Bested By Quotes & Sayings

Of course I'm sure half the people there hate me and half the people like me. — Kevin Mitnick

Prince Ahmad crouched over the headless body, the scout at his side. "you say a mere priest bested you?"
"He weilded his sword like a master. I never saw such a display."
The prince mocked the soldier. "Then let us pray we don't meet the Pope. — Galen Watson

It's a dreadful assertion to make that once the war is over, the lesson learned, the conclusion drawn lies anywhere but in the verdict 'slaughter'. The dead are very quickly forgotten. But it's extraordinary - and a good thing too - how we're bested by them in this respect. — Jacques Yonnet

Why had he called Jesper by Jordie's name? When he looked into the past, he saw his brother through the eyes of the boy he'd been: brave, brilliant, infallible, a knight bested by a dragon dressed like a merch. But how would he see Jordie now? As a mark? Another dumb pigeon looking for a shortcut? He leaned his hands on the edge of the sink. He wasn't angry anymore. He just felt weary. — Leigh Bardugo

You ... you've been here quite a long time, haven't you?
What? Oh ... yes. Ever since I married What's-her-name. Uh, Martha. Even before that. Forever. Dashed hopes, and good intentions. Good, better, best, bested. How do you like that for a declension, young man? — Edward Albee

But there was no plan.
For the first time in her pirating life, someone had bested her.
It's not him, Andi's mind whispered. It can't be him.
And yet, the Marauder was a corpse. It was already growing cold in the cabin, Andi's breath appearing before her in the white clouds.
Do something, Andi's mind screamed. Get us out of this. You can't go back, Andi, you can never go back.
Fear spiked through her, in and around, trying to still her like the ship.
But she was the Bloody Baroness. She was the captain of the Marauder, the greatest starship in Mirabel, and she had a crew waiting on her word. — Sasha Alsberg

I have not lived for millennia to be bested by a half-blood whore and her puppet prince." ~ Valenti — Pippa DaCosta

Adaptation is one of the great advantages to being born and bred in Jersey. We're simply not bested by bad air or tainted water. We're like that catfish with lungs. Take us out of our environment and we can grow whatever body parts we need to survive. After Jersey the rest of the country's a piece of cake. You want to send someone into a fallout zone? Get him from Jersey. He'll be fine. — Janet Evanovich

He was so delighted when I bested him that he slapped me on the back and sent me flying into a tree, which I knocked down. It was a hundred year old oak. — Robyn Peterman

John, watching in dismay, saw his great chance slipping through his fingers, and he swung around to demand of his father, "Papa, does this mean Richard has bested you and Aquitaine is lost?" Eleanor winced, Geoffrey rolled his eyes, and Henry gave his youngest a look John had never gotten from him before. "My life would have been much more peaceful if I'd had only daughters," he snapped. "As for Aquitaine, it is yours if you can take it. — Sharon Kay Penman

Who is that trip-trapping upon my bridge?'
Miss Davies spoke in the low, growling tones of the troll in the story. Some of the little ones covered their mouths and giggled, but most only watched her solemnly, accepting the
voice of the troll as they accepted the voices of their dreams, and their grave eyes reflected the eternal fascination of the fairy tale: would the monster be bested ... or would it feed? — Stephen King

Love is like the wild rose-briar; Friendship like the holly-tree. The holly is dark when the rose-briar blooms, but which will bloom most constantly? — Emily Bronte

He fought the men and he slayed the monsters and he bested the gods, and at last the hero, having conquered all, earned the thing that he wanted most. To go home. — Victoria Schwab

But I had not the strength nor the inclination to bandy words with a drunkard. What have you done when you have bested a fool? — Charles Portis

Reason clears and plants the wilderness of the imagination to harvest the wheat of art. — Austin O'Malley

Katherine gave in to the wonder of the moment, imagining herself in the astronauts' place. What emotions welled up from the depths of their hearts as they regarded their watery blue home from the void of space? How did it feel to be separated by a nearly unimaginable gulf from the rest of humanity yet carry the hopes, dreams, and fears of their entire species there with them in their tiny, vulnerable craft? Most people she knew wouldn't have traded places with the astronauts for all of the gold in Fort Knox. The men existed all alone out their in the void of space, connected so tenuously to Earth, with the real possibility that something could go wrong. But given the chance to throw her lot in with the astronauts, Katherine Johnson would have packed her bags immediately. Even without the pressure of the space race, even without the mandate to beat the enemy. For Katherine Johnson, curiosity always bested fear. — Margot Lee Shetterly

Bonds are even worse, since their returns do not mean revert - a series of bad years is likely to be followed by even more bad ones, as happened during the 1970s. This is the point made by Jeremy Siegel in his superb treatise, Stocks For The Long Run. Professor Siegel pointed out that stocks outperformed bonds in only 61% of the years after 1802, but that they bested bonds in 80% of ten-year periods and in 99% of 30-year periods. Looked — William J. Bernstein

