Quotessence
Home / Topics / Reprieve Quotes

Reprieve Quotes

Browse 42 quotes about Reprieve.

Reprieve Quotes

“That year it seemed as if the summer were never coming to an end: days of shimmering golden stillness followed each other in equal radiance, as if by their sweetness and peace they wanted to make the war, now in its bloodiest period, appear doubly insensate. As the sun dipped behind the chain of mountain peaks, as the sky paled into tenderer blue, as the road stretched away more peacefully and all life folded in upon itself like the breathing of a sleeper, that stillness grew more and more accessible and acceptable to the human soul. Surely that Sabbath peace lay over the whole of the German fatherland, and in a sudden uprush of yearning the Major thought of his wife and children whom he saw walking over the sunset fields. "I wish this were all over and done with," and Esch could not find any word of comfort for him. Hopeless and dreary this life seemed to both of them, its sole meagre return a walk in the evening landscape which they were both contemplating. It's like a reprieve, thought Esch. And so they went on in silence.”

WarPeaceSilenceBeautySummerGoldenRadianceReprieveSleeper
Book:The Sleepwalkers
Create image

“For myself the delay may be compared with a reprieve; for in confidence I assure you, with the world it would obtain little credit that my movements to the chair of Government will be accompanied by feelings not unlike those of a culprit who is going to the place of his execution: so unwilling am I, in the evening of a life nearly consumed in public cares, to quit a peaceful abode for an Ocean of difficulties, without that competency of political skill, abilities and inclination which is necessary to manage the helm.”

PoliticsLeadershipElectionDelayPresidentsReprieveUnease
Author:George Washington
Create image

“Something is funny, most of all, because it's true, and because the velocity of insight into this truth exceeds our normal standards. Something is funny because it's outside our accepted boundary of decorum. Something is funny because it defies our expectations. Something is funny because it offers a temporary reprieve from the hardship of seeing the world as it actually is. Something is funny because it is able to suggest gently that even the worst of our circumstances and sins is subject to eventual mercy.”

WorldAbleSinSeeingWorstSubjectsCircumstancesOffersNormalStandardsExpectationsMercyInsightAcceptedBoundariesHardshipTemporaryExceedSeeing The WorldVelocityDecorumReprieve
Author:Steve Almond
Create image

“I wish I could leave you certain of the images in my mind, because they are so beautiful that I hate to think they will be extinguished when I am. Well, but again, this life has its own mortal loveliness. And memory is not strictly mortal in its nature, either. It is a strange thing, after all, to be able to return to a moment, when it can hardly be said to have any reality at all, even in its passing. A moment is such a slight thing. I mean, that its abiding is a most gracious reprieve.”

ThinkingMindWellsMeanSaidMomentsRealityAbleBeautifulCertainHateWishMemoriesStrangeReturnI HatePassingPassingsMortalsThis LifeGraciousAbidingStrange ThingsLovelinessReprieve
Author:Marilynne Robinson
Create image

“Love, the deadliest of all things: It kills you both when you have it and when you don't. But that isn't it, exactly. The condemner and the condemned. The executioner; the blade; the last-minute reprieve; the gasping breath and the rolling sky above you and the thank you, thank you, thank you God. Love: It will kill you and save you, both.”

LastsSkyMinutesAll ThingsBreathsGod LoveRollingBladesLast MinuteExecutionersThank You GodReprieve
Author:Lauren Oliver
Create image

“This, she thought, isn’t just for today. It’s for everything. For the heartache that still felt like a punch in the gut each time it struck, fresh as new, at unpredictable moments; for the smiling lies and the mental images she couldn’t shake; for the shame of having been so naive. For the way loneliness is worse when you return to it after a reprieve—like the soul’s version of putting on a wet bathing suit, clammy and miserable.”

WayStillsSoulMomentsTodayLyingFeltLonelinessReturnShameVersionsSuitsMiserableHeartacheShakesGutsWetUnpredictableNaiveBathingBathing SuitsReprieveJust For Today
Book:Daughter of Smoke and Bone: Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy
Create image

“She is all I could ever ask for, she is perfect, and right now, with those big, green eyes and pillowy lips and alabaster thighs, the idea of doing this for the rest of our lives doesn’t seem all that daunting. She’s the last reprieve. The stay of execution. She gives me hope. But times are tough for dreamers. And even if my dream is a simple one—all I want is for Her to be in love with me forever—I know it’s still a long shot. Life ruins everything.”

IfsKnowsWantGivingLongStillsIdeasDreamBigsSeemsEyeLastsAsksSimplePerfectForeverOur LivesRight NowShotsToughGive MeGreenLipsRuinsDreamerExecutionThighsGreen EyesLong ShotsReprieve
Book:Gray
Create image

“For myself the delay [in assuming the office of the President] may be compared with a reprieve; for in confidence I assure you, with the world it would obtain little credit that my movements to the chair of Government will be accompanied by feelings not unlike those of a culprit who is going to the place of his execution: so unwilling am I, in the evening of a life nearly consumed in public cares, to quit a peaceful abode for an Ocean of difficulties, without that competency of political skill, abilities and inclination which is necessary to manage the helm.”

WorldMayLittlesFeelingsGovernmentCarePoliticalPresidentAbilityMovementSkillsOfficeOceanDifficultyAssumingCreditQuittingManagePeacefulEveningChairsExecutionDelayInclinationConsumedUnwillingAbodeHelmCompetenciesCulpritReprieve
Author:George Washington
Create image

“Many of us understand giving, but some of us may still be confused about the meaning of forgiveness. Some people may go through life in a groveling mode, mistakenly believing they have to receive forgiveness from others. Forgiveness offers more than a reprieve granted to us by another person. True forgiveness is a process of giving up the false for the true and allows us to rid our thinking of rigid ideas. We can develop the flexibility to change our mind and our behavior patterns to higher and greater expressions and find new avenues to freedom.”

PeopleThinkingGivingMindBelieveMayPersonsStillsIdeasProcessGreaterExpressionHigherOffersGiving UpBehaviorPatternsGrantedConfusedFlexibilityAvenuesGrovelingReprieveBehavior Patterns
Author:John Templeton
Create image

“Blackthorne, beside the gates, was still turmoiled by his boundless joy at her reprieve and he remembered how his own will had been stretched that night of his near-seppuku, when he had had to get up as a man and walk home as a man unsupported, and became samurai. And he watched her, despising the need for this courage, yet understanding it, even honoring it.”

MenNeedsStillsHomeJoyNightUnderstandingWalksGet UpRememberedGatesBoundlessSamuraiReprieve
Author:James Clavell
Create image

“A man sentenced to death obtained a reprieve by assuring the king he would teach his majesty's horse to fly within the year - on the condition that if he didn't succeed, he would be put to death at the end of the year. "Within a year," the man explained later, "the king may die, or I may die, or the horse may die. Furthermore, in a year, who knows? Maybe the horse will learn to fly." My philosophy is like that man's. I take the long-range view.”

IfsKnowsMenYearsMayLongEndsPhilosophyWould BeDiesViewsTeachLearningConditionsHe ManKingsSucceedHorseRangeMajestyReprieveLearn To Fly
Author:Bernard Baruch
Create image

“In psychiatry there is a certain condition known as delusion of reprieve. The condemned man, immediately before his execution, gets the illusion that he might be reprieved at the very last minute. No one could yet grasp the fact that everything would be taken away. all we possessed, literally, was our naked existence.”

MenFactsMightWould BeLastsCertainExistenceKnownTakenMinutesConditionsIllusionNakedDelusionPossessedExecutionPsychiatryLast MinuteReprieve
Author:Viktor E. Frankl
Create image