I Quotes
Browse famous quotes beginning with I. This page is a child index of the full Popular Quotes A-Z directory.
“I couldn't make it out - why you ever let me, I mean. I understand now. Things like that happen when you're in love with the wrong person. Worse things. Things you never forgive yourself for.”
Source: I Capture The Castle
“I couldn't make myself be cautious around her. A little voice in my head kept trying to tell me that every word she said could be disinformation and that she might be playing me for a fool. But I didn't believe it. I trusted her, even though I had every reason not to.”
Source: Ready Player One
“I couldn't make myself imagine Dad holding some creamy-faced baby, cooing at it, telling it he loved it. Taking it to baseball games. Living some life he'd probably consider his 'real life,' the one he deserved rather than the one he got.”
Source: Hate List
“I couldn’t make myself move from the bed. To reach for you. I’d known this moment was coming, and now that it had arrived I found I had no strength in my limbs.
Only my voice. Only words.
Asking you to stay.”
Source: When You Were Pixels
“I couldn’t make sense out of what I was seeing. There was a shiny metal arm about an inch thick with a joint in the middle and a knob on the end. The arm was knocking the knob against the window. The oddest thing was that the arm wasn’t connected to anything. It appeared to be floating by itself in midair!”
Source: Tom and G.E.R.I.
“I couldn't make someone love me. I couldn't make myself desirable to someone who didn't want me. I couldn't compel someone to see me in the same way in which I wanted to be seen. All I could do was be myself, and if someone didn't fool with me, find someone else.”
Source: I Can't Date Jesus: Love, Sex, Family, Race, and Other Reasons I've Put My Faith in Beyoncé
“I couldn't master this kind of apathy, no matter how hard I tried. I was built to care - to notice, to overanalyze, to try - in a way that felt inalterable.”
Source: The Start of Me and You
“I couldn't motivate myself. I was subject to occasional depression, relatively mild, certainly not suicidal, and not long episodes so much as passing moments like this, when meaning and purpose and all prospect of pleasure drained away and left me briefly catatonic. For minutes on end I couldn't remember what kept me going. As I stared at the litter of cups and pot and jug in front of me, I thought it was unlikely I would ever get out of my wretched little flat. The two boxes I called rooms, the stained ceilings walls and floors would contain me to the end. There was a lot like me in the neighbourhood, but thirty or forty years older. I had seen them in Simon's shop, reaching for the quality journals from the top shelf. I noted the men especially and their shabby clothes. They had swept past some crucial junction in their lives many years back - a poor career choice, a bad marriage, the unwritten book, the illness that never went away. Now there options were closed, they managed to keep themselves going with some shred of intellectual longing or curiosity. But their boat was sunk.”
Source: Machines like Me
“I couldn’t peel my eyes off her face or her body. Even if she had asked me not to follow her, I would have followed anyway. I was in a Norah state of mind.”
Source: All the Pieces
“I couldn't place the music in a specific genre. Sometimes it's better not to put things into the correct box. Just let it be for it can only be perfect outside the box. But the problem with leaving things outside the box is that it might turn into something that should not have existed.”
Source: Murder in Maldives
“I couldn’t prevent my own child from becoming a casualty of war, but I may be able to help prevent another child from becoming one. I’d rather fail at the attempt than not try at all.”
Source: Dear Rocky, Taken Again: A mother's astonishing struggle to survive repeated international parental abduction
“I couldn’t put my finger on it, but eventually I knew: I couldn’t deliver the demon. There was no evil child here, no bad apple. These girls were good people who had done bad things, and for understandable, if not good, reasons. They were not the cold, cunning creatures girl bullies are so often made out to be.”
Source: Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls
“I couldn’t quite believe how much I seriously loved Aled Last, even if it wasn’t in the ideal way that would make it socially acceptable for us to live together until we die.”
Source: Radio Silence
“I couldn't read, and it had almost killed me. I hadn't even won properly. I sank to my knees, letting the platform carry me, and covered my face in my shaking hands.
Tears burned just before pain seared through my left arm. I would never beat the third task. I would never free Tamlin, or his people. The pain shot through my bones again, and through my increasing hysteria, I heard words inside my head that stopped me short.
Don't let her see you cry.
Put your hands at your sides and stand up.
I couldn't. I couldn't move.
Stand. Don't give her the satisfaction of seeing you break.
My knees and spine, not entirely of my own will, forced me upright, and when the ground at last stopped moving, I looked at Amarantha with tearless eyes.
Good, Rhysand told me. Stare her down. No tears- wait until you're back in your cell. Amarantha's face was drawn and white, her black eyes like onyx as she beheld me. I had won, but I should be dead. I should be squashed, my blood oozing everywhere.
