Home > Topic > arm's length
1 " New York is more than a state of mind. It is the completion of a dream. ( " New York at arm's length of desire" ) "
2 " But you might as well bid a man struggling in the water, rest within arm's length of the shore! I must reach it first, and then I'll rest. "
― Emily Brontë , Wuthering Heights
3 " I picked up my camera and held it at arm's length and took a picture of myself not caring. I called it: Glory Doesn't Care. "
― A.S. King , Glory O'Brien's History of the Future
4 " The shots left a hard ringing sound within the closeness of the brick walls. Terry held the pistol at arm's length on a level with his eyes--the Russian Tokarev resembling an old-model Colt .45, big and heavy--and made the sign of the cross with it over the dead. He said, " Rest in peace, motherfuckers," turned, and walked out of the beer lady's house to wait at the side of the road. "
5 " When she leaned forward to mess with the AC vents, her hair brushed against my leg and it was really soft. It made remember all over again. It made it hard to stay pissed and keep her at arm's length the way I'd planned. It was pretty near damn impossible. When I was near her, I just wanted to grab her and hold her and kiss the shit out of her. Maybe then she'd forget about my asshole of a brother. "
― Jenny Han , It's Not Summer Without You (Summer, #2)
6 " But what he didn't understand was that this dreamland was preferable,walking through this life half-sleeping,everything at arm's length or farther away. I understood those mermaids.I didn't care if they sang to me.All I wanted was to block out all the human voices as they called me name again and again,pulling me upward into light,to drown. "
― Sarah Dessen , Dreamland
7 " I feel liquefied, like a cucumber forgotten in the crisper drawer, and I want to hold myself at arm's length and carry me to the trash. Who is this sack of slush masquerading as me? It's intolerable. "
― Laini Taylor , Night of Cake & Puppets (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, #2.5)
8 " Fuck,” Syn growled. He was still thinking of solutions when he heard something scrape against his doorknob. Something metal was tampering with the lock. If he were anywhere else in the apartment he wouldn’t have heard it, but he was right next to the door, so he could hear someone trying to get in. He instinctually moved to stand in front of Furi, pulling his Sig from its holster and unlocking the safety. He felt Furi tensing behind him.He could hear the tool manipulating the lock mechanism. Is this bastard really fuckin’ brave enough to break into my home in broad goddamn daylight? Syn was in awe at the size of this guy’s balls. The closet door was arm's length away. He yanked it open and grabbed the blanket off the top shelf, pulling his loaded twelve-gauge shotgun down just as the door eased open. All Syn could see was the tip of a black boot. Furi griped his shoulder. “Hey. Listen to this!” Syn yelled out. He put the stock of the gun firmly against his shoulder and pulled the pump back in two extremely swift moves. The sound was extremely loud and intimidating in the quiet room, by far the scariest sound an intruder could hear.“Don’t shoot, Dirty Harry.” The irritating chuckle that followed was unmistakable.“Son of a bitch,” Syn grumbled. “Day, have you lost your fuckin’ mind?”His Lieutenants came all the way through the door, Day laughing at the pissed look on Syn's face and Furi leaning on the wall behind him recovering from a panic attack. “Syn. What the hell is going on man? Are you really gonna put a buckshot in someone you think is breakin’ into your little-ass apartment? Because, you do know that that’s excessive force, right?” God asked, looking at him expectantly.“I was just scaring them off. No one comes in after hearing that sound, trust me.” Syn removed the shell and placed the gun back in the closet, covering it with the blanket. He turned to look at Furi. He looked a little pale but he was okay.Syn spun back around, “Day. Knock on my damn door like a normal visitor and wait for me to say come in!”Day pfftd, plopping down on the couch. “You don’t invite the wind. The wind just–”“Stop saying that stupid wind bullshit. Because if your door is shut and you weather guard that bitch then the wind stays the fuck out until ... You. Open. The. Door.” Syn’s dark eyes bored into Day’s hazel ones.God’s laugh was raspy, while Day looked bewildered. “But we’re family.”“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Syn grumbled, he had to get going; he had no time to explain to Day about how to behave in civilized society. He turned serious eyes back on Furi. “I gotta go, but I really think–”Furi pulled Syn to him before he could finish the sentence, kissed him hard on the mouth before turning, heading to the bedroom. “Just concentrate on your job and don’t take any officers away from their assignments to follow me. There could be someone out there who really needs their help.”Syn didn’t get to say anything else because Furi had closed the bedroom door. End of discussion. "
― A.E. Via
9 " His unique skill had always been to absorb the talents and knowledge of others, use what he needed and discard the rest. He never allowed anyone to get to close. He kept the world at arm's length in order to look down on it. "
― Christopher Fowler , Bryant & May On the Loose (Bryant & May #7)