“Liv,” he said, his voice rough with tenderness, “you don’t have to be afraid.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’ll slay monsters for you.”
“Maybe this was meant to happen, this discovery of cracks where now a different, new light can shine through.”
“Since the day we met, I haven’t wanted anyone but you, never looked at another woman, never thought about one. It’s always been you Olivia.”
“Don’t you want to touch me? I whispered.
More than I want to breathe.”
“You’re so damn strong, Liv, and you don’t even realize it. I’m the one who’s always had to show people I’m successful, an achiever, the best at everything I did. I’m the one who’s always been a goddamn egotist. A groveler. And you…you’re the first person who’s ever…Christ, Liv, sometimes the way you look at me makes me feel like I can hang the fucking moon.”
“One day I’m going to touch you in a thousand different ways and show you how to touch me,” he said.”
“I’ve given you all I have, all I am. You know that. Why didn’t you do the same for me?”
“I love him to my bones, but suddenly I’m wondering what I might have been without him.”
“He didn't touch me. He could have—he had the perfect reason to—but he didn't.
Instead he bent to collect my papers before the breeze could whisk them away. Instead he picked up my satchel from the sidewalk and asked if I was okay. Instead he stood between me and the busy street while I brushed the dirt from my palms and tried to
swallow the knot of frustration stuck in my throat. Instead he just waited. I had the strange thought that he would wait forever.”
“Why are you waiting for me?” I asked.
“Because you’re worth it.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do.”
“How?”
“I’ve been around. I know when something’s good."
My throat tightened a little. “What if you’re wrong?”
“I’m not wrong.”
“I want to learn how to trust a man. I wanted to know what true, physical pleasure felt like. I wanted to find the courage to be vulnerable on my own terms, as my own choice.”
“Since the day we met, I haven’t wanted anyone but you,”
“Never looked at another woman,” he continues, “Never thought about one. It’s always been you, Olivia.”
“I’ll be here, beauty. Waiting for you.”
“Christ Liv, sometimes the way you look at me makes me feel like I can hang the fucking moon.”
“Because I’ve always believed you can.”
“She’s pure. Despite experiences that could have irrevocably fucked her up, turned her into someone hard and jaded, she’s still wholesome.”
“Easy, beauty,” He presses his mouth to the tears that have slipped from the corners of my eyes and down my temples. His breath rasps against my ear. “Come first, and then I’ll fuck you.”
“So pretty with her long hair and bright eyes. And so pure and damaged at the same time, like a priceless vase threaded with cracks.”
“Our marriage has always been an island, a safe place where sea-dragons and monstrous creatures can’t reach us. Now we’re letting them in, gnashing teeth and all, and we are failing to protect each other.”
“Professors have a lot of power.”
I almost smiled. “Even medieval history professors?”
“Especially medieval history professors,” he assured me.
“Knights on horseback and all that?”
A responding smile tugged at his mouth. “And damsels in distress.”
“Instead he just waited. I had the strange thought that he would wait forever.”
“As self-possessed as he is, when he’s tired from working too hard, his whole demeanor softens with vulnerability… which makes me want to tuck him right beneath my heart and hold on tight.”
“Christ, Liv, sometimes the way you look at me makes me feel like I can hang the fucking moon.”
“Liv,” he said, his voice rough with tenderness, “you don’t have to be afraid.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’ll slay monsters for you.”
“Instead she stepped toward me. I had the strange thought that she wanted to come even closer.”
“I want to protect Liv from everything, but I can’t protect her from the truth. No matter how ugly it is.”
“I can’t tell her that our recent troubles have tilted my entire world off its axis. I can’t tell her that for the past four months, I’ve been terrified.”
“I gave you everything I am. Why couldn’t you do the same for me?”
“Fall seven times. Get up eight.”
“The kind of friend who helps you remember which way is up. And who reminds you that sometimes that's the only direction you can go.”
“the busy street while I brushed the”
“And in her reverence of his skin, he felt that shame wither and curl, like paper on a flame, and float upward, disintegrating into nothing more substantial than ash, and with her breath, she blew it all away.”
“Zooming in on it only makes it blurrier.”
“In a state of war, one is always waiting. We have become waiting-machines. For the moment it is food we are waiting for. Then it will be the post. But each in its turn. When we have done with dinner we will think about the letters. After that, we shall set ourselves to wait for something else.”
“Yet none of these things gave him confidence. All they gave him was egotism, which is less the conviction of one's worth than the desire for that conviction.”
“Nie można zrozumieć ani życia jednostki, ani życia społeczeństwa, nie odnosząc jednego do drugiego.”
BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.
We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.
Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.