Tension Quotes

“Our entire body re-aligns after tension then release.”
― Shellen Lubin

“...we all need relief.
And oh, how we need relief right now,
a vacation from this perpetual tension,
in so many directions all at the same time--
health, work, family, home, community, country--
and seemingly never letting up.
We need a moment each day, an hour each week,
a morning or evening every so often,
an entire day.

Relief.
Sweet, soothing relief.
Oh, how we need relief.”
― Shellen Lubin

“First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens' Councilor or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that the present tension in the South is a necessary phase of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, in which the Negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substantive and positive peace, in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human personality. Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with. Like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with all its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured.”
― Martin Luther King Jr., Why We Can't Wait

“While she was exchanging the simplest sentences with him, even while she was jesting with him, she was conscious of a faint spasm of dread. So people on a steamer at sea talk and laugh carelessly, for all the world as though they were on dry land; but let only the slightest hitch occur, let the least sign be seen of anything out of the common, and at once on every face there comes out an expression of peculiar alarm, betraying the constant consciousness of constant danger.”
― Ivan Turgenev, Fathers and Sons

“If tension is a winged monster,
it's cast its feathers

on the roof of my house.”
― Elizabeth Acevedo, Clap When You Land

“Civil war in man between reason and passions.

If there were only reason without passions.

If there were only passions without reason.

But since he has both he cannot be free from war, for he can only be at peace with the one if he is at war with the other.”
― Blaise Pascal, Pensées

“If you have quick verbal skills, use humor to deflect attacks. A quip instead of a counterattack can ease tension, reduce the impact of the other person's aggression, and help build the relationship. When in doubt, use self-deprecating humor such as, “Oh, I see, all you want me to do is to cave in, go belly up, and hand you everything you want. I guess I must come across as the weakest player in the universe.” And with tough bargainers, don't give in too soon; otherwise they might worry that they could have gained more and left too much on the table. In such cases, you must let them believe that they have wrested every last concession from you.”
― Allan R. Cohen, Influence Without Authority

“You'll know that you're aligned with the truth of your deepest wisdom when your body feels light and expansive. You'll know when something isn't right for you because you'll feel constricted, awkward, fidgety, tense, or edgy.”
― Kris Franken, The Call of Intuition: How to Recognize & Honor Your Intuition, Instinct & Insight

“In the kitchen, their mind volumes were so loud that they were having entire conversations with the way they sniffled, cleared their throats, and the foot trails of effort not to get into the other’s way when crossing to the sink.”
― Karl Kristian Flores, The Goodbye Song

“The tension stretched at her insides like a gray morning with that crisp scent of impending snow, filled with anticipation of something more.”
― Katherine McIntyre, Strength Check

“Si poteva fermare l’inferno? No. Però si possono fermare i demoni.”
― Astrid Basso, Il gioco del diavolo

“She turned and smiled at him. Was it his imagination, or did the smile not reach her eyes?”
― H.S. Howe, The Billionaire's Willed Wife

“There is compelling evidence to argue that cells can sense and respond to the stiffness of their ECM and that they transmit these cues to the nucleus to alter their shape and modify their chromatin accessibility either directly or indirectly by modulating cellular metabolism. What has yet to be determined is whether these tension-induced changes in chromatin modification and chromosomal localization are accompanied by specific differences in gene expression and whether altering the metabolic state of the cell could modify these phenotypes. Moreover, whether similar effect occur in fibrotic, stiffened tumor tissues and if this influences gene expression to drive a tumor-like behavior in the cells and tissue remain unclear.”
― R. Oria, D. Thakar, and V. M. Weaver

“We were like two bombs wired to explode at the slightest expression of emotion.”
― Lisa Brown Roberts, How (Not) to Fall in Love

“Paying attention to tension in a different way – going towards it, feeling it, activating it, then releasing it – reverses this process. As the fear and emotion are felt, they naturally diminish and the tension dissolves.”
― Ceri Evans, Perform Under Pressure: Change the Way You Feel, Think and Act Under Pressure

“I quickly realized that blood was a key element in all of them. Extra blood flow both strengthens and relaxes the body. With this knowledge, came the understanding of how easy it is to get a muscle to release once new blood flows into it. The new blood is able to wash and flush the tension from the muscles. Tension has both a physical and mental component that extra blood flow helps to balance out.”
― Jeserae Baisch, The Art of Blood Bending

“In the Orchestra, harmony may be found circularly before Harmony.

