Ruefully Quotes & Sayings

Lothaire said, "I have a much better plan."
"Why help him?" Thad asked pointedly. "When you don't help anybody else?"
Lothaire exhaled ruefully. "Incurable romantic. — Kresley Cole

Although the garment was beautifully designed and well made, the color, a dark velvet that captured the intense tones of a ripe plum or black cherries, would prove a jarring clash with her hair. She added ruefully, "Not with this carrot top. I'll look a fright. — Lisa Kleypas

Don't say that," he said harshly. Rowan studied Lily for a long time. "Do you know what it means to be a survivor? It means that not only do you have to live through things, you have to live with them as well. The second part is much harder and sometimes it takes the rest of your life to learn how to do it. But at least you have the rest of your life, Lily. And that's what's important to me."
"Oh, I'm alive," she said ruefully, "Even if I am damaged."
"You'll heal," Rowan replied confidently. — Josephine Angelini

Of course. Women are agile and fast." Poppy smiled ruefully. "Not enough to elude you, it seems."
- Harry & Poppy — Lisa Kleypas

I ruefully admit that if the cat is asleep in my chair - which she regards as hers, of course - I tend to leave her there and take the other one. — Guy Gavriel Kay

When sharing your news, you might come across some disgruntled parent-folk. You know, the kind who snort and say ruefully, "If there's anyplace you want to travel to, go now." Don't let them squelch your joy, dear K: these are the kind of people who never went anywhere before they had babies either. — Beth Ann Fennelly

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Where, indeed. Many a badly stung survivor, faced with the aftermath of some relative's funeral, has ruefully concluded that the victory has been won hands down by a funeral establishment - in disastrously unequal battle. — Jessica Mitford

Are you certain you'll be happy?" she asked.
Eloise smiled ruefully. "It's a little late to wonder, don't you think?"
"It might be too late to do anything about it, but it's never too late to wonder. — Julia Quinn

What happened to your face?" Blue asked.
Adam shrugged ruefully. Either he or Ronan smelled like a parking garage. His voice was self-deprecating. "Do you think it makes me look tougher?"
What it did was make him look more fragile and dirty, somehow, like a teacup unearthed from the soil, but Blue didn't say that.
Ronan said, "It makes you look like a loser."
"Ronan," said Gansey.
"I need everyone to sit down!" shouted Maura. — Maggie Stiefvater

Forget the garden rake. Remember that time you dived over the desk at that guy in moot court? Had him by the throat in two seconds flat, that's what I heard."
"You heard wrong."
"And they suspended you for how long?" Antonia innocently asked.
"A day. And I apologized. Actually I crawled like a slug and ate dirt," Bree said ruefully. "But that was years ago, and have I pulled a stunt like that again? No, I have not. — Mary Stanton

Skybridge parking?" Hardy asked as we drove through the huge sprawl of buildings in the medical center. We were passing the thirty-story Memorial Hermann tower sheathed with spandrel glass, one of a multitude of offices and hospitals in the complex.
"No, there's a valet at the main entrance," Haven said, unbuckling her seat belt.
"Hold on, honey, I haven't stopped yet." He glanced over his shoulder at me and saw that I was out of my seat belt, too. "Y'all mind waiting 'til I put the brakes on before you jump out?" he asked ruefully.
-Hardy, Haven, Ella — Lisa Kleypas

Rhys absorbed that with chagrin. "No one has ever accused me of being a romantic," he said ruefully.
"If you were, how would you propose?"
He thought for a moment. "I would begin by teaching you a Welsh word. Hiraeth There's no equivalent in English."
"Hiraeth," she repeated, trying to pronounce it with a tapped R, as he had.
"Aye. It's a longing for something that was lost, or never existed. You feel it for a person or a place, or a time in your life ... it's a sadness of the soul. Hiraeth calls to a Welshman even when he's closest to happiness, reminding him that he's incomplete."
Her brow knit with concern. "Do you feel that way?"
"Since the day I was born." He looked down into her small, lovely face. "But not when I'm with you. That's why I want to marry you. — Lisa Kleypas

