Top 100 Gretchen's Quotes
#1. Drawing attention to Gretchen's weight was the sort of behavior my mother referred to as 'stirring the turd,' and I did it a lot that summer.
David Sedaris
#2. What's the matter? Afraid to come over here and fight a girl?"
"You are no girl," one of the soldiers yells.
"Now that is downright insulting." I squat down and pull daggers from my Doc Martens. "Looks like I'll have to defend my honor.
Tera Lynn Childs
#3. There's something about winning Miss America that brings out the snark.
Gretchen Carlson
#4. When we try to form a new habit, we set an expectation for ourselves. Therefore, it's crucial to understand how we respond to expectations.
Gretchen Rubin
#5. I love you, Gretchen Lang. You are my reflection and my shadow and I will not let you go. We are bound together forever and ever! Until Halley's Comet comes around again. I love you dearly and I love you queerly and no demon is bigger than this!
Grady Hendrix
#7. In an inconspicuous way, Gretchen Parlato knows
how to play the same instrument that Frank Sinatra played.
There's no one out there like Gretchen.
Wayne Shorter
#8. I always feel calmer when I exercise. In fact, that's probably the main reason I exercise.
Gretchen Rubin
#9. Children's literature is one of my joys, and it's also my mental comfort food.
Gretchen Rubin
#10. There's also something about your bed; it's sort of a symbol of yourself and of your marriage, if you're married. Making your bed doesn't seem to be an important thing in a happy life, and yet it can be that tiny foothold into a more orderly life that sometimes people need.
Gretchen Rubin
#11. Southerners don't gossip; Southerners pray for one other. Of course, you have to know the details of the sinner's sins to get any good praying done, then you have to recruit others to pray, and they need the details too. It's called Prayer Circle.
Gretchen Archer
#12. A blog is something that, everyday there's a new thing and that's part of the fun of it, you're just constantly moving forward. A book really gives you more time to reflect and think hard on things very, very deep.
Gretchen Rubin
#13. Sometimes I think it's easier to think about being happier, for what ever that means to you then worrying about what is happiness and what would life be if I finally achieved this ultimate happiness?
Gretchen Rubin
#14. The number one resolution that people mention to me as something that's made them happier is - to my surprise - making the bed.
Gretchen Rubin
#15. So where should we start? It's helpful to begin with habits that most directly strengthen self-control; these habits serve as the Foundation for forming other good habits.
Gretchen Rubin
#16. In the Miss America system talent is worth 50 percent of a contestant's points so my mom encouraged me to give it a try. And once I decided to do it, like anything else, I gave it 110 percent.
Gretchen Carlson
#17. I think it's sort of disrespectful to the partner you're having sex with to talk about it.
Gretchen Mol
#18. One thing I wish I could tell my younger self: take photos of everyday life, not special occasions; later, that's what will be interesting to you.
Gretchen Rubin
#19. He is my fate. He's my soul mate. He pervades my whole existence. So, of course, I often ignore him.
Gretchen Rubin
#20. Contrary to popular belief," Gretchen grumbled. "It's creepy to watch a girl while she sleeps."
Clint shrugged and smiled. "Sorry, I guess I should've just woken you up.
Aria Kane
#21. There was no girls' cross-country team at our high school, since cross-country courses were two or three miles long, and, at that distance, a girl's uterus could fall out.
Gretchen Reynolds
#22. As goofy as it sounds, I try to sing in the morning. It's hard both to sing and to maintain a grouchy mood, and it sets a happy tone for everyone - particularly in my case, because I'm tone deaf, and my audience finds my singing a source of great hilarity.
Gretchen Rubin
#23. 'Potato-chip news' is news that's repetitive, requires little effort to absorb, and is consumable in massive quantities: true crime, natural disasters, political punditry, celebrity gossip, sports gossip, or endless photographs of beautiful houses, food, or clothes.
Gretchen Rubin
#24. It's so easy to use tired, shopworn figures of speech. I love using long, fancy words but have learned - mostly from writing my biography of Winston Churchill - that short, strong words work better. I am ever-vigilant against the passive and against jargon, both of which are so insidious.
Gretchen Rubin
#25. It's not like I have a master plan or anything.