Count to ten. Don't look at Tamlin. Just stare at her.
I obeyed. It was the only thing that kept me from giving in to the sobs trapped within my chest, thundering to get out.
I willed myself to meet Amarantha's gaze. It was cold and vast and full of ancient malice, but I held it. I counted to ten.
Good girl. Now walk away. Turn on your heel- good. Walk toward the door. Keep your chin high. Let the crowd part. One step after another.
I listened to him, let him keep me tethered to sanity as I was escorted back to my cell by the guards-who still kept their distance. Rhysand's words echoed through my mind, holding me together.
But when my cell door closed, he went silent, and I dropped to the floor and wept.”
Source: A Court of Thorns and Roses
“I couldn't reject mine because it was the opposite. With my father and my friends, I had known true love. And I had seen what it meant to spend your life in service. To love others more than you loved yourself. Of course I couldn't let that go and walk away.”
Source: The Golden Princess
“I couldn’t remember a time when I felt the type of love Miruna had. Eternal love. The kind which keeps one going when one is ninety and alone.”
Source: Karolina Dalca, Dark Eyes
“I couldn’t remember being hugged like this. Like I was worth the effort. Like comforting me wasn’t an obligation the way it was with family. Like my tears weren’t an inconvenience or a childish tantrum. No one had ever embraced the parts of me I hated. The mess, the silence, the moods that came and went without warning. No one had ever looked at the disaster I was without walking away at the first opportunity. Even in the rare moments when I’d allowed someone else to see my tears, I hadn’t asked for the comfort I craved. I wanted to hide, but the truth was, I needed him right now. My body was limp against his, as if it’d already decided that this was it, this was the pillow that would soften my fall.”
Source: Hearts on Lease
“I couldn’t remember the last time things had been so easy.”
Source: I Heart Forever
“I couldn’t resist the urge to reach over to the gearshift and put my hand over Wesley’s. His skin was warm and soft, and I could feel his pulse throbbing steadily beneath my palm. I forgot about my stupid car and my fight with Casey. I just wanted Wesley to smile again. Even that cocky grin would have worked. I hated that he was so hurt by the possibility of losing his sister’s respect. I wanted to comfort him. I cared about him.
Oh my God. I actually cared?”
Source: The DUFF: Designated Ugly Fat Friend
“I couldn’t say anything. I could only think about how the world would be without light, and without goodness.
This had to stop.
And I was determined to be the person to stop it.”
Source: Itchikan: 'til death do us part'
“I couldn't say anything. I could only think about how the world would be without light, without love.
This had to stop.
And I was determined to be the person to stop it.”
Source: Itchikan: 'til death do us part'
“I couldn’t see a life lived without her. I couldn’t envision a world in which she ceased to exist.”
Source: Grief Is Love: Living with Loss
“I couldn't see beyond the walls of our apartment or the few miles between home and school. Every day was about getting through it. Every weekend was about getting back to school, where there could be some structure and my routines.”
Source: Gem & Dixie
“I couldn't see her, a blackness hung before my eyes, but I felt her fall back and I felt her skin beneath my nails, her bones beneath my fingers, my beloved sister, my enemy, my protector, my betrayal-(you sent him to me!)-and then she was hitting me, shoving me to the ground, kicking my stomach, my side, my ribs, my head. She was screaming (I saved you, all those years it was me, I saved you, I was the only one who saved you, nobody but me) and above it Emily was wailing, stop it! stop it! you're hurting her! Then her small body was between Lilith and me, pushing Lilith away, but Lilith's hands were on her throat, (not you, you got none of it, ever, you were safe, safe, safe, SAFE) and I couldn't get up, my ribs were in agony, the world was spinning, but I got to my knees and I shouted, "Let her go!" because Lilith was shaking Emily back and forth so that her hair whipped and flew- and she did stop, for just an instant, Emily's pale, fragile throat in her hands, and the whole dark earth held its breath.”
“I couldn't see it then, but I could see it now. I opened my eyes, releasing another stream of tears. I had been trying so hard to run from my past. But the past was like mottlefish ink. Even if it fades, it's still there, and not even the ocean can wash it out. I couldn't change what had come before. But I could change what I did next.”
Source: The Last Mapmaker
“I couldn't see killing myself if I had a book that was only half-read: Fountainhead, Catcher in the Rye, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, One Hundred Years of Solitude? No. I figured that those who killed themselves first had to finish whatever book they were reading...if it were any good, that is. Of course, there's always the occasional book that makes you want to throw yourself off a bridge just for having wasted your time reading it. But I usually finished those ones, too.”
Source: Civilianized: A Young Veteran's Memoir
“I couldn't see myself as some twenty-first century Shirley Valentine, sitting on the rocks, a thousand miles from the nearest Waterstones.”
