Quotations

"I am reminded of the story of the teacher who tears to shreds a map of the world and, thinking it an impossible task, gives it to a recalcitrant student to put together. Within ten minutes the boy is back, the task completed. Astounded, the teacher asks him how he did it. The boy replies. When I turned the pieces over, I found a torn-up man. I put him back together, and when I looked at the other side, the world was whole again."

— Soozi Holbeche, Sri Lanka-born South African author

"Man looks in the abyss, there's nothing staring back at him. At that moment, man finds his character. And that is what keeps him out of the abyss."

— Hal Holbrook, American actor, born 1925

"Don't threaten me with love, baby. Let's just go walking in the rain."

— Billie Holiday, American singer, born 1915

"I don't think I missed a single picture Billie Dove ever made. I was crazy for her. I tried to do my hair like her, and eventually, I borrowed her name."

— Billie Holiday, American singer, born 1915

"Sometimes it's worse to win a fight than to lose."

— Billie Holiday, American singer, born 1915

"Something is wrong here: sex has been with us since the human race began its existence, yet I would estimate that 90 percent of human beings still suffer enormous inhibitions in this area."

— Xaviera Hollander, Dutch madam, born 1943

"You can call me mercenary, or call me madam, but, as I always tell my customers - just call me anytime!"

— Xaviera Hollander, Dutch madam, born 1943

"When the stocks go up, the cocks go up!"

— Xaviera Hollander, Dutch madam, born 1943

"My method is basically the same as Masters and Johnson, only they charge thousands of dollars and it's called therapy. I charge fifty dollars and it's called prostitution."

— Xaviera Hollander, Dutch madam, born 1943

"My Pleasure is my business."

— Xaviera Hollander, Dutch madam, born 1943

"I'd wear the most beautiful dress and ruin it by putting on a frumpy cardigan because I was too afraid to show my arms. Now it's quite the opposite. I'll often think, Is this going to piss people off because I'm showing off my body?' If I think it will, then I'll wear it, she says. People put their fears on others. Just because you're afraid of being fat, don't put that on me. I'm not recruiting people to be fat. I'm just existing in this body and I've found a way to love it."

— Tess Holliday, American plus-size model, born 1985

"In his book, My Idea of God, he writes: Evil is a fact, not to be explained away, but to be accepted; and accepted, not to be endured, but to be conquered. It is a challenge neither to our reason nor our patience, but to our courage."

— John Haynes Holmes, Unitarian minister, born 1879

"It is wonderful how much depends upon the relations of black and white. A black and white, if properly balanced, suggests color."

— Winslow Homer, American painter, born 1836

"The life that I have chosen gives me my full hours of enjoyment for the balance of my life: the sun will not rise, or set, without my notice and thanks."

— Winslow Homer, American painter, born 1836