My Friends

by Fredrik Backman

And she’s particularly angry about rich people buying art, because rich people are the worst sort of adults, and the worst way to vandalize art is actually to put a damn price tag on it. That’s why rich adults hate the sort of thing that Louisa paints on the walls of buildings, not because they love walls, but because they hate the fact that there are beautiful things that are free.

Adults always think they can protect children by stopping them from going to dangerous places, but every teenager knows that’s pointless, because the most dangerous place on earth is inside us.

Art is empathy.

Grown men don’t have enough things they’re afraid of on this planet to become good at running.

no one could paint friendship like this without first having been a completely lonely child.

This is a painting of laughter, and you can only understand that if you’re full of holes, because then laughter is a small treasure.

If you’ve had people who can make you laugh like that, you never forget it.

In a world full of sledgehammers, his art was a declaration of war.

“My friend Fish couldn’t handle being alive. She was hurting too much. But I think I’d like to try, to be alive.”

that our teenage years have to simultaneously be the brightest light and the darkest depths, because that’s how we learn to figure out our horizons.

That’s all of life. All we can hope for. You mustn’t think about the fact that it might end, because then you live like a coward, you never love too much or sing too loudly. You have to take it for granted, the artist thinks, the whole thing: sunrises and slow Sunday mornings and water balloons and another person’s breath against your neck. That’s the only courageous thing a person can do.

because in grief we are reminded that we’re human beings. In life we might be enemies, but when faced with death, we see the truth: we are one species, all we have is each other, and where you go, I shall follow.

“If you were his friend, I’m sorry. Because the whole world lost an artist, but you lost your human. And I’m sorry you had to share that with the rest of us. You should be allowed to have your grief in peace.”

the ultimate expression of love is nagging, we don’t nag anyone the way we nag the people we love.

the world has spent thousands of years practicing how to puncture the lungs of children who are different.

It’s hard to say “I love you” when you’re fourteen years old. And completely impossible to dare to whisper: “Don’t hurt yourself, because you’d be hurting me too.”

Children have two worlds, the one they have been given and the one they can dream about,

angry at death for having such good taste. Always taking the best first.

When you get old, gravity pulls the corners of your mouth down, the road to a smile grows longer.

“I understand,” she whispers. “I’m sorry that you do,” he whispers back.

Friendship is special when you’re a teenager, you can feel in your skin when there’s something wrong.

“Do you always moan this much? Is that why someone stabbed you?”

there’s a difference between being loved and receiving love,”

Nature gains nothing from unhappy children, yet they are still walking around everywhere, without the words to describe their anxiety.

“She never wanted to be a mother.” That was the kindest thing the artist could remember his dad saying about him, because at least he never said that he didn’t want to be a dad.

They never understood how special it is to be abnormal.

The most dangerous place on earth is inside us.

sometimes you don’t appreciate your own blessings until you see the envy in someone else.

because every day may not have been the best day, but with Fish at least you knew that the day had a chance.

“Isn’t it like, totally unbelievable that we even exist? So it won’t be a tragedy when we don’t exist anymore! It’s just cool, really cool, that we happened at all.”

loneliness was better than disappointment.

You can choose to be alone, but no one chooses to be left.

“It suits you, that laugh. I’m glad they didn’t manage to take it from you.” “Who?” “All the people who have tried.”

Not even death had the energy to argue with that girl.

it was actually pretty remarkable that such a small woman could have a back large enough for half the town to talk about her behind it.

But there’s no harder person on the planet than a romantic with a broken heart.”

He jumped up and down on the pier and just screamed out loud with joy. How many reasons do you get to do that in an entire life?

So right then, at the age of fourteen, he came up with his artist name: C. Jat. The initials of Christian, Joar, Ali, and Ted.

But for Ted it’s impossible to come home now, he realizes, because home was the people.

The world is full of miracles, but none greater than how far a young person can be carried by someone else’s belief in them.

“His name was Kimkim. That other name, C. Jat, that was just what he put on his paintings. That was what he used when he became famous. Because then he probably felt like… someone else. But when he was with us, when we were his, then he was just Kimkim.”

Disappointment is a powerful thing. Used correctly, it is stronger than fear, more terrible than physical pain, if you see it in the eyes of the one you love, you’ll do almost anything to make it stop.

“Ted gives everyone more love. But I think you’ve both given each other the same amount: everything you had.”

That’s the worst thing about death, that it happens over and over again.

it’s scary to go back to a place where you hurt so badly and felt so small as he did here, you think you’re going to become the same person again.