Donna Lynn Hope

“Don't allow someone not worth it to have the power to occupy your thoughts. If they don't find you worth the effort or the time, why should you waste yours?”

“It's effortless to let go of self-absorbed people. It's challenging to let go of someone you care about and it's exceedingly difficult to let go of an ideal and a belief in someone because what exacerbates the disappointment of finding out they weren't who they presented themselves to be, is the betrayal of it.”

“I challenge a man to a duel before allowing him near me, and then I take an arrow, dip it in poison, and drive it straight through his heart...But that's on a good day...when I purr and feel delightfully amorous. No need to mention what I'd do on a bad one.”

“I love men. I also hate men; I wouldn't want to be in a world without them but I have to say, it's not a compliment to know a man wants to sleep with you. It's only a compliment when he will go to great lengths for you.”

“She has her helmet, shield and sword. Does she finish him or take pity on the gutless thing before her?Does she set fire and smoke him out, forcing him to fight, or does she let him live with himself and take satisfaction from knowing that he has never been in a real fight in his life and that one day he will have to face his demons in person, along with the consequences, and that both can be far more painful than anything she could ever do to him.”

“Warriors want a worthy opponent. There is no redress in fighting the pathetic.”

“I need to stop saying LMAO because that is precisely what's happening; I wish I could rewind time by two decades, immortalize my derriere in wax, and then kiss it goodbye.”

“Some things you sentence yourself to life for.”

“I don't cry because we've been separated by distance, and for a matter of years. Why? Because for as long as we share the same sky and breathe the same air, we're still together.”

“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.”

“I'm not opposed to aging - even though society is kinder on men than women when it comes to getting old. How can I look at aging as the enemy? It happens whether I like it or not and no one is set apart from growing old; it comes to us all. Youth passes from everyone, so why deny it? I'm proud of my age. I'm proud that I've survived this planet for as long as I have, and should I end up withered, wrinkled and with a lifetime of great wisdom, I'll trade the few years of youth for the sophistication of a great mind...for however long it lasts.”

“Chivalry: It's the little boy that kisses my hand, the young man who holds the door open for me, and the old man who tips his hat to me. None of it is a reflection of me, but a reflection of them.”

“Sometimes you grow to love the shadow that follows.”

“Truth and integrity must be so rare these days that it confuses people when they hear it.”

“Some people confuse intensity for passion and challenge for attraction.”

“Some people are far more cognizant than others but sensitivity has its own cross to bear and ample insight, in many cases, can bring on disquietude.”

“Heart thoughts are profound, hindsight aches and hope is obscure. I'm craving a great adventure -- one that leads me back home.”

“Even "meant to be" takes work.”

“People change us. It is a rare, if not an impossible occurrence, that we come out of relationships unscathed. In our dealings with people we take something with us and we leave something behind. Some people are haunted more than others, either by the sweet perfume of another or the stink of regret.”

“I think anyone who opened their heart enough to love without restraint and subsequently were devastated by loss knows that in that moment you are forever changed; a apart of you is no longer whole. Some will never again love with that level of abandon where life is perceived as innocent and the threat of loss seems implausible. Love and loss, therefore, are linked.”

“Darling, if I take your breath away, I will give you mine.”

“Underneath the sky, so void of light, the rain soaked me through. I held on to the railing and felt calm, even content, and then he had to reach through the dark, raise my temperature and make my heart beat a little bit faster. Not very gallant I should say...especially so close to bedtime. Friend or not, should he rob me of sleep, I'll be sure to take his.”

“You can't be in my world...You live in this one.”

“A gem, like you, is made beautiful by being polished. It's not an easy undertaking, but a stone that exists undisturbed among others just is...but the most beautiful stand out because they face being alone, endure hardships and learn from what challenges them. Suffering purifies and makes beautiful, but only if the gem can shine.”

“If you have to speculate if someone loves you and wants to be with you, chances are they don't. It's not that complicated. Love, in most cases, betrays the one feeling it. Don't waste moments waiting and wondering. Don't throw away your time dreaming of someone that doesn't want you. No one is that amazing, certainly not the one who would pass you up.”

“I like awkward moments. They are full of tension and suspense. Anything's possible or, at the very least, they are the source of some electric sizzle.”

“Youth. I don't seek it through another because I have it within; it's a state of mind, a spirit that is free, and a mind that is playful. The shell of my being is altered by the effects of time, but nothing will tarnish a soul that will never forget what its like to experience creation with endless wonder and appreciation. Each time I see the first snowfall of the season I feel it's the first time I've seen it at all.”

“Seasons of the heart. To get through what I must I'm often encased in ice and for months he chips away until he can see my face and after a while, I begin to thaw. As warmth and feeling returns, my emotions continue to build until my personality is set on fire. When he leaves, the fire dwindles until there is but a flicker. Then there is stillness and winter returns.”

“Steam rising underneath a canopy of whispering, changing aspens; starlight in the clear, dark night, and wondrous beauty in every direction. If only all could feel this way, to be so captured and enthralled with autumn.”

“Enchantment and fulfillment were on the gold and garnet horizon - autumn's breath, a dormant dream reawakened, a yearning nearly satiated, a tender thank you with a brush of the lips, and a connection as fingers touch and go hand in hand.”

“She was a surprise, and let's face it, few people are.”

“All the bruised lives, searching hearts...Everyone wants a love story but few will risk what it takes to live one.”

“I like weird. Conformity bores but is inescapable for the most part. We all follow something, even if it is following the goal of wanting to stand apart. We are a sea of ordinary people; it is always the quirk, the flaw or the ingenuity that stands out.”

“Weird people don't care if they're weird. They are the most entertaining to converse with because nothing is off-limits.”

“Assumptions equal a loss of pride and the sting of defeat.”

“People fight over parking spaces more than they do for each other; then they bemoan the fact they can't find love.”

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

“I try to distract myself from reality by wielding an active imagination. Then I have nightmares.”

“Obsession; when thoughts are held captive and no longer your own.”

“I wonder if pain comes from surrendering or resisting?”

“If they don't walk away, we have to walk away, and sometimes we do it crying.”

“Nothing shocks me anymore...except pure intentions.”

“I am sick of old ghosts and I just want to feel safe again without the haunts of old vulnerabilities.”

“I don't admire the person who does what they want to do. I admire the person who does what they're afraid to do.”

“When someone says they feel old, I always want to ask them why they feel old. Time passes for everyone. No one is exempt.”

“Three kinds of people get talked about: The fascinating, the freaks and the nefarious.”

“The only stirrups I like are on a saddle.”

“You may not like what I see but I don't like what you do.”

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

“People tolerate a lot for looks. They tolerate much less for plainness.”