We All Live Here

by Jojo Moyes

You simply have to forget everything else, to shed your self-consciousness, word by word, to close your eyes and inhabit this imaginary self, so much wilder and less inhibited than she actually is. It turns out the conversation is swift, and effective, and has a gratifying, audible end.

All that really matters is how someone makes you feel,

these few months have reinforced one thing, it is the knowledge that the only person you can truly rely on is yourself. Lila straightens her shoulders, takes a deep breath and, with renewed determination in her stride, heads toward home.

There are periods of your life in which all that is really required is to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

there is something liberating in simply telling the truth, in the black-and-white knowledge of what she can and cannot do.

she told herself that sometimes it was necessary to make a mistake to persuade yourself of what was right and important.

I like my madness visible from the outside.”

I’ve only ever really felt like I was on my own. I think my whole life I’ve felt I was on my own. And I know I can be on my own—I’m pretty good at it—but I just…I just want to do it all with you. You make me feel better about pretty much anything. You make me feel like who I am is basically okay.