Straighter Than Quotes & Sayings

You can't deny we work well together. I could be your sidekick, if you want. Like Superman and Lois Lane. Or Peter Pan and Tinker Bell."
"Tinker Bell isn't menacing."
"Which proves how much you need me," I insisted. "Fairies are terrifying."
He sat up straighter and dusted off his pants. "Fairies don't exist. Neither do Graymasons."
"That's what humans say about vampires and werewolves," I argued. "So we're agreed. — Cecily White

In the history of show business, there probably never was a straighter straight man than banana-yellow Bert, the paper clip collector and pigeon fancier. — Michael Davis

She stood a little straighter, closed her eyes, and raised her arms in embrace of her final act.

The she took a deep breath and dove, headfirst--face-first--into oblivion — John Saul

He stood taller, and straighter, and broader, and infinitely more human than anything else Marcii could possibly imagine. — Ross Turner

Impossible. I merely brought the essentials. Clothes, my favorite boots, face cream, makeup, a few books to read, a couple cans of caviar, lingerie, and my coffeepot.
Plus a few other things a girl like me just can't live without but can't mention in mixed company because it would be indelicate. You know, because they're sexual."
- at "lingerie," Hector and Dallas had stood a little straighter. At "sexual," they'd moaned. Jaxon punched them both in the back of the head. — Gena Showalter

The power of one is above all things the power to believe in yourself, ofen well beyond any latent ability you may have previously demonstrated. The mind is the athlete, the body is simply the means it uses to run faster or longer, jump higher, shoot straighter, kick better, swim harder, hit further, or box better. — Bryce Courtenay

You could put your confusion and upset and worries into whatever book you were reading. You could sort of set them down in there, and you could come out with your head on a little straighter. I don't why stories worked that way, but they did. — Deb Caletti

Kingsley stepped even closer.
"How old are you?" he asked her.
"Seventeen. How old are you?"
"Thirty. Is your hymen intact?"
Eleanor stood up straighter.
"Is your brain intact?"
"I ask for a reason." He shook his finger in her face to hush her. "I fucked a virgin last week. I didn't mean to."
"What happened? You trip and fall into her hymen? — Tiffany Reisz

And echoes to my singing. More sounds went on - an arc-like melody created using an echo machine, and then a guitar solo at the end that was made by selecting fragments from a number of improvised solos. Finally, I sang the song after jogging in the studio, because for some reason I wanted to sound out of breath. Of course, I was singing the same words and melody as I had been on the earlier, straighter, version of the song, but now to a vastly altered musical track - a fact that also affected how I sang. The song, as it was released, — David Byrne

As I told you, I'm not the settlement midwife. I've not birthed one baby." "But you are an herbalist." "I suppose I am. The woods and Ma Horn have been my teachers since I was a girl." She looked away from him, embarrassed. Here she was, considering him a quack, and he was unraveling her own lack of expertise fast as a spool of thread. "I'm finding the settlers here a superstitious lot. I dinna doubt you are much the same." She sat up straighter. "What do you mean?" "Axes under the bed tae cut the pain of childbirth. Garlic charms and spells. Boiling beaver tails tae cure snakebite. No' tae mention the misuse of useful herbs." Her own face clouded. "I do none of those things." He looked doubtful. "Prove it." "How do you expect me to do that?" His steely eyes held a challenge. "Work alongside me. — Laura Frantz

I blinked. I had just had another thought, something very significant; I was quite sure of it. I didn't know what it was, but I knew it was there. I rewound my thoughts, marching them by again at a slower speed. I sat up even straighter in my chair as I scanned - and there it was. I don't know if I found it because I had such excellent posture, but just in case, I sent a little mental thank-you card back through time to Mrs. Parker. — Jeff Lindsay

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but didn't we just get beat up for not being fags?"

"Sorry, you just don't scream hetero he-man, dude. I wouldn't call you flaming or anything, but let's just say your toes are singed. Hell, I read straighter than you do."