Source: Magpie Murders
“I couldn't see where the collection of Burger King figurines fit in, but I supposed there was no reason why psychopaths shouldn't have unrelated hobbies.”
Source: The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry
“I couldn't see why it shouldn't be my one hundred dollars.”
“I couldn't sew on a day like this. There's something in the air that gets in the blood and makes a sort of glory in my soul. My fingers would twitch and I'd sew a crooked seam. So it's ho for the park and the pines.”
Source: Anne of the Island
“I couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't quite right. I now realize that was probably the first sign my soul wisdom--the voice of my inner, truest self--was trying to get my attention.”
Source: Soul Wisdom: A Guide to Miraculous Living
“I couldn’t shake the feeling that you had taken something of mine. Something you had no right to. It’s lingered over the years, that all-consuming feeling. And I feel it now. What are you hiding, Axton? What do you have that’s mine?””
Source: The Heir and the Human
“I couldn't shake the impulse to help him. It seemed that the older I got the more I believed that everyone, homeless or not, deserved to be treated at least like a human.”
Source: XVI
“I couldn't sleep 5/23/2016 and 5/24/2016 the time between them the night which puts differences between the day and split them.”
“I couldn't sleep," Gansey said truthfully. Then, after a pause, "You're not going to try to kill Greenmantle, are you?"
Ronan's chin lifted. His smile was sharp and humorless. "No. I've thought of a better option."
"Do I want to know what it is is? Is it acceptance of the pointlessness of revenge?"
The smile widened and sharpened yet more "It's not your problem, Gansey."
He was so much more dangerous when he wasn't angry.”
Source: Blue Lily, Lily Blue
“I couldn’t sleep without you. Not because I needed you, but because your body was a temperature I was used to being next to.”
“I couldn’t speak, but I brought out Riptide and put the pen in her hand. She grasped it contentedly. ‘You spoke the truth, Percy Jackson. You are nothing like… like Hercules. I am honoured that you carry this sword.’
A shudder ran through her body.
‘Zoë –’ I said.
‘Stars,’ she whispered. ‘I can see the stars again, my lady.’
A tear trickled down Artemis’s cheek. ‘Yes, my brave one. They are beautiful tonight.”
Source: The Titan’s Curse
“I couldn't speak. It wasn't because I was frightened. I was entranced, frozen in place by a crisp, terrifyingly icy beauty. Her gorgeousness seemed like a taboo, something forbidden to approach or even speak of, never mind touch.”
Source: やはり俺の青春ラブコメはまちがっている。4
“I couldn't stay away from her.”
Source: The Muse
“I couldn't stop being afraid of myself. Afraid of the monster I saw when I glimpsed my reflection in still pools, in windows...
But all I am is magic. Unmagic.
I am nothing. I am what is beyond nothing. Annihilation.
I am the unraveler. I can pull apart magic with a thought.”
Source: The Stolen Heir
“I couldn’t stop crying because it was so intimate, in that way I always thought being physical with him would feel. If someone had walked in they might have thought Henry was barely touching me. I knew the truth of it.
He was laying me open and bare to him and to God.
There wasn’t a more intimate act. I would never recover from this.”
Source: Perfect Glass
“I couldn’t stop crying. This fact in and of itself alarmed me, because for so long, I hadn’t been able to cry. And now, here I was, weeping.
It didn’t feel therapeutic. I know scientists promise that all the negative hormones are being released as you cry, but I didn’t notice my emotional stability rising as the tears fell. I just knew I was crying, and my whole body was shaking, and I couldn’t make it stop.”
Source: How to Find Yourself, Love Yourself, & Be Yourself: The Secret Instruction Manual for Being Human
“I couldn't stop hearing the store telling me the way it wanted to be, what it needed. It was all flowing into me. It wasn't me speaking. It was the store. I was just channeling its revelations from on high.”
Source: コンビニ人間 [Konbini ningen]
“I couldn’t stop; I couldn’t stay stopped; I kept doing that thing.
No matter how costly the consequences, I kept acting out. One disastrous encounter after another left me shattered, guilt-ridden, shamed, and exhausted. Lessons kept piling up, but I was never able to act differently, despite being a trustworthy and disciplined person in every other realm of my life.”
Source: All the Way to the River
“I couldn't stop now. I'd caused so much misery that stopping now would earn me all the misery plus no reward at the end. I had to keep going.”
Source: Sixth in Line
“I couldn't stop picturing you naked and wet."
"If you knew the things you've done in my imagination..."
"I touched myself while thinking of you."
He groaned against her lips. "Jesus Christ, that's one of them."
