“She was telling me that I had a life of disappointment before me if I continued to love him as I did. A love that is too strong can turn poisonous and bring great unhappiness. And then, what is the remedy? Can you unlearn your heart s desire? Can you stop loving someone? Easier to drown yourself; easier to take the lover s leap.”
“A broken heart is something even I can’t protect you from. I’ve been alone for so long, and believe me, all that does is provide a false sense of security. Being alone doesn’t erase the deep yearning that exists in all of us. We are not solitary creatures. You have to love and open your heart. If not, what is it we are trying to save? When it swallows you whole, remember it means you’ve lived.”
“Seeing his face after months was as immediate as a pointed gun.”
“Love—such a keen mystery prone to pierce and shatter the delicate heart. Yet it possesses more strength, power, and influence than any other magic known to man. ”
“Let us embrace, and from this very moment vow an eternal misery together.”
“I knew it would be all of those things and so much more to me, but it was his heart I was yanking from his chest with my decision, and that’s what mattered to me. I was giving up a piece of my own as well, but it was a choice. His was just collateral.”
“Love is just like the flower; it has hidden depths that we rarely ever explore. Beneath the surface lies a network of roots. You can admire the flower for what it is, or you can dig deeper. The more you dig, the more you will find. The real reasons we love a person sometimes exist in the darkest and deepest part of us, the part that knows no logic…or rationale.”
“One night I heard my dad say to my mom: I can t help but think of the good times we re having now as being painful memories later on. And my mom saying, c mon now honey.”
“Once in a while, I smell Clive on my skin and it stops my day. It s a train crossing; I wait to pass. Eventually the lights stop flashing, the barriers lift. I keep moving.”
“It didn t matter how wonderful Andrew was and how much effort he was prepared to put into their relationship. While Lou didn t feel the same way, his love was only building a tower without foundations.”
“I had fallen out of my secure world, precipitated beyond the territories I had only begun to control so skillfully. What a foolish step to take. What an insane move to make.”
“You reached into my chest with your words. When you spoke, my heart danced. Love muddled thoughts based in reason. Interest withered like a flower in dry heat then your words wrapped themselves around my heart and yanked it from my body. Now I stand bewildered by the sight of my heart beating on the cold concrete floor.”
“Now that he s gone, I feel like I m a senior citizen who gave away her life savings over the phone. And this is the crux: I never in my life believed in someone as much as I believed in him. The shame is overwhelming.”
“First he threw out all of his records, trashed his heart and then he went to sleep.”
“I had that feeling you have when you re watching a sad movie, sobbing at the heartbreak you are feeling at the same time that you know the heartbreak isn t exactly real, that it will be gone by the time you get home and make a cup of tea. I found a lot of life like that when I was younger, as though I was practicing for what came later.”
“Parade my trouble in front of you guys? Make you realize that my heart is broken . . . that as long as I live I ll have chains dragging me down to the oceans of sad tears that my feet are wet in already.”
“...I never would have seen Chelsea reach up, take Logan s face in her hands, and kiss him. So the off again was definitely on again. And I knew then that Patrick was very wrong about my heart, because if it had actually been an encyclopedia I could have watched it all with perfect composure.”