It's like these fellows who name their swords 'Skullbane' or 'Souldrinker' or somesuch." Tric tied his saltlocks into a matted knot atop his head. "Tossers, all."
"If I were going to name my blade," Mia said thoughtfully, "I'd call it 'Fluffy.'"
Tric snorted with laughter. "Fluffy?"
"Byss, yes," the girl nodded. "Think of the terror you'd instill. Being bested by a foe wielding a sword called Souldrinker... that you could live with. Imagine the shame of having the piss smacked out of you by a blade called Fluffy. — Jay Kristoff

Elizabeth, having rather expected to affront him, was amazed at his gallantry; and Darcy had never been so bewitched by any woman as he was by her. He really believed, that were it not for the inferiority of her connections, he should be in some danger of falling in love, and were it not for his considerable skill in the deadly arts, that he should be in danger of being bested by hers
for never had he seen a lady more gifted in the ways of vanquishing the undead. — Seth Grahame-Smith

Ghostly, in his mind, Ben heard the librarian reading to the little ones: Who is that trip-trapping upon my bridge? The children lean forward, all the old fascination glistening in their eyes: will the monster be bested ... or will It feed? — Stephen King

When we were kids, Fitz was unbeatable in Scrabble. It would drive Eric crazy, because he wasn't used to be bested by Fitz in much of anything. But Fitz had an uncanny memory, and once he saw a word, he wouldn't forget it. [ ... ] But Eric wasn't used to be second-best, so he commissioned me into teaching him the dictionary. [ ... ] Three weeks after we'd taken on the English language, it rained on a Saturday. "Hey," Fitz suggested, like usual. "Bet I can whip you in Scrabble."
Eric looked at me. "Huh," he said, "What makes you think that?"
"Um ... the five hundred and seventy thousand other times I've kicked your ass?"
Fitz knew. The moment Eric laid down the letters J-A-R-L and then casually mentioned that it was a term for a Scandinavian noble, Fitz's eyes lit up. — Jodi Picoult

I read five books on the Constitution. My favorite was 'Plain, Honest Men' by Richard Beeman. I went on a science jag in the same way. I kept getting in arguments about evolution and being bested. So I read Charles Darwin's 'On the Origin of the Species,' a fantastic book that is not that difficult. — Denis O'Hare

He was bested by a better fighter, ... I didn't feel like he was intimidated. If I made a mistake he would have punished me. — Antonio Tarver

Bad kitty!" he screeched, snarling and baring his fangs at Grimalkin, who yawned and turned away to groom his tail. "Evil, evil, sneaky kitty! Bite your head off in your sleep, I will! Hang you by your toes and set you on fire! Burn, Burn!"
-Razor — Julie Kagawa

Mr. Latino with the big ego got bested by a ditzy, blond bimbo. — Simone Elkeles

Shai's Uncle Won had taught her that being bested was a rule of life. No matter how good you were, someone was better. Live by that knowledge, and you would never grow so confident that you became sloppy. Last — Brandon Sanderson

Eric Schmidt from Google is one of my favorite mentors. And Eric would always say this very humbling thing that's really true, which is, he would say, 'Good executives confuse themselves when they convince themselves that they actually do things.' — Marissa Mayer

My mom had told me the stories about the first few years she'd lived here. The way she told it, she was such a criminal even the most God-fearing church ladies got bored of reporting on her; she did the marketing on Sunday, dropped by any church she liked or none at all, was a feminist (which Mrs. Asher sometimes confused with communist), a Democrat (which Mrs. Lincoln pointed out practically had "demon" in the word itself), and worst of all, a vegetarian (which ruled out any dinner invitations from Mrs. Snow). Beyond that, beyond not being a member of the right church or the DAR or the National Rifle Association, was the fact that my mom was an outsider. — Kami Garcia

You've good speed and agility, and endurance enough. But you've no killer in the blood, and so you'll always be bested." Iona rubbed her butt. "I never planned on killing anyone." "Plans change," Branna pointed out. "Fix those flowers now, as it's your rump that crushed them. — Nora Roberts

Writing is a kind of revenge against circumstance too: bad luck, loss, pain. If you make something out of it, then you've no longer been bested by these events. — Louise Gluck

Once you best a man, never gloat. Be generous and find something in his actions to praise. He won't enjoy being bested but he'll make a good face about it. Show him you appreciate it. Praise can win you a friend. Gloating will only ever make enemies. — John Flanagan

Happiness comes from living the way the Lord wants you to live. — Thomas S. Monson

This was the man who'd bested her.
This was the man she'd have to kill today. — Sasha Alsberg

A powerful studio boss doesn't want to be bested by a woman, even in chess. And a successful agent steps on a lot of toes. You lose actors jobs so you can get them for your own clients. — Sue Mengers

There are few joys in life more utterly satisfying than defeating your adversary, and together sharing in the incontrovertible truth that you have bested him. — Brad Murray

Dashed hopes and good intentions. Good, better, best, bested. — Edward Albee