"I hate to break it to you, but I'm probably too drunk to fuck. — Elle Parker

Did you do this?"
"There are other ways to beat someone than with fists." Radu poked her in the side with a finger.
She surprised him by laughing. He stood up straighter, a proud grin at having surprised and delighted Lada bursting across his face. She never laughed unless she was laughing at him. He had done something right!
Then the lashings began.
Radu's smile wilted and died. He looked away. He was safe now. And Lada was proud of him, which had never happened before. He focused on that to ignore the sick feelings twisting his stomach as Aron and Andrei cried out in pain. He wanted his nurse - wanted her to hold and comfort him - and this, too, made him feel ashamed.
Lada watched the whip with a calculating look. "Still," she said. "Fists are faster. — Kiersten White

It is a curious fact that camels walk more quickly and straighter to the sound of singing. — Rosita Forbes

I saw that I'd get nowhere on the straight path, and that to go crookedly was straighter. — Nikolai Gogol

If there's any chance of salvaging things between us - and I must be crazy to even consider that - you need to start off with a huge apology," I stated without preamble.
His arms folded across his chest. With that stunning jewel-encrusted coat adding to his already commanding presence, I felt like I'd somehow shrunk several feet, but I refused to be cowed. I stood straighter and began to tap my foot.
He glanced down. "Is that supposed to intimidate me?" he asked, his voice edged with satin-covered steel. — Jeaniene Frost

I love creme liner because I have lash extensions and sometimes the liquid liner can get into the lashes. It's also easier to guide. I can create straighter lines with it. — Meagan Good

All through my twenties, I spent more time worrying what I didn't have than thinking about what I did have. I wished that I was taller, had longer legs, slimmer hips, a smaller bottom, even straighter hair. — Shakira

A man stands straighter under hostile eyes. — Edmond Rostand

Your people are spoiled," Loki said. "You can't convince them to do anything."
"We're spoiled?" Finn scoffed. "That would mean something if it weren't coming from a brat Prince."
"I don't know why you find my comment so offensive." Loki sat up straighter. "I've seen the way these people treat Wendy, and she's their Princess. They're insolent."
"They don't know her," Finn said. "It takes time, and it doesn't help that she spends so much of it with Vittra prisoners."
"I'm not a prisoner." Loki looked disgusted. "I'm here on my own."
"I do not understand that." Finn shook his head in disbelief.
"Finn, he asked for amnesty, and I granted it," I said.
"But your motivations completely baffle me," Finn said. "We're fighting the Vittra, and you let him stay without consequence."
"It really pisses you off that much that she wants me around?" Loki asked, and Finn glared at him. — Amanda Hocking

In that moment I wondered if I
would ever be a mother, or if I even wanted to be. I thought maybe
if I found the perfect husband - stable, wealthy, business-
minded - it could be a possibility, but definitely not in the near fu-
ture. I decided if I did have children, I would surely have my shit
straighter than this lady. — Renee Carlino

She laughs again. It's such a delightful and proper sound that I sit up straighter. I should have a cup of tea in my hand to go with that laugh. — Natalie C. Parker

In the end, the type of parent you are is going to be something that you carry with you ... Having multiple kids, it's been a gift in a way. It's keeping the priorities straighter. — Jim Gaffigan

wishing my hair was longer and straighter, wishing my skin was lighter, wishing I was someone else, asking God to make me beautiful. These are things I beg my daughter not to inherit. — Key Ballah

With every step her carriage seemed to become a little straighter and her movements more assured: it was as though the mere proximity of the building had caused a brisk professional to emerge from the chrysalis of a careworn wife and mother. — Amitav Ghosh

In my later years I have sought to become simpler, straighter and purer in my handling of the language. I've had many writing heroes, writers who have influenced me. Of the ones still alive, I can think of E.B. White. I certainly admire the pure, crystal stream of his prose. When I was very young as a sportswriter I knowingly and unashamedly imitated others. I had a series of heroes who would delight me for a while and I'd imitate them
Damon Runyon, Westbrook Pegler, Joe Williams. — Red Smith

Basement?' Hamish cried, then glanced at his brother. 'You hear this fellow? He thinks we can just go on down to the furnace and start tinkering?'
Angus laughed. 'He probably wouldn't care at all if the whole place went boom, he wouldn't.'
At this the guard bristled and stood up even straighter. 'Now see here
'
'No, you see, my good man. Out here, see, we've got snow. So in there, I'd bet, you've got heat. And where there's heat there's gas; and where there's gas there's ... '
Angus trailed off while his brother said, 'boom. — Ally Carter

happiness isn't about the events going on in your life; it's about how you handle them. It's about falling down and standing up straighter than you did before. It's about realizing that nothing comes easy. — Jodie Sweetin

This is what we do. We fix things. We're tinker-ers. If we didn't tinker with cars, we'd tinker with people."

Drew flashed a rare grin. "You already tinker with people, Cletus."

"You are correct," I sat straighter in my seat, ready to defend myself, "but only my family. And y'all deserve my tinkering."