Gretchen Mol
#26. Happiness is hard because it's very subjective. I know the people that seem happiest to me, but whether they are actually - what they're really like inside is really hard to say.
Gretchen Rubin
#27. There's a great satisfaction in knowing that we've made good use of our days, that we've lived up to our expectations of ourselves.
Gretchen Rubin
#28. It's a Secret of Adulthood: I can't make people change, but when I change, others may change; and when others change, I may change.
Gretchen Rubin
#29. When scheduling a new habit, it helps to tie it to an existing habit, such as "after breakfast," or to an external cue, such as "when my alarm rings," because without such a trigger, it's easy to forget to do the new action.
Gretchen Rubin
#30. I've always loved 'Before and After' stories, in books, magazines, and TV shows. Whenever I read those words, I'm hooked. The thought of a transformation - any kind of transformation - thrills me. And that's the promise of habits.
Gretchen Rubin
#31. Superstition is the irrational belief that an object or behavior has the power to influence an outcome, when there's no logical connection between them. Most of us aren't superstitious - but most of us are a 'littlestitious.'
Gretchen Rubin
#32. I'm not superwoman. It's impossible to do everything 100 percent all of the time. And suggesting that women should be able to do it only puts more pressure on them.
Gretchen Carlson
#33. For instance, in The Artist's Way, her influential book about cultivating creativity, Julia Cameron suggests scheduling an artist's date,
Gretchen Rubin
#34. Most people enjoy 'potato-chip news' from time to time - to track a presidential election or the Oscars. However, some are particularly drawn to material that makes them feel shocked, frightened, insecure, or indignant, and that's what potato-chip news often provides.
Gretchen Rubin
#35. People were always able to look at Bettie Page and see what they needed her to be and she gave them that permission to do so. So in that way she's a feminist but I don't think she was ever trying to be.
Gretchen Mol
#36. Every hour of television that a person watches after the age of twenty-five, the researchers concluded, potentially snips twenty-two minutes off of the viewer's life span.
Gretchen Reynolds
#37. It's easy to make the mistake of thinking that if you have something you love or there's something you want, you'll be happier with more.
Gretchen Rubin
#38. Hallo" , he said in a purr, looking Gretchen up and down in a way that raised my hackles. "What's your name, sweeting ? "
"Her name is No," I said at once.
Jeaniene Frost
#39. Erasmus's The Praise of Folly. According to a footnote, the argument of the growing heap is: If ten coins are not enough to make a man rich, what if you add one coin? What if you add another? Finally, you will have to say that no one can be rich unless one coin can make him so.
Gretchen Rubin
#40. When you're doing a job that benefits other people, it's easy to assume that they feel conscious of the fact that you're doing this work - that they should feel grateful, and that they should and do feel guilty about not helping you.
Gretchen Rubin
#41. During my study of happiness, I noticed something that surprised me: I often learn more from one person's highly idiosyncratic experiences than I do from sources that detail universal principles or cite up-to-date studies.
Gretchen Rubin
#42. What I'm doing is a dream come true but at the same time its work. It's like anything else. The only time it doesn't really feel like work to me is when I'm on stage and doing what I've prepared myself for my whole life which is to stand out in front of a crowd and sing.
Gretchen Wilson
#43. I've never understood why it's a negative to showcase a talented, smart woman who also happens to be attractive.
Gretchen Carlson
#44. I wish there were jokes in the cat world," Buddy sighed. "Want to try to one? Let's think of a prank we can pull on the boys.
Gretchen Preston
#45. Having a messy coat closet should not be a big deal in a full life, and yet there's something about getting control of that coat closet that's surprisingly satisfying.
Gretchen Rubin
#46. Kennedy was president for only 1,037 days, but during his short tenure, he achieved much. At the Cold War's most dangerous hour, he preserved the peace. He improved relations with the Soviet Union and replaced tension over Berlin with a limited test ban treaty.
Gretchen Rubin
#49. I don't really think about having had a hard life. It was just my life, and it's all I knew. It made me who I am - all the good and bad - and it's where all of the songs on Here For The Party came from. I've lived them all.
Gretchen Wilson
#50. I have a passion for children's literature. Young adult literature. I love it. I've always loved it.
