Twenties Girl

It's not enough to believe! Don't you see that, you stupid girl? You could spend your whole life hoping and believing! If a love affair is one-sided, then it's only ever a question, never an answer. You can't live your life waiting for an answer.

You can't just switch off your feelings because the other person did.

No human on God's earth is a nobody.

You can want and want and want, but if he doesn't want you back ... you might as well wish the sky were red.

It's just the way things are. And you can't dwell on what might have been. You have to look at what is.

Everyone knows revenge is a dish best served when you've had enough time to build up enough vitriol and fury.

I'm allergic to family occasions. Sometimes I think we'd do better as dandelion seeds-no family, no history, just floating off into the world, each on our own piece of fluff.

The worst thing a girl can do is trail after a boy when a love affair is dead.

L: You want me just to be your... friend? E: You want the truth? I think you're my guardian angel. L: What? E: Do you know what it's like to have someone crash into your life with no warning? When you landed in my office, I was like, Who the fuck is this? But you shook me up. You brought me back to life at a time when I was in limbo. You were just what I needed... You're just what I need. L: Well I need you too. So we're even. E: No, you don't need me. You're doing just fine. L: Ok. Maybe I don't need you. But... I want you.

Honestly, it’s so easy to get what you want from people if they think you’re a psycho.

Life is like an escalator. You see, it carries you on regardless. And you might as well enjoy the view and seize every opportunity while you're passing. Otherwise, it'll be too late.

I know what it's like to squander all your hours and all your tears and all your heart on something which turns out to be nothing. Don't waste your time.

The thing about lying to your parents is, you have to do it to protect them. It’s for their own good.

Life takes us on different paths... It's not up to us to evaluate or judge them, merely respect and embrace them. (Lara Lington - to Sadie Lancaster)

I can see the warmth. He's falling for me.

Your father always tries to see the good side of people; to find the excuse. But sometimes there isn't a good side. There isn't an excuse. (Mom - to Lara Lington)

She was the most beautiful thing you ever saw. She was radiant. And she was wearing this necklace... When you see the necklace in the painting, it all makes sense. He loved her. Even if she lived to one hundred and five without ever getting an answer.

Some of us have hearts, you know. Some of us don't give up on true love.

...you may be able to sway people's heads. But you can't sway their hearts.

I had fun. That’s what I believe in. Fun, flings, the sizzle. It starts as a shiver, when you see a man for the first time. And then he meets your eye and the shiver runs down your back and becomes a sizzle in your stomach and you think 'I want to dance with that man.' You dance, you have a cocktail or two, you flirt.

If your life's at a juncture and you need to think about things, there's nowhere better than home. However old you are.

I often wonder what she's thinking," says Ed, still gazing up at her. "That's quite an intriguing expression she has." "I often wonder that myself," chimes in Malcolm Gledhill eagerly. "She seems to have such a look of serenity and happiness...Obviously, from what you've said, she has a certain emotional connection with the painter Malory...I often wonder if he was reading her poetry as he painted..." "What an idiot this man is," says Sadie scathingly in my ear. "It's obvious I what I'm thinking. I'm looking at Stephan and I'm thinking, I want to jump his bones." "She wanted to jump his bones," I say to Malcolm Gledhill. Ed shoots me a disbelieving look, then bursts into laughter.

How are you going to forget him if you keep talking about him? Darling, when things go wrong in life, this is what you do. You lift your chin, put on a ravishing smile, mix yourself a little cocktail... and out you go.

Sometimes, when I can't get to sleep, I imagine all the rules I'd invent if I ever got to be in charge of the world.

It's easy to discount family. It's easy to take them for granted. But your family is your history. Your family is part of who you are.

I can never resist telling people good news. I mean, why not brighten someone else's life too?

Oh, my God, you smiled! Mr. American Frown actually smiled!" "Must have been a mistake. I'll speak to someone about it. Won't happen again." "Well, good. Because you could do your face and injury, just smiling like that.

I want him." "I'm sorry?" I peer at her, flicking my mobile open out of habit. "The man I just met. I felt it, right here. The sizzle." She presses her concave stomach. "I want to dance with him.

To be honest, going out with Ed after Josh is like moving on to Duchy Originals super-tasty seeded loaf after plastic white bread. (I don't mean to be rude about Josh. And I didn't realize it at the time. But it is. He is. Plastic white bread.)

When I was your age, if a boy behaved badly, one simply scored his name out from one's dance card. (Sadie Lancaster - to Lara Lington)