Tension Quotes - Page 30

• Are we going to Portland?" I asked. "Or Multnomah Falls?" He smiled at me. "Go to sleep." I waited three seconds. "Are we there yet?" His smile widened, and the last of the usual tension melted from his face. For a smile like that, I'd...do anything.

  Patricia Briggs

  Fall, Sleep, Portland

  Patricia Briggs (2011). “River Marked”, p.35, Penguin

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• I'm not flailing now, as my muscles are rigid with the tension of holding myself together.

  Suzanne Collins

  Together, Flailing, Muscles

  Suzanne Collins (2011). “The Hunger Games Trilogy”, p.1183, Scholastic Inc.

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• There was pain, but there was also joy. It was in the tension between the two that life happened. Imperfect as it was, this world was real. Illusion was no substitute. I'd rather live a hard life of fact than a sweet life of lies.

  Karen Marie Moning

  Sweet, Pain, Real

  Karen Marie Moning (2016). “The Fever Series 7-Book Bundle: Darkfever, Bloodfever, Faefever, Dreamfever, Shadowfever, Iced, Burned”, p.1384, Dell

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• It won't be the same for me," I whispered, half to myself. "You won't let me be like that. We'll live in Antarctica." Edward snorted, breaking the tension. "Penguins. Lovely.

  Stephenie Meyer

  Lovely, Half, Penguins

  Stephenie Meyer (2008). “Eclipse”, Little Brown & Company

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• This is the permanent tension that lies at the heart of a capitalist democracy and is exacerbated in times of crisis. In order to ensure the survival of the richest, it is democracy that has to be heavily regulated rather than capitalism.

  Tariq Ali

  Lying, Heart, Order

  Tariq Ali (2011). “The Obama Syndrome: Surrender at Home, War Abroad”, p.75, Verso Books

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• Well you found us strength and solutions but I liked the tension And not always knowing the answers when you're gonna lose it, you're gonna lose it.

  Hayley Williams

  Knowing, Answers, Found

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• It must be because you're so approachable", I say flatly. "You know, like a bed of nails." He stares at me, and I don't look away. He isn't a dog but the same rules apply. Looking away is submissive. Looking him in the eye is a challenge. It's my choice. Heat rushes into my cheeks. What will happen when this tension breaks? But he just says, "Careful, Tris.

  Veronica Roth

  Dog, Eye, Choices

  Veronica Roth (2013). “The Divergent Series Complete Collection: Divergent, Insurgent, Allegiant”, p.39, Harper Collins

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• Those final weeks, spanning end of summer and the beginning of another autumn, are blurred in memory, perhaps because our understanding of each other had reached that sweet depth where two people communicate more often in silence than in words: an affectionate quietness replaces the tensions, the unrelaxed chatter and chasing about that produce a friendship’s more showy, more, in the surface sense, dramatic moments.

  Truman Capote

  Summer, Sweet, Memories

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• I could have kissed you months ago, but it wouldn’t have meant anything. I wished for you to see me. And want me. So…did you mean it?” “Yes,” I said, and some unnamed tension inside me eased. “I see you, Tod.

  Rachel Vincent

  Mean, Want, Months

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• Music and comedy are so linked. The rhythm of comedy is con­nected to the rhythm of music. They’re both about creating tension and knowing when to let it go. I’m always surprised when somebody funny is not musical.

  Conan O'Brien

  Creating, Knowing, Musical

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• To be sure, man's search for meaning may arouse inner tension rather than inner equilibrium. However, precisely such tension is an indispensable prerequisite of mental health. There is nothing in the world, I venture to say, that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions as the knowledge that there is a meaning in one's life. There is much wisdom in the words of Nietzsche: "He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how

  Viktor E. Frankl

  Men, World, May

  Viktor E. Frankl (2006). “Man's Search for Meaning”, p.91, Beacon Press

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• Real life consists of the tensions produced by the incompatibility of opposites, each of which is needed

  E. F. Schumacher

  Real, Opposites, Incompatibility

  E.F. Schumacher (1975). “Small is Beautiful”

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• Sure, we were friends who exchanged soulful glances, friends who slept in a bed filled with sexual tension, friends who found any excuse to touch, but I worried that we'd never take that perilous leap of faith toward becoming a real couple, a permanent team.