Gretchen Rubin
#51. Like most people, I have several pet subjects - that may or may not be interesting to other people. Don't get me started on happiness, or habits, or children's literature, or Winston Churchill, unless you really want to talk about it.
Gretchen Rubin
#52. After someone's death, how strange to see the value drain away from his or her possessions; useful objects such as clothes, or dish towels, or personal papers become little more than trash.
Gretchen Rubin
#53. Get enough exercise and sleep: Sounds trivial, but it's not. You may have the urge to work 24/7, to skip the gym and to stay up late to get a few more things done. That's short-sighted. Exercise and sleep are critical to having the physical and mental energy necessary to meet a challenge.
Gretchen Rubin
#54. Why aren't you at school?" I ask suddenly.
"It's a holiday," he says, a little too quickly.
"Right. What holiday would that be? National Talk Out of Your Ass Day?
Gretchen Powell
#55. Another study suggested that getting one extra hour of sleep each night would do more for a person's happiness than getting a $60,000 raise.
Gretchen Rubin
#56. Hopefully, I'll just get to be part of good films and work with good people, and that's how it will develop.
Gretchen Mol
#57. There's a kind of magical thinking about these kinds of things. Throw away those bad photos before the "magic" attaches to them, so the good ones stand out.
Gretchen Rubin
#58. What I've also noticed is the term happiness, or happy is intimidating to some people. Some people deny that it's even possible to be happy, or to achieve happiness. Happiness sounds like this magical destination that you arrive at and then everything is sort of solved, or it's different.
Gretchen Rubin
#59. I think music can heal your soul if you'll let it. It can also bring you up if you're down. It can also bring you down if you're too up. It's a mood thing.
Gretchen Wilson
#60. James 5:7b-8. 'See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near.
Gretchen Fields
#61. You can love someone but not want to keep a gift from that person. It's okay to pass an item along to someone who will appreciate it more.
Gretchen Rubin
#62. It's so easy to wish that we'd made an effort in the past, so that we'd happily be enjoying the benefit now, but when now is the time when that effort must be made, as it always is, that prospect is much less inviting.
Gretchen Rubin
#63. To a truly remarkable extent, we're more likely to do something if it's convenient, and less likely if it's not. For this reason, we should pay close attention to the convenience of any activity we want to make into a habit.
Gretchen Rubin
#64. It's easier to get rid of things when you're giving them to someone who can use them, but don't let this kind intention become a source of clutter itself. I have a friend who has multiple piles all over her house, each lovingly destined for a particular recipient.
Gretchen Rubin
#66. There is no medicine or other intervention that appears to be nearly as effective as exercise in maintaining or even bumping up a person's cognitive abilities.
Gretchen Reynolds
#67. I think adversity magnifies behavior. Tend to be a control freak? You'll become more controlling. Eat for comfort? You'll eat more. And on the positive, if you tend to focus on solutions and celebrate small successes, that's what you'll do in adversity.
Gretchen Rubin
#68. It's hard to avoid 'unconscious overclaiming.' In unconscious overclaiming, we unconsciously overestimate our contributions relative to others. This makes sense, because we're far more aware of what we do than what other people do. Also, we tend to do the work that we value.
Gretchen Rubin
#69. I often learn more from one person's highly idiosyncratic experiences than I do from sources that detail universal practices or cite up-to-date studies.
Gretchen Rubin
#70. I've learned that sometimes when people don't like what you have to say, and don't want to debate you on ideas, it's just easier to call you a dumb blonde from Fox News.
Gretchen Carlson
#71. Did I have a heart to be contented? Well, no, not particularly. I had a tendency to be discontented: ambitious, dissatisfied, fretful, and tough to please ... It's easier to complain than to laugh, easier to yell than to joke around, easier to be demanding than to be satisfied.
Gretchen Rubin
#72. Keeping a habit, in the smallest way, protects and strengthens it. I write every day, even if it's just a sentence, to keep my habit of daily writing strong.
Gretchen Rubin
#74. I began thinking I would do musical theater because in high school that was really the only sort of curriculum they had as far as getting onstage and doing anything that anybody would see. So that's what I did.
