Emma Hooper · 305 pages
Rating: (8.9K votes)
“We're all scared most of the time. Life would be lifeless if we weren't. Be scared, and then jump into that fear. Again and again. Just remember to hold on to yourself while you do it.”
“You told me, once, to just remember to breathe. As long as you can do that, you're doing something good.”
“We have good days and bad days. You told me, once, to just remember to breathe. As long as you can do that, you’re doing something Good, you said. Getting rid of the old, and letting in the new. And, therefore, moving forward. Making progress. That’s all you have to do to move forward, sometimes, you said, just breathe. So don’t worry, Etta, if nothing else, I am still breathing.”
“Go do whatever, wherever. Go do it alone, and now, because you want to and you're allowed to and you can.”
“I have made you some things, for when you get back. I understand now, all the baking you sent me, stale and crumbled in brown paper and rough twine. Now you’re away and I am here. So I will make and make until you get back to remind you, and myself: there are reasons to come home.”
“I am drawing a dotted line across our globe, starting from home here, out along what I imagine is your path.”
“We're all scared most of the time. Life would be lifeless if we weren't.”
“If we’re doing we’re living and if we’re living we’re winning, right?”
“In that night’s dream Etta was swimming or dancing, she couldn’t decide which, but it didn’t matter because they were, really, the same thing, only in swimming the water was your partner, all around, ready, following, light and easy and heavy and comforting and there in your arms and you in its arms and if you opened your mouth to sing along to the music it would rush in and tell you its secrets and taste like wine.”
“I keep your photo in the pocket on the side without the gun. For balance.”
“It took them longer, a week or so, to notice the hole in their language that this new word had made. To grasp that there was no term for a parent without a child, a sister without a sister.”
“You can never stop being a mother. Never, never, never.”
“The pain bursts through Etta like caffeine,”
“Toxemia. A word that starts so harsh and ends so gently.”
“The students whipped their heads back to look at her; a blaspheming teacher was as exciting as a fight.”
“People could say things about Owen. They could. But they don’t. We don’t. Words are strong. The strongest. Worse than bruises on”
“The radio was a beautiful thing. It was hodgepodge and patched up on the outside, but on the inside it was filled with voices, filled with people and music and ideas from away, from far away. Otto took a breath and turned it on.”
“P.S. I know you have gone to see the water, and you should see it, Etta, you should, but, in case there are other reasons you’ve left, in case there are things you have discovered or undiscovered that you didn’t want to tell me in person, in that case, you can always tell me here. Tell me here and we can never mention it outside of paper and ink (or pencil).”
“Etta, it could be everything, it could be nothing, what you’re making up. You shouldn’t let that bother you.”
“you’re doing something Good, you said. Getting rid of the old and letting in the new. And, therefore, moving forward. Making progress. That’s all you have to do to move forward, sometimes, you said, just breathe. So don’t worry, Etta, if nothing else, I am still breathing. You”
“Kneading, Otto thought as he moved his hands up and down in the dough, was the best part. It was the connection point, between you and the food.”
“Otto's train was due in seven minutes. Etta stood on the platform and waited for the wind it would bring.”
“Chickens, children, they're all the same.”
“go do whatever, wherever. Go do it alone, and now, because you want to and you’re allowed to and you can.”
“He put his hands on her arms, above the elbow, held them in, and kissed her mouth and kissed her and kissed so that neither of them could breathe and neither of them wanted to.”
“There's a good kind of crazy, Kaylee," he insisted softly, reaching out to wrap his warm hand around mine. "It's the kind that makes you think about things that make your head hurt, because not thinking about them is the coward's way out. The kind that makes you touch people who bruise your soul, just because they need to be touched. This is the kind of crazy that lets you stare out into the darkness and rage at eternity, while it stares back at you, ready to swallow you whole."
Tod leaned closer, staring into my eyes so intently I was sure he could see everything I was thinking, but too afraid to say. "I've seen you fight, Kaylee. I've seen you step into that darkness for someone else, then claw your way out, bruised, but still standing. You're that kind of crazy, and I live in that darkness. Together, we'd take crazy to a whole new level.”
“La mente se comporta como un enemigo para aquellos que no la controlan”.”
“One of the pleasures of dealing with intelligent men, Lin Fong decided, watching seven people ride out the eastern gate in early-morning sunlight, was how much did not have to be spoken.”
“Thank you very much,” I said. “But I really ought to tell you: I’m not a lord.” The dwarf smiled tolerantly. “Of course not, my lord. Is there anything else we can do for you?”
“F. An F? She gulped air. An F! Failure. Failurino. Failurocity. Failtacular. Failpendous. Epic...fail.”
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