Ray Smith > Ray's Quotes

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#1

“Love is eternal . . . There is no end to that kind of love, even if the lovers’ bodies ceased to exist. That love is manifested everywhere else, in a million other couples worldwide, and probably a few not far from where I am driving, up the freeway, through a world I thought I knew but admit that I don’t know at all.”
― Ray Smith, The Magnolia That Bloomed Unseen

tags: e-readers, e-reading, fill-my-heart-with-love, love-knows-no-boundaries

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#2

“That was Sunday, June 5th, 2016—two years, ten months, and seventeen days ago. The next morning, Monday, June 6th, 2016, she began telling me the second story, the one that you have in front of you now. The story that changed my life and, if I were to wager a gentleman’s bet, maybe change yours too.”
― Ray Smith, The Magnolia That Bloomed Unseen

tags: change-life, change-your-life, romance, romance-novels, story-of-my-life, storytime

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#3

“Self-pity, in a world of famine and war, is an obscene self-indulgence.”
― Ray Smith, The Magnolia That Bloomed Unseen

tags: cruelty-of-the-world, in-a-world-full-of-cruelty, self-indulgence-quotes, self-pity, self-pity-quotes

4 likes

#4

“She had always thought history was made up of grand gestures, as recent, momentous events seem to demonstrate. The British Prime Minister kowtowing to the Nazi Fuehrer at Munich, the quarter-million troops landing on D-Day, the two atomic bombs that ended World War II. But now she knew better. History could be judged grand even if the event was, on the surface, small. For here, right in front of her, was history in the flesh, history that would be immortalized in print and film. The city council and mayor had surrendered, and evidently so had the biggest department store in town.”
― Ray Smith, The Magnolia That Bloomed Unseen

tags: great-men-and-women, historical, history, history-politics, history-will-remember-us, immortality, rememberance

1 likes

#5

“I don’t mind you pouring lemonade or whatever on us, but as soon as you hit a woman, I get mad. And that’s one show you don’t want the curtains to go up on.”
― Ray Smith, The Magnolia That Bloomed Unseen

tags: anger-quotes, dont-fuck-with-me, intimidating-yet-funny, intimidation-quotes, limits-of-tolerance, threatening, whatever

8 likes

#6

“Of course, I know the answer. I went into teaching as a stepping stone to my writing career, and when that fizzled and died, I was cut adrift and so very resentful. How does that John Lennon song go? “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” That was me. I was so angry and frustrated by my failed writing ambitions, I couldn’t see my life as a teacher being fulfilling in its own right. I missed it—but now I see it.”
― Ray Smith, The Magnolia That Bloomed Unseen

tags: anger-quotes, angry-quote, angry-with-god, failed, waste-of-life

1 likes

#7

“No, life has no soundtrack, just the daily grind occasionally alleviated by short-lived bursts of happiness—a vacation, the birth of a child, retirement. This is my life and the life of everyone I know—all my friends, all my family members, everyone with whom I have more than a passing acquaintance. I’ve spent nearly forty-five years on this planet, and the majority of those years—my adult years, my reality-based years—have shown me that the adventure Molly and John had no longer exists. This is why I so want Molly to wake up and tell me that I’m wrong.”
― Ray Smith, The Magnolia That Bloomed Unseen

tags: boring-life, going-through-the-motions, happiness-in-life, mundane-life, mundane-reality, short-lived, short-lived-moments, temporary-happiness

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#8

“For the people of her town—and she would guess the vast majority of humanity—observed the world not with their minds and imagination but solely with their eyes, which was a severe limitation.”
― Ray Smith, The Magnolia That Bloomed Unseen

tags: conventional, conventional-thinking, imagination, lack-of-knowledge, lack-of-perspective, limitations, poverty-mindset

1 likes

#9

“He had envisioned each contour and line of her face, the spellbinding individuality of personal detail. Here was a woman who had lived, and that life had been kind and good. And within that goodness lay true glamour, which was far more than the sum of ephemeral, physical parts. That was why, even attired in an unpretentious house dress, her forty-eight-year-old face scarcely made up, Molly was glamorous in a way that put in the shade women half her age and on the cover of fashion magazines.”
― Ray Smith, The Magnolia That Bloomed Unseen

tags: attractive-power, looks-don-t-matter, overlooked, physical-appearance, physical-attraction, true-beauty, unseen-beauty

2 likes

#10

“Robert Frost wrote about “two roads diverg[ing] in a wood” and taking “the one less traveled.” But, in Molly’s case, both roads continued on to equally devastating destinations, even if the specifics were different. Which of the two paths would you choose if one went off a cliff and the other into quicksand?”
― Ray Smith, The Magnolia That Bloomed Unseen

tags: bad-news, choice-quotes, clear-mind, fork-in-the-road, life-choices, prepare-for-the-worst, road-less-travelled-quotes

