I Quotes
Browse famous quotes beginning with I. This page is a child index of the full Popular Quotes A-Z directory.
“I coulda' had class. I coulda' been a contender! But instead I got a one way ticket to Palookaville.”
“I couldn’t articulate how the name made me feel. Shawn had meant it to humiliate me, to lock me in time, into an old idea of myself. But far from fixing me in place, that word transported me. Every time he said it—“Hey Nigger, raise the boom” or “Fetch me a level, Nigger”—I returned to the university, to that auditorium, where I had watched human history unfold and wondered at my place in it. The stories of Emmett Till, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King were called to my mind every time Shawn shouted, “Nigger, move to the next row.” I saw their faces superimposed on every purlin Shawn welded into place that summer, so that by the end of it, I had finally begun to grasp something that should have been immediately apparent: that someone had opposed the great march toward equality; someone had been the person from whom freedom had to be wrested.
I did not think of my brother as that person; I doubt I will ever think of him that way. But something had shifted nonetheless. I had started on a path of awareness, had perceived something elemental about my brother, my father, myself. I had discerned the ways in which we had been sculpted by a tradition given to us by others, a tradition of which we were either willfully or accidentally ignorant. I had begun to understand that we had lent our voices to a discourse whose sole purpose was to dehumanize and brutalize others—because nurturing that discourse was easier, because retaining power always feels like the way forward.”
Source: Educated
“I couldn’t, at the time, describe the slice of light that glowed between door and floor, how the promise of this light was actually a slim, dull weapon.”
Source: Temporary
“I couldn’t avoid my reflection in the large mirrored wall that sat over the vanity area... I had grey smudges of mascara streaked down my face. I guess that’s what you get for buying the cheap makeup. Next breakdown I’d be sure to wear waterproof.”
Source: The Keepers
“I couldn't be certain whether their eagerness to leave was fueled by their desire to see more fire or to get away from my mother. I wouldn't have blamed them at all if it was the latter - most people went to great lengths to avoid her on a regular basis, myself and my father included.”
Source: Fire
“I couldn't be here anymore. I couldn't be in me. But I couldn't be anywhere else, either. I had nowhere else to go.”
Source: Catherine House
“I couldn't be the child that they had loved.
Not after everything that happened to me. Not after learning that I am made of sticks and snow.”
Source: The Stolen Heir
“I couldn't bear being this suburban mom who was alternating between screaming at her kids and being the heartfelt, privileged witness to their joy. But the people around us - the haranguing mothers and sexless fathers - I kept trying to find ways that I was better than these people, but all I kept landing on was the fact that the common denominator was me.”
Source: Fleishman Is in Trouble
“I couldn’t bear the thought of what drugs could do. I wanted to cry, I felt the anguish, the pain, of all that was alive and suffering right then! How this world was dying, all of us, this lost generation. The Lost Children, The Lost Children, an echo drilled so penetratingly, so pervasively, in my head. I sucked in a breath, and now? I was choking.”
Source: Addictarium
“I couldn't bear to part with my sister's gift."
"You should make him think you didn't even want to have it. Tell him that you made a promise to your father."
I couldn't resist saying, "He bargained with you himself. Do you think he's fool enough to believe you'd try to save me?"
His eyes widened and jaw hardened. With a little flicker of pleasure, I realized I had finally hurt him.”
Source: Cruel Beauty
“I couldn't beat George M. Bush but I can beat my meat.”
“I couldn't begin to grasp what he might be thinking or feeling in the murky depths of his consciousness.”
Source: Norwegian Wood
“I couldn't believe his arrogance. I turned away hoping to ignore him enough so he'd just leave.
"Just give me five minutes," came Flynn's muffled voice through the closed window.
I ignored him. He'd caused me way too much trouble.
"Mercy, just crack the window so we can talk."
I did and immediately said, "You are a solipsistic obdurate asshole." Then I rolled the window back up to continue to ignore him.
"What the hell? You and these words," he muttered loud enough they came clearly through the closed window.”
Source: Beg for Mercy
“I couldn't believe I was talking to my dad about this, of all people. It was like taking dating advice from Dracula.”