"Don't get me wrong. You're good at tinkering. Aside from those revenge plots, people are lucky to have you interfering in their lives. — Penny Reid

You've probably never had a real man." My body presses forward as she stands her ground. "No one was strong enough to deal with your penis envy."
"Penis envy?"
"Yeah, sweetheart." I reach my hand to cup her cheek. "You live in a man's world. You fight harder, stand straighter, and battle for your place." I see the flash in her eyes that lets me know I hit a chord. "I don't need you to assert your shit, babe. I'll own you. You won't want to have control because I'll make it so fucking good that you'll beg me to take it. — Corinne Michaels

Miss Featherington!' Lady D boomed. 'You haven't told me who you suspect.'
'No, Penelope,' Colin said, a rather smirky smile on his face, 'you haven't.'
Penelope's first instinct was to mumble something under her breath and hope that Lady Danbury's age had left her hard enough of hearing that she would assume that any lack of understanding was the fault of her own ears and not Penelope's lips. But even without glancing to her side, she could feel Colin's presence, sense his quirky, cocky grin egging her on, and she found herself standing a little straighter, with her chin perched just a little higher than usual.
He made her more confident, more daring. He made her more ... herself. Or at least the herself she wished she could be. — Julia Quinn

There are so many aspects of the game that you can work on - you can drive it father, you can drive it straighter, you can hit your irons higher and more consistently, you can get better with your wedges, and you can always putt better. There's never an end to that striving to get better in golf. — Matt Kuchar

You know that it never has been easy
Whether you do or do not resign
Whether you travel the breadth of the extremities
Or stick to some straighter line. — Joni Mitchell

What is your name?" Ariane asked him. The kid put up his deflector screens and said, "Einstein." Silence then. When no one laughed, he stood straighter and drifted closer. — Neal Stephenson

The essence of masculinity is taking responsibility for yourself, then a wife, then children. These are the kinds of things the Bible says qualify a man to be a church leader.[198] Guys who don't do this act irresponsibly, take rather than give, and dump their responsibilities on others by virtue of their childish ways. This is why Jeremiah wrote, "It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young."[199] Men are like trucks: they drive straighter when carrying a load. — Mark Driscoll

I do the "I just got laid," walk for days after our trip to Los Angeles. It's more like a strut. It's pretty obvious when you're doing it. Your mind is clouded in an euphoric high. Your head held at an angle twenty degrees higher than normal. There's a continual smart-ass grin on your face. Your eyes twinkle, literally, as if stardust fell inside them. You walk taller. Prouder. Your back is held straighter. Shoulders wider. You know you're hot. It's been proven. You had sex. — Katie Kacvinsky

Your mother brought a strange man to this house once, Katarina. I had hoped it might be a few years before history repeated itself."
Kat rolled her eyes at the mention of her father. "Uncle Eddie, I brought Hale home ages ago," she reminded him; but her uncle just shook his head.
"I've known my great-niece's friend. A boyfriend, on the other hand ... that is a most different matter."
"Yes, sir," Hale said. He stood up a little straighter, spoke a little louder.
"You have a powerful family, boy."
"Yes, sir," Hale said. "Please don't hold them against me."
Then Eddie gave a wry smile. "Who says I was talking about them? — Ally Carter

Ooh. British accent alert. I love accents. I sat up straighter to make sure I didn't miss a word. — Heather Davis

For the writer who truly loves language, a trip to the copy editor is like a week at a spa. You come out looking younger, trimmer, and standing straighter. — Betsy Lerner

I laughed, "I don't have a CHANCE IN HELL of ever turning COLE DRIVER GAY. He's straighter than NEIL PATRICK HARRIS. — Giorge Leedy

I struggled to sit up, feeling stiff, but rested. "Where?" "Ted's house." I sat up straighter. Ted's house? Edward's house. I was finally going to get to see where Edward lived. I was going to snoop and strip some of his mystery away. If I didn't get killed, finding out Edward's secrets would make the entire trip worthwhile. If I did get killed, I'd come back and haunt Edward, see if I could make him see ghosts after all. — Laurell K. Hamilton

I am stronger than when I knew them. I stand straighter. I am more patient. I hold fewer grudges. I am more thankful for what I have, less resentful for what I don't. I am less restless. I read a lot more books. I play the piano. I'm engaged. — Taylor Jenkins Reid

When it comes to spinning stories, no one can do it with a straighter face than a cop. "I'm on my way. — Stephen King

I don't want to know about love.'
'But you should, my child. You need to know about love. The things people will do for love. All truths come down to love, do they not? One way or another, they do. See, there is a difference between love and need. Sometimes, what you feel is immediate and without rhyme or reason.' She sat up a little straighter. 'Two people see each across a room or their skin brushes. Their souls recognize the person as their own. It doesn't need time to figure it. The soul always knows ... whether it's right or wrong. — Jennifer L. Armentrout

