farah_mo

Finally, my favorite quote
          	
          	“It was, I remembered thinking, the most difficult walk anyone ever had to make.
          	In every way, a walk to remember.”
          	
          	A Walk to Remember

farah_mo

“Jamie was more than just the woman I loved. In that year Jamie helped me become the man I am today. With her steady hand she showed me how important it was to help others; with her patience and kindness she showed me what life is really all about. Her cheerfulness and optimism, even in times of sickness, was the most amazing thing I have ever witnessed.”
          
          A Walk to Remember

farah_mo

“I know my jaw dropped a little, and I just stood there looking at her for what seemed like a long time, shocked into silence, until I suddenly remembered that I had a line I had to deliver. I took a deep breath, then slowly let it out.
          "You're beautiful," I finally said to her, and I think everyone in the whole auditorium, from the blue-haired ladies in front to my friends in the back row, knew that I actually meant it. ”
          
          A Walk to Remember

farah_mo

“Despite all these other strikes, though, the one thing that really drove me crazy about her was the fact that she was always so damn cheerful, no matter what was happening around her. I swear, that girl never said a bad thing about anything or anyone, even to those of us who weren't that nice to her. She would hum to herself as she walked down the street, she would wave to strangers driving by in their cars. Sometimes ladies would come running out of their house if they saw her walking by, offering her pumpkin bread if they'd been baking all day or lemonade if the sun was high in the sky. It seemed as if every adult in town adored her. "She's such a nice young lady," they'd say whenever Jamie's name came up. "The world would be a better place if there were more people like her.”
          
          A Walk to Remember

farah_mo

*Some quotes from Imagine Me*
          
          “Right, well.” Warner is on his feet. “I’m glad the attempt on my life was able to bring your family together. I’m leaving now.”
          
          —
          
          
          “Besides, we don’t love him for his jokes, do we, Nazeera?” The two of them lock eyes for a moment. “We love him for his heart.”
          
          —
          
          “I imagine love, I imagine wind, I imagine gold hair and green eyes and whispers, laughter
          I imagine
          Me
          extraordinary, unbroken
          the girl who shocked herself by surviving, the girl who loved herself through learning, the girl who respected her skin, understood her worth, found her strength s t r o n g
          s  t  r  o  n  g  e  r
          strongest
          Imagine me
          master of my own universe
          I am everything I ever dreamed of”
          
          —
          “Stop finishing my sentences,” he says, irritated.
          “Stop being so predictable.”
          “Stop acting like a child.”
          “You stop acting like a child.”
          “You are being ridicu—”
          
          —
          “Come back to me, love. Come back.”
          I’m still struggling to breathe, desperately searching his eyes for answers. Explanations. 
          “Where?”
          “Here,” he whispers, pressing my hands to his heart. “Home.”
          —
          
          “To the world, she is formidable.
          To me?
          She is the world.”

farah_mo

“Some days, no matter how far back I go, I can’t seem to find the good times. Some days, the occasional happiness I’ve known feels like a bizarre dream. An error. Hyperreal and unfocused, the colors too bright and the sounds too strong.
          Figments of my imagination.”
          
          —
          
          “A flicker of relief flashes through his eyes, too quickly replaced by pain.
          And then he calls out two words—two words I never thought I’d inspire him to say:
          “Help me.”
          —
          
          “Where’s the guy who was going to propose to my best friend? Where’s the guy having a panic attack on his bedroom floor? Where’s the guy who laughed so hard his cheeks dimpled? Where’s the guy I thought was my friend?
          “What happened to you, man?” I whisper. “Where’d you go?”
          —
          
          “Hey, princess.” Kenji waves. “You okay?”
          —
          
          “What reason would you have to be afraid of Warner? He’s such a nice guy. Loves children. Big talker. Oh, and bonus: He no longer murders people professionally. No, now murdering people is just a fulfilling hobby.”
          
          —
          
          “James hesitates. “Did everyone know? Did Kenji know?”
          I stiffen.
          Warner turns again, this time staring precisely in my direction when he says, “Why don’t you ask him yourself ?”
          “Son of a bitch,” I mutter, my invisibility melting away. 
          Warner almost smiles. James’s eyes go wide.”
          
          —
          
          “Warner jerks away from me and takes a long, irritated breath. The sound of it almost makes me smile. Feels like old times.”
          —
          “It was Juliette who pulled us through.
          Those were the days when she and I got really close. That was when I realized I could not only trust her and open up to her, but that I could depend on her.”
          
          —
          
          “If it weren’t for her—if it weren’t for what she did, for all of us—I don’t know where we’d be.
          She saved our lives.
          She saved my life, that’s for sure. Reached out a hand in the darkness. Pulled me out.”
          
          —
          
          “I’m looking at him and I’m remembering the look on his face when he blew out his birthday candles.”
          
          —

farah_mo

“The more I got to know people, the more I realized we were all just a bunch of frightened idiots walking around in the dark, bumping into each other and panicking for no reason.”
          
          Excerpt From
          A Very Large Expanse of Sea
          Tahereh Mafi