No wonder Philippe always looked so exhausted," he said ruefully when he was through. "It's very fatiguing pretending you're in charge when your wife actually rules the roost. — Deborah Harkness

Well,' said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return once more to London, 'it has been a pretty business for me! I have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what have I gained?'
'Experience,' said Holmes, laughing. 'Indirectly it may be of value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your existence. — Arthur Conan Doyle

Runach smiled ruefully. "She doesn't tell me anything."
"Perhaps you intimidate her."
"Im certain thats not it"
Nicholas look at him, clear-eyed. "Runach, my dearest boy, you forget who you are
"
"Were
"
"Are," Nicholas stressed.
"There is nothing of what I was in my veins," Runach said, managing it without too much bitterness. "I am simply a man who will live an extraordinarily long time to enjoy my terribly ordinary life. There is nothing to be intimidated by."
"I think others would disagree, but we will leave that for the time being. — Lynn Kurland

I'm just looking for someone," I hedge.
"Aren't we all?" Infinite Darlene vamps ruefully. I think I'm off the hook, but then she adds,
"Is it someone special?"
"It's nothing," I say, crossing my fingers. I pray that it's not nothing. — David Levithan

I'm sure a lot of it is my fault," he said. He smiled ruefully. "And by a lot, I mean all."
"Ah, the self-deprecating dude routine," Hannah said. " 'What a lovable fuck-up I am.' The annoying thing is that it makes you look good, but it doesn't get me anything. — Adelle Waldman

Jasper pointed out, "We've passed that statue seven times in the last hour."
"Very popular," said Bntno. "Who don't like that statue?"
"We're going in circles," said Jasper.
"Not circles," said Bntno. "Irregular polygons."
"Oh, come on!" complained Katie.
"No," said Jasper ruefully, "he's right. Maybe a trapezoid. — M T Anderson

Bashir paused to watch a live CNN feed ... Bashir was struck silent by the images of wailing Iraqi women carrying children's bodies out of the rubble of a bombed building.
As he studied the screen, Bashir's bullish shoulders slumped. "People like me are America's best friends in the region," Bashir said at last shaking his head ruefully, "I'm a moderate Msulim, an educated man. But watching this, even I could become a jihadi. How can Americans say they are making themselves safer?" Bashir asked, struggling not to direct his anger toward the large American target on the other side of the desk. "Your president Bush had done a wonderful job of uniting one billion Muslims against America for the next two hundred years. — Greg Mortenson

That's not what I asked," she said, a noticeable edge in her voice. "I asked why my father shot him."
He sighed. She could have found gainful employment with the Spanish Inquisition, he thought
ruefully; no chance of escape or evasion. — Diana Gabaldon

During a frustrating argument with a Roman Catholic cardinal, Napoleon Bonaparte supposedly burst out: Your eminence, are you not aware that I have the power to destroy the Catholic Church? The cardinal, the anecdote goes, responded ruefully: Your majesty, we, the Catholic clergy, have done our best to destroy the church for the last 1,800 years. We have not succeeded, and neither will you. — Ross Douthat

Everything was sacred when nothing was taken for granted, she thinks ruefully. — Rene Denfeld

Then again, that's how the most successful predators work, she thinks ruefully. We stumble into their traps and do their work for them while we're busy getting on with the business of living. — Kimberly Morgan

I wish I was gay," he says ruefully.
A snicker pops out. "Uh-huh. Go on. I'm willing to follow you down this rabbit hole and see where it leads."
"Seriously, Gretch, I love him. I have a boner for him." Morris sighs. "If I'd known he existed, I wouldn't have asked you out in the first place."
"Gee, thanks."
"Oh, shut up. You're awesome, and I'd tap that in a second. But I can't compete with this guy. He's operating on a whole other level when it comes to you. — Elle Kennedy

Dar's been through enough in his life, and his legs are only a small part of it. Don't play with him, Cassie. If you're not serious, leave him the hell alone."

