Just about everything in this world is easier said than done, with the exception of 'systematically assisting Sisyphus's stealthy, syst-susceptible sister,' which is easier done than said.

Daniel Handler

Categorized in : World Done Easier

The worst surroundings in the world can be tolerated if the peopl... by Daniel Handler

The worst surroundings in the world can be tolerated if the people in them are interesting and kind.

people world interesting

Keep anyone with whom you can read in silence. by Daniel Handler

Keep anyone with whom you can read in silence.

silence

The library was one enormous room, with long, high metal shelves and the perfect quiet that libraries provide for anyone looking for an answer.

library perfect long

It is very easy to say that the important thing is to try your best, but if you are in real trouble the most important thing is not trying your best, but getting to safety.

safety important real

What happens in a certain place can stain your feelings for that location, just as ink can stain a white sheet.

ink white feelings

You can invent things like automatic popcorn poppers. You can invent things like steam-powered window washers. But you can’t invent more time.

popcorn steam window

There's an easy method for finding someone when you hear them scream. First get a clean sheet of paper and a sharp pencil. Then sketch out nine rows of fourteen squares each. Then throw the piece of paper away and find whoever is screaming so you can help them. It is no time to fiddle with paper.

pieces squares paper

There was something I was always very good at, however, and that was teaching myself not to be frightened while frightening things are going on. It is difficult to do this, but I had learned. It is simply a matter of putting one’s fear aside, like the vegetable on the plate you don’t want to touch until all of your rice and chicken are gone, and getting frightened later, when one is out of danger. Sometimes I imagine I will be frightened for the rest of my life because of all of the fear I put aside during my time in Stain’d-by-the-Sea.

vegetables teaching sea

We are respecting our parents' wishes....They didn't want to shelter us from the world's treacheries. They wanted us to survive them.

parent wish world

Never, under any circumstances, let the Virginian wolfsnake near... by Daniel Handler

Never, under any circumstances, let the Virginian wolfsnake near a typewriter.

virginians typewriters circumstances

They say in every library there is a single book that can answer the question that burns like a fire in the mind.

fire mind book

It is not always the job of people shouting outside impressive buildings to solve problems. It is often the job of the people inside, who have paper, pens, desks, and an impressive view.

views jobs people

13. 99 percent is a very large percentage. For instance, easily 99 percent of people want a roof over their heads, food on their tables, and the occasional slice of cake for dessert. Surely an arrangement can be made with that niggling 1 percent who disagree.

cake tables people

How do you do?" said Violet. "How do you do?" said Klaus. "Odo yo... by Daniel Handler

How do you do?" said Violet. "How do you do?" said Klaus. "Odo yow!" said Sunny.

sunny violet said

Historically, a story about people inside impressive buildings ignoring or even taunting people standing outside shouting at them turns out to be a story with an unhappy ending.

unhappy stories people

It is always terrible to be told to go play with people one doesn... by Daniel Handler

It is always terrible to be told to go play with people one doesn't know.

terrible play people

An Overall Feeling of Doom that One Cannot Ever Escape no Matter... by Daniel Handler

An Overall Feeling of Doom that One Cannot Ever Escape no Matter What One Does

matter doe feelings

For Beatrice, I cherished, you perished, The world's been nightma... by Daniel Handler

For Beatrice, I cherished, you perished, The world's been nightmarished.

world

I didn't realize this was a sad occasion. by Daniel Handler

I didn't realize this was a sad occasion.

series-of-unfortunate-events occasions realizing

It is true, of course, that there is no way of knowing for sure whether or not you can trust someone, for the simple reason that circumstances change all of the time. You might know someone for several years, for instance, and trust him completely as your friend, but circumstances could change and he could become very hungry, and before you knew it you could be boiling in a soup pot, because there is no way of knowing for sure.

trust change simple