Ellen Hopkins Quotes

It is true, of course, that there is no way of knowing for sure whether or not you can trust someone, for the simple reason that circumstances change all of the time. You might know someone for several years, for instance, and trust him completely as your friend, but circumstances could change and he could become very hungry, and before you knew it you could be boiling in a soup pot, because there is no way of knowing for sure.

You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment if you don't trust enough.

To me, horror is when I see somebody lying. I mean a person I know. A friend. And he's telling me something that I accept. And then suddenly, as he or she is telling it, there's something that gives them away. They're not telling me the truth.

To have a great man for a friend seems pleasant to those who have never tried it; those who have, fear it.

When I was a footballer, I surrounded myself with footballers. We were all friends. But in Brasilia you don't know who your friends are. It can be a dangerous place.

A doubtful friend is worse than a certain enemy. Let a man be one thing or the other, and we then know how to meet him.

To have a great man for an intimate friend seems pleasant to those who have never tried it; those who have, fear it.

Tell never thy counsel to thy foe.

To a liar, the most dangerous individual is the person who catches lies but doesn't say anything about it. Then the liar isn't sure which lies are compromised.

Never trade a secret, you'll always get the short end of the bargain.

Friends can betray you, but with an old enemy, you always know where you stand.

Allow a friend to believe in a bogus prospectus or a false promise and you cease, after a short while, to be a friend at all.

It is often our best friends who throw us down.

You were destroyed by what you befriended.

If treachery is the reward of trust, will the man who trusts come to harm?

Yes, my friend, and if you will steal for me then you will steal from me.

A secret spoken finds wings.

Trust is a careless pursuit at best. At worst, it's a good way to get yourself killed.

I have play'd the fool, the gross fool, to believe The bosom of a friend will hold a secret Mine own could not contain.

Tiny, the next time that you try to set me up with a girl with a secret boyfriend can you at least INFORM me that she has a secret boyfriend? Also, if you don't call me back within five minutes, I'm going to assume you found a way back to Evanston. Furthermore, you are an asshat. That is all.

And when you have it, what then? Some secrets are safer kept hidden. Some secrets are too dangerous to share, even with those you love and trust.

And so a person can never promise to love someone forever because you never know what might come up, what terrible thing the person you love might do.

Sirius — it’s me . . . it’s Peter . . . your friend . . . you wouldn’t . . .” Black kicked out and Pettigrew recoiled. “There’s enough filth on my robes without you touching them,” said Black.

That's what happens when you keep a secret from someone you love: you start to hate them for allowing you to prove your own willingness to deceive them.