Tombs Quotes - Page 6

• I remember, in hot floods, the way he slept, still as death, with his face washed flat, stony as a carved tomb and exquisite. His weakness and his ravening bitter needs were terrible, and beautiful, and irresistible as an earthquake. He scalded or smothered anyone he needed, but his needing and the hurt that it caused me were the most life I have ever had. Remember what a poor thing I have always been and forgive me.

  Katherine Dunn

  Beautiful, Hurt, Earthquakes

  Katherine Dunn (2011). “Geek Love: A Novel”, p.434, Vintage

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• Shadow and dust shall be reclaimed, earth sealing the tomb from which you came. Dust to dust, ashes to ashes, warrior return, breathe your last. Air, earth, fire, water, hear my voice, obey my order, thrice around your grave do bound, evil sink into the ground. I now invoke the law of three, this is my will, so mote it be.

  Christine Feehan

  Warrior, Fire, Air

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• It makes me think of Lazarus. He must have had those shadows after his miracle. You don't spend time in the tomb without it changing you, and everyone who was waiting for you to come out.

  Sara Zarr

  Thinking, Waiting, Miracle

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• Why did I not die? More miserable than man ever was before, why did I not sink into forgetfulness and rest? Death snatches away many blooming children, the only hopes of their doting parents: how many brides and youthful lovers have been one day in the bloom of health and hope, and the next a prey for worms and the decay of the tomb! Of what materials was I made, that I could thus resist so many shocks, which, like the turning of the wheel, continually renewed the torture? But I was doomed to live.

  Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

  Children, Men, Parent

  Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (2009). “Frankenstein: Or the Modern Prometheus”, p.269, The Floating Press

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• I died for beauty but was scarce Adjusted in the tomb, When one who died for truth was lain In an adjoining room. He questioned softly why I failed? "For beauty," I replied. "And I for truth, the two are one; We brethren are," he said. And so, as kinsmen met a night, We talked between the rooms, Until the moss had reached our lips, And covered up our names.

  Emily Dickinson

  Night, Covered Up, Names

  "I died for beauty but was scarce" l. 1 (ca. 1862)

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• In my head I try and reach back, through the fence, past the smoke; I try and grab his hand and pull. Alex, come back. There is nothing to do but sink. The hours close around me, encase me completely, like a tomb.

  Lauren Oliver

  Past, Hands, Trying

  Lauren Oliver (2012). “Pandemonium”, p.10, Harper Collins

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• After great pain, a formal feeling comes — The Nerves sit ceremonious, like Tombs — The stiff Heart questions was it He, that bore, And Yesterday, or Centuries before? The Feet, mechanical, go round — Of Ground, or Air, or Ought — A Wooden way Regardless grown, A Quartz contentment, like a stone — This is the Hour of Lead — Remembered, if outlived, As Freezing persons, recollect the Snow — First — Chill — then Stupor — then the letting go —

  Emily Dickinson

  Letting Go, Pain, Heart

  'After great pain, a formal feeling comes' (1862)

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• Remember Jesus of Nazareth, staggering on broken feet out of the tomb toward the Resurrection, bearing on his body the proud insignia of the defeat which is victory, the magnificent defeat of the human soul at the hands of God.

  Frederick Buechner

  Jesus, Easter, Hands

  Frederick Buechner (2009). “Secrets in the Dark: A Life in Sermons”, p.8, Harper Collins

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• However passionate, sinning, and rebellious the heart hidden in the tomb, the flowers growing over it peep serenely at us with their innocent eyes; they tell us not of eternal peace alone, of that great peace of "indifferent" nature: they tell us, too, of eternal reconciliation and of life without end.

  Ivan Turgenev

  Flower, Eye, Heart

  Ivan Turgenev (2013). “Delphi Works of Ivan Turgenev (Illustrated)”, p.639, Delphi Classics

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• There was only the broad square with the scattered dim moons of the street lamps and with the monumental stone arch which receded into the mist as though it would prop up the melancholy sky and protect beneath itself the faint lonely flame on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which looked like the last grave of mankind in the midst of night and loneliness.

  Erich Maria Remarque

  Lonely, Loneliness, Moon

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• Come for your revenge at last, elf?" Royce stepped forward. He looked down at Thranic and then around the room. "How could I top possibly top this? Sealed alive in a tomb of rock. My only regret is that I had nothing to do with it

  Michael J. Sullivan

  Revenge, Regret, Rocks

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• I am Psmith," said the old Etonian reverently. "There is a preliminary P before the name. This, however, is silent. Like the tomb. Compare such words as ptarmigan, psalm, and phthisis.

