Richelle E. Goodrich, Slaying Dragons

"When I first heard your voice, my heart leapt in my chest as if it recognized you as its owner from another lifetime."

"Truth is, I’m generally happiest when it’s just me. It’s okay to be madly in love with yourself."

"She laughed, and he fell in love."

"Maybe love isn’t meant to be bliss never-ending. Maybe love is unwavering support and befriending."

"Your face is engraved in my mind. I can’t erase it. I don’t want to. Because as much as I hate you, I love you. And I love you unforgettably."

"Amore is loveconfessed to you in haiku. Do you love me too?"

"Please stop. If you keep chipping off little pieces of my heart, soon there will be no heart left with which to love you."

"Love by the sweat of thy brow. Not through whispered words of hollow sound or lofty dreams ne’er substance bound that more than oft do run aground. Nay, love with mighty, blistered hands that turn the soil and carve the land. A bearer of toil and golden band. Be strong! A founder of the feast! Protective knight who slays the beast! For promises and vows aloud are naught but wispy veneer shroud like cobwebs, frail, the airy words and wooing fail. So work, my darling. Toil as proof. Thy loyal heart be drained of youth and yet beat on, incessant sound. Both feet take root within the ground, and service be thy kingly crown. Love by the sweat of thy brow."

"At the core of love is validation. It is what gives love power. For when love is given away, validation seeps in and expands in the heart of the recipient, filling up every empty, dark corner. It is a wonderful, light, consuming feeling we long for, and once found, we hope—even expect—it will forever remain. But there are times when that most precious love is revoked, and a hard scab forms over the empty hole. Though this scab is both healing and protective, it is the reason why validation from future love may not seep in so easily, no matter how wanting the heart."

"There is love and then there is fluff. Nothing else."

"The only two words you should ever say to a mirror are “Hello, Beautiful."

"Hate is loud. Love, however, is so pleasantly felt it has no need to be heard."

"Dragons are a manifestation of things we fear. More often than not, those fears prove to be just as daunting and just as imaginary."

"Fearing the night won’t keep the sun from setting."

"Fear comes at me like a massive bull with lowered horns ready to gore. But I have learned of the insubstantial nature of fear: if I stand my ground, it will pass right through me."

"Fear is not respect. It is but a conniving, little weasel next to that mighty lion. They are a far, far cry from the same animal."

"Fear confronted me, and I stood paralyzed. He seemed a formidable, abiding presence. Then a voice whispered, “Fear not.” Fear not, I thought with desperate longing. Oh, how I wanted to heed those words—but how? Hour after hour, day after day, fear refused to budge while I remained paralyzed. And so I let him make my choices; what else could I do? Alas, he never once chose well for me."

"Fear never scaled one mountain, never stepped up on a stage, never accepted a challenge, never tilled new ground, never walked in a race; he never even dared to dream. Fear failed to slay a single dragon. Remember this before you choose to keep his company."

"Superman’s scourge is kryptonite. Fear’s kryptonite is laughter."

"If you dream your problems at night and live your problems by day, you are suffering the effects of paralyzing toxins delivered by the sting of worry, stress, and fear. You must detach yourself from these leeches if you do not wish to be irreversibly poisoned."