1 likes

#11

“For as Molly looked at him, she felt an immediate … she didn’t know what. Despite her love of the language arts, she also possessed an analytic mind, and that mind straightaway tried to seek out the why. And it couldn’t unearth the reason apart from his smile. Or, rather, how he smiled at her—warm and full-armed, like the embrace from a long-absent friend, without the slightest trace of fakeness or concealed motive. His was the most open face she’d ever seen in her life. Concomitant with these sensations, all delivered within a split second, was a thought, seemingly originating not in her mind but from the center of her torso and radiating out to the ends of each nerve, inexplicable in its suddenness and surety. A thought that children and very young people might have, but never middle-aged adults, especially one with a divorce behind her and the conviction that she already knew the world and what it was able to offer. But there it was, undeniably, the thought: I’m on a great adventure.”
― Ray Smith, The Magnolia That Bloomed Unseen

tags: build-rapport, emotional-connections, explaining-yourself, first-impressions, first-meeting, love-at-first-sight, meeting-someone, nonverbal-communication, power-of-a-smile

7 likes

#12

“In his lifetime, he had seen enough injustice to know the world was cold and remorseless and didn’t care one fig about the happiness of people. He tried to live a good life and devote that life to helping others, but he never thought the world would reward him for his efforts. Such a thought would be the ultimate in self-deluding self-aggrandizement, for why would the world care one iota about him?”
― Ray Smith, The Magnolia That Bloomed Unseen

tags: brown-skin, delusions-of-grandeur, good-life, guard-your-heart, reward, self-delusion, ugliness-of-life, ugly-world

3 likes

#13

“A hundred years from now, folks will look back at this time period and think, Wow, what an incredible moment it must’ve been to be alive. Syrian refugees, human trafficking, climate change—the whole world is out there waiting to be saved. And you’ll have a grand adventure doing it, even if only in what you consider a small, locally based way. You know, you already have as a teacher.”
― Ray Smith, The Magnolia That Bloomed Unseen

tags: better-than-yesterday, busy-life, dont-lose-faith, keep-fighting, look-on-the-bright-side, never-be-afraid, stop-wishing-and-start-doing, value-of-life, world-needs-more-love, you-can-do-anything

17 likes

#14

“A minute after Bethanee had disappeared into the back, John emerged. Gorgeous, damp-haired John in his form-fitting denims. The Marlboro Man minus the nicotine-stained fingers and, admittedly, the thirty-inch waist.”
― Ray Smith, The Magnolia That Bloomed Unseen

tags: attraction-quotes, funny-quotes, guys, hot-guys, humor-relationships, men, skinny-jeans

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#15

“As she drove, she surprised herself with a sudden laugh. How blind, infinitely blind, she had been to think that men’s inability to see her forty-eight-year-old self was a regret or, worse, a failing on her own part. No, what it really was was a blessing, for that inability had separated the wheat from the chaff. The spotlight was indeed always there but only for someone perceptive enough, brave enough, mature enough to see it still shining above her head.”
― Ray Smith, The Magnolia That Bloomed Unseen

tags: be-happy-with-yourself, be-kind-to-yourself, do-your-thing, facing-your-demons, never-settle-for-less, proud-to-be-me, self-love-is-the-best-love, take-care-of-your-health, two-sides-to-every-story, you-deserve-to-be-happy

12 likes

#16

“Except those images weren’t exact captures of reality. No, the Camera Eye was also suffused with what photographers called the Golden Hour—the gilt-tinted hour following sunrise and preceding sunset, when the world was awash with russet rays and even the meanest streets were aglow as if in an Arthurian legend. Every moment spent with John was like that, reality beyond reality. Richer, realer, rawer than reality. These were the moments she remembered most.”
― Ray Smith, The Magnolia That Bloomed Unseen

tags: cameras, golden-hour, grass-is-greener, happy-memories, memorable-moments, memories-of-love, morning-sun, sunrise-quotes, sunset-quotes

12 likes

#17

“He realized that his past life, his past lonely life, hadn’t been good but perfect. For every single event in that life had pushed him unwaveringly closer and closer to her. Every failure, every crumbling relationship, every breakup in the cold rain or amidst hot tears—everything had been to place him at that diner two weeks ago. To bring him to the now—sleeping on her bed, this stunning, intelligent woman next to him. All his life, he had dreamt of her, either consciously or subconsciously, and this woman had materialized in the flesh. Looking back, he wondered if the plan had been too perfect for it to be mere coincidence. Fate or whatever could substitute for fate had slowly moved him toward her.”
― Ray Smith, The Magnolia That Bloomed Unseen

tags: better-to-be-lucky-than-good, bumps-in-the-road, expressing-love, fulfillment-quotes, lonely-soul, lucky-in-love, match-made-in-heaven, respect-women, romance-book-quotes