"And if I am serious?"

Sean smiled ruefully. "Then you're in for the fight of your life. — Justine Davis

It was funny, what friendship meant in Rebecca's world. It mainly meant lunch, twice a year, and the occasional dinner party, except for Dorothea, who was an old school friend, a genuine friend. Rebecca had realized, ruefully, that she should have made more friends in school; they seemed to be the only ones women really talked to honestly because the shared history meant fewer lies were available to them. With the others shared meals had become a substitute for intimacy, but not the kind of substitute that allowed for dark nights of the soul, calls at 1:00 A.M., tears and drinking and despair in pajamas. — Anna Quindlen

Nope," Clay said. "We're free now. I'm only going to eat what I want to eat from now on." As long as it's slow enough for me to catch it, he thought ruefully. — Tui T. Sutherland

You know how comfortably you go on as a bachelor, and how very much you would dislike to be tied to a wife's apron-strings."

He laughed a little ruefully, but denied it. "I shouldn't dislike being tied to your apron-strings. — Georgette Heyer

Unless you lock me in here, you can't expect me to barricade myself in your room when your gone all the time."
Cameron smiled ruefully.
"Why not? You could sit here counting the minutes til I came home after a hard day's work and made your wait worthwhile — Julie Hockley

Cabel felt the familiar nostalgic excitement of the endless possibilities encapsulated in a summers' night at Silver Beach. He smiled at himself as a boy and, more ruefully, at the man who now stood on the worn planks of the boardwalk. This night held no possibilities for him, though it was pleasant to remember a time when it did. — Erin Farwell

My mother was the perfect Spartan mother. I have always been able to imagine her telling her sons to return from battle 'with their shields, or on them'. She did actually try it on my father at the start of the Second World War. He didn't take it kindly, and confided to me ruefully that he thought she rather fancied herself a Hero's Widow. — Rosemary Sutcliff

I have lost my friends," D'Artagnan said ruefully, burying his head in his hands. "I have nothing left but the bitterest of recollections ... "
Two large tears rolled down his cheeks.
"You are young," Athos answered. "Your bitter recollections have the time requisite to change into the happiest of memories. — Alexandre Dumas

Hagrid looked down at his umbrella and scratched his beard. 'Shouldn'ta lost me temper,' he said ruefully, 'but it didn't work anyway. Meant ter turn him into a pig, but I suppose he was so much like a pig anyway there wasn't much left ter do. — J.K. Rowling

You're right, Jeff did," Sweet ruefully conceded, as he tossed a forkful — James J. Griffin

I can't believe she listened to you." I turned a wide-eyed gaze on Clarence.
A grin tugged at his lips. "Yes, I imagine I'm the only person she'll listen to."
"Well,I'm impressed." A warmth eased through my body. Despite his perfect features, he was not so difficult to talk to.
"No doubt you'd do the same with your brother."
"Not precisely." I smiled ruefully. "To be honest, I don't take orders well."
"Then I shall be sure I never give you any. — Susan Dennard

Why didn't the others help you?" Daisy asked angrily, scrubbing the sleeve of her gown over her dripping face.
"They were busy saving their own skins. Although," Matthew added ruefully, "I would have thought I merited a little more importance than the horses. — Lisa Kleypas

I feel ruefully sure, also, that one must be at least one sort of fool to rush in over ground so well trodden by the angels. — J.L. Austin

Destroying oneself, he thought ruefully, should always be done at a deliberate pace. — Mark Beauregard

in the end she had not wanted a life spent treading water in his story. She still did not - and yet she regarded herself in the glass a little ruefully. To have that choice removed by time and age was painful. — Kij Johnson

