Let Them Quotes

“People are just as wonderful as sunsets if you let them be. When I look at a sunset, I don't find myself saying, "Soften the orange a bit on the right hand corner." I don't try to control a sunset. I watch with awe as it unfolds.”

— Carl R. Rogers

“Does that have to go in?" Lada asked.
"What do you mean?" Wistala said, brought back to the dictation.
"The battle. Betrayals. Incompetence, even cowardice. Boats falling, mud everywhere, blood running from balconies, carrion birds poking marrow from bones, dwarves hanging from bridges, burned corpses, but worst of all, no hero whose courage and skill is put to the ultimate test."
"They asked for a history, they shall have my history. If someone else will have the battle take place on a spring-green field with pennants at the lance points and songs sung over the honored dead, let them write it thus. This history is a story of death begetting death, and should end with carrion birds, for they are the only ones who come out the better at the end.”

— E.E. Knight

“To love someone enough to let them go, you had to let them go forever or you did not love them that much.”

— Diana Wynne Jones

“She emptied herself of Fabio and of herself, of all the useless efforts she had made to get where she was and find nothing there. With detached curiosity she observed the rebirth of her weaknesses, her obsessions. This time she would let them decide, since she hadn't been able to do anything anyway. Against certain parts of yourself you remain powerless, she said to herself, as she regressed pleasurably to the time when she was a girl.”

— Paolo Giordano

“That not all men are piggy, only some; that not all men belittle me, only some; that not all men get mad if you won't let them play Chivalry, only some; that not all men write books in which women are idiots, only most; that not all men pull rank on me, only some; that not all men pinch their secretaries' asses, only some; that not all men make obscene remarks to me in the street, only some; that not all men make more money than I do, only some; that not all men make more money than all women, only most; that not all men are rapists, only some; that not all men are promiscuous killers, only some; that not all men control Congress, the Presidency, the police, the army, industry, agriculture, law, science, medicine, architecture, and local government, only some.
I sat down on the lawn and wept.”

— Joanna Russ

“I ... God, I don't even know where to start. I'm here. I'm here for you, okay? No matter what. You can scream and you can yell and be as mean and self-destructive as you want. Because I know you're going to be here for me when it's my turn to fall apart. Let them all come, Clint. Let every last one of those tracksuit-wearing sub-verbal bullying murderous scumbags come at us. Because you and me? Together? Together, Clint, I think you and me are the person we both wish we could be. And I know that person ... I know that person is worth something. I know that person can ... can pretty much do anything.”

— Matt Fraction

“Even though you try to put people under control, it is impossible. You cannot do it. The best way to control people is to encourage them to be mischievous. Then they will be in control in a wider sense. To give your sheep or cow a large spacious meadow is the way to control him. So it is with people: first let them do what they want, and watch them. This is the best policy. To ignore them is not good. That is the worst policy. The second worst is trying to control them. The best one is to watch them, just to watch them, without trying to control them.”

— Shunryu Suzuki

“Everyone is born and they die, but it's the memories they leave behind that define them and let them live on than others.”

— Judi Fennell

“Adam strokes my head, my face, he kisses my tears.
We are blessed.
Let them all go.
The sound of a bird flying low across the garden. Then nothing. Nothing. A cloud passes. Nothing again. Light falls through the window, falls onto me, into me.
Moments.
All gathering towards this one.”

— Jenny Downham

“Because you can't argue with all the fools in the world. It's easier to let them have their way, then trick them when they're not paying attention.”

— Christopher Paolini

“A selfish person can still love someone else, can't they? Even when they've hurt them and let them down.”

— Rosamund Lupton

“No one can make us feel any way unless we let them.”

— Marian Keyes

“If you bind your men to you with deception, how can you ever trust them? You have qualities they will come to admire. Why not let them grow to trust you naturally, and in that way
'
'There isn't time,' said Laurent.
The words pushed themselves with sheer force out of whatever wordless state Laurent had been shocked into.
'There isn't time,' Laurent said again. 'I have two weeks until we reach the border. Don't pretend that I can woo these men with hard work and a winning smile in that time. I am not the green colt my uncle pretends. I fought at Marlas and I fought at Sanpelier. I am not here for niceties. I don't intend to see the men I lead cut down because they will not obey orders, or because they cannot hold a line. I intend to survive, I intend to beat my uncle, and I will fight with every weapon that I have.”