2 likes

#18

“He tried to live a good life and devote that life to helping others, but he never thought the world would reward him for his efforts. Such a thought would be the ultimate in self-deluding self-aggrandizement, for why would the world care one iota about him? Now, however, he wondered if he had been wrong. Now, he thought that maybe, just maybe, if you lived a good life, the universe—this cold, cold world—might just reward you. And he did feel rewarded—rewarded beyond all the gold in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan.”
― Ray Smith, The Magnolia That Bloomed Unseen

tags: dreams-come-true, get-over-yourself, gift-of-love, good-life-quotes, having-it-all, reap-the-fruit-of-your-labor, reward-quotes, too-good-to-be-true, true-riches

10 likes

#19

“He walked beside her, in front of her, behind her. He tried not to be overwhelmed by her fragrance and sheer presence. Yet, beyond the near-overwhelming desire for Molly Valle, he felt something else. It was as if the hands of some internal clock had long been off-kilter and had, at last, rearranged themselves into the correct positions.”
― Ray Smith, The Magnolia That Bloomed Unseen

tags: love-quote, lucky, reevaluate, the-one-you-love

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#20

“Intellectually, she recognized the summer could’ve lasted only so many days, but, in remembrance, it seemed to last epochs, from the creation of the Milky Way to its expiration. Not because the time was dull but rather it was so damn fun and so life-affirming, it could’ve been a magical potion concocted to revive the dead. Even in her advanced age, she could see that time, so clearly delineated in what the novelist John Dos Passos called the Camera Eye—mental snapshots, frozen in bliss, which neither age nor time could mar their perfection.”
― Ray Smith, The Magnolia That Bloomed Unseen

tags: be-happy-to-be-alive, create-endless-memories, everyday-is-a-gift, everyday-is-an-adventure, jackpot, life-is-a-fairytale, life-is-magical, perfect-day, time-well-spent

4 likes

#21

“Her time with John, brief though it was, showed her that love and adventure are very much real. They are not only the fantasies conjured up by writers, musicians, and filmmakers. They exist in the real world. Magic exists—a two-word phrase that, before her forty-eight-year-old self met John, she would’ve considered the ultimate in naiveté and self-delusion.”
― Ray Smith, The Magnolia That Bloomed Unseen

tags: adventure-quotes, hope-quotations, hopeful-and-encouraging, love-quotes, love-spells, magic, message-to-the-world

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#22

“Oh my. Molly put her hand to her no-doubt agape mouth. Oh my, oh my, oh my. After her divorce, she hadn’t thought this day would ever come again, but here it was, a second proposal. Life is funny, she thought, and she felt herself step back from the reality of her situation for a moment, lest its emotions overwhelm her and make her swoon like a damsel in those Middle English chivalric romances she taught in 10th-grade English. Yes, life was indeed funny. It had no syllabus, which was why Molly, always a diligent student, felt so unprepared for it. Life played tricks on you too, surprised you, with the biggest surprise that life, even at the nearly half-century mark, could still hold surprises. Like so: There is a man in my kitchen, a man I’m in love with, and he wants to spend the rest of his life with me. How strange and how very unconventional by its conventional, everyday setting.”
― Ray Smith, The Magnolia That Bloomed Unseen

tags: love-at-a-certain-age, middle-age-quotes, opportunity-to-love, proposal, romance-quotes, second-chance-at-love, second-love, step-back, wedding-ring

8 likes

#23

“To fight against these falsehoods, though, one needed to be able to see past the present-day and very male-oriented distortion lens to the underlying truth. Beyond question, Molly Valle could do this. A woman whose surface appearance, eyeglasses and conservative clothes, fit the schoolmarm stereotype to a T. Yet she had sloughed off that exterior and society’s restrictions as effortlessly as she had her clothes, and during their lovemaking, she had not only kept up with him but often passed ahead of him. With other women, he had seen the embers of passion but never the flame. Tonight, he had witnessed the bonfire.”
― Ray Smith, The Magnolia That Bloomed Unseen

tags: appearances-are-deceiving, don-t-judge-a-book-by-its-cover, expectations-vs-reality, force-to-be-reckoned-with, gender-norms, insatiable, looking-down-on-others, love-fever, sexual-health

