Michelle Moran Quotations

I got my first book deal when I was in college, but it was published in Germany, and I could never actually read it.

With each book, you get better as a writer. There is no back door to the industry. Read in the genre you want to write, as the more you read, the better you will get as an author.

I do sit down every day and make myself write. I want 2,000 words every day or 3 single-space pages a day. I think if you are on a deadline, you have to be disciplined. If you turn things in late, you will find yourself without a contract.

There are natural and imprescriptible rights which an entire nation has no right to violate. —MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE

Fortune does not change men, it unmasks them. —SUZANNE NECKER, WIFE OF JACQUES NECKER, MINISTER OF FINANCE

After all, that's why we read historical fiction-to be transported to another time, and to be astonished at ancient people's lives and traditions, just as they would probably be astonished at ours.

What I think and what Iam prepared to say are entirely different things.

This is how memories are; what seems so clear and unforgettable at one moment vanishes like steam the next.

These will be my last moments of peace. . . . From now on, my love. . . will bring nothing but chaos.

You'll know if he loves you by how long he's willing to fight.

Her beauty might fascinate men, but it was difficult to charm them when she stood mute. . . .

Now you are no longer a giggling child, smiling at whoever comes along. You are a woman with power. Learn to control your smile, and you can control what men will think about you.

That's because I've learned how to use it [smile], Woserit said. I don't pass it out like an old woman giving free milk to the village cats. It's something that must be controlled, and for you especially. You use it on anyone. You must learn to be more judicious.

You want it to feel like a surprise. You want to keep him guessing whether he'll make you smile entirely so that when you do, he will feel like he's been given a gift.

Sometimes, it is not the kings and queen who make for the most fascinating history but the shadowy souls who happen to be in the right place at the right time.

But we are all sorry when loss comes for us. The test of our character comes not in how many tears we shed but in how we act after those tears have dried.

I wonder if our names determine our destiny, or if destiny leads us to choose certain names.

I'd always thought I would feel like an animal released from its cage when my student days were finished, I felt more like a bird that had been pushed from its nest and told it must fly.

Nothing is forever...nothing lasts.

But that's how the heart is. Stubborn and foolish.

I always thought the purpose of time was to move forward, not backward.

You will never have to marry for money. You will never have to depend on anyne but yourself.

Even in the most wretched life, there’s hope.

I held Nefertiti's body closer to mine, trying to press her spirit into me, to bring it back. But the reign of Nefertiti was finished. She was gone from Egypt.

My love is unique an none can rival her. Just by passing, she has already stolen away my heart.

I'm not staring. I'm observing. . . . And what do you observe? . . . A brave young woman who has always fought for what was right, even when it was unpopular.

I don't think unhappiness is fated.

And when that time comes, let's hope your friends outnumber your enemies.

...she refused to leave anything to someone else that she could do better herself.

the one for whom the sun shines.. -Ramses II

I understand that you are still grieving. But we will always be grieving.

Why does life carry some people on the crest of the wave while others drown beneath the water?

Things change, and not always for the better.

You can't change the desert. You can only take the fastest course through it. Wishing it's an oasis won't make it so...

there is nothing to fear but fear itself yet even then fear shouldn't be feared because fear cannot take what is protected by change