Kristin Hannah Zitate

“I am a mother and mothers don’t have the luxury of falling apart in front of their children, even when they are afraid, even when their children are adults.”

“Maybe time didn't heal wounds exactly, but it gave you a kind of armor, or a new perspective. A way to remember with a smile instead of a sob.”

“Sometimes being a good friend means saying nothing.”

“If you’re going through hell, keep going.”

“A daughter without her mother is a woman broken. It is a loss that turns to arthritis and settles deep into her bones.”

“That was the thing about best friends. Like sisters and mothers, they could piss you off and make you cry and break your heart, but in the end, when the chips were down, they were there, making you laugh even in your darkest hours.”

“But love has to be stronger than hate, or there is no future for us.”

“To make real friends you have to put yourself out there. Sometimes people will let you down, but you can't let that stop you. If you get hurt, you just pick yourself up, dust off your feelings, and try again.”

“That was what a best friend did: hold up a mirror and show you your heart.”

“Wounds heal. Love lasts. We remain.”

“And before you barrel through some idiotic Cosmo girl list of how-well-do-you-know-your-man questions, let me say that I don't know squat about him except that he kisses like a god and screws like a devil.”

“I always thought it was what I wanted: to be loved and admired. Now I think perhaps I'd like to be known.”

“Love. It was the beginning and end of everything, the foundation and the ceiling and the air in between.”

“Some stories don’t have happy endings. Even love stories. Maybe especially love stories.”

“One thing I can tell you for sure is this: we only regret what we don't do in life.”

“Perhaps that’s why I find myself looking backward. The past has a clarity I can no longer see in the present.”

“I know that grief, like regret, settles into our DNA and remains forever a part of us.”

“Today’s young people want to know everything about everyone. They think talking about a problem will solve it. I come from a quieter generation. We understand the value of forgetting, the lure of reinvention.”

“But when he looked at her—and she looked at him—they both knew that there was something worse than kissing the wrong person. It was wanting to.”

“This is the problem with forever friends. They know too much.”

“Thoughts - even fears - were airy things, formless until you made them solid with your voice and once given that weight, they could crush you.”

“You’re not alone, and you’re not the one in charge,” Mother said gently. “Ask for help when you need it, and give help when you can. I think that is how we serve God—and each other and ourselves—in times as dark as these.”

“It is easy to disappear when no one is looking at you.”

“Tante Isabelle says it’s better to be bold than meek. She says if you jump off a cliff at least you’ll fly before you fall.”

“Finding your passion isn't just about careers and money. It's about finding your authentic self. The one you've buried beneath other people's needs.”

“In love we find out who we want to be, in war we find out who we are.”

“You are my sunlight in the dark and the ground beneath my feet.”

“Of course you can fall in love. You just have to let yourself. They don't call it falling for nothing.
-Kate”

“It isn’t about being at the same school or the same town or even the same room. It’s about being together. Love is a choice you make.”