that their size and conformation are aesthetically more suited to the treading of this earth than our angular informity, have an average intelligence comparable to our own. Of course they are less agile and physically less adaptable than ourselves -- nature having developed their bodies in one direction and their brains in another, while human beings, on the other hand, drew from Mr. Darwin's lottery of evolution both the winning ticket and the stub to match it. This, I suppose, is why we are so wonderful and can make movies and electric razors and wireless sets -- and guns with which to shoot the elephant, the hare, clay pigeons, and each other."
Author: Beryl Markham

7. "Each gig should be unique. You're always treading that line between keeping yourself fresh and giving people something they want to hear."
Author: Brian May

8. "I mean, first of all, let me say whichever superhero first came up with the idea of wearing a cape, he wasn't really onto anything good. The number of times I'm treading on that damn thing or I throw a punch and it ends up covering my whole head. It's really not practical."
Author: Christian Bale

9. "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

10. "Treading along in this dreamlike, illusory realm,Without looking for the traces I may have left;A cuckoo's song beckons me to return home;Hearing this, I tilt my head to seeWho has told me to turn back;But do not ask me where I am going,As I travel in this limitless world,Where every step I take is my home."
Author: Eihei Dogen

11. "Hers is the face I wear, treading the riptide, fathomless oceans where good girls drown."
Author: Ellen Hopkins

12. "I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,And Mourners to and froKept treading – treading – till it seemedThat Sense was breaking through – And when they all were seated,A Service, like a Drum – Kept beating – beating – till I thoughtMy Mind was going numb – And then I heard them lift a BoxAnd creak across my SoulWith those same Boots of Lead, again,Then Space – began to toll,As all the Heavens were a Bell,And Being, but an Ear,And I, and Silence, some strange RaceWrecked, solitary, here – And then a Plank in Reason, broke,And I dropped down, and down – And hit a World, at every plunge,And Finished knowing – then –"
Author: Emily Dickinson

13. "Lord Maccon, being Lord Maccon and good at such things, then changed, right there in the Thames, from dog-paddling wolf to large man treading water. He did so flawlessly, so that his head never went under the water. Professor Lyall suspected him of practicing such maneuvers in the bathtub."
Author: Gail Carriger

14. "Deregulation is a transfer of power from the trodden to the treading. It is unsurprising that all conservative parties claim to hate big government."
Author: George Monbiot

15. "Here's the thing,' he said, his face strained. 'It's just that I've been treading really carefully around you and this whole Cordy thing all day, just like Mort told me to. And I had to make sure you saw her and were okay with it and got home safe — again, just like Mort told me to. And as much as I'd love to continue exploring the implications of Damning roadkill, the truth is' — he plunged his hands into his hair until it stuck up even more than usual — 'you've been back here in my presence for two agonizing hours now, and if we don't properly make out soon, I'm going to hurl myself off the roof."
Author: Gina Damico

16. "When I am writing, I'm very much on the ground, on the same ground my characters are treading."
Author: Graham Swift

17. "Then your tail will divide and shrink until it becomes what the people on earth call a pair of shapely legs. But it will hurt; it will feel as if a sharp sword slashed through you. Everyone who sees you will say that you are the most graceful human being they have ever laid eyes on, for you will keep your gliding movement and no dancer will be able to tread as lightly as you. But every step you take will feel as if you were treading upon knife blades so sharp that blood must flow. I am willing to help you, but are you willing to suffer all this?""Yes," the little mermaid said in a trembling voice, as she thought of the Prince and of gaining a human soul."
Author: Hans Christian Andersen

18. "I tried to take seriously the idea that if you tortured language you might arrive at some new truth. Later it became clear to me that I was retreading ground by fighting the literary battles of the 1950s and 1960s, and that I was actually a bit bored by some of the books I professed to love."
Author: Hari Kunzru

19. "Do you remember Zhitomir, Vasily? Do you remember the Teterev, Vasily, and that evening when the Sabbath, the young Sabbath tripped stealthily along the sunset, her little red heel treading on the stars?THe slender horn of the moon bathed its arrows in the black waters of the Teterev. Funny little Gedali, founder of the Fourth International, was taking us to Rabbi Motele Bratzlavsky's for evening service. Funny little Gedali swayed the cock's feathers on his high hat in the red haze of the evening. The candes in the Rabbi's room blinked their predatory eyes. Bent over prayer books, brawny Jews were moaning in muffled voices, and the old buffoon of the zaddiks of Chernobyl jingled coppers in his torn pocket......Do you remember that night, Vasily? Beyond the windows horses were neighing and Cossacks were shouting. The wilderness of war was yawning beyong the windows, and Robbi Motele Bratzslavsky was praying at the eastern wall, his decayed fingers clinging to his tales. (...)"
Author: Isaac Babel