The United States inherited a seemingly inexhaustible fortune in natural resources, yet it has responded to its environment with a dismaying mixture of materialism and inertia. The nation was virtually founded upon a ubiquitous desire for access to land and its contents. Its amazing growth during the nineteenth century was based directly upon the exploitation - immediate, unplanned, full use of soils, minerals, forests, and rivers. Equitable access to these natural bounties rather than constitutional guarantees would be the practical basis for democracy. Subsequently, political institutions were shaped in such a way that they could facilitate the disposition of the public domain. But that expectation, as later generations ruefully observed, did not materialize. The combination of economics and government had instead produced a handful of owners and policy makers who were beyond the control of the ballot box. — Elmo Richardson

Horace, fit, and athletic and light on his feet, gave their guards the fewest opportunities to beat him, although on one occasion an angry Tualaghi, furious that Horace misunderstood an order to kneel, slashed his dagger across the young man's face, opening a thin, shallow cut on his right cheek. The wound was superficial but as Evanlyn treated it that evening, Horace shamelessly pretended that it was more painful than it really was. He enjoyed the touch of her ministering hands. Halt and Gilan, bruised and weary, watched as she cleaned the wound and gently pated it dry. Horace did a wonderful job of pretending to bear great pain with stoic bravery. Halt shook his head in disgust.
"What faker," he said to Gilan. The younger Ranger nodded.
"Yes. He's really making a meal of it isn't he?" He paused, then added more ruefully, "Wish I'd thought of it first. — John Flanagan

When people have told me that because I am a Catholic, I cannot be an artist, I have had to reply, ruefully, that because I am a Catholic I cannot afford to be less than an artist. — Flannery O'Connor

I write in order to understand the images. Being what my agent ... somewhat ruefully calls a language playwright, is problematic because in production, you have to make the language lift off the page. But a good actor can turn it into human speech. I err sometimes toward having such a compound of images that if an actor lands heavily on each one, you never pull through to a larger idea. That's a problem for the audience. But I come to playwriting from the visual world - I used to be a painter. I also really love novels and that use of language. But it's tricky to ask that of the theatre. — Ellen McLaughlin

Procastination can be very satisfying.' He laughed ruefully, 'As you pointed out, it may be a very human emotion, but there's undoubtedly something satisfying about pretending the world is fine and you problems will keep until you're ready to deal with them. — Chloe Neill

Amadan." I said it as Pegeen had said it, ruefully, shaking my head as if speaking fondly of a troublesome child. I said it with my chin just above my own china cup and its dregs of melting sugar, with my eyes veering away from my brother's startled face and down into that ivory light. And then, for good measure, I said it again, into the teacup itself. "Amadan." The — Alice McDermott

With fumbling fingers Harry started to remove his many layers of clothing. Where "chivalry" entered into this, he thought ruefully, he was not entirely sure, unless it counted as chivalrous that he was not calling for Hermione to do it in his stead. — J.K. Rowling

I think I made a better boy than I do a man, I admitted ruefully to the wolf.
Why not wait until you've been at it a bit longer and then decide? he suggested. — Robin Hobb

Miss Smith, your suspicions wound me,' he said with a smile. He drew her, stiff and unwilling, against his side. Immediately her warmth seeped into his veins. He'd known he'd missed her, but only now did he realize how much. 'I mean no harm.'
'You lie.'
'Often,' he agreed amiably, feeling the resistance leaching from her. 'Not this time.'
'I'm in no fit state to fight you,' she muttered, curving into him as if created to fit his body.
'I know,' he acknowledged ruefully, wondering why of all the women in the world, she was the only one who ignited any glimmer of chivalry in his soul. 'But it's no fun when you just give in. I'll wait until you're up for another bout.'
She hid her face in his shoulder. She inhaled on a shudder, as if she hadn't taken a full breath in days. 'You're an evil devil, Ranelaw.'
'Absolutely,' he said softly, firming his hold as she shifted, not away as she should, but closer. — Anna Campbell

Apparently Coyote has a habit of showing up when he finds one of us - his descendants - interesting." Adam laughed ruefully. "Shouldn't take you long, then. — Patricia Briggs