Periodicity.”
― Psixaristw

“She notices that she’s tense and has gone over to the RED side – lost in ‘What if?’s, overthinking. To get a grip on her emotions, she quietly runs through her basic three breaths routine while she drives. She imagines breathing energy and calm deep into her belly – and breathing out tension and stress.”
― Ceri Evans, Perform Under Pressure: Change the Way You Feel, Think and Act Under Pressure

“The tension between them crackled through the air, the electric sort that held his heart in suspension.”
― Katherine McIntyre, Stronger Than Hope

“In the same way you create stress and tension you also can create relaxation. The goal of relaxation training is to teach you how to recognize the early warning signs of tension and to counter or replace them with the sensations of relaxation. Interestingly, one way to relax tense muscles is first to tighten them more. If your shoulders feel like coiled springs, draw them up and squeeze those muscles. Hold the pose for five to ten seconds. Feel the stress and study the sensation. Then release and relax the muscles completely.”
― Gary Mack, Mind Gym: An Athlete's Guide to Inner Excellence

“Got a mind to shoot your daddy, too, preacher-boy?”
― Allie Ray, Children of Promise

“I never would've put you through six children. You've got to know. I never would have kept you the way he's kept you---"

"Wouldn't matter. I'd still have had six by him."

Angus's mouth twisted. "That's the way you love him, then."

"That's how," she said sharply. "It was him or nobody, and never you.”
― Allie Ray, Children of Promise

“...and just to evade confrontation, he opens a window on the fourth floor, ready to jump. The abyss, more and more often, is the way to save ourselves from ourselves.”
― Domenico Starnone, Trick

“A third lesson is to constantly remind yourself of the benefits of tension, which can be easy to forget when all you want is a quiet life.”
― Tim Harford, Messy: The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives

“The sound that surrounds a successful regimen of one-on-ones is silence. All of the listening, questioning, and discussion that happens during a one-on-one is managerial preventative maintenance. You’ll see when interest in a project begins to wane and take action before it becomes job dissatisfaction. You’ll hear about tension between two employees and moderate a discussion before it becomes a yelling match in a meeting. Your reward for a culture of healthy one-on-ones is a distinct lack of drama.”
― Michael Lopp, Managing Humans: Biting and Humorous Tales of a Software Engineering Manager

“I reach out and grab the hem of Benny's T-shirt between two fingers, then turn and pull him along behind me as I look for someplace more private. I walk with purpose, as if I have a spot picked out already, which I totally don't. But when I come upon an unoccupied pantry, I pull Benny in after me.
Closing the door, I turn to face him. And find his face reeeal close to mine. The corners of his mouth are starting to tick up in a smile in spite of his efforts to hide it.
"Hey there."
I swallow the heady feeling I get at the sound of his voice this close, low and rumbly. There are only a couple of inches between our chests, no more than that between our faces, which are almost level. This would certainly be easier in, say, an open field.
I press my back flat against the door and clear my throat. "My cardigan. Give it back."
"I enjoyed our conversation on Saturday," he continues in that smooth bass as if I haven't said anything.
"What kind of kidnapper leaves a note identifying themselves as the kidnapper, anyway? What are you playing at?" I bite out with a frustration that is quickly fleeing my body.
Benny's eyes flit down to the floor almost sheepishly. "I don't enjoy what brought on our talk at the cookout, or hearing what you go through. But I was honored that you told me, and I like talking to you. I'd listen to you talk like that every day if you let me."
His words almost stop my breath, despite the weirdness of this situation he's facilitated and the way we're having two totally different conversations. I shake my head and squeeze my eyes shut, but they pop back open when I feel something brush past my hair. Benny stares at me intently, and I register that he's put one palm flat against the door beside my head.
He leans in closer, and I try my damnedest not to notice all the muscles in that arm flexing so close to me, but holy biceps, Batman, and oh my, how much closer can he get before he---
"Reese," he breathes, and I feel the word brush against my lips even though they still haven't made contact with his. I don't think I'm breathing at all.”
― Kaitlyn Hill, Love from Scratch

“Sloppy?” he asked with a frown.

“Yeah…I mean, a fork to the gut would hurt like a bitch and all. But I’ve gotta think I’m winning with a knife to your jugular.” I shifted my other hand so that the plastic knife scraped along the stubble at his throat to draw his attention to it and his smile widened with excitement.

“Well, shit,” he purred. “Looks like I’m done for. You wanna grant a dying man a final request?”
― Caroline Peckham, Caged Wolf

“She bit back a protest as he took her hand in his. She gawked as one long-fingered hand grasped hers and stared, unblinking, at the black pen that appeared from nowhere and began moving against her skin, the tip as cold and sharp as those eyes.
[...] His face remained emotionless as he made small, careful lines with the pen. The steady impression of the ballpoint tickled, creating knots in her stomach.”
― Kelly Creagh, Nevermore

“A tidal wave is caused by the snapping of tension that has built for a long time,’ said Nondany. “An earthquake under the sea. To be caught in a tidal wave is not to be its cause.”
― Betsy James, Listening at the Gate

“[A relaxed body is more protected from damage.]

There is a Daoist saying, "When a child or a drunk falls from a carriage, their bones don't break." This is because they are embodying the qigong principle of song relaxation, and so are able to adapt to the ground as they fall.”
― Kenneth S. Cohen, The Way of Qigong: The Art and Science of Chinese Energy Healing