Quotes & Sayings About Gritting Your Teeth

Nick pressed a finger onto the table. "Would you bust him out of prison?"
"No," Zane answered immediately.
Nick sat back, eyebrows climbing high. "No?"
"No," Zane said again. He poured another glass, gritting his teeth. "I wouldn't let him make it to a cell."
"How is that not enough? — Abigail Roux

Mad is the man who is forever gritting his teeth against that granite block, complete and changeless, of the past. — Antoine De Saint-Exupery

He was gritting his teeth. "You think of bunny rabbits being butchered for fur coats and sheep farmers taking their pleasure from livestock, but you think nothing of actual atrocities, genocide, hundreds of thousands of people murdered or left to starve or forgotten. This country raises millions - if not billions - of dollars for cuddly cats and dogs, yet we do nothing to ease the suffering of and subjugation of those in third world countries. You think bestiality is offensive? I find you and your defective priorities offensive. — Penny Reid

He was quite possibly the most desirable man she had ever had the good fortune to lay her eyes upon and she had to meet him like this. Life was not fair. A groan of frustration left her lips as her body began to heat once more, blood pumping furiously through her. Oh no, she thought, this cannot be happening yet again. Gritting her teeth she tried to quell her reaction. — C.P. Mandara

No amount of determination will bring freedom. We're going to learn to be victorious by surrendering our lives completely to the Spirit of God, not by gritting our teeth and trying harder. — Beth Moore

There's something sexy about a naked woman gritting her teeth in pain, even when it shouldn't be sexy. — Travis Luedke

The assassin pivoted around the table and took aim again. She missed. Gritting her teeth, she considered snapping the cue in half across her knee. But she'd been attempting to play for only an hour. She'd be incredible by midnight! She'd master this ridiculous game or she'd turn the table into firewood. And use it to burn Cain alive. — Sarah J. Maas

Good day to you, Sister," Gannon grunted, gritting his teeth and clenching the reins in a white-knuckled grip. "May you live to see your great-grandchildren, and may your eyes never grow dim!" Rolin stifled a snicker. His spinster aunt was childless, and her eyesight was poor from years of needlework. — William D. Burt

The last year of her college career was wheeling slowly round. She could see ahead her examination and her departure. She had the ash of disillusion gritting under her teeth. Would the next move turn out the same? Always the shining doorway ahead; and then, upon approach, always the shining doorway was a gate into another ugly yard, dirty and active and dead. Always the crest of the hill gleaming ahead under heaven: and then, from the top of the hill only another sordid valley full of amorphous, squalid activity. — D.H. Lawrence

There was no reason not to be blunt.
"Are you dating Maddison Lockehart?"
"Are you?"
"What?"
He said it so quickly I didn't catch it. I had said "no" without thinking, but hadn't really heard what he had said.
He had asked me if I was dating Maddison. That was ridiculous.
"I'm serious, Victor."
"So am I. And I see you are talking to me again." I sensed amusement in his voice but saw no sign.
"Victor-"
"Are you dating Maddison, Piper?"
"No, I'm not." I replied gritting my teeth.
"Neither am I," he replied. — Michelle Flick

Sometime bravery involves giving up everything you have ever known ... but sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it is nothing more than gritting you're teeth through the pain, the slow walk towards a better life. — Veronica Roth

The 2008 economic crisis and Great Recession forced widespread restructuring throughout the U.S. economy - not unlike a company gritting its teeth through a lifesaving bankruptcy. — Roger Altman

I didn't mean it to sound so challenging, but I needed to try to reassure my friend. Gritting my teeth, I tried to think of some way to placate Gideon. It was as if I was standing in quicksand, the earth slipping away from my feet the more I spoke. A smart man would keep his mouth shut. I wasn't always a smart man. — Jocelynn Drake

In the pale evening gloom, when the soft fragrance of magnolias hung in the air, my heart would swell without warning, and tremble, and lurch with a stab of pain. I would try clamping my eyes shut and gritting my teeth, and wait for it to pass. And it would pass
but slowly, taking its own time, and leaving a dull ache in its path. — Haruki Murakami

I'm afraid that my wife picked up a number of colorful expressions from the Yanks and such, Frank offered, with a nervous smile.
True, I said, gritting my teeth as I wrapped a water-soaked napkin about my hand. Men tend to be very colorful when you're picking shrapnel out of them. — Diana Gabaldon

Is it all right if I call you Jenna?" he asked.
"If I can call you Wolf," she said.
He scowled, gritting his teeth. "Could you please call me Adam?"
"All right," she said. "I will try and think of you as a wolf called Adam. — Cinda Williams Chima

Ian stepped closer to her, gritting his teeth. "We're no' babies. We're seasoned warriors."