Gretchen Mol
#75. As expected, the church lady grumbled something incoherent and put Bridget's call on hold. A peppy rendition of "City of God" blared as hold music just long enough for Bridget to start to sing along with the chorus. Catholic brainwashing at its best.
Gretchen McNeil
#76. There is a preppy wabi-sabi to soft, faded khakis and cotton shirts, but it's not nice to be surrounded by things that are worn out or stained or used up.
Gretchen Rubin
#77. In the chaos of everyday life, it's easy to lose sight of what really matters, and I can use my habits to make sure that my life reflects my values.
Gretchen Rubin
#78. When accepting a responsibility, imagine that it's something that you'll have to do next week. That way you don't agree to something just because it seems so far off that it doesn't seem onerous.
Gretchen Rubin
#79. It's true that people do assume that people who are critical are smarter than people who are uncritical.
Gretchen Rubin
#80. People have an inborn disposition that's set within a certain range, but they can boost themselves to the top of their happiness range or push themselves down to the bottom of their happiness range by their actions.
Gretchen Rubin
#81. We all know the secret of dieting - eat better, eat less, exercise more - it's the application that's challenging.
Gretchen Rubin
#82. When everything in my gut is telling me it's right, how can it be wrong?
Gretchen De La O
#83. I'm a person who's fine saying 'No.' I like saying to myself, "no gossiping," "no nagging."
Gretchen Rubin
#84. Audrey shouldered her small weekend bag and gave Gretchen an odd look. "Where's all your bravery?"
"I didn't realize I was going to be living at frickin' Hogwarts! I -
Jessica Clare
#85. What's fun for other people may not be fun for you- and vice versa.
Gretchen Rubin
#86. Growing up in Kansas City, I was always neat, the teacher's pet, know-it-all type.
Gretchen Rubin
#87. No leader did more for his country than Winston Churchill. Brave, magnanimous, traditional, he was like a king-general from Britain's heroic past. His gigantic qualities set him apart from ordinary humanity; there seemed no danger he feared, no effort too great for his limitless energies.
Gretchen Rubin
#88. People often assume that the same approach will work for everyone, that the same habits will work for everyone, and that everyone has the same aptitude and appetite for forming habits, but from my observation, that's not true.
Gretchen Rubin
#89. Take the perspective of a journalist or scientist. Really study what's around you. What are people wearing, what do the interiors of buildings look like, what noises do you hear? If you bring your analytical powers to bear, you can make almost anything interesting.
Gretchen Rubin
#90. [S]tudies show that one of the best ways to lift your mood is to engineer an easy success, such as tackling a long-delayed chore.
Gretchen Rubin
#91. A sense of growth is so important to happiness that it's often preferable to be progressing to the summit rather than to be at the summit.
Gretchen Rubin
#92. Watching TV is companionable: you share an experience, you can comment on the action here and there for a bit of conversation ... it's a way of showing someone that you want his or her company and engaging in a low-key, pleasant, undemanding way.
Gretchen Rubin
#93. Getting control of stuff makes people feel like they have more control over their lives - maybe irrationally, but it's one of these psychological truths.
Gretchen Rubin
#94. Ten neatly coiffed female attendants stand against the walls, ready and waiting. Wearing starched yellow blouses with pink crossover ties neatly folded under the collar, they look as much a part of the ship's decoration as the sparkling crystal chandeliers that hang overhead.
Gretchen Powell
#96. If you've had something for more than six months, and it's still not repaired, it's clutter.
Gretchen Rubin
#97. It's hard to know really how it's going to happen, but the career ebbs and flows and now there's a nicer feeling of interest than there has been at other times.
Gretchen Mol
#98. In the Strategy of Pairing, I couple two activities, one that I need or want to do, and one that I don't particularly want to do, to get myself to accomplish them both. It's not a reward, it's not a treat, it's just a pairing.
Gretchen Rubin
#99. I'm fearful when I push myself. It's a tough thing to do, but you need to acknowledge that you have what it takes to succeed.
Gretchen Bleiler
#100. I feel unsettled at any time when I'm not writing. And I mean that. There's a sense of peace, and of being in the right place, that I experience only when I'm writing.
Gretchen Rubin
Famous Authors
Popular Topics
Scroll to Top