5 likes

#24

“Inside her mind, she felt increasingly adrift, as if their lovemaking had reached a realm that transcended the physical body. She saw herself float above her body, past her ceiling, through her roof, and higher and higher, the entire world pulsating and alive with sensations. Even these receded as she floated above her town, the pinpoints of the shop windows and car headlights downtown, then she was even higher, above the mighty Mississippi.”
― Ray Smith, The Magnolia That Bloomed Unseen

tags: city-lights, feel-free, female-orgasm, lovemaking, magic-of-love, making-love, rise-in-love, sex-magic

13 likes

#25

“People gave up too soon on dreams and hope, but both were there, if you kept your eyes open. With that truth in mind, she returned to the world only to find her own eyes were so tear-filled, she might as well have been submerged fifty feet underwater. “Yes, I will marry you, John,” she heard herself say. “Of course, I will. You kidding me?” She laughed and wiped her eyes, no longer fifty feet underwater but skimming the surface of a great, churning sea. John reached up and kissed her, and they stayed like that for a minute, a month, a millennium.”
― Ray Smith, The Magnolia That Bloomed Unseen

tags: euphoria-quote, happiness-quotes, hope-never-dies, marriage, passionate-kiss, tears-of-joy, water-drop

2 likes

#26

“She was beautiful. Not despite her so-called flaws but because of them—those scrapes and life experiences that made her body like no other woman’s. The beauty that wasn’t ephemeral or society-dictated but the real beauty that cut across generations, across all cultures, from the beginning of humankind. The beauty that was painted in Paleolithic caves and carved in ancient Venus statuettes, those wonderful figurines of all shapes and sizes, individualized and gorgeous precisely because of that individuality. What cavemen had known, modern men had forgotten, and sadly, modern women too.”
― Ray Smith, The Magnolia That Bloomed Unseen

tags: bbw, beautiful-face, i-can-only-be-me, inclusive, its-okay-to-be-different, kind-soul, no-one-is-perfect, stay-beautiful, stay-the-way-you-are, you-are-unique

11 likes

#27

“John knew the best love stories were the ones that were never told. For no medium—no book, no poem, no play or movie—could ever tell a love story in its entirety, its full span and depth, from the exhilarating beginning to the tragic ending of all love stories. He didn’t mind if his life was forgotten—it had never occurred to him to want to be remembered—as long as he had truly lived, and to live life without experiencing one great love story was to not live at all.”
― Ray Smith, The Magnolia That Bloomed Unseen

tags: being-remembered, complicated-love, gamble, irreplaceable-love, life-love-truth, live-and-love, love-is-the-source-of-life, nothing-else-matters, spice-of-life, without-love

13 likes

#28

“John never felt the insecurity that underlay the surfaces of most men, and in his mind, he could easily conjure up those male colleagues of hers. In the teachers’ lounge, in their stiff suits with their bow-tied collars, their nicotine-yellowed fingers holding up their pretentious pipes, eyeing Molly as she came in, then snickering when she went out, dismissing her not because she didn’t know enough but because she knew too much, indeed knew far more than they did, and they were cognizant of and frightened by this fact. Hence, the dismissal and, concomitantly, the figurative puffing out of their chests, like those of exotic birds whose impressive plumage hid the scrawny bodies beneath.”
― Ray Smith, The Magnolia That Bloomed Unseen

tags: gender-inequality, male-chauvinism, overlooked, sexism, underrated

1 likes

#29

“Molly wondered this: Could the size of man’s soul be small? She marveled that she would ask herself this question, for the obvious answer was yes. After all, if John’s was infinitely large, then his polar opposite must also surely exist. Her ex-husband’s soul was very small indeed. He was forever spinning his wheels to enlarge his soul, to fill its emptiness, with things. The luxury car, the large house, the high-paying but unimaginative job, the respect of people he didn’t even like. Like so many men, he needed a boy’s toy box of things to feel whole. John was the opposite. He didn’t need anything to feel whole besides a hammock, a beer, and her.”
― Ray Smith, The Magnolia That Bloomed Unseen

tags: an-ugly-heart, bad-boyfriends, be-happy-with-what-you-have, don-t-compete-with-anyone, ex-husband, hammock, man-child, poor-quotes, relaxing-the-mind, success-story

4 likes

#30

“Most people didn’t see the beauty behind the everyday, didn’t enjoy the simple pleasures in life, didn’t stop and smell the roses … and just because these phrases were considered platitudes didn’t make them any less true. For you could belittle truth, lambaste it, deny its existence, but truth would always still be there, as unconcerned as the inexorably flowing Mississippi.”
― Ray Smith, The Magnolia That Bloomed Unseen

tags: be-happy-with-what-you-have, be-simple, clear-mind, don-t-complicate-your-life, don-t-follow-the-crowd, feel-the-beauty, if-you-know-what-i-mean, poor-quotes, smell-the-roses, speak-the-truth

12 likes

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