20. "A red-gold glow burst suddenly across the enchanted sky above them as an edge of dazzling sun appeared over the sill of the nearest window. The light hit both of their faces at the same time, so that Voldemort's was suddenly a flaming blur. Harry heard the high voice shriek as he too yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco's wand:"Avada Kedavra!""Expelliarmus!"The bang was like a cannon blast, and the golden flames that erupted between them, at the dead center of the circle they had been treading, marked the point where the spells collided. Harry saw Voldemort's green jet meet his own spell, saw the Elder Wand fly high, dark against the sunrise, spinning across the enchanted ceiling, spinning through the air toward the master it would not kill, who had come to take full possession of it at last."
Author: J.K. Rowling

21. "So the war swept over like a wave at the seashore, gathering power and size as i bore on us, overwhelming in its rush, seemingly inescapable, and then at the last moment eluded by a word from Phineas; I had simply ducked, that was all,and the wave's concentrated power had hurtled harmlessly overhead, no doubt throwing others roughly up on th beach, but leaving me peaceably treading water as before. I did not stop to think that one wave is inevitably followed by another even larger and more powerful, when the tide is coming in."
Author: John Knowles

22. "Their way of Dancing, is nothing but a sort of stamping Motion, much like the treading upon Founders Bellows."
Author: John Lawson

23. "She walked with measured steps, draped in striped and fringed cloths, treading the earth proudly, with a slight jingle and flash of barbarous ornaments. She carried her head high; her hair was done in the shape of a helmet; she had brass leggings to the knee, brass wire gauntlets to the elbow, a crimson spot on her tawny cheek, innumerable necklaces of glass beads on her neck; bizarre things, charms, gifts of witch-men, that hung about her, glittered and trembled at every step."
Author: Joseph Conrad

24. "So much has been done, exclaimed the soul of Frankenstein--more, far more, will I achieve; treading in the steps already marked, I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation."
Author: Mary Shelley

25. "He finally understood...the thing that the people during the Paleolitic Age, freaking 20,000 to 8,000 B.C., were after when they came up with mythologies to do with flight—a desire for the magic of the sky, for something bigger than their feet treading the earth."
Author: Maud Casey

26. "The moon slid inexorably into its zenith, the shadows shrivelling to the feet of all that cast them, and as Rantel approached the hollow at the hem of the Twisted Woods he was treading in a pool of his own midnight."
Author: Mervyn Peake

27. "An entire life spentreading would have fulfilled my every desire; I already knew that at the age ofseven. The texture of the world is painful, inadequate; unalterable, or so it seems tome. Really, I believe that an entire life spent reading would have suited me best.Such a life has not been granted me. ..."
Author: Michel Houellebecq

28. "I was exercised about the poor fish, as I am about all my pals, close or distant, who find themselves treading upon Life's banana skins."
Author: P.G. Wodehouse

29. "She let them go all night and in the mornings would find them coming toward her where she slept, with that alert and nervous air unridden horses always have at dawn. They are remembering some far time when predators came for them at first light. So they came toward her with the strange and painful air of fallen angels, treading carefully and slowly as if the earth were foreign soil."
Author: Paulette Jiles

30. "Last FlowersAppliances have gone berserkI cannot keep upTreading on people's toesSnot-nosed little punkAnd I can't face the evening straightYou can offer me escapeHouses move and houses speakIf you take me then you'll get reliefrelief, relief, relief, …And if I'm gonna talkI just wanna talkPlease don't interruptJust sit back and listenCause I can't face the evening straightAnd you can offer me escapeHouses move and houses speakIf you take me then you'll get reliefrelief, relief, relief, relief…It's too muchToo brightToo powerfulToo muchToo brightToo powerfulToo muchToo brightToo powerfulToo much"
Author: Radiohead

31. "How different a feel to taking 'drugs' in the West is this path of shamanism that I am now on, and that so many Westerners like me are treading."
Author: Rak Razam

32. "We are all treading the vanishing road of a song in the air, the vanishing road of the spring flowers and the winter snows, the vanishing roads of the winds and the streams, the vanishing road of beloved faces."
Author: Richard Le Gallienne