I have always had the deepest respect for Bill Nicholson as a person and as a manager. The Spurs boss is an honest Yorkshireman and you will go a long way before finding a straighter character than that. Bill has never wavered in his determination to give White Hart Lane fans the best. — Bill Shankly

The shoulders of a borrower are always a little straighter than those of a beggar. — Morris L. Ernst

What a trio we are: wolf, dragon and ... " Ronan bit back the word. Shifter. He sat straighter in the saddle, raising one hand in farewell as his mount broke through the last of the boundary mists. "May the gods favor us this time, my friend. Pray Mairi Sinclair is the one. — Maeve Greyson

There's no straighter road to success than exceeding expectations one day at a time. — Robin Crow

The best figurative poetry speaks not to the frivolous intellect, but (if anything does) straight to the heart; and does it better than plain prose. There seems then to be something which is better said with metaphor than without, which goes straighter to its mark by going crooked, and hits its aim exactly by flying off at tangents. — Austin Farrer

Kai cleared his throat. Stood straighter. "I assume you are going to the ball?"
"I-I don't know. I mean, no. No, I'm sorry, I'm not going to the ball."
Kai drew back, confused. "Oh well ... but ... maybe you would change your mind? Because I am, you know."
"The prince."
"Not bragging," he said quickly. "Just a fact. — Marissa Meyer

When I put something on, and I stand up much straighter, that's when I love to wear clothes. — Bonnie Wright

Where I've arrived now is the product of mixing the very straight with the very exploratory; there's a fine line between the two, although it tends to be getting straighter and straighter because my songwriting is getting better. — Andy Partridge

Everyone here says in a surprised manner that I have grown ... they are so stupid and do not notice that I am standing up straighter! — Anna Freud

Find the light. Reach for it. Live for it. Pull yourself up by it. Gratitude always makes for straighter, taller trees. — Al R. Young

You know I hate, detest, and can't bear a lie, not because I am straighter than the rest of us, but simply because it appals me. There is a taint of death, a flavour of mortality in lies - which is exactly what I hate and detest in the world - what I want to forget. — Joseph Conrad

The thorns thinned out and the trees grew taller and straighter, their branches not beginning until a few feet over our heads. The white, peeled bark of the birches looked buttery in the long, slanting afternoon light, and their leaves were a delicate gold. — Maggie Stiefvater

It's harder in the States. I'm much more inclined to get offered things that are a lot straighter and heavier and dramatic. And they go by looks, too. If you look like a leading man, then that's what they will consider you for. — Martin Henderson

You put on the military outfit, and it definitely tightens everything up and makes you stand up straighter. — Diego Klattenhoff

And even if Einstein could not be defied, he might be evaded. Those who sponsored this view talked hopefully about shortcuts through higher dimensions, lines that were straighter than straight, and hyperspacial connectivity. They were fond of using an expressive phrase coined by a Princeton mathematician of the last century: "Wormholes in space." Critics who suggested that these ideas were too fantastic to be taken seriously were reminded of Niels Bohr's "Your theory is crazy - but not crazy enough to be true." If — Arthur C. Clarke

Bell holsters his pistol as Chain drops to one knee, begins searching bodies and bags. Lilac is watching him warily, the boy and girl clinging to her. "You with me? Lilac? Are you with me?"
Lilac nods, hesitantly at first, then again, with resolve, and maybe it's calling her by her character name that does it, but she takes a breath, stands a little straighter. She is Lilac the meerkat, the heart of the Flower Sisters. Fierce and loyal, yet kind at heart, and she will do what must be done. — Greg Rucka

Some of the most inspiring moments in sports have come from players with physical defects. Tom Dempsey, born without toes on his right foot, kicked a 63-yard field goal in 1970, using a straighter, wider shoe. — George Vecsey

The more you build your life on principle and less on personality - yours or others - the straighter will be your course. — Edwin Louis Cole

The mind is the athlete; the body is simply the means it uses to run faster or longer, jump higher, shoot straighter, kick better, swim harder, hit further, or box better. Hoppie's dictum to me, "First with the head and then with the heart," was more than simply mixing brains with guts. It meant thinking well beyond the powers of normal concentration and then daring your courage to follow your thoughts. — Bryce Courtenay

But here, in the murk of conflagration, where scarcely a friend is left to know we, the survivors, do not flinch from anything, not from a single blow. Surely the reckoning will be made after the passing of this cloud. We are the people without tears, straighter than you ... more proud ... — Anna Akhmatova