  P. G. Wodehouse

  Names, Psalms, Silent

  P. G. Wodehouse (2012). “Psmith, Journalist”, p.223, The Floating Press

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• All that glitters is not gold; Often have you heard that told: Many a man his life has sold But my outside to behold: Gilded tombs do worms enfold Had you been as wise as bold, Your in limbs, in judgment old, Your answer had not been in'scroll'd Fare you well: your suit is cold.' Cold, indeed, and labour lost: Then, farewell, heat and welcome, frost!

  William Shakespeare

  Wise, Farewell, Men

  William Shakespeare (2014). “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Deluxe Annotated: Suitable for Home Reading, Academic Study, and Dramatic Productions”, p.615, BookBaby

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• I seal that which was not to be said in the tomb that I become.

  Umberto Eco

  Said, Seals

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• Meditation upon death does not teach one how to die; it does not make the departure more easy, but ease is not what I seek. Beloved boy, so willful and brooding, your sacrifice will have enriched not my life but my death. ... Centuries as yet unborn within the dark womb of time would pass by thousands over that tomb without restoring life to him, but likewise without adding to his death, and without changing the fact that he had been.

  Marguerite Yourcenar

  Dark, Sacrifice, Boys

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• Never draw a gun on a man unless you intend to kill him. And believe me, if you do intend to kill him he will already know it. Then he will feel the cold breath of the tomb.

  George S. Patton

  Believe, Gun, Men

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• What about King Tut’s tomb?” I protested. “That boy king?” Zia rolled her eyes. “Boring. You should see some of the good tombs.

  Rick Riordan

  Kings, Eye, Boys

  Rick Riordan (2010). “The Kane Chronicles, The, Book One: Red Pyramid”, Hyperion

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• You want to know how Egyptians pulled the brains out of mummies. or built the pyramids, or cursed King Tut's tomb? My dad's your man.

  Rick Riordan

  Kings, Dad, Men

  Rick Riordan (2010). “The Kane Chronicles, The, Book One: Red Pyramid”, Hyperion

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• Stealing ideas from contemporaries is rude and tasteless. Stealing from the long dead is considered literary and admirable. The same is true of grave-robbing. Loot your local cemetery and find yourself mired in social awkwardness. But unearth the tomb of an ancient king and you can feel free to pop off his toe rings. You'll probably end up on a book tour, or bagging an honorary degree or two.

  N.D. Wilson

  Kings, Book, Ideas

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• Books are yours, Within whose silent chambers treasure lies Preserved from age to age; more precious far Than that accumulated store of gold And orient gems, which, for a day of need, The Sultan hides deep in ancestral tombs. These hoards of truth you can unlock at will.

  William Wordsworth

  Lying, Book, Age

  William Wordsworth (1841). “The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth”, p.135

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• If Under fell, if Over leaped, If death was life and Death life reaped, Something rises from the gloom, To make the Underland a tomb Hear it scratching down below, Rat of long forgotten snow, Evil cloaked in coat of White, Will the Warrior drain your light? What could turn the Warrior week? What do burning Gnawers seek? Just a barely speaking pup That holds the Land of Under up Die the baby, die his heart Die his most essential part Die the peace that rules the hour, Gnawers have their key to power

  Suzanne Collins

  Baby, Heart, Warrior

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• And starward drifts the stricken world, Lone in unalterable gloom Dead, with a universe for tomb, Dark, and to vaster darkness whirled. (“The Testimony of the Suns”)

  George Sterling

  Dark, World, Sun

  George Sterling, “The Testimony Of The Suns”

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• For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride, In the sepulchre there by the sea, In her tomb by the sounding sea.

  Edgar Allan Poe

  Beautiful, Death, Dream

  Edgar Allan Poe (2012). “The Raven and Other Favorite Poems”, p.41, Courier Corporation

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• Not hear it? --yes, I hear it, and have heard it. Long --long --long --many minutes, many hours, many days, have I heard it --yet I dared not --oh, pity me, miserable wretch that I am! --I dared not --I dared not speak! We have put her living in the tomb!

  Edgar Allan Poe

  Long, Speak, Miserable

  Edgar Allan Poe (2010). “Mystery Tales”, p.33, Giunti Editore

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• Never did tombs look so ghastly white. Never did cypress, or yew, or juniper so seem the embodiment of funeral gloom. Never did tree or grass wave or rustle so ominously. Never did bough creak so mysteriously, and never did the far-away howling of dogs send such a woeful presage through the night.

  Bram Stoker

  Dog, Night, White

  Bram Stoker (2016). “Dracula”, p.181, Zillmann Publishing

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