She affected a big shudder " Ooh, I'm scared — Kerrelyn Sparks

She stared up at him and for an instant his expression went soft all over her before he turned away, gritting his teeth.
Dean felt her gentle touch everywhere, in places he'd never thought about before.
Like his heart. — Lori Foster

Wrath positively glowered. "You're giving me a job to get rid of me." "As a bonded male, I know that you're going to want to take care of her. And I think, if she's nauseous, having those things in her belly might make her feel better." "I can call Fritz, you realize." "Yes, I know. Or you can do it yourself and provide for her." Wrath stood there, frowning and gritting his teeth. "You know something, Jane, you're spending too much time with Rhage." "Because I'm manipulating you?" The physician's smile got bigger. "Maybe. But if you leave right now, you can be back waaaaay before I'm finished. — J.R. Ward

Real prayer comes not from gritting our teeth but from falling in love. — Richard J. Foster

I'm waiting for the magic word." "Um, now?" "Really?" "Asshole?" "Come on." "Clark!" "Vivian." "Oh, fine. Please help me, Clark. Please, please, please?" I managed, gritting my teeth. "That wasn't so bad, was it?" he smiled, his face lighting up. — Alice Clayton

Get a room at the hotel," he added, grinning roguishly. "I apologized for my error, but I could lose control of myself again," he hinted, rolling to his side and propping on his left elbow to observe her. "Error? You call what you did a simple error?" she demanded sarcastically, emerald eyes narrowed in outrage and distress. "My first one," he informed her, as if shocked himself, then chuckled at her expression. "I guess I'm not perfect after all," he added. Incensed, Calinda snapped. "You're despicable!" "I've been called worse," he casually parried her insult. "You are," she added, gritting her teeth at her helpless position.

-Lynx & Calinda — Janelle Taylor

Once they got there, it wasn't a pretty landing. With the oars damaged and the foresail torn, Leo could barely manage a controlled descent. The others strapped themselves in below - except for Coach Hedge, who insisted on clinging to the forward rail, yelling, "YEAH! Bring it on, lake!" Leo stood astern, alone at the helm, and aimed as best he could. Festus creaked and whirred warning signals, which were relayed through the intercom to the quarterdeck. "I know, I know," Leo said, gritting his teeth. He didn't have much time to take in the scenery. To the southeast, a city was nestled in the foothills of a mountain range, blue and purple in the afternoon shadows. A flat desert landscape spread to the south. Directly beneath them the Great Salt Lake glittered like aluminum foil, the shoreline etched with white salt marshes that reminded Leo of aerial photos of Mars. "Hang on, Coach!" he shouted. "This is going to hurt." "I was born for hurt! — Rick Riordan

You can help each other, Max, said the unwelcome voice. You're perfect complements to each other.
"Shut up!" I hissed under my breath, and Dylan looked startled.
"I didn't say anything."
Gritting my teeth, I nodded. "No, I know. It's just-" I decided to take a risk and stare him down. "I hear voices, okay? If you're gonna be here, get used to it. Or else keep your distance. — James Patterson

Patience is a mind that is able to accept fully and happily, whatever occurs. It is much more than just gritting our teeth and putting up with things. Being patient means to welcome wholeheartedly whatever arises, having given up the idea that things should be other than what they are. — Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

Hope come not from circumstances or the acquisition of things but from the simple accumulation of active experience, from gritting the teeth and checking the items off the list, one by one, even though it's painful and you're afraid. — Caroline Knapp

There are so many ways to be brave in this world. Sometimes bravery involves laying down your life for something bigger than yourself, or for someone else. Sometimes it involves giving up everything you have ever known, or everyone you have ever loved, for the sake of something greater.
But sometimes it doesn't.
Sometimes it is nothing more than gritting your teeth through pain, and the work of every day, the slow walk toward a better life.
That is the sort of bravery I must have now. — Veronica Roth