Source: The Hunter
“I couldn't believe it had taken me all these years to see this side of him. He tucked himself inside a shell, shutting himself away from others here because the palace had trapped him. Behind the books and the snippy remarks there was a curious, engaging, and sometimes very charming person.”
Source: The Heir
“I couldn’t believe it; my deepest darkest fantasy of a cute school girl slowly stripping in front of me was finally unbelievingly coming true! Furthermore, it wasn’t just any school girl, but one from my school, that was the icing on the cake, or at least it should have been. Because, at the same time that my fantasy was becoming reality, I felt that I was being very badly cheated. Why couldn’t it have been sixteen year old Heather Johnson or fifteen year old Pamela wade stripping before me, instead of the eight year old Ami Fujishiro?”
Source: Sukiyaki
“I couldn't believe that anyone would be so sexually driven that he might actually skip lunch-and after an auction! I think of myself as a healthy person with a strong sex drive, but it's never occurred to me to forgo meals.”
Source: Heartburn
“I couldn’t believe that something so beautiful could come from fire.”
Source: Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre
“I couldn’t believe what I was reading. Did young guys talk like this? For real? I didn’t remember knowing any psychopaths when I was twenty years old. Jesus Christ. Who talked like that? Then I remembered when I was a kid I had watched Faces of Death with the other neighborhood idiots, and I calmed down a bit.”
Source: No Winter Lasts Forever
“I couldn't blame him for not believing me because it wasn't exactly true. The truth is that you /do/ care. Of course you do. And it hurts to hear people say those things about you. But the hurt changes, over time. At first, it's sharp and hot, like a fiery dagger stabbing you in the heart, but when you've heard the same insults over and over and over, the pain changes. It becomes a dull, throbbing ache -- like a toothache. A sort of background pain that you can ignore for a few minutes at a time, except when you're lying in bed at night, trying to sleep. That's when it really gets to you.”
Source: The Pants Project
“I couldn’t breathe because you were dead, and how was I supposed to breathe when you had no air?”
Source: Reminders of Him
“I couldn't care less about evidence and proof and assurances. I just want God. I want God inside me. I want God to play in my bloodstream the way sunlight amuses itself on water.”
Source: Eat, Pray, Love
“I couldn't care less about good marks. I want to learn.”
Source: The Only Girl in the World
“I couldn't come up with any words when we arrived- and knew that even if I had been able to paint it, nothing would have done it justice. It wasn't simply that it was the most beautiful place I'd ever been to, or that it filled me with both longing and mirth, but it just seemed... right. As if the colours and lights and patterns of the world had come together to form one perfect place- one true bit of beauty. After last night, it was exactly where I needed to be.
We sat atop a grassy knoll, overlooking a glade of oaks so wide and high they could have been the pillars and spires of an ancient castle. Shimmering tufts of dandelion fluff drifted by, and the floor of the clearing was carpeted with swaying crocuses and snowdrops and bluebells. It was an hour or two past noon by the time we arrived, but the light was thick and golden.
Though the three of us were alone, I could have sworn I heard singing. I hugged my knees and drank in the glen.”
Source: A Court of Thorns and Roses
“I couldn’t compete with Honesty,
With her dark blonde hair streaked with auburn,
With her captivating blue eyes,
With her legs that stretched into forever.
She had the brains,
The body,
The perfect resume for girlfriend.
And me?
I had the perfect resume for
Best friend.
All the boys said so.”
Source: Elevated
“I couldn’t comprehend why she still hadn’t stopped him because it’s clearly every mother’s responsibility to protect her children. After all, that’s the trust that bonds a mother and her child together, forever”
Source: Mother at Seven
“I couldn't conquer my enemy. I married him,”
Source: The New Land
“I couldn't convince her that if I had a book with me, I wasn't lonely.”
Source: Bleeding Hearts
“I couldn't count on the world being silent, so my only option was to become at peace with the noise.”
Source: The Art of Learning: A Journey in the Pursuit of Excellence
“I couldn't cry anymore—she had killed something inside me with her last text message, about our, child.
Around 2-3 AM, I finally fell asleep, only to be awoken around 4 AM by a strange, bothersome feeling.
