But Whenever I Meet

“But whenever I meet dynamic, nonretarded Americans, 

I notice that they all seem to share a single unifying characteristic: 

the inability to experience the kind of mind-blowing, 

transcendent romantic relationship they 

perceive to be a normal part of living. 

And someone needs to take the fall for this. 

So instead of blaming no one for this 

(which is kind of cowardly) or blaming everyone 

(which is kind of meaningless), 

I'm going to blame John Cusack.”

~ Chuck Klosterman, Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: 

A Low Culture Manifesto

And For That One Moment Of Freedom

“And for that one moment of freedom, 

you have to listen to all that love crap... 

it drives me nuts sometimes... 

I want to kick them out immediately... 

I do now and then. 

But that doesn't keep them away. 

They like it, in fact. 

The less you notice them the more they chase after you. 

There's something perverse about women... 

they're all masochists at heart.”

~ Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer

That's The Power of Literature

“That's the power of literature, you know, 

it can act like little love letters between

 two people who can only explain their 

feelings by pointing at other people's.”

~ Fredrik Backman, Anxious People

I Don't Know Someone Could Love Me Like This

“I didn't know someone could love me like this," she said. 

"Could love me and love me and love me without... needing space."

Lincoln wasn't asleep. 

He rolled on top of her.

"There's no air in space," he said.

~ Rainbow Rowell, Attachments

The Wounded Child Inside

“the wounded child inside many males is a boy who,

 when he first spoke his truths, 

was silenced by paternal sadism, 

by a patriarchal world that did not 

want him to claim his true feelings. 

The wounded child inside many females 

is a girl who was taught from early childhood

 that she must become something other than herself, 

deny her true feelings, in order to attract and please others. 

When men and women punish each other for truth-telling, 

we reinforce the notion that lies are better. 

To be loving we willingly hear the other’s truth, 

and most importantly, we affirm the value of truth-telling. 

Lies may make people feel better, 

but they do not help them to know love.”

~ Bell Hooks, All About Love: New Visions

We Met Each Other

“We met each other when we were young, 

before we knew enough about disappointment, 

and once we did we found we reminded each other of it.”

~ Nicole Krauss, The History of Love

Falling In Love

“Falling in love in a Christian way is to say,

'I am excited about your future and I want to be part of getting you there. 

I'm signing up for the journey with you. 

Would you sign up for the journey to my true self with me? 

It's going to be hard but I want to get there.”

~ Timothy Keller

Often Men

“Often men who have been emotionally 

neglected and abused as children by dominating 

mothers bond with assertive women, only to

 have their childhood feelings of being engulfed surface. 

While they could not 'smash their mommy' and 

still receive love, they find that they can engage 

in intimate violence with partners who respond

 to their acting out by trying harder to connect 

with them emotionally, hoping that the love 

offered in the present will heal the wounds of the past. 

If only one party in the relationship is working to create love, 

to create the space of emotional connection,

 the dominator model remains in place 

and the relationship just becomes a 

site for continuous power struggle.”

~ Bell Hooks

When We Fail To Set Boundaries

“When we fail to set boundaries 

and hold people accountable, 

we feel used and mistreated. 

This is why we sometimes attack 

who they are, which is far more hurtful than 

addressing a behavior or a choice.”

~ Brené Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection

When Forever Becomes A Place

“When forever becomes a place...

when forever ceases to be just a word… 

when it ceases to be just a measurement of time…

but instead becomes a place 

where soul mates can dance to the song in their hearts... 

that is a reflection of true love.”

~ Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

Your Absence

“Your absence has not taught me to be alone,

 it merely has shown that when together 

we cast a single shadow on the wall.”

~ Doug Fetherling

I Hope We'll Be Friends Forever

“I hope we'll be friends forever,

 together we'll always be. 

I don't think you understand 

just how much you mean to me. 

And one day when we part our ways, 

we'll think back to the past 

and think about how happy we are 

'cause our friendship will always last.”

~ Bridget Davis

But In The Real World

“But in the real world, you couldn't really 

just split a family down the middle, mom on one side, 

dad on the other, with the child equally divided between.

 It was like when you ripped a piece of paper into two: 

no matter how you tried, the seams never fit exactly right again.

 It was what you couldn't see, those tiniest of pieces, 

that were lost in the severing, and their 

absence kept everything from being complete.”

~ Sarah Dessen, What Happened to Goodbye

Caring About Someone

“Caring about someone isn't complicated. 

It isn't easy. But it isn't complicated, either. 

Kinda like lifting the engine block out of a car.”

~ Jim Butcher, Small Favor

I Don't Understand Dating

“I don't understand dating... 

and the other things that people do... 

all I know is that you ought to find the one you recognize. 

The one who gives you four arms, four legs, 

four eyes, and has the other half of your heart. 

There's only one of those, 

so what are all the other things for? 

Like dating?”

~ C. JoyBell C.