Counter Word Quotes & Sayings

Modern society has evolved to the point where we counter the old-fashioned fatalism surrounding the word 'cancer' by embracing the idea of the Uber-mind - that our will possesses nearly supernatural powers. — Abraham Verghese

Clearing his throat, he rumbled, "Miss Darling, a word if you please."
"Sesquipedalian," she said, keeping her back towards him.
The strange response momentarily stunned him. "Pardon?"
Turning around, she leaned against the counter and grinned at him, "You asked for a word and I gave you one. It means 'many syllabled' and while it's exceedingly pretentious it is a lot of fun to say. Sesquipedalian; it tangles up the tongue and then just falls right off.
"Or perhaps you would prefer a different word?" she continued guilelessly and he was completely charmed by her. "Tittle, which is the little dot over i's and j's; or Ornithopter, an aircraft that flies by flapping its wings; Tuatha De Danan Lora or Expector Patronum?"
"Now you're just making words up," he grinned, and realized he had missed talking to her. — A.C. Warneke

If you don't generate tension in the film to begin with ... you can't really make a purse out of a sow's ear, you know. — Dennis Weaver

They know a million tricks, those novelists. Take Doctor Goebbels; that's how he started out, writing fiction. Appeals to the base lusts that hide in everyone no matter how respectable on the surface. Yes, the novelist knows humanity, how worthless they are, ruled by their testicles, swayed by cowardice, selling out every cause because of their greed - all he's got to do is thump on the drum, and there's his response. And he's laughing, of course, behind his hand at the effect he gets. — Philip K. Dick

Whoever sides with the revolutionary people is a revolutionary. Whoever sides with imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat-capitalism is a counter-revolutionary. Whomever sides with the revolutionary people in words only but acts otherwise is a revolutionary in speech. Whoever sides with the revolutionary people in deed as well as in word is a revolutionary in the full sense. — Mao Zedong

Patriotism! It is used to define so many diversities, to justify so many wrongs, to compass so many ends, that its life is killed out; it becomes a dead word in the vocabulary-a blank counter, to be moved to any part of the game; and that flag which, streaming from the mast-head of our ship of state, striped with martyr-blood, and glistening with the stars of lofty promise, should always indicate our worldwide mission, and the glorious destinies that we carry forward, is bandied about in every selfish skirmish, and held up as the symbol of every political privateer. — Edwin Hubbel Chapin

Here in Aegina, they say Damianos takes the Prince every night, but that it's not seemly for a king to renounce his slaves and limit his appetites, denying himself all but one person.' 'I think it's romantic,' said Guilliame. 'Oh?' said Alexon. 'I heard Damianos disguised himself as a slave to uncover the secret of his brother's treachery, and the Prince of Vere fell in love with him not knowing who he was.' 'I heard that they allied themselves in secret months before,' said Alexon. 'And that the Prince hid Damianos from Kastor, pretending he was a slave, while they courted privately.' 'What do you think, Charls?' said Guilliame to the Prince. 'I think they had help,' said the Prince, 'along the way, from those who were loyal.' Charls — C.S. Pacat

I remember getting in the elevator for my audition and there was a guy next to me who had a backpack full of props and wigs and things, and I went, 'Oh, my God, that guy is so prepared, I have nothing, I have no props.' And that was Andy Samberg. And Andy Samberg said he was looking at me going, 'Oh, that guy has no props. He doesn't need props.' And that was the first time we met, was in that elevator. — Bill Hader

(It should be noted that the Honorable Guild of Evil Warlords has worked very hard to counter the negative stereotype of its members. After several dozen bake sales and charity auctions, someone suggested that they remove the word evil from the title of their organization. The suggestion was eventually rejected on account of Gurstak the Ruthless having just ordered a full box of embossed business cards.) The — Brandon Sanderson

Tracy pulled the pillow away from her face and stared up at the ceiling of her huge bedroom. Was that it, she wondered. Was Ross not satisfying his demanding wife in the one place where it really counted for a woman like her mother? In bed. Two weeks ago, in the middle of one of their pointless arguments Faye had shouted at Ross that he wasn't a man. They'd been in the kitchen and Tracy remembered how she'd frozen at the counter, hardly daring to breathe. Her Daddy's cheeks had turned white and then a furious shade of red. He'd taken a step toward Faye whose own face blanched as her eyes widened in fear. Even she had realized she'd gone too far. Ross had looked as if he was on the verge of punching his wife in the mouth but then, without another word, he'd turned and strode out of the house. It had been his turn to slam the door that time. He'd done it so hard Tracy could have sworn the whole house shook. — Katie Ayres

I popped the tab off the Coke and took a drink. Tink had filled the sink up with water. I had no idea what he
Tink cocked his arm back and moved the stick - no, it was a pole - forward. My eyes widened.
I shot forward, almost dropping the soda. "What the fuck? Tink! Are youfishing in my sink?"
He looked up. "Yeah," he said, drawing the word out.
Sitting the Coke on the counter, I slowly approached the sink. "If there are fish in my sink, I swear to God, I'm flushing you down a toilet."
Tink shot me a bored look. "As if I'd fit down a toilet."
"Tink!"
He sighed. "Relax. They're not real fish." Dropping to his knees, he reached into the water and pulled out a small, red plastic fish. "I tried to order real ones from Amazon, but alas, they do not sell them."
I fell back against the counter, breathing a sigh of relief. Thank God for the small things in life. — Jennifer L. Armentrout