It could have been anyone or anything else, as I was so blindfolded and unaware of the danger—even though I was perfectly aware of the danger because of my signature on Golan. I soon realised that it was her hair tickling my face, as she leaned over me trying to cover my face with kisses. I was spooked and sat up in bed, thinking that something was crawling on my face. We nearly head-bumped each other when I woke up in surprise. It was then that I realised it was her. It was not nice.
I wish she had put her hands on me, if she had touched me and woke me up. If she had communicated honestly instead. But she was out of touch.”
Source: BARCELONA MARIJUANA MAFIA
“I couldn't cure or treat him. All I could do was minimize the pain and pressure.”
Source: At Least One Day
“I couldn't decide how to feel about what he was saying, whether it was all nonsense or just more evidence that I would never understand this world.”
Source: The Answers
“I couldn't decide what kind of person she was, whether she was one of those insects that look exactly like wasps but aren't . . . I just wanted to know if she would sting.”
Source: Sympathy
“I couldn’t deny the intense draw I felt in that dimly lit museum collection. The air around me hummed with an energy that was foreign and nostalgic all at once.”
Source: She Who Rises
“I couldn’t describe the smells of West Virginia, even if I tried. It has something to do with the leaves composting in the woods, the cold trickle of little creeks and waterfalls, the ferns greening up everything. But somewhere deep below, I can smell the rock and the coal this state is built on.”
Source: Miranda Warning
“I couldn't dramatize. Why do all that inventing when life gives so much and takes so much away?”
Source: Daughter
“I couldn’t dream of doing anything
by halves. Whatever it is, I’ll take the whole
bouquet. Please and soon.”
“I couldn't erase the creeping feeling that someone still watched me, curious and wanting to play.”
Source: A Court of Thorns and Roses
“I couldn't even conceive of playing a secondary part...Either a hero, or dirt, there was nothing in between. That was my undoing”
Source: Notes from Underground & The Double
“I couldn't even see that woman because I have blinders on when you are around, and every single thought in my head is about you.”
Source: Hot Cowboy Nights
“I couldn't even spell fucking Adidas. But I knew how they made me feel.”
Source: Undisputed Truth
“I couldn’t even tell if I had any sadness of my own, because I was so full of Abuelita’s sadness.”
Source: My Beloved World
“I couldn't ever blame them for trying to get me to shop with them or ship for myself or simply enjoy my money - this was a behavior many people learned and exhibited in all kinds of circumstances in their lives. In my own life, I'd had friends who would hand me another drink and encourage me to stay out all night. I'd had friends who suggested we switch to drugs so we could stay awake longer. I'd also had friends who would happily skip a workout and suggest we split a large pizza instead. Now I had friends who tried to justify why I should buy things for myself.”
Source: The Year of Less: How I Stopped Shopping, Gave Away My Belongings, and Discovered Life Is Worth More Than Anything You Can Buy in a Store
“I couldn't exactly blame Jane Austen for being a romantic. What the hell else was there to do back then for fun?”
Source: A Match Made in High School
“I couldn't find my cup of tea.
So probably, I've been simply taking a sip from everyone else's cup. May be it shouldn't matter as long as there is tea to drink. Or should it?”
“I couldn't find similar things in East, West, South, or North, except sympathy exists everywhere”
“I couldn’t forget you even if I wanted to.”
Source: The Next Step
“I couldn't get my mind off you all day." He spoke as he yanked her shirt over her head, right where she stood. Once that was gone, he moved his hands down to unfasten her jeans. He pushed them and her underwear to the floor in one motion. "I mowed that whole damn hayfield with a hard-on because of you.”
Source: Midnight Ride
“I couldn't get to love but love got me.”
Source: Just the Way I Feel
“I couldn't get to sleep. The book lay nearby. A thin object on the divan. So strange. Between two cardboard covers were noises, doors, howls, horses, people. All side by side, pressed tightly against one another. Boiled down to little black marks. Hair, eyes, voices, nails, legs, knocks on doors, walls, blood, beards, the sound of horseshoes, shouts. All docile, blindly obedient to the little black marks. The letters run in mad haste, now here, now there. The a's, f's, y's, k's all run. They gather together to create a horse or a hailstorm. They run again. Now they create a dagger, a night, a murder. Then streets, slamming doors, silence. Running and running. Never stopping.”
Source: Chronicle in Stone