“She felt just like that girl in that book with the letter A on her chest. Only her A signified Alone. She was an outcast, cast out by her own choices, an outsider with a pretty face. Like a rose, she may have been beautiful to look at, but almost everyone only knew the thorny side.”
“We can t talk about it, or I know she won t so I don t even try, but it s what goes unsaid between people tat builds up like masonry. You have to either knock the bricks out with other things, or let them keep stacking until eventually you are alone in a room.”
“In my room I d barely closed my eyes when the blonde from the movie house came along and sang her whole song of sorrow just for me. I helped her put me to sleep, so to speak, and succeeded pretty well... I wasn t entirely alone... It s not possible to sleep alone...”
“I paid the taxi driver, got out with my suitcase, surveyed my surroundings, and just as I was turning to ask the driver something or get back into the taxi and return forthwith to Chillán and then to Santiago, it sped off without warning, as if the somewhat ominous solitude of the place had unleashed atavistic fears in the driver s mind. For a moment I too was afraid. I must have been a sorry sight standing there helplessly with my suitcase from the seminary, holding a copy of Farewell s Anthology in one hand. Some birds flew out from behind a clump of trees. They seemed to be screaming the name of that forsaken village, Querquén, but they also seemed to be enquiring who: quién, quién, quién. I said a hasty prayer and headed for a wooden bench, there to recover a composure more in keeping with what I was, or what at the time I considered myself to be. Our Lady, do not abandon your servant, I murmured, while the black birds, about twenty-five centimetres in length, cried quién, quién, quién. Our Lady of Lourdes, do not abandon your poor priest, I murmured, while other birds, about ten centimetres long, brown in colour, or brownish, rather, with white breasts, called out, but not as loudly, quién, quién, quién, Our Lady of Suffering, Our Lady of Insight, Our Lady of Poetry, do not leave your devoted subject at the mercy of the elements, I murmured, while several tiny birds, magenta, black, fuchsia, yellow and blue in colour, wailed quién, quién, quién, at which point a cold wind sprang up suddenly, chilling me to the bone.”
“Sometimes she sat and let her mind go blank and her eyes go out of focus, so that she watched the slow, jerky movements of the motes that floated across her pupils. They amazed her as a child. Now she saw them as a reflection of how she moved, floating listlessly through the world, occasionally bumping into another body without acknowledgment, and then floating on, free and alone.”
“I always thought the mirror was a strange gift. Would it not have been better to give me something useful, like silks…or valuable, like jewels? But I think my husband always suspected that he would meet a violent end and leave me to face the world alone. He told me that should there ever come a time when I needed answers, I would find them in this. I tried looking into it a few times, but whenever I saw my reflection, I was reminded of who was no longer standing beside me. It’s a lonely thing…to truly behold yourself.”
“I don t remember starting out that morning, but I do remember trying to sleep and feeling quite alone except for a dull, bittersweet ache.”
“You are not alone, ah blena.”
“That winner walks alone.”
“The fading blue of yesterdays sky is reminding of the hopeless love I told the moon about you.”
“GOD ALONE God alone is the Defender. God alone is the Deliver. God alone is the Eternal Creator. God alone is the Healer. God alone is the Divine Helper. God alone is the Savior. God alone is Sufficiency. God alone is the great Shepherd. God alone is the Sovereign LORD. God alone is the Safe Haven. God alone is the Source. God alone is the Sustainer. God alone is the Provider. God alone is the great Power. God alone is Peace. God alone is Protector. God alone is Maker. God alone is the great Master. God alone is the Mighty One. God alone is Merciful. God alone is the Builder. God alone is our righteous Judge. God alone is the Giver. God alone is the Restorer. God alone is the Redeemer. God alone forgives. God alone is the faithful heavenly Father. God alone is the Divine Being. God alone is Compassionate. God alone is Good. God alone is life. God alone is light. God alone is love. God alone is wise. God alone is the truth. God alone is the greatest Teacher. God alone is Almighty LORD. God alone is the great King. God alone is the OMEGA. God alone is the ALPHA. God alone is the Author of Faith. God alone is the Finisher. God alone is the Beginning. God alone is the End.”
“Better to be healthy alone than sick together. Repeat this to yourself until it sticks and stays.”
“I think two of the fundamental facts of being a person are 1. We must go on, and 2. None of us ever walks alone. We may feel alone (in fact, we will feel alone), but even in the crushing grind of isolation, we aren t alone.”
“You have nothing to prove by going it alone all the time. It’s okay to ask for help. Yes, sometimes in life, it’s a must to go and grow on your own, or you will stay the same. Be that as it may, there is nothing wrong with growing stronger together, if headed in the same direction. Not all battles need to be fought alone.”
“And then we were all alone.”
“It s so easy to feel alone, but Evan is exactly right, we re not alone.”
“Sometimes you have to stay alone, a little moment of solitude gives you the opportunity to knock on the door to your brain, and it opens to a sudden bright idea.”