There is an old saying, that in the desert a camel is more useful than a kingdom," he said ruefully, "but as a location for lovemaking, it leaves a lot to be desired. — Marguerite Kaye

Things aren't like this," he kept repeating. "It shouldn't be this way." As if he had access to some other plane of existence, some parallel, "right" universe, and had sensed that our time had somehow been put out of joint. Such was his vehemence that I found myself believing him, believing, for example, in the possibility of that other life in which Vina had never left and we were making our lives together, all three of us, ascending together to the stars. Then he shook his head, and the spell broke. He opened his eyes, grinning ruefully. As if he knew his thoughts had infected mine. As if he knew his power. "Better get on with it," he said. "Make do with what there is. — Salman Rushdie

I also told Nick she's a player, and I'm not interested."
Becca smiled a little ruefully. "I believe that."
Hunter frowned. "What does that mean?"
"It means I've listened to her hit on every guy on the porch.I'm surprised she's not mounting Casper. — Brigid Kemmerer

The explanation of the ebb and flow of the women's movement ... is partly psychological. During those early post-war years when successes came thick and fast and were almost thrust upon us, the nation was still under the influence of the reconstruction spirit, when everything seemed possible ... A few years later the nation had reached the stage which follows a drinking bout. It was feeling ruefully in its empty pockets. It did not want to part with anything to anybody. Its head ached. Noble sentiments made it feel sick. It wanted only to be left alone. — Eleanor Rathbone

During my addled career as a trout fisherman I have gone on a lot of wild-goose chases, and I ruefully expect to go on a lot more before I hang up my waders — John D. Voelker

How do I look?" Amanda asked.
Jack shook his head ruefully as he glanced at her. No one could mistake the remaining flush on her cheeks, or the soft sparkle of her eyes, or her lusciously swollen mouth, for anything other than the results of physical passion. "Like you've been ravished," he said flatly.
She astonished him by smiling. "Hurry, please. I want to go inside my house and consult a looking glass. I've always wanted to know what a ravished woman looks like. — Lisa Kleypas

I thought told you to watch where you put your feet," he said accusingly. Erak shrugged. I did," he replied ruefully. "But while I was busy watching the ground, I hit that branch with my head. Broke it clean in two." Halt raised his eyebrows. "I assume you're not talking about your head," he muttered. Erak frowned at the suggestion. Of course not," he replied. More's the pity," Halt told him. — John Flanagan

Puck shook her head ruefully. "We haven't even solved the first problem, and I'm worrying about the next one. I must be an idiot."
"No," Hush said, wiggling an impossible finger at her. "Only kindness. Very much kindness. — Annette Curtis Klause

I smiled ruefully to myself, knowing I had already experienced a far greater and deeper union with this man than that which propriety was so busy guarding against. I had seen and accepted our fate here, tonight, on the crest of this ancient hill, and all other ceremonies would be just that: rituals to please the people and make public the commitment that had been made in the privacy of my own heart. — Persia Woolley

...Because I have a a serious medical condition. Gabe shook his head ruefully. It's called foot-in-mouth disease. — Avery Flynn

Stay and get married, or travel the Ways." Loial grimaced ruefully. "Life is very unsettling with ta'veren for friends. — Robert Jordan

Good evening," Evie murmured, taking a place at the table beside Sebastian. She smiled as she glanced up at him. "Are you clever with numbers, my lord?"
"I've always thought so," Sebastian replied ruefully, "until now. Rohan ... are the other croupiers adept with probability calculations?"
"Adept enough, my lord. They are well-trained. They all know how to tempt a player to make wagers to the house's advantage, how to identify a good player from a bad one ... "
"Trained by whom?" Evie asked.
Cam's grin was a flash of startling white in his honey-skinned face. "By me, of course. No one understands gaming as well as I."
Smiling, Evie glanced up at her husband. "All he lacks is confidence," she remarked dryly. — Lisa Kleypas