— C.S. Pacat

“Fury wagged his tail and smiled wickedly, then tried to look up Bride's dress.
Vane caught him quickly by the neck. "Stop!" he snarled mentally to Fury. "Or I'll rip your head off."
Bride frowned at them. "Don't you like my wolf?"
"Yeah," Van said, patting him roughly on the head. "He's my new best friend."
"I'm your only friend, dickhead."
Vane balled his fist in the wolf's fur as a warning to him. "You know you have to be firm with wolves. Let them know who the alpha is."
"Your father?"
Vane smacked Fury's head.
"Ow!"”

— Sherrilyn Kenyon

“We have what we can hold, dear boy, and never let them see you flinch or falter.”

— Lois McMaster Bujold

“Clearly the success of the Netflix model, releasing the entire season of 'House of Cards' at once, proved one thing: The audience wants the control. They want the freedom. If they want to binge as they've been doing on 'House of Cards' and lots of other shows, we should let them binge.”

— Kevin Spacey

“The capacity to forgive is endless, but how many of us take advantage and tap into it? Your true soul mate will always forgive, love, and support you unconditionally. If you let them slip through your fingers once, shame on you. If you let them slip through your fingers again, then you don't deserve them.”

— Alison G. Bailey

“Once we get them in the studio, you interview a person the same way you would interview another. You ask them a question. You let them answer. You try to listen closely and then ask a follow-up.”

— Bob Schieffer

“For my birthday I got a humidifier and a de-humidifier ... I put them in the same room and let them fight it out.”

— Steven Wright

“I beseech you, my brothers, remain faithful to the earth, and do not believe those who speak to you of otherworldly hopes! Poison-mixers are they, whether they know it or not. Despisers of life are they, decaying and poisoned themselves, of whom the earth is weary: so let them go.
Once the sin against God was the greatest sin; but God died, and these sinners died with him. To sin against the earth is now the most dreadful thing, and to esteem the entrails of the unknowable higher than the meaning of the earth ...
What is the greatest experience you can have? It is the hour of the great contempt. The hour when your happiness, too, arouses your disgust, and even your reason and your virtue.”

— Friedrich Nietzsche

“I suspect that both astronomers were, yet again, bending over backwards to be polite: theologians have nothing worthwhile to say about anything else; let's throw them a sop and let them worry away at a couple of questions that nobody can answer and maybe never will.”

— Richard Dawkins

“My father used to say, 'Let them see you and not the suit. That should be secondary.'”

— Cary Grant

“These reflections made me very sensible of the goodness of Providence to me, and very thankful for my present condition, with all its hardships and misfortunes ; and this part also I cannot but recommend to the reflection of those who are apt, in their misery, to say, Is any affliction like mine? Let them consider how much worse the cases of some people are, and their case might have been, if Providence had thought fit.”

— Daniel Defoe

“Marie Antoinette was funny, I'm sure she was just misinterpreted. You know the 'Let them eat cake' line. She seems like she was kind of funny, like a Chelsea Handler or Kathy Griffin type.”

— Colin Quinn

“They was strong words but they was said and I let them stay said.”

— Mark Twain

“There's nothing that's in an actor's control. I've learned at this point you do things and you let them go. There's no way to control the outcome. The only thing I have any sort of reign over is my own experience.”

— Taylor Schilling

“I think that when you write for stars, I think that you have to be very specific about what they do beautifully and let them bring it to life.”

— Jason Robert Brown

“Francie said nothing more. Katie knew that she was letting them down. But she couldn't help it, she just couldn't help it. Yes, she should go with them to lend the comfort and authority of her presence but she knew she couldn't stand the ordeal. Yet, they had to be vaccinated. Her being with them or somewhere else couldn't take that fact away. So why shouldn't one of the three be spared? Besides, she said to her conscience, it's a hard and bitter world. They've got to live in it. Let them get hardened young to take care of themselves.”

— Betty Smith

“I went door-to-door selling cable television subscriptions when I was in college. Not to date myself, but cable was just coming on. I had terrible territories, and they would give me $25, if I got somebody to let them come and just put the little cord in their house.”

— Greg Kinnear

“Beautiful speech doesn't need protection, it's ugly speech that needs protection. We have these cultural norms that allow people to say really ugly things. You don't have to invite them to your dinner party, but you should let them say it.”

— Jeff Bezos

“It's good to give seniors more choices and more options, let them choose a plan that's best for them and target assistance to the lowest income people.”

— John Sununu

“They were all gone now, broken or taken by people who had no idea what such items represented. Let them go. She held the past in her heart, with no need of physical items to tie it down.”

— Robin Hobb

“It's important to let go, calm down, and get grounded. We need to listen to ourselves. When one becomes aware that our present-moment thoughts are not productive, one should simply let them go. Change a negative thought to a positive one.”

