"A relationship, of any kind, requires two. Some people want it all and expect it all, always looking outward, so often saying what they deserve, even more saying what they want, and all thinking another should provide it for them, but do they ever bother to be the person they think someone else would love to have? Perhaps, in order to get that better love, extend it first."

"You can never let your compassion stand in the way of justice because when you do, other people get hurt."

"I think part of your attraction to him is the draw of the unknown, of being different, even special. He is so out of the ordinary that you feel pulled to that because you yourself are not so ordinary. You're alone. And sometimes the pain of so much loss is written across your face. You wear it like an adornment and that causes other people to wonder about you; they can't relate to you and what you've been through, but you can relate to him in his dark state."

"When you stand next to beauty and know you're not, you either feel inferior or you're thankful for the ones who saw you and loved you anyway."

"No, we aren't civilized, even in our business suits and high heels. People are as mean as ever, and as predictable. Underneath it all, we are not so different from what lurks in the wild, perhaps we're worse."

"I have to crack a nut in order to enjoy it."

"Even "meant to be" takes work."

"In our lives are special moments that live as their own, the rest is movement with the passage of time."

"It is easy, and therefore uninspiring, to love within the norms of acceptance and society. Other than ones own heart, there is no great risk involved; it's all very status quo. The same is tired, but what's outside-the-norm is captivating and gets under people's skin, pushing their buttons, making them think and revealing their depth as a person, or their lack thereof. It's love against obstacles that inspires the most " a love that faces and ultimately endures through challenges, hardship and ridicule that is courageous and triumphant."

"People give up on each other long before they give up on themselves, and they do that, too."

"Who are we to think we deserve anything? What makes us so great? No one is "lucky" to have us. We are all full of it."

"Tough break-up? Trash stinks, which is why you toss it."

"Of course she wants him to forget her. The last place she wants to reside is in his thoughts. What an unpleasant place to be."

"Sometimes, oftentimes, people hold on to someone they love for self " because it's what they want; in rare cases, a person, who sincerely knows the meaning of love, which is sacrifice, loves enough to say goodbye and to walk away. They do it because they love someone enough to allow them to move on without them or to not be torn in multiple directions, which causes confusion, or because they feel that is their only choice.Loving like that is doing for another and denying self. It is sacrifice.It takes tremendous strength and the cost is loss and heart-ache but it's a price the rare are willing to pay because they truly love that much."

"Speaking of happiness, those distinctive moments are found outdoors " in the fall, in the winter and always in the mountains where people are few, wildlife is abundant and there is peace in the quiet."

"When someone attempts to insult you know that they are inadvertently giving away what would insult them."

"Followers, followers. Sometimes, with some things, it's best to keep your tally down."

"You love the word love but you don't really love and you don't want to love because love, which is really sacrifice, would prevent you from doing what you want to do."

"He wept bitter tears over the death of his enemy. It was his enemy, after all, who knew him best and kept him up at night."

"You're sad but you hold everything back..."

"I shivered as the cold was all encompassing, not just from being outdoors, but from being read as well. He had a way of seeing through me. It was as unnerving as it was bonding and I couldn't figure out how the two could co-exist."

"Not only are the poorest people the most generous but they don't expect anything in return, least of all recognition from others by means of showing off or posting a humble brag like so many from average society do and you can identify these people through the abundance of photos they post, literally with their hands in the air, showing off what they've done for the "less fortunate." I guess they missed the part where God said to be humble and to do good works in private."

"Why do you think you deserve happily ever after? You were offered it before and tossed it away."

"Instead of being proud that you led someone to God, be more concerned with the person you pushed away from Him."

"First bathrooms, now cars. At least people are wearing their seat belts."

"The most beautiful women I have known had one thing in common apart from beauty: humility. It's a shame that those with less to boast about do it the most."

"We deny more than we confess. We hide more than we reveal. We assume because it makes us feel exposed if we have to ask. It's easier to say "I feel nothing" than to admit "I feel something." It takes no courage to say, "I hate you" but it takes a great deal of moxie to declare its opposite. Masks are elaborate and everyone has one. It takes a while to get to know people. This doesn't make them special, it makes them like everyone else. Sometimes our hearts scream yes while our heads say run; and only one can be obeyed."

"Tolerance. In all my years of debating politics and religion no mind was changed with derision and no thought convicted by way of harshness. You have no right to demand tolerance while deriding others and their beliefs in the process. Want tolerance? Extend it. You'll be surprised because given it, people will actually listen."

"At least with zombies I know my enemy and I know what to do: Aim and shoot. It's not so easy with people."

"Suffer" he commanded seductively. "With me...or because of me."

"Sometimes you grow to love the shadow that follows."

"You can not argue with stupid but you can certainly play with it."

"Theirs was a tug-of-war and neither could let go. Both felt the burn and still wouldn't let go. Some might call it a game for neither could admit defeat."

"Only cowards cave. The brave get assassinated."

"The agony of the empath is feeling their pain but being unable to save them from it."

"If it's danger you seek you can go to war, blow the whistle on someone powerful, piss off someone unhinged, walk in a field during a lightning storm, tease a rattlesnake, or lose yourself in the right embrace. Some people live for it, others suffer in spite of it."

"Grab tightly to the reigns of passion and ride into glory for without it life would be stagnant and you would be a spirit without cause."

"When it comes to men, I appreciate them, don't bash them and never love them."

"The only stirrups I like are on a saddle."

"People don't want words, as seductive, pleasant and warming as they can be. People want to see that they're worth some sacrifice or some great deed. And it's not that people are always worth it, it's that love is."

"We start our sometimes tedious, sometimes exciting, often times sad and stressful march to the grave the moment we're born, so it might as well be a march worth remembering."

"The empath helps others by absorbing some of their pain, but who helps the empath?"

"Joy " in the fall, winter, and always in the mountains where people are few, wildlife is abundant and there is peace in the quiet."

"I smile when I want to cry. I laugh when I want to die."

"She had hope in her heart but after a while, with each step forward, hope stepped back. And for the first time in months, the first time ever, she began to weep, and as she did she knew that with the retreat of hope her heart had finally caught up with her head. And as each tear spilled over she let them go, she was letting go."

"An empath is capable of taking on the grief of another in order to lessen their suffering. In order to not be consumed with pain, an empath should have an outlet for that pain lest they lose themselves in feeling for others."

"I appreciate the beauty and balm of flowers but I have never enjoyed receiving them because then I have to watch them die, and worse...throw them away."

"I don't make people comfortable but that's what couches are for."

"Oh yes, even I cry. Just not over you. Who is "you?" The one who has to ask or the one who doesn't?"

"Hate. The word is thrown around as uselessly and as often as love is, and is used as a means in which to accuse and inflict damage; the weak-in-argument (weak in general) use it to discredit those with whom they disagree rather than dissect the issues for what they really are. I liken it to the predictable ad hominem attack, which is about as transparent as those who so ridiculously claim to know what's in the heart of another."