33. "Injured SoulFainted EyesReturningfrom where?Weary feetWeak armsTreadingtoward where?Struggledin vain battlesFightingdelusive enemiesErred bya deceptionThe ancient deception"
Author: Rixa White

34. "Metaphors are our way of losing ourselves in semblances or treading water in a sea of seeming."
Author: Roberto Bolaño

35. "Faith is the pathwe are treading.Love is the waywe are heading.Hope is the starwe are seeking.God is the onewe are meeting."
Author: S. Tarr

36. "Yes. I'm going to sink into what I feel for you. I'm going to sink into the good times and the scary shit. I'm going to sink with you, because I'm tired of drifting and treading, never committing to anything. I want to sink with you."
Author: Steph Campbell

37. "The path is revealed in the treading."
Author: Stephen R. Lawhead

38. "A grieving person's like a person treading in deep water--if they've nothing to hold on to, they lose hope. They slide right under."
Author: Susanna Kearsley

39. "I'm treading the backward path. Mostly, I just waste my time."
Author: Syd Barrett

40. "Maybe the guy loves a good bitch - but you're treading a thin line between attractively bitchy and psycho."
Author: Tarryn Fisher

41. ". . . and what are you exactly, my friend? Their subordinate? Their employee? Or, I would suggest, their equal? That's what young Karl would certainly have said, and probably still does. Unless he's no longer alive.' Dodger gave Solomon and strange look and Solomon hastened to clarify. "'Mmmm, as I recall, if you go around telling people that they are downtrodden, you tend to make two separate enemies: the people who are doing the downtreading and have no intention of stopping, and the people who are downtrodden, but nevertheless -- people being who they are -- don't want to know. They can get quite nasty about it.' (205)"
Author: Terry Pratchett

42. "It was long after midnight and the stars looked damp and chilly; the air was full of the busy silence of the night, which is created by hundreds of small furry things treading very carefully in the hope of finding dinner while avoiding being the main course."
Author: Terry Pratchett

43. "Mmmm, as I recall, if you go around telling people that they are downtrodden, you tend to make two separate enemies: the people who are doing the downtreading and have no intention of stopping, and the people who are downtrodden, but nevertheless -- people being who they are -- don't want to know. They can get quite nasty about it."
Author: Terry Pratchett

44. "I watched what method Nature might take, with intention of subduing the symptom by treading in her footsteps."
Author: Thomas Sydenham

45. "Promise me you will not spend so much time treading water and trying to keep your head above the waves that you forget, truly forget, how much you have always loved to swim."
Author: Tyler Knott Gregson

46. "Treading the soil of the moon, palpating its pebbles, tasting the panic and splendor of the event, feeling in the pit of one's stomach the separation from terra... these form the most romantic sensation an explorer has ever known..."
Author: Vladimir Nabokov

47. "These are men whose minds the Dead have ravished.Memory fingers in their hair of murdersMultitudinous murders they once witnessed.Wading sloughs of flesh these helpless wander,Treading blood from lungs that had loved laughter."
Author: Wilfred Owen

48. "And too soon marr'd are those so early made.The earth hath swallow'd all my hopes but she,She is the hopeful lady of my earth:But woo her, gentle Paris, get her heart,My will to her consent is but a part;An she agree, within her scope of choiceLies my consent and fair according voice.This night I hold an old accustom'd feast,Whereto I have invited many a guest,Such as I love; and you, among the store,One more, most welcome, makes my number more.At my poor house look to behold this nightEarth-treading stars that make dark heaven light:Such comfort as do lusty young men feelWhen well-apparell'd April on the heelOf limping winter treads, even such delightAmong fresh female buds shall you this nightInherit at my house; hear all, all see,And like her most whose merit most shall be:Which on more view, of many mine being oneMay stand in number, though in reckoning none,Come, go with me."
Author: William Shakespeare

49. "Earth-treading stars that make dark heaven light:Such comfort as do lusty young men feelWhen well-apparell'd April on the heelOf limping winter treads, even such delightAmong fresh female buds shall you this nightInherit at my house; hear all, all see,And like her most whose merit most shall be:"
Author: William Shakespeare

50. "In treading upon the ashes of dead men in Italy, Egypt - on the banks of the Bosphorus, one almost despairs to think how idle are the dreams and toils of this life, and were it not for the intellectual pleasure of knowing and learning, one would almost be damaged by travel in these historic lands."
Author: William T. Sherman

Treading Quotes Pictures