“Isn’t it weird that we had nothing at the time … but somehow it felt like we had everything.”
― Renee Carlino, quote from Swear on This Life
“We can’t always control our circumstances, who our parents are, where we live, or how much money we make, but in those rare moments when we can shape our fate, when we do have the power to make our own happiness, we can’t be too scared to do it.”
― Renee Carlino, quote from Swear on This Life
“It’s impossible to really hate someone if you don’t love them at least a little.”
― Renee Carlino, quote from Swear on This Life
“In real life we have a hard time recognizing serendipitous moments because we’re not making the story up as we go along. It’s not a lie—it’s really happening to us, and we have no idea how it will end. Some of us will look back on our lives and recall events that were a bit too perfect, but until you know the whole story, it’s impossible to see the universe at work, or even admit that there is something bigger than us, making sure everything that should happen does happen. If you can surrender to the idea that there might be a plan, instead of reducing every magical moment to a coincidence, then love will find you.”
― Renee Carlino, quote from Swear on This Life
“It’s like reading a good book. The kind where you don’t want to skip pages to see what happens at the end. Each moment is a story in itself.”
― Renee Carlino, quote from Swear on This Life
“I thought loving someone meant letting go, but by the time I learned that loving someone means fighting for them too, it was too late.”
― Renee Carlino, quote from Swear on This Life
“This could be the best thing for us, after it stops being the worst.”
― Renee Carlino, quote from Swear on This Life
“We can’t go backward. There are too many regrets. Please just move forward with me?”
― Renee Carlino, quote from Swear on This Life
“For my Em. Don’t wait this long. Come let me love you.”
― Renee Carlino, quote from Swear on This Life
“Our story is great. Maybe not all the other shit, but the story of us is perfect, Em.”
― Renee Carlino, quote from Swear on This Life
“the past would only fester and eat away at us if we tried to hold on to it too tightly.”
― Renee Carlino, quote from Swear on This Life
“I love you, Emiline. I loved you before I even knew what it meant.”
― Renee Carlino, quote from Swear on This Life
“You’re my best friend.” I said to him.
“I’m so in love with you.” His eyes were pleading.”
― Renee Carlino, quote from Swear on This Life
“Jason Dean Colbertson, how’d you get so great?” There was silence. He kept his eyes closed and said, “You made me this way, Em.”
― Renee Carlino, quote from Swear on This Life
“Having a bunch of shitty adults constantly letting you down really kills a kid's view of the world.”
― Renee Carlino, quote from Swear on This Life
“You’re all I have left. You’re holding my whole world together, Em.”
― Renee Carlino, quote from Swear on This Life
“There was nothing we could do; we were just a couple of powerless, poor kids, so desperate to find a way to be together.”
― Renee Carlino, quote from Swear on This Life
“I love you, Emiline. I loved you before I even knew what it meant.”
“I love you too, Jase…I’ll love you forever.”
“Swear to me.”
“I swear I want this.”
He was staring right into my eyes. “Swear that you love me and trust me,” he said.
I knew the feeling like my own name. “Jase…” I swallowed and then tears filled my eyes. “I swear to god on your life and my own that I love you and trust you.”
And that I’ll love you forever.”
― Renee Carlino, quote from Swear on This Life
“We didn’t know it at the time, but we were lovesick. Our innocence was beautiful, impossible to capture again, impossible to re-create.”
― Renee Carlino, quote from Swear on This Life
“If you can surrender to the idea that there might be a plan, instead of reducing every magical moment to a coincidence, then love will find you.”
― Renee Carlino, quote from Swear on This Life
“It was about you... what I wrote. It was all about you." His bottom lip began to quiver.
"I know," I said, my voice shaky. I started to cry then. There was no holding back. "I loved it, every word. It was so beautiful.”
― Renee Carlino, quote from Swear on This Life
“Sometimes people who love us make us do hard things because it’s what’s right.”
― Renee Carlino, quote from Swear on This Life
“it’s like reading a good book. The kind where you don’t want to skip pages to see what happens at the end. Each moment is a story in itself.”
― Renee Carlino, quote from Swear on This Life
“I don’t know much about fate, but I know something brought me back there. Maybe I fought that force for too long, or maybe everything happened exactly the way it was supposed to. The”
― Renee Carlino, quote from Swear on This Life
“We can't always control our circumstances, who are parents are, where we live, or how much money we make, but in those rare moments when we can shape our fate, when we do have the power to make our own happiness, we can't be too scared to do it.”
― Renee Carlino, quote from Swear on This Life
“he looked up through the passenger window, kissed his hand, and waved. I did the same.”
― Renee Carlino, quote from Swear on This Life
“I turned toward her with red, puffy eyes. Her own eyes widened with concern, and she froze as she watched me walk into the kitchen, like she was waiting for me to crumple onto the floor and shatter into pieces.
“I’m fine,” I said. “It’s an emotional book. I’m just getting a glass of water.” I reached for the tequila.
She got up and followed me into the kitchen. “That’s not water.”
“And?”
“It’s ten a.m.”
“And?”
“You look like you’ve been crying for an hour straight . . . and you’re hitting the hard stuff at—and I repeat—ten a.m.”
“Cara, you have the most amazing powers of perception.” I looked at the bottle in one hand and the glass in the other, shrugged, set the glass down, and headed back to my room with the bottle only.
“I’m worried about you,” Cara called out as I walked away.
“I’m fine. Just gonna sit in here, read, and have myself a little mental health day.” I turned and smiled and then locked myself in my room.
“Mental health days don’t usually involve tequila at ten a.m.!” she yelled through the door.
“I’m fine!”
― Renee Carlino, quote from Swear on This Life
“Jackson leaned down and pecked me on the lips. “’Bye, Em.”
I grabbed his face and leaned in close to his ear. “Love you.”
I’ll always have trouble remembering the first time we said, I love you, because by the time we said it freely, we had been feeling it for years. It was as natural as saying, See you later.
“Love you,” he said, before turning and leaving a captivated Sophia and a longing Emerson behind on the library steps.
“Oh my god, he’s such a dreamboat.”
I laughed. “People don’t use that expression anymore, Sophie. That was, like, way before your time.”
“I know, but I like it and it suits him.”
“Yeah, you’re right, it does. Come on, let’s get some books.”
― Renee Carlino, quote from Swear on This Life
Renee Carlino
Born date May 11, 2018
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“Why do you always have to be right. Why do you always have to have the last word. For once in your life just let it go.”
― Joan Didion, quote from The Year of Magical Thinking
“He wish'd to please everybody; and, having little to give, he gave expectations.”
― Benjamin Franklin, quote from The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
“It was unforgiveable,” I said. “But I forgive you.”
― Jamie McGuire, quote from Providence
“There was a typhoon the day you were born... It is said that a Dragon born in a storm will have a particularly tempestuous fate. You always believe you are right, and this makes you do things you shouldn't... You're a Dragon, and of all the signs only a Dragon can tame the fates. Only a Dragon can wear all the horns of destiny, duty, and power. Your sister is merely a Sheep...”
― Lisa See, quote from Shanghai Girls
“I can't seem to fathom that the things important to me are not important to other people as well, and so I come off sounding like a missionary, someone whose job is to convert rather than listen. ... It's not that I don't like her - far from it - I just worry that, without a regular job and the proper linoleum, she'll fall through a crack and disappear to a place where we can't find her.”
― David Sedaris, quote from Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
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The Seven Storey Mou...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.
