Angie Berger > Angie's Quotes

“Adeline is sixteen now, and everyone speaks of her as if she is a summer bloom, something to be plucked, and propped within a vase, intended only to flower and then to rot. Like Isabelle, who dreams of family instead of freedom, and seems content to briefly blossom and then wither.”
― V. E. Schwab, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

“We were marked “present” in attendance but were often absent from ourselves.”
― Ruta Sepetys, I Must Betray You

“I once opted to go Kentless for a filling. Instead of using Novocain, the dentist put his knee on my chest while he drilled and wrenched. The socket became infected and my face was swollen for a month. My psyche is still swollen. Definitely bribe the dentist”
― Ruta Sepetys, I Must Betray You

“Fertility under state control? That's an abuse of human rights!' Bunu would wail.”
― Ruta Sepetys, I Must Betray You

“Just remember, Pui, good luck comes at a price. Bad luck is free.”
― Ruta Sepetys, I Must Betray You

“I envied him, the courage to be himself. In public.”
― Ruta Sepetys, I Must Betray You

“A LETTER FROM ROMANIA

Do you see me?

Squinting beneath the half-light,
Searching for a key to
The locked door of the world,
Lost within my own shadow
Amidst an empire of fear.

Do you feel me?

Heating a brick
To warm my sleep.
Drifting into dreams,
In search of myself,
In search of a conscience, a country.

Do you hear me?

Reciting jokes
Laughing to hide tears of truth
That we are denied the present
With empty promises
Of an emptier future.

Do you pity me?

Lips that know no taste of fruit,
Lonely in a country of millions,
Stumbling toward the gallows
Of bad decisions
While the walls listen and laugh.

Will you remember me?

A boy with wings of hope
Strapped to his back
That never had a chance to open,
Denied forever knowing
What he could have become.

What we all could have become.”
― Ruta Sepetys, I Must Betray You

“A revolution eats its heroes.”
― Ruta Sepetys, I Must Betray You

“Friendship is friendship, and charity is charity.... the people who give you charity are never your friends. It is not possible to receive charity from a friend.”
― Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

“This life is filled with inescapable moral compromises. We should do what we can to avoid the easy ones.”
― Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

“You would think women would want to stick together when there weren’t that many of them, but they never did. It was as if being a woman was a disease that you didn’t wish to catch. As long as you didn’t associate with the other women, you could imply to the majority, the men: I’m not like those other ones.”
― Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

“But this was classic Sam—he had learned to tolerate the sometimes-painful present by living in the future.”
― Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

“He was tired of having to move so carefully, of having to be so careful. He wanted to be able to skip, for God’s sake. He wanted to be Ichigo. He wanted to surf, and ski, and parasail, and fly, and scale mountains and buildings. He wanted to die a million deaths like Ichigo, and no matter what damage was inflicted on his body during the day, he’d wake up tomorrow, new and whole. He wanted Ichigo’s life, a lifetime of endless, immaculate tomorrows, free of mistakes and the evidence of having lived.”
― Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

“It isn’t a sadness, but a joy, that we don’t do the same things for the length of our lives.”
― Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

“Your cousin Albert told me that, in business, they call this a pivot. But life is filled with them, too. The most successful people are also the most able to change their mindsets.”
― Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

“Whenever you feel afraid, just remember. Courage is the root of change - and change is what we're chemically designed to do. So when you wake up tomorrow, make this pledge. No more holding yourself back. No more subscribing to others' opinions of what you can and cannot achieve. And no more allowing anyone to pigeonhole you into useless categories of sex, race, economic status, and religion. Do not allow your talents to lie dormant, ladies. Design your own future. When you go home today, ask yourself what YOU will change. And then get started.”
― Bonnie Garmus, Lessons in Chemistry

“(On religion) "I think it lets us off the hook. I think it teaches us that nothing is really our fault; that something or someone else is pulling the strings; the ultimately, we're not to blame for the way things are; that to improve things, we should pray. But the truth is, we are very much responsible for the badness in the world. And we have the power to fix it.”
― Bonnie Garmus, Lessons in Chemistry

“Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun,”
― Bonnie Garmus, Lessons in Chemistry

“Sometimes I think," she said slowly, "that if a man were to spend a day being a woman in America, he wouldn't make it past noon.”
― Bonnie Garmus, Lessons in Chemistry

“Imagine if all men took women seriously. Education would change. The workforce would revolutionize. Marriage counsellors would go out of business. Do you see my point?”
― Bonnie Garmus, Lessons in Chemistry

“I don’t have hopes,” Mad explained, studying the address. “I have faith.” He looked at her in surprise. “Well, that’s a funny word to hear coming from you.” “How come?” “Because,” he said, “well, you know. Religion is based on faith.” “But you realize,” she said carefully, as if not to embarrass him further, “that faith isn’t based on religion. Right?”
― Bonnie Garmus, Lessons in Chemistry

“Because while stupid people may not know they’re stupid because they’re stupid, surely unattractive people must know they’re unattractive because of mirrors.”
― Bonnie Garmus, Lessons in Chemistry

“Elizabeth Zott held grudges too. Except her grudges were mainly reserved for a patriarchal society founded on the idea that women were less. Less capable. Less intelligent. Less inventive. A society that believed men went to work and did important things—discovered planets, developed products, created laws—and women stayed at home and raised children.”
― Bonnie Garmus, Lessons in Chemistry

“It’s just that we tend to treat pregnancy as the most common condition in the world—as ordinary as stubbing a toe—when the truth is, it’s like getting hit by a truck. Although obviously a truck causes less damage.”
― Bonnie Garmus, Lessons in Chemistry

“Chemistry is change and change is the core of your belief system. Which is good because that’s what we need more of—people who refuse to accept the status quo, who aren’t afraid to take on the unacceptable.”
― Bonnie Garmus, Lessons in Chemistry

“Take a moment for yourself," Harriet said, "Every day."
"A Moment."
"A moment where YOU are your own priority. Just you. Not your baby, not your work, not your dead Mr. Evans, not your filthy house, not anything. Just you. Elizabeth Zott. Whatever you need, whatever you want, whatever you seek, reconnect with it in that moment." She gave a sharp tug to her fake pearls. "Then recommit.”
― Bonnie Garmus, Lessons in Chemistry

“before he realized that making her happy made him happy. Which, he thought, as he grabbed his tennis shoes, had to be the very definition of love.”
― Bonnie Garmus, Lessons in Chemistry