She whimpered in protest as his fingers withdrew from her body. He slid his hands to her bottom and lifted her off her feet, carrying her across the room, to where a floor-length mirror in a thick gilded frame stood propped against the wall. It must have been too heavy to move.
He spun her to face it, positioning himself behind her. Their gazes locked in the mirrored reflection. His eyes were dark, fierce, demanding.
"Show me." He yanked her skirts to her waist- frock, petticoat, chemise, and all- exposing her completely. "Show me how you touched yourself."
Penny's heartbeat stalled. The gruff command both scandalized and excited her.
With a rough flex of his arms, he hauled her to him. His erection throbbed against the small of her back.
"Show me."
Penny stared into the mirror. A bolder, naughtier version of herself gazed back. She placed a hand on her belly and eased it downward, until her fingertips disappeared into a thatch of amber curls. She hesitated, holding her breath.
"More," he demanded. "I want to see you."
His gruffness aroused her, but she wasn't intimidated. With him, she knew she was safe.
She raised her free arm above her head, clasping his neck for balance and resting her head against his chest. He wrapped his arm about her torso, holding her tight and pinning her lifted skirts at the waist. Her joints softened, and her thighs fell slightly apart.
"That's it. Spread yourself for me. Let me see."
The woman in the mirror did as she was told, sending her fingers downward to part the pink, swollen folds of her sex. A single fingertip settled over the sensitive bud at the crest, circling gently.
His ragged breath warmed her ear. "God, you're beautiful."
She stared at the reflection, transfixed by the eroticism of the image within. She felt like a woman in a boudoir painting, flushed with desire and unashamed of her body's curves and shadows. Aware of the power she held, even in her vulnerable, naked state.
As her excitement mounted, she strummed faster. She was panting, arching her back.”
Source: The Wallflower Wager
“I couldn't stop staring at his mouth when he spoke. I bet he knew how to kiss. Perfect kisses too, ones that weren't wet and gross, but the kind that curled toes.
I needed to stop looking at him in general.”
Source: Obsidian
“I couldn’t talk about it, about them—not yet. So I breathed “Later” and hooked my feet around his legs, drawing him closer. I placed my hands on his chest, feeling the heart beating beneath. This—I needed this right now. It wouldn’t wash away what I’d done, but … I needed him near, needed to smell and taste him, remind myself that he was real—this was real.
“Later,” he echoed, and leaned down to kiss me.
It was soft, tentative—nothing like the wild, hard kisses we’d shared in the hall of throne room. He brushed his lips against mine again. I didn’t want apologies, didn’t want sympathy or coddling. I gripped the front of his tunic, tugging him closer as I opened my mouth to him.
He let out a low growl, and the sound of it sent a wildfire blazing through me, pooling and burning in my core. I let it burn through that hole in my chest, my soul. Let it raze through the wave of black that was starting to press around me, let it consume the phantom blood I could still feel on my hands. I gave myself to that fire, to him, as his hands roved across me, unbuttoning as he went.
I pulled back, breaking the kiss to look into his face. His eyes were bright—hungry—but his hands had stopped their exploring and rested firmly on my hips. With a predator’s stillness, he waited and watched as I traced the contours of his face, as I kissed every place I touched.
His ragged breathing was the only sound—and his hands soon began roaming across my back and sides, caressing and teasing and baring me to him. When my traveling fingers reached his mouth, he bit down on one, sucking it into his mouth. It didn’t hurt, but the bite was hard enough for me to meet his eyes again. To realize that he was done waiting—and so was I.
He eased me onto the bed, murmuring my name against my neck, the shell of my ear, the tips of my fingers. I urged him—faster, harder. His mouth explored the curve of my breast, the inside of my thigh.
A kiss for each day we’d spent apart, a kiss for every wound and terror, a kiss for the ink etched into my flesh, and for all the days we would be together after this. Days, perhaps, that I no longer deserved. But I gave myself again to that fire, threw myself into it, into him, and let myself burn.”
Source: A Court of Thorns and Roses
“I couldn't tell anyone how I felt because I knew they wouldn't understand. Oh, poor little Christina, falling for the bad man who treats her like dirt because she didn't know any better. And isn't it a pity that they don't still teach sex-ed in schools? Or, oh, Christina, that filthy slut, if she puts out for a man like that, I imagine she puts out for anyone. You stay away from her. It wasn't like that at all. Maybe it would have been easier if it was, just like ticking a box. Are you the Madonna, or the whore? The victim, or the vixen? The Sabine, or the skank?
But nothing in life is ever that simple.”
Source: Armed and Dangerous
“I couldn't tell whether the tears I was tasting were hers or mine. All I knew was that I was once again in the arms of the woman I was always meant to love.”
Source: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo