Beastly [Love is never ugly]

     I’ve been reading like crazy this summer. I love reading. I love leaving my ordinary life and immersing all of my energy into a book that takes me to a world where everything is extraordinary and anything is possible. I just finished reading “Beastly” and I adored it. It has such a wonderful message that is unbelievably relevant to today. I wish fairytales like that happened in real life… life would be sweeter and magical if it were so. Also I think it would make the world a better place if what happened to Kyle happened to shallow, conceited, vain people out there who think because of their wealth and appearance they are better than everyone else. Inner beauty truly is what matters. For those of you who don’t know what this book is about I will give you a summary. I recommend it, especially to all you hopeless romantics out there like me! It’s a modern day retelling of Beauty and The Beast. 

     Kyle Kingsbury rides through life on his looks and his celebrity (what with his father being a big-time news anchor and all). He’s adored by all the girls in school, and gravitates toward the Barbie-doll, airhead types. Ugly people are beneath him. In fact, they don’t even exist.

     Kyle decides to play a prank on an overweight, green-haired Goth girl named Kendra. She stood up to him in English class, and now it's his turn to exact revenge. He invites her to the school dance as his date in order to humiliate her, secretly inviting his bimbo girlfriend as his real date. But instead of crying or becoming embarrassed, she simply walks out, leaving Kyle uneasy.

     When Kyle arrives home that evening, Kendra is waiting in his room. That’s when she reveals her true identity. She’s not a high school student at all—she’s a witch! And she’s seen the ugliness inside of Kyle. She casts a spell upon him, one that makes him equally as ugly on the outside. She turns him into a Beast! Kyle will only return to his human form if he finds someone he truly loves who loves him back within two years. And to break the spell, they must share a kiss.

Kyle knows it’s hopeless. Who could love a hideous Beast? Even his own father ships him away to a big house with his maid, Magda, and his blind tutor, Will, where he kind hide from the world. As time passes, Kyle expands his horizons, building his own greenhouse to grow roses, and reading many of the classics like The Phantom of the Opera, and Frankenstein. He even changes his name to Adrian, wanting to forget his past.

     Kyle begins to lose hope until one day a junkie breaks into his backyard. Kyle catches him and makes the man promise to bring his daughter to Kyle’s house in exchange for not going to the police. Kyle watches the man’s daughter through a magical mirror given to him by the witch. He recognizes the girl, Lindy, from school. He desperately wants to make Lindy feel comfortable, not like a prisoner, even though that’s exactly what she is. But what if she can’t handle the sight of him? Will she ever learn to trust a Beast? Could she ever love him?

     I really want to see this movie! It stars Alex Pettyfer as Kyle, Vanessa Hudgens as Lindy, Neil Patrick Harris as Will and Mary-Kate Olsen as Kendra.

Beastly Quotes

“Surface beauty: blond hair, blue eyes—is always easy to recognize. But if someone is braver, stronger, smarter, that’s harder to see.”

-Kendra Hilferty

“You’d better hope you never get ugly. You are ugly now, on the inside, where it matters most, and if you ever lost your good looks, I bet you wouldn’t be smart or strong enough to get them back. You are beastly.”

-Kendra

“You can’t help what you’re born with.”

-Kyle Kingsbury

“That was the great thing about most people. If they could get what they wanted from you, they’d give you what you wanted back.”

-Kyle

“Love is never ugly.”

“A beautiful thing is precious, no matter the price. Those who do not know how to see the precious things in life will never be happy.”

-Magda

“I am not frightened of you, I am frightened for you.”

-Magda

“A rose can change your life.”

-Will

“Sometimes, unexpected things can happen.”

-Kendra

“You shouldn’t miss people who don’t miss you, right?”

-Will

“Just because something is beautiful doesn’t mean it’s good.”

-Will

“I’m a girl. Every girl pretends she’s a princess at one point, no matter how little her life is like that. And I like the idea of ‘happily ever after’.”

-Lindy Owens

“If two people are meant to be together, they will be, even if something separates them. There’s a magic to it.”

-Lindy

“People make such a big deal about looks, but after a while, when you know someone, you don’t even notice anymore.”

-Lindy

“Sometimes we surprise ourselves.”

-Will

“That’s what true love should be like—the person should be part of your soul and you should know what they’re feeling all the time.”

-Kyle

“Maybe we judge people too much by their looks because it’s easier than seeing what’s really important.”

-Kyle

“It was wondrous when life gave you a second chance.”

-Kyle

“It hurts too much so I don’t want to talk about it.”

-Kyle

“Somehow, when I’m around you, I don’t feel ugly at all.”

-Kyle

“It’s not about how others look at you. It’s about how you look at yourself.”

Water for Elephants & Other Quotes

“Life is the most spectacular show on earth.”           -Water for Elephants

“With a secret like that at some point the secret itself becomes irrelevant. The fact that you kept it does not.”

-Water for elephants

“When two people are meant to be together, they will be together. It’s fate.”

-Water for elephants

“The more distressing the memory, the more persistent its presence.”

-Water for elephants

“I meant what I said, and I said what I meant.”

-water for elephants

“I want her to melt into me, like butter on toast. I want to absorb her and walk around for the rest of my days with her encased on my skin. I want.”

-Water for elephants

“With girls the first thing I notice is their eyes and smile. I’m not a big make-up fan—I like them to be natural.”

-Shane West

“Those who do not know how to see the precious things in life will never be happy.”

“Just because something is beautiful doesn’t mean it’s good.”

“Every girl pretends to be a princess at one point, no matter how little her life is like that.”

-Beastly

“Don’t do anything halfway unless you’re willing to be half happy.”

-How Do you know

“Do me a favor…Stand up, walk to wherever the nearest window is, and just look outside. You may not know this, but there’s an entire planets—worth of summers, friends, sunsets, street lamps, songs, late nights, great films, and night skies waiting for you. Your life is as amazing as you want it to be, but first, you have to let it be that way.”

-Chad Sugg

“We should all start to live before we get too old. Fear is stupid. So are regrets.”

-Marilyn Monroe

“if something is not happening for you it does not mean it’s never going to—it just means that you’re not ready for it yet.”

“Life is too ironic to fully understand. It takes sadness to know what happiness is. Noise to appreciate silence. And absence to value presence.”

“If you ever doubt the power of language, listen more closely. Witness the magic the first time someone whispers ‘I love you’. Watch a woman put on head phones, close her eyes, and have her life changed by a lyric. See a bad moment flipped upside down by a well timed joke. Words propel us, empower us, make us human and more than human. We constantly struggle to say what we mean and mean what we say. To ‘wrestle with words and meanings’. That’s what T.S. eliot calls is. But as we whisper and shout, stutter and spin, we create order out of the chaos around us. We are built of words, and we live by them, too.”

“It’s a funny thing about life… if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.”

-W. Somerset Maughemh

“When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems though you could not hold on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time the tide will turn.”

-Harriet beecher stowe

“You can’t go back to how things were. How you thought they were. All you really have… is now.”

-jay asher

“we do not do what we want, and yet we are responsible for what we are—that is the fact. Contemplation often makes life miserable. We should act more, think less, and stop watching ourselves live.”

-nicolas de chamfort

“We don’t see things how they are, we see things how we are.”

“There is no telling how many miles you will have to run when chasing a dream.”

“Don’t use words too big for the subject. Don’t say ‘infinitely’ when you mean ‘very’—otherwise you’ll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.”

-C.S. Lewis

“The past: Our cradle, not our prison.

There is danger as well as appeal in its glamour.

The past is for inspiration, not imitation.

For continuation, not repetition.”

“you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”

-The dark knight

“Opportunity does not knock, then knock again, and then leave a note saying, ‘sorry I missed you.’”

-that 70’s show

“This life is what you make it. No matter what, you’re going to mess up sometimes. It’s a universal truth. But the good part is, you get to decide how you mess it up.”

-Marilyn Monroe

“The real world, whether we like it or not, is right here, right now. All of this, every day, is important. Everybody matters. Everything we do has an effect on other, directly or indirectly, whether we realize it or not.”

-Megan Mcaffery

“The higher you raise your hopes, the further you have to fall.”

-Jodi picoult

“Pick the day. Enjoy it—to the hilt. The day as it comes. People as they come. The past, I think, has helped me appreciate the present—and I don’t want to spoil any of it by fretting about the future.”

-Audrey Hepburn

“You must not lose your faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean—if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.”

-Gandhi

“Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.”

“Memories are worth the sleepless nights it takes to make them.”

“I may not have an umbrella to block the rain… but it doesn’t mean I’m not ready to weather the storm.”

-Arminda meer

“Everybody has a secret world inside of them. All of the people in the whole world. I mean everybody. No matter how dull and boring they are on the outside. Inside them they’ve got unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid worlds. Not just one world, hundreds of them, maybe thousands.”

-Neil gaiman

“It happens as you grow up—you find out who you are, and what you want, and then you find out that people you’ve know forever don’t see things the way you do. And so you keep the wonderful memories, but find yourself moving on.”

“There’s some illogical part of me that still believes if you want superman to show up, first there’s got to be someone worth saving.”

-Jodi picoult

“I wish you were here. Not sure who you are yet but… I want you here.”

“I’d rather be anything but ordinary.”

-avril lavigne

“The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are.”

-John Pierpont

“Don’t turn a slip into a fall.”

-Charlotte king

“The world is a better place with you in it.”

“Oh I wonder when did it all stop making sense? I don’t understand. Can we ever go back? Can we ever go back again?”

-Joy Williams

“Sometimes I wonder…will anyone ever see the real me? I don’t try to hide it… it’s just no one ever asks…”

“Rumors are just that… rumors. In the end If you just be kind and be yourself people will know who you are. That goes for anyone I think.”

-Justin bieber

“I like to believe that everyone has the ability to love.”

-Keegan allen

“Just when we think we’ve figured things out, the universe throws us a curve ball. The universe has a funny way of doing things, but we always end up right back where we belong.”

-Meredith Grey

“There’s always something in the way. And I find peace when I’m confused. I find hope when I’m let down. Not in me. But in you.”

-Switchfoot

“I won’t force myself to have a space in your life, because if you know my worth, you’ll create one for me.”

“You’ll never find time for anything. If you want the time, you must make it.”

-Charles buxton

“But in your dreams, whatever they be, dream a little dream of me.”

“The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”

-Thomas paine

“Be of love (a little) more careful than of anything.”

-e.e. cummings

“Do you have a passion? Find something that you love. Run with it, don’t stop for anyone else. No one can get you down. You are better than that. Fight your passion. Be knowledgeable of your roots and proud of what you’ve become. If what you love reflects yourself inside out, it is not a trend. So many people will never find true love and all the passion that can flow from it. Everyone is so quick to judge. But while they’re just watching, we’ll run past them.”

“know you are loved. Share your joy. Do your best. Sing a little, dance a lot. Return what you borrow. Share. Do what is right. Speak kindly of others. Tell the truth. Play nice, play fair. No whining or complaining. Be forgiving, patient, grateful.”

“As time goes on, you’ll understand. What lasts, lasts—what doesn’t, doesn’t. time solves most things. And what time can’t solve, you have to solve yourself.”

-Haruki murakami

“You can escape from liability,

But you cannot escape from regret.

You can escape from school,

But you cannot escape from knowledge.

You can escape from your enemies,

But you cannot escape from fear.

You can escape from jail,

But you cannot escape from guilt.

You can escape from commitment,

But you cannot escape from love.

You can escape from life,

But you cannot escape from death.

You can escape from others,

But you cannot escape from yourself.”