If husbands could realize what large returns of profit may be gotten out of a wife by a small word of praise paid over the counter when the market is just right, they would bring matters around the way they wish them much oftener than they usually do. Arguments are unsafe with wives, because they examine them; but they do not examine compliments. One can pass upon a wife a compliment that is three-fourths base — Mark Twain

The sun, emerged from its gray shrouds of cloud, shone with a summer brilliance on the untouched slopes. Pausing in my work to overlook that pristine expanse, I felt the same profound thrill it gives me to see the trees and grassland waist-high under flood water - as if the usual order of the world had shifted slightly, and entered a new phase. — Sylvia Plath

My mother taught me to knit when I was seven. I forgot about knitting until one day I saw Marion at the counter with hers and confessed that I knew how. Confessed is the right word. In those days, in the early 1980s, knitting was not a hobby a preteen would readily admit to. But Marion, every enthusiastic, pounced upon me and insisted that I show her something I'd made. I did
a misshapen scarf
which she priased exravagantly. she lent me a raspberry-colored wool for another project, a hat for myself. Since then I've been knitting pretty continuously. It's addictive and it's soothing, and fora a few minutes anyway, it makes me feel closer to my mother. — Anita Shreve

You are a good counter...

T-Man (......You used the F word 31 times.......) — Deyth Banger

Without a word, I moved beside him.He slid the cutting board in front of me.
"First," he said, coming behind me and placing his hands on the counter, just outside of mine, "choose your tomato." He dipped his head so his mouth was at my ear. His breath was warm, tickling my skin. "Good. Now pick up the knife."
"Does the hef always stand this close?" I asked, not sure If I liked of feared the flutter his closeness caused inside me.
"When he is revealing culinary secrets, yes. Hold the knife like you mean it. — Becca Fitzpatrick

Judge really underestimated how fucking smart the damn detective was. He had set his own self up, falling for Michaels' charm, his intoxicating eyes and seductive smile as he let himself get swindled in a deal. But Judge never ever went back on his word. Now he was bent over a counter, legs spread and ass open. Judge — A.E. Via

The children are in love but do not know with what. They talk in gibberish, muse themselves into an indefinable pallor, and when they are completely at a loss they invent a language that maddens them. My fish. My hook. My fox. My snare. My fire. You my water. You my current. My earth. You my if. And you my but. Either. Or. My everything ... my everything ... They push one another, go for each other with their fists and scuffle over a counter-word that doesn't exist. — Ingeborg Bachmann

Our aim was not to create profit, but jobs,' Sanchez Gordillo explained to me. This philosophy runs directly counter to the late-capitalist emphasis on 'efficiency' - a word which as been elevated to almost holy status in the neoliberal lexicon, but in reality has become a shameful euphemism for the sacrifice of human dignity at the altar of share prices. — Dan Hancox

The family came in to select the arrangements they wanted. The woman whose husband had died was struggling dearly to keep her voice intact long enough to place the order. It wasn't long before she broke down.
Wendy didn't say a word. She moved from behind the counter to find a chair for the woman. She eased her into it. She sat beside her and let her cry. Quiet, not speaking. She brought tissues when the moment asked for it.
The woman's crying slowly came to a stop. She wiped her eyes, and she looked at Wendy. And she smiled. Just a little one. And she said, "Thank you. — Christian Millman

How do we counter the trend of worldliness? We must saturate our minds, hearts, and souls with God's Word. The Bible says, "Train yourself to be godly" (1 Timothy 4:7). — Billy Graham

Clearly, this is at bottom the same ancient lament that the masses seek distraction whereas art demands concentration from the spectator. — Walter Benjamin

The silence in the room was deep as the night itself. Biff stood transfixed, lost in his meditations. Then suddenly he felt a quickening in him. His heart turned and he leaned his back against the counter for support. For in a swift radiance of illumination he saw a glimpse of human struggle and of valour. Of the endless fluid passage of humanity through endless time. And of those who labour and of those who - one word - love. His soul expanded. But for a moment only. For in him he felt a warning, a shaft of terror. Between the two worlds he was suspended ... suspended between radiance and darkness, between bitter irony and faith ... And would he just stand here like a jittery nanny or would he pull himself together and be reasonable? For after all was he a sensible man or was he not? — Carson McCullers

3. Thus the highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy's plans; [Perhaps the word "balk" falls short of expressing the full force of the Chinese word, which implies not an attitude of defense, whereby one might be content to foil the enemy's stratagems one after another, but an active policy of counter-attack. Ho Shih puts this very clearly in his note: "When the enemy has made a plan of attack against us, we must anticipate him by delivering our own attack first."] the next best is to prevent the junction of the enemy's forces; [Isolating him from his allies. We must not forget that Sun Tzu, in speaking of hostilities, always has in mind the numerous states or principalities into which the China of his day was split up.] the next in order is to attack the enemy's army in the field; [When he is already at full strength.] and the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities. 4. The rule is, not to besiege walled cities if it can possibly be avoided. — Sun Tzu

Why do people build houses to keep the climate out, then cut holes in the walls to let it in again? I shall never understand. — Kyril Bonfiglioli

She was sitting on the counter, holding a can of Coke. "Looking for this?" she asked.
"My savior." I walked toward her, making grabbing motions. "Gimme. Gimme sweet, sweet caffeine."
"The word is 'please,' Mason. — Mira Grant

I think the word is counter-productive. Capitalism is counter-productive to art, just as the Catholic Church was counter-productive to art four hundred years ago. — Mick Farren

Dennis faced him. They glared at each other again. Neither said a word until Dennis set the glasses down, leaned back against the counter, and folded his arms over his chest. "You're an idiot." "Seems to be a common conclusion. You're not my favourite person right now either. — Sloan Parker