  Emily Giffin

  Couple, Real, Team

  Emily Giffin (2010). “Something Blue: A Novel”, p.97, St. Martin's Press

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• Wait. This was the first lesson I had learned about love. The day drags along, you make thousands of plans, you imagine every possible conversation, you promise to change your behavior in certain ways -- and you feel more and more anxious until your loved one arrives. But by then, you don't know what to say. The hours of waiting have been transformed into tension, the tension has become fear, and the fear makes you embarrassed about showing affection.

  Paulo Coelho

  Fear, Waiting, Promise

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• Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, so must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Dark, Men, Racism

  "Letter from a Birmingham Jail". www.africa.upenn.edu. April 16, 1963.

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• Something is missing: that's as close as I can come to naming the sensation, an awareness of missed or thwarted connections, or of a great hollowness left where something lovely and solid used to be. ...There is something fundamentally insatiable about being human, as though we come into the world with a kind of built-in tension between the experience of being hungry, which is a condition of striving and yearning, and the experience of being fed, which may offer temporary satisfaction but always gives way to new strivings, new yearnings.

  Caroline Knapp

  Giving, Missing, Lovely

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• When people really hate one another, the tension within them can sometimes make itself felt throughout a room, like atmospheric waves, first hot, then cold, wafted backwards and forwards as if in an invisible process of air conditioning, creating a pervasive physical disturbance.

  Anthony Powell

  Hate, Air, Creating

  Anthony Powell (1995). “A Dance to the Music of Time: Third Movement”, p.161, University of Chicago Press

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• --I lifted one foot from the brackish water, and the bunny slippers were soaked and drooped pathetically. Even the fangs seemed robbed of any charm. "Don't worry," I told it. "Someone will pay for your suffering. Heavily. With screaming." I felt I should repeat it for the other slipper, in case there should be any bad feelings between the two. One should never create tension between ones's footwear. --POV is Myrnin, page 221

  Rachel Caine

  Two, Feet, Worry

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• And then they were kissing. Something exploded within his chest burning away the tension and confusion and fear. Burning away the hurt of seconds earlier. For a moment it felt like nothing mattered anymore. Like nothing would matter ever again.

  James Dashner

  Hurt, Kissing, Confusion

  James Dashner (2014). “The Maze Runner Trilogy”, p.416, Scholastic UK

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• One should never create tension between one's footwear.

  Rachel Caine

  Should, Footwear

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• I am a kite in a tornado but I have a long string. There is tension in my line. Somewhere, someone is holding onto the other end and, although it cannot spare me this storm, it will not let me be lost while I regain my strength. It is enough.

  Karen Marie Moning

  Long, Storm, Kites

  Karen Marie Moning (2009). “Dreamfever: Fever Series”, p.42, Delacorte Press

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• Body tension will always be present if our good feeing is just ordinary, self-centered happiness. Joy has no tension in it, because joy accepts whatever is as it is.

  Joko Beck

  Self, Joy, Ordinary

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• And don't pay attention to Christina. Your face doesn't look that bad." He smiles a little. "I mean, it looks good. It always looks good. i mean--you look brave. Dauntless." His eyes skirt mine, and he scratches the back of his head. The silence grows between us. It was a nice thing to say, but he acts like it means more than just words. I hope I am wrong. I could not be attracted to Al-- I could not be attracted to anyone that fragile. I smile as much as my bruised cheek will allow, hoping that will diffuse the tension.

  Veronica Roth

  Nice, Mean, Eye

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• The tension between us kicked up a notch, and I realized that along with our bodies being nearer, so were our lips.

  Richelle Mead

  Body, Lips, Notches

  Richelle Mead (2013). “The Indigo Spell: A Bloodlines Novel”, p.34, Penguin

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• He’d moved toward me again. His hands released mine and moved to my waist, and I noticed I wasn’t the only one breathing heavily. He pulled me to him, bringing our bodies together. The world was all heat and electricity, thick with tension that was only one spark away from exploding around us. I was balancing on another precipice, which wasn’t easy to do in heels. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and this time I was the one who drew him closer.

  Richelle Mead

  Hands, Breathing, Together

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