A hilarious academic novel that'll send you laughing (albeit ruefully) back into the trenches of the classroom ... [A] mordant minor masterpiece ... Like the best works of farce, academic or otherwise, Dear Committee Members deftly mixes comedy with social criticism and righteous outrage. By the end, you may well find yourself laughing so hard it hurts. — Maureen Corrigan

Ruefully admitting we can neither remain children nor all become artists still less saints and mystics, we turn back, regretfully, but massively, to the time-ridden world. — Alan McGlashan

A face stared up at her from the mirror beside her hand. Was that really what she looked like? Was that really what she looked like, all sharp lines and huge silver-grey eyes? Certainly, no one would ever call those features beautiful, Jame thought ruefully; but were they really enough like a boy's to have fooled that old man the alley? Well, maybe with that long black hair out of sight under a cap. It was a very young face and a defiant one, she thought with a odd sense of detachment, but frightened, too. And those extraordinary eyes ... what memories lived in them that she could not share? Stranger, where have you been she asked silently. What have you seen? The thin lips locked in their secrets.
"Ahhh!" Jame said in sudden disgust, tossing away the mirror. Fool, to be obsessed with a past she couldn't even remember. But it was all behind her now. — P.C. Hodgell

The choice of Blaine "speaks badly for the intelligence of the mass of my party," he ruefully continued. "It may be that 'the voice of the people is the voice of God' in fifty one cases out of a hundred; but in the remaining forty nine it is quite as likely to be the voice of the devil, or, what is still worse, the voice of a fool." Still, — Doris Kearns Goodwin

Well Connor thought ruefully At least now I know who to thank for my anger issues. — Justin Somper

I know that look." Jack shook his head ruefully. "Doan worry; she'll
give you your balls back as soon as she's done getting her way. — Kresley Cole

I thought I had one of your father, but it didn't develop." Tremaine nodded ruefully. "It's the silver nitrate in the film stock. He doesn't show up on it." Giaren stared at her blankly. "That was a joke," she added belatedly. "Oh." He sounded relieved. — Martha Wells

Smite," she asked softly, "do you have any idea what to say to me in a situation like this?"
"Of course I do," he retorted. "I have plenty of ideas." He met her gaze ruefully. "Of course, they're all wrong, and so I'm totally at sea."
She patted the cushion next to her. He crossed the room and lowered himself down. And then, because he didn't seem inclined to do it himself, she picked up his hand and slid it around her shoulders. — Courtney Milan

You don't love me," I say.
He sighs ruefully. "Maybe not. I can't help seeing you the way a starving man sees bread. — Rosamund Hodge

Caroline, I, Jesus, how do I say this without sounding like an episode of Dawson's Creek? He stumbled the words while talking into my neck. I couldn't help it, I chuckled a little as Pacey flashed into my head, and that brought him back. I pulled away a bit so I could see him, and he smiled ruefully. — Alice Clayton

He turned down the street to Emilio's, trying to remember what "the edge of chaos" meant. It was something about flipping a coin, something about the edge being the moment when the coin was in the air. The point at which the system was pure potential, about to choose a path. Or something about a pile of sand, adding sand a grain at a time, and the edge of chaos being the point at which the critical grain landed and the pile either shifted or turned into an avalanche...
...Min bit her lip and smiled at him ruefully, and without another thought, he walked across the room to her, feeling almost relieved as the avalanche began. — Jennifer Crusie

Success is everyone's child. Failure is an orphan." Omas smiled ruefully. — Karen Traviss

Humans are really stupid. If we don't fall and get hurt, we won't learn our lesson. Just like a kid repeatedly falling.

