Quotes from book

She's Come Undone

“This was what could happen to you: you could end up this far from where you thought you were going.”

“Who gets the change?" the clerk asked. "You or… your fella?"
Oh, he's not my boyfriend," I said. "He's my mother.”

“I thought about how love was always the thing that did that - smashed into you, left you raw. The deeper you loved, the deeper it hurt.”

“All the dead bolts, pulled shades and hidden knives in the world couldn't protect you from the truth.”

“It was a matter of perspective, I began to see.
The whole world was crazy; I'd flattered myself by assuming I was a semifinalist."
-- Dolores Price”

“Here is a girl who is pretty in a quiet way. I bet she's had a very sad life.”

“He's splitting me open, I thought. He'll break me and then I'll die.”

“If you want your prayers answered, get up off your knees and do something about them.”

“But I think this: that whatever prices I've paid, whatever sorrows I shoulder, well, I have blessings, too. Not just my family now, but the others-the ones who have died… They're with me still. They're here…”

“Life seemed nearest to acceptable at four A. M.”

“I think… the secret is to just settle for the shape of your life takes… Instead of you know, always waiting and wishing for whatmake you happy.”

“That time we separated was my idea. I thought, well, I'm fifty years old and there might be someone else out there. People waste their happiness - that's what makes me sad. Everyone's so scared to be happy.”

“Getting a job scared her but she was determined not to shy away from risk. That’s what life’s all about. Climbing out onto the airplane wing and jumping off.”

“Love is like breathing. You take it in and let it out.”

“If you risked love, it took you wherever you wanted to go. If you repressed it, you ended up unhappy.”