By rights, this should have been his spoonful if they were now going to share the sweet, so Terri was surprised when, instead of consuming the mouthful, Bastien started to move it toward her. She was even more surprised when he paused halfway and deliberately tipped it over her chest. Terri gasped and sat up straighter in surprise, merely sending the sticky mixture faster on its travels down the curve of her left breast. "You did that on purpose!" Bastien grinned. "It tastes better on you," he said simply, then leaned forward to kiss her. — Lynsay Sands

When I entered and shut the door, the Darkling gave me a small bow. "How are you, Alina?"
"I'm fine," I managed.
"She's fine!" hooted Baghra. "She's fine! She cannot light a hallway, but she's fine."
I winced and wished I could disappear into my boots.
To my surprise, the Darkling said, "Leave her be."
Baghra's eyes narrowed. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"
The Darkling sighed and ran his hands through his dark hair in exasperation. When he looked at me, there was a rueful smile on his lips, and his hair was going every which way. "Baghra has her own way of doing things," he said.
"Don't patronize me, boy!" Her voice cracked out like a whip. To my amazement, I saw the Darkling stand up straighter and then scowl as if he'd caught himself.
"Don't chide me, old woman," he said in a low, dangerous voice. — Leigh Bardugo

His shoulders sagged as he stepped back. Then a half smile made the edge of his lips crook. " You're mad at me."
"And that's amusing because?"
The half smile spread into a lopsideed grin, and he stood up straighter. "You wouldn't be mad if you didn't care. I'm onto you, Alexis."
Oh, that insufferable, arrogant
— Kalayna Price

Silver sparkles from inside caught in the air and rolled in the wind past her. She took a deep breath, and it made her stand up straighter. Sugar and vanilla and butter.
That relentless scent had been following her around all her life. Sometimes she could see it, like this, but most of the time she felt it. When she was a kid, she could be sitting in class at school, or walking her dog Chester, or in the middle of a dreary violin lesson with her older brother, and the smell would suddenly appear out of nowhere and make her inexplicably restless. Even now, sometimes she would wake up at night and swear someone was baking a cake in the house. — Sarah Addison Allen

The language that we use now impacts on the ability to vote, it impacts on the marketplace; instead of making things clear, it makes it more confusing. I think we need to stop using neutral language and speak in straighter terms. So when you agree to something, you actually get what you agreed to in the first place. — Josh Homme

I pulled the dress out of the bag and held it in front of me. Ella sat up straighter and squinted her eyes, while Michael and Paco made the noises men make when a woman says, "What do you think?" Fathers probably teach those noises to their sons when they're young - "Stand up when you're introduced to a lady, use your napkin instead of your sleeve, and make admiring noises when a woman shows you anything, no matter what it is, and asks you what you think about it. Never, never, never say you have no opinion. — Blaize Clement

Race is a lie built on a lie. The first lie is that people are different, somehow skin color or hair texture is more significant than eye color, or the shape of one's feet. The second lie built on top of that is that there's a hierarchy that more significant difference, the color showing up as brown on your skin rather than brown in your hair, or whatever, is somehow more significant and there's some sort of hierarchy. That the lighter you are, the straighter your hair, the better you are. — Benjamin Jealous

How do you play 'righteous'? Do you just kind of stand up straighter? What does that mean as an actor? You don't really play a quality. — Oscar Isaac

I sit up straighter and puff out my chest a little bit, unsure why I'm doing so even as I do it. I know when I speak I'll have dropped my voice an octave to make myself seem more manly, and when I shake he hand, my grip will be tight and strong. Stupid, I know, but I'm a guy. It's what we do. — T.J. Klune

UCL made provision for women to study science. Skinner told Humphry that a good Fabian should consider his daughters' education as seriously as his sons'. Humphry said that Dorothy - and Griselda - were still only little girls. Hardly, said Skinner, smiling at the two serious young faces. Hardly. They would be young women any moment, he could see. His look made Dorothy feel unexpectedly heated, on her skin, and also inside her. She wriggled a little and sat straighter. Griselda said she didn't think her parents saw any need for her to be educated. Skinner said, it should be enough that she wanted to be educated. — A.S. Byatt

Mr. Eissen, the man in the wonderful suit, tapped one fingertip on the table. He did it very quietly, but everyone got silent and sat up a little straighter. Eissen gave me a microscopic smile. "Robert," he said, emphasizing the name slightly, and then adding, "Robert Chase." He gave a slight, dismissive shake of his head. "Robert is a well-known actor, Mr. Morgan. — Jeff Lindsay

He had never met a girl who shot an arrow straighter than Cupid did — Soroosh Shahrivar