No matter how many times we fail, or how many times we've fallen. Humans will stand once again, smiling ruefully at our grazed knees before continuing onwards. This time we will not run from our pain. — Yuuri Eda

silent tears fall ruefully at midnight — Jessica Steele

Good. We're done." Wrath shook his head ruefully. "And shit, you think you have problems? At least you don't have to go back home with that." As — J.R. Ward

Power dynamic operates in emotional contagion, determining which person's brain will more forcefully draw the other into its emotional orbit. Mirror neurons are leadership tools: Emotions flow with special strength from the more socially dominant person to the less. One reason is that people in any group naturally pay more attention to and place more significance on what the most powerful person in that group says and does. That amplifies the force of whatever emotional message the leader may be sending, making her emotions particularly contagious. As I heard the head of a small organization say rather ruefully, When my mind is full of anger, other people catch it like the flu. — Daniel Goleman

We never had any children," he said ruefully. "Our work was our children. — Patti Smith

Lie on!' cried the usurer, 'with your iron tongue! Ring merrily for births that make expectants writhe, and marriages that are made in hell, and toll ruefully for the dead whose shoes are worn already! Call men to prayers who are godly because not found out, and ring chimes for the coming in of every year that brings this cursed world nearer to it's end.
No bell or book for me! Throw me on a dunghill, and let me rot there, to infect the air! — Charles Dickens

Smiling at me ruefully, Luka scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I guess you can." He sauntered toward the sliding doors. "I'll be right outside if you need me. Call if you get dizzy."
"You'll probably just hear a very loud thump."
He frowned at my joke. "Not funny."
"Luka?" He stopped. "Thank you for keeping an eye on me."
"Just ... " He tsked. "Just don't scare me like that again. — Kate Evangelista

Another power I don't have," said Lissa ruefully.
I grinned. "Hey, I have yet to meet any spirit user who can throw a punch like you can. That was poetry in motion, Liss." She groaned. — Richelle Mead

You cannot compel love," he said finally, "nor summon it at will. Still less," he added ruefully, "can you dismiss it. — Diana Gabaldon

As they clasped, sparks of Declan's magic cascaded from their mutual grip. Kett chuckled. Declan grimaced ruefully. Then he threw his head back and laughed. They dropped the handshake. Apparently, measurements had been taken, assessed, and accepted - length, width, and power of thrust. They were both acting ridiculous. — Meghan Ciana Doidge

I offered leadership over the family, Savage, not over me.I go my own way."
"As do I.I meant no disrespect to you; indeed,Darius, I wish to learn of your history. I believe you are the brother of Gregori,our healer. He is a great man, not unlike yourself." Julian grinned suddenly. "Gregori and I do not always get along either."
Darius blinked, the only evidence of movement. "I cannot imagine why," he muttered ruefully.
"I grow on you," Julian assured.
"I do not think you should count too greatly on it," Darius replied.
"The sun is rising, my friend.Let us go."
"It will not be so easy living within my rule," Darius cautioned softly.
Julian's eyebrows shot up. "Really? As I answer only to my Prince, I think I shall find it an interesting experience. — Christine Feehan

How are things out on the Circle L?" Big John shrugged shoulders the size of a grizzly bear's. "We're shorthanded, as always, and Joellen's a handful. I sure wish Chloe would break down and marry me, so that girl could have a mother." Emma smiled to think of Chloe as Joellen's stepmother. The girl's career as a brat would end in short order. "You know how Chloe is, Big John." He nodded ruefully and tucked the slip of paper Emma had written the book title on into the pocket of his buckskin vest. "There ain't a stubborner woman in the territory, but I'll rope that filly if it's the last thing I ever do." "It just might be," Emma warned, waggling a finger, and she and Big John laughed together. — Linda Lael Miller

He [A. J. Balfour] was eminently one of the Cole Porter school of famous men, who only fell to rise again. Picking himself up and brushing himself down became a minor art form, ruefully admired by his contemporaries. — Arthur Balfour

Finn smiled ruefully. I'm a Prisoner, old man. Just like you. — Catherine Fisher

Hey Rid?"
She stopped and turned to look at him, almost ruefully. Like she couldn't help what she was any more then a shark could help being a shark, but if she could ...
"Yeah, Shrinky Dink?"
"You're not all bad."
She looked right at him and almost smiled. "You know what they say. Maybe I'm just drawn that way. — Kami Garcia