I closed my eyes, gritting my teeth against feeding into her insanity. "I've obviously lost my mind." "Me too," she agreed as though I was actually speaking to her. "Years ago. Just let it wander. It's much more fun. — Laurel Ulen Curtis

Jesus isn't coming for a church that's gritting her teeth, struggling to stay free from sin, secretly wishing she could indulge in a little immorality but abstaining because of being afraid of getting caught. No, Jesus is coming for a church passionately and utterly devoted to Him-one that is free on the inside. — Mike Bickle

Successful leaders develop effective strategies for maintaining their boundaries ... Most time bandits don't know any better. And being a time bandit is a matter of context. One person's time bandit is another person's pleasant diversion ... Instead of gritting our teeth to be polite and resenting the time bandit for holding us up, the best choice is to be honest. We cannot expect another person to honor our needs unless we affirm them ourselves. — Diane Dreher

One of the problems with the media covering this place is that there are stereotypes of news, one of which is "war rages" and the other is "peace dawns." And there isn't much in between. When I talk to foreign journalists, often they are gritting their teeth because they've been asked for a piece about how shops are reopening and restaurants are reopening and so forth - happy pieces. And it just ain't so. — Patrick Cockburn

The second was some rather bad poetry, but it was short, and I forced my way through by gritting my teeth and occasionally closing one eye so as not to damage the entirety of my brain. — Patrick Rothfuss

Sometimes it is nothing more than gritting your teeth through pain, and the work of every day, the slow walk toward a better life. — Veronica Roth

I was surprised to learn that there was yet another type of tired. On Seram we'd had physical tired. The type of tired when a thousand muscles are screaming at you to quit walking, sweat's running off you, and only the energy you manage to generate from gritting your teeth helps you take the next step. That type of tired can keep the emotional tired safely at bay-the tired when sadness is a physical weight, a thick smothering, aching thing. That was the dangerous type of tired we couldn't afford on Seram. That's the type of tired that makes you want to sit still and listen to despair. — Lisa McKay

Gritting my teeth as if it requires actual physical strength, I push the memory of him dying in my arms down, deep down. It almost seems to fight me, to want to surge into the forefront of my mind, and I sigh. Long ago I came to the realization that painful memories are persistent. The agony of them stays with you much longer, sharper, and clearer than sweet memories, that soften and assume a hazy, rosy glow in your mind, almost as if they have been airbrushed. Remembrance of pain is different; there is no muting of colors, no blurring of edges. No, its colors remain stark and bold, a palette of vibrant primary reds, blues, and yellows; its edges stay defined and razor sharp. Years later it can still cut you as deeply, make you bleed as profusely, as the day it was formed.
FROM AN UNTITLED WORK IN PROGRRESS — Lily Velden

There's something about sober living and sober thinking, about facing long afternoons without the numbing distraction of anesthesia that disabuses you of the belief in the externals, shows you that strength and hope come not from circumstances or the acquisition of things, but from the simple accumulation of active experience, from gritting the teeth and checking the items off the list, one by one, even if it's painful and you're afraid. — Caroline Knapp

Mankind has invested more than four million years of evolution in the attempt to avoid physical exertion. Now a group of backward-thinking atavists mounted on foot-powered pairs of Hula-Hoops would have us pumping our legs, gritting our teeth, and searing our lungs as though we were being chased across the Pleistocene savanna by saber-toothed tigers. Think of the hopes, the dreams, the effort, the brilliance, the pure force of will that, over the eons, has gone into the creation of the Cadillac Coupe de Ville. Bicycle riders would have us throw all this on the ash heap of history. — P. J. O'Rourke

My heart would swell without warning, and tremble, and lurch with a stab of pain. I would try clamping my eyes shut and gritting my teeth, and waiting for it to pass. And it would pass
but slowly, taking its own time, and leaving a dull ache behind. — Haruki Murakami

His fingers brushed the outline of the bronze disc hanging beneath his tunic. Haydn jerked his
hand away, gritting his teeth as he tried to block the memories. The clashing of steel. The screams and cries of battle. They fled, replaced by flames. Shadows. Pleading and tears. — Hope Ann