November 9

by Colleen Hoover

girls change more between the ages of sixteen and twenty-three than at any other time in their lives. And it’s important to her that I don’t spend any of these years in love with some guy, because if I do, she fears I’ll never learn how to fall in love with myself.

“To begin, at the beginning.” —Dylan Thomas

“Why didn’t you tell me that the foundation you taught me to stand on is made from quicksand?”

“When I say you just know, it’s because you will. You won’t question it. You don’t wonder if what you feel is actually love, because when it is, you’ll be absolutely terrified that you’re in it. And when that happens, your priorities will change. You won’t think about yourself and your own happiness. You’ll only think about that person, and how you would do anything to see them happy. Even if it meant walking away from them and sacrificing your own happiness for theirs.”

“That’s what love is, Ben. Love is sacrifice.”

When you’re willing to give up the things that mean the most to you just to see someone else happy, that’s real love.”