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Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday! Today, I’m sharing thought-provoking quotes from books I’ve read recently. I even made pretty little graphics for the quotes. Aww, how cute. Feel free to save my graphics and use them however you want. Click the book titles to see a synopsis of the book.

Intriguing Quotes From Recent Reads

“A child is not an empty vessel . . . to be formed in whatever way the parent thinks fit. They are born with their own hearts and they cannot be made otherwise, no matter what love a man lavishes on them.” – Once Upon A River, Diane Setterfield

“The person across the table is never the problem. The unsolved issue is. So focus on the issue. This is one of the most basic tactics for avoiding emotional escalations. Our culture demonizes people in movies and politics, which creates the mentality that if we only got rid of the person then everything would be okay. But this dynamic is toxic to any negotiation.” – Never Split The Difference, Chris Voss

“The beauty of empathy is that it doesn’t demand that you agree with the other person’s ideas.” – Never Split The Difference, Chris Voss

“‘Maybe’ is a match in the dark.” – Tunnel Of Bones, Victoria Schwab

“We are good only when life makes it easy for us to be so. Maybe the heart hardens when good fortune is not there to soften it.” – The Good People, Hannah Kent

“She might be curt and ungrateful, but by God she could bake.” – The Snow Child, Eowyn Ivey

“The right way to talk to strangers is with caution and humility.” – Talking To Strangers, Malcolm Gladwell

“We almost always can point to that hundredth blow, but we don't always mark the ninety-nine other things that happen before we change.” – All The Crooked Saints, Maggie Stiefvater

“The word 'experienced' often refers to someone who's gotten away with doing the wrong thing more frequently than you have.” – Deep Survival, Laurence Gonzales

“Top Ramen, my favorite comfort food—because it’s comforting to know that in the event of nuclear fallout, my food has enough MSG and preservatives to out-survive all of mankind.” – Dry, Neal & Jarrod Shusterman