Though they were not familiar with the expression,to paraphrase the saying, when any country in the Sahel sneezes, the rest of the region catches pneumonia, the men there would have clicked their tongues and ruefully nodded their heads that 'woolayi' this was the truth. — T.K. Naliaka

That would make a good public service announcement, he mused ruefully: "Don't use your cell phone while driving. You might not notice the serial killer ahead waiting to shoot you. — Russell Atkinson

He stepped closer. "Lily
"
"No. Stay back," she said, pointing a finger at him.
He went still. "Why?"
"Because when you come close I do stupid things."
"Like?"
"Like let you kiss me."
"Let me?" He laughed ruefully. "Lily, you just about crawled up my body to get at these lips."
She narrowed her eyes. "Like I said. Stupid. — Jill Shalvis

She cracked a smile. "So what's your poison"
He sighed dramatically, and let the truth tumble off his tongue. "Life."
"Ah," she said ruefully. "That'll kill you. — Victoria Schwab

He had spent the last five years, he [JFK] said ruefully, running for office, and he did not know any real public officials, people to run a government, serious men. The only ones he knew, he admitted, were politicians, and if this seemed a denigration of his own kind, it was not altogether displeasing to the older man. Politicians did need men to serve, to run the government. The implication was obvious. Politicians could run Pennsylvania and Ohio, and if they could not run Chicago they could at least deliver it. But politicians run the world? What did they know about the Germans, the French, the Chinese? He needed experts for that — David Halberstam

Dany nibbled at an onion and reflected ruefully on the faithlessness of men. — George R R Martin

Sespian opened his mouth, paused, closed it, then shook his head ruefully. "It's very easy to be drawn into what you're saying, and I catch myself wanting to nod and agree. Maybe I should take notes on your technique."
Amaranthe blushed and felt like she should stutter an apology, but she hadn't done anything to be embarrassed about, had she?
"It's her eyes", Sicarius said, startling her..
Yara glanced over her shoulder at him, apparently, surprised to hear him speak, but soon turned her attention back to the tracks. She seemed to be believe she should remain silent for the discussion.
Sespian scratched his jaw. "Yes, maybe so. They're like a doe's. Warm and earnest and ... "
"Wholesome. Sicarius's eyes glinted, and Amaranthe scowled at him. — Lindsay Buroker

What kind of wedding would you like?" he asked, and stole another kiss before she could reply.
"The kind that turns you into my husband." She touched the firm line of his mouth with her fingers. "What kind would you like?"
He smiled ruefully. "A fast one. — Lisa Kleypas

Look," said Mary Ann evenly, "if I think you're really attractive, there must be plenty of men in this town who feel the same way."
"Yeah," said Michael ruefully. "Size queens."
"Oh, don't be silly!" Sometimes Michael was sensitive about the dumbest things. He's at least five nine, thought Mary Ann. That's tall enough for anybody. — Armistead Maupin

I think she [Eleanor Roosevelt] was a shrewd politician, and very good in public relations, although she had the usual media help in this. As a Republican and a conservative, I can say ruefully that the Democrats and the liberals tend to get it; that when she said something, it was put in a nice way and highlighted properly by the appropriate media, so that it sounded good. — William A. Rusher

Spectacles, on that strong-featured face ... and his hair mussed as if he had been tugging absently on the front locks. All that combined with a plenitude of muscles and masculine virility was astonishingly ... erotic. "When did you start wearing those?" Daisy managed to ask.
"About a year ago." He smiled ruefully and removed the spectacles with one hand. "I need them to read. Too many late nights poring over contracts and reports."
"They ... they are very becoming."
"Are they?" Continuing to smile, Swift shook his head, as if it had not occurred to him to wonder about his appearance. — Lisa Kleypas

Dagny and Fransisco d'Anconia?" she said, smiling ruefully, in answer to the curiosity of her friends. "Oh no, it's not a romance. It's an international industrial cartel of some kind. — Ayn Rand