— Horst Rechelbacher

“In movies, people pretend to be sick to get their jailers to let them out," Aaron told them. "Maybe one of us could try throwing up - or frothing from the mouth."
"Like we're rabid?" Call asked.
"We don't have time to argue," Tamara said, reaching into her satchel, clearly completely panicked, and coming out with a little bottle of clear liquid. "I have hand soap. Quick, Jasper, drink it. You'll definitely froth."
"I am not drinking that," Jasper said. "I am a deWinter. We do not froth.”

— Cassandra Clare

“God ... made childhood joyous, full of life, bubbling over with laughter, playful, bright and sunny. We should put into their childhood days just as much sunshine and gladness, just as much cheerful pleasure as possible. Pour in the sunshine about them in youth. Let them be happy, encourage all innocent joy, provide pleasant games for them, romp and play with them; be a child again among them. Then God's blessing will come upon your home, and your children will grow up sunny-hearted, gentle, affectionate, joyous themselves and joy-bearers to the world.”

— J.R. Miller

“You can't run away from your fears. Isn't that what you always tell your readers?"
I was an advice columnist for Vibe, a magazine about relationships and sex and urban culture. My column, called "Ask Miss Independent," had started at a student-run publication, and I had quickly developed a following. Upon graduating, I'd taken Miss Independent to Vibe, and they offered me a weekly feature. Most of my advice was posted publicly, but I also sent private paid-for replies to those who requested it. To supplement my income, I also did occasional freelancing for women's magazines.
"I'm not running away from my fears," I told Dane. "I'm running away from my relatives."
Ring.
"Just pick it up, Ella. You always tell people to face their problems."
"Yes, but I prefer to ignore mine and let them fester.”

— Lisa Kleypas

“By night, beloved, tie your heart to mine
and let them both in dreams defeat the darkness”

— Pablo Neruda

“And what is simplicity? It is the coming together of the true values of life. Snow is pretty because it has only one color. The sea is pretty because it appears to be a flat plane. The desert is beautiful because it seems to consist only of sand and rocks. However, when we look more closely at each of these things, we discover how profound and complete they are, and recognize their qualities. The simplest things in life are the most extraordinary. Let them reveal themselves. Consider”

— Paulo Coelho

“They've got a great team, I really like them. They're a young team, and they've done what the Twins did in that division a few years ago. This is what happens when you get a core group of guys and let them play with each other for three, four years. You get a special bunch. They're having fun you can see it.”

— Eddie Guardado

“I see a strategy for fracturing humanity well in play: just keep people separated and let them reinforce invented boundaries in their imaginations. Because when people come together and really listen to each other, doing the hard work of human kindness, virtually every barrier is breached.”

— Jen Hatmaker

“Major, send a shell first over their heads and let them get in their holes before you open with all your guns.”

— John Bell Hood

“Take care of problems at home and don't let them build up on you; you won't be at your best. I have felt this personally in my life and can attest to the truthfulness of these words.”

— Cameron West

“So-called global warming is just a secret ploy by wacko tree-huggers to make America energy-independent, clean our air & water, improve fuel-efficiency of our vehicles, kickstart 21st century industries, & make our cities safer & more livable. Don't let them get away with it!”

— Chip Giller

“I am in the valley of prayer on the issue of gay marriage, and I will err on the side of inclusiveness and not exclusion. I'm going to follow Jesus and say, Whosoever will, let them come. And I'm going to extend rights to all of God's children and if I am wrong, God will have to judge me.”

— Joseph Lowery

“The people will have no need to change their place of concourse; where of old they were wont to sacrifice cattle to demons, thither let them continue to resort on the day of the Saint to whom the Church is dedicated, and slay their beasts, no longer as a sacrifice to demons, but for a social meal in honour of Him whom they now worship.”

— Pope Gregory I

“Let us carve gems out of our stony hearts and let them light our path to love.”

— Rumi

“So, the next time you're out working on your game and they pass you the rock, don't just take it to the hole. Take it to the next level. Don't just bend rims. Bend expectations. Let them see you and feel you and by the very virtue of your love, the truth in your game, they will hear you. Let your game speak.”

— Michael Jordan

“Let the one fight for his flag, and the other for his ideal, and let them both imagine that they are fighting for the country; the strife will be colossal.”

— Victor Hugo

“Part of the thrill of guiding children into adulthood is the release. But it's also a parent's greatest act of surrender. Still, you have to let them go. Start now.”

— Charles R. Swindoll

“To love somebody is to let them be who they are and do what they have to do.”

— Krishna Das