Dr. Everest, got up and gave us a little pep talk. Mostly it boiled down to the fact that it was autumn, and everyone was back, and while that was a great thing, people better not get cocky or misbehave or he'd personally kill us all. He didn't actually say those words, but that was the subtext.

Maureen Johnson

Categorized in : People Cocky Autumn

The funny thing about stop signs is that they're also start signs.

Maureen Johnson

new-beginnings inspirational funny

Spicy food and I have a close relationship—an obsessive one, in fact. If it’s spicy, I want it. I want to sweat and shake and go half blind from the searing pain . . . which, now that I put it that way, seems really suggestive. But spicy stuff is addictive. That’s a known fact of science.

Maureen Johnson

sweat pain stuff

You can never visit the same place twice. Each time, it's a different story. By the very act of coming back, you wipe out what came before.

Maureen Johnson

different stories book

I sleep better knowing that a naked cork-eater is not sneaking around at night, stealing my underwear.

Maureen Johnson

sneaking-around sleep night

Boo: "Go talk to her." Callum: "About what?" Boo: "Anything." Callum: "You want me to walk up to her and say, 'Are you a ghost?'" Boo: "I do that." Callum: "I love it when you get it wrong.

Maureen Johnson

walks ghost want

Hey! Jack the Wanker! Over here! I want your autograph!

Maureen Johnson

autographs hey want

There is no normal. I've never met a normal person. The concept is flawed. It implies that there is only one way people are supposed to be, and that can't possible be true. Human experience is far too varied.

Maureen Johnson

normal people way

It was as if the news itself wanted to reassure me. Even Jack the Ripper himself had reappeared as part of the greeting committee.

Maureen Johnson

jack-the-ripper greetings news

Guilt isn't always a rational thing, Clio realized. Guilt is a weight that will crush you whether you deserve it or not.

Maureen Johnson

crush guilt weight

Writing is one of the few careers for which you essentially train yourself, the other two major ones being juggling and pickpocketing.

Maureen Johnson

careers writing two

Fear can't hurt you," she said. "When it washes over you, give it no power. It's a snake with no venom. Remember that. That knowledge can save you.

Maureen Johnson

snakes hurt giving

It's always easier to say good-bye when you know it's just a prelude to hello.

Maureen Johnson

hello bye book

I like you because you were mad. And you're pretty. And pretty sane for a mad person.

Maureen Johnson

mad sane i-like-you

Claim whatever you want. Say you only want a happy family or a successful career or a big house. I say: no, that's not what you want. You'll settle for those things, but you really want a monkey that does your evil bidding. Pullman is a genius just for this.

Maureen Johnson

careers successful evil

This pool is a triumph of imagination. That's how you win at life, Gin. You have to imagine your way through. Never say something can't be done. There's always a solution, even if it's weird.

Maureen Johnson

triumph imagination winning

WORTH IT and perfect are different things. No one’s perfect, yet in romance, everyone becomes WORTH IT. And that’s the trick.

Maureen Johnson

romance different perfect

The cast of Hamlet had not moved much. They had that haunted yet hopeful look in their eyes, like the ones you see in photographs of people crammed into steerage compartments, traveling to some new, unknown land.

Maureen Johnson

land eye people

Lies are a tremendous karmic setback. Keep it up and you'll come back in the next life as something without a spine. You're not fine. And you don't have to be fine.

Maureen Johnson

spine next lying

It rang and it rand and it rang. I looked at the screen one last time, then at Stuart, and then I reached my arm back and threw the phone as hard as I could (sadly, not that far), and it vanished into the snow. The eight-year-olds, who were truly fascinated with our every move at this point, chased after it. 'Lost it,' I said. 'Whoops.

Maureen Johnson

eight phones moving

Why are Americans so fascinated by Ireland?" Keith asked... "you all think you're Irish. What's the appeal? Do you like the accent more? Is it all the magical rocks? Oh, look, a leprechaun.

Maureen Johnson

rocks keith thinking