The Color of Heaven Quotes

“Life is hard. It’s cruel sometimes. It’s merciless and unfair, but we all go through difficult times, one way or another.”
― Julianne MacLean, The Color of Heaven

“Life is hard. It’s cruel sometimes. It’s merciless and unfair, but we all go through difficult times, one way or another. You’ve had more than your share of knocks lately, I’ll give you that, but it doesn’t mean you get to quit. No one gets to quit. You keep fighting, every day, and sooner or later, the grief fades a little. You grow stronger, find joy again, and everything gets easier. You come out of it more equipped to handle the next wave, which will come eventually. There will always be waves.”
― Julianne MacLean, The Color of Heaven

“HERE’S THE THING about motherhood. It exhausts you and thrills you. It kicks you in the butt, and the very next second makes you feel like a superstar. Most of all, it teaches you to be selfless. Let me rephrase that. It doesn’t really teach you this. It creates a new selflessness within you, which grabs hold of your heart when you first take your child into your arms. In that profound moment of extraordinary love and discovery, your own needs and desires become secondary. Nothing is as important as the well-being of your beautiful child. You would sacrifice anything for her. Even your own life. You would do it in a heartbeat. God wouldn’t need to ask twice.”
― Julianne MacLean, The Color of Heaven

“No one gets to quit. You keep fighting, every day, and sooner or later, the grief fades a little. You grow stronger, find joy again, and everything gets easier. You come out of it more equipped to handle the next wave, which will come eventually. There will always be waves.”
― Julianne MacLean, The Color of Heaven

“But that's life, isn't it? For all we know, each day could be our last. What matters most is the appreciation and gratefullness we should feel for each precious day we have with one another.”
― Julianne MacLean, The Color of Heaven

“Love is our greatest achievement. Don’t ever forget that. Don’t squander it. Seek it. Experience it. Savor it every day that you can, because you never know when a rogue wave might sweep you away.”
― Julianne MacLean, The Color of Heaven

“The death of my child was the death of my own heart.”
― Julianne MacLean, The Color of Heaven

“Everything seems perfect on the surface,” I told him, “but sometimes I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing, or where I really want to be, and I’ve always had this strange unexplainable urge to escape from wherever I am, because nothing seems quite enough, and I feel incredibly frustrated sometimes, like there’s more to life out there somewhere, but I don’t know what it is, or where it is. Do you ever feel that way?”
― Julianne MacLean, The Color of Heaven

“A lot goes through your mind when you’re dying. What they say about life flashing before your eyes is true. You remember things from your childhood and adolescence—specific images, vivid and real, like brilliant sparks of light exploding in your brain. Somehow you’re able to comprehend the whole of your life in that single instant of reflection, as if it were a panoramic view. You have no choice but to look at your decisions and accomplishments—or lack of them—and decide for yourself if you did all that you could do. And you panic just a little, wishing for one more chance at all the beautiful moments you didn’t appreciate, or for one more day with the person you didn’t love quite enough. You also wonder in those frantic, fleeting seconds, as your spirit shoots through a dark tunnel, if heaven exists on the other side, and if so, what you will find there. What will it look like? What color will it be? Then you see a light—a brilliant, dazzling light—more calming and loving than any words can possibly describe, and everything finally makes sense to you. You are no longer afraid, and you know what lies ahead. Sunshine and Rain”
― Julianne MacLean, The Color of Heaven

“But that’s life, isn’t it? For all we know, each day could be our last. What matters most is the appreciation and gratefulness we should feel for each precious day we have with one another.”
― Julianne MacLean, The Color of Heaven

“Here’s the thing about motherhood. It exhausts you and thrills you. It kicks you in the butt, and the very next second makes you feel like a superstar. Most of all, it teaches you to be selfless.”
― Julianne MacLean, The Color of Heaven

“You just need to recognize inspiration when it strikes. And be brave. Don’t lose faith in the good things, even when life is tough. The good things come in waves, along with the bad.”
― Julianne MacLean, The Color of Heaven

“I may not have known what my future held, or how in the world I was going to navigate through it, but I did know one thing: I needed to return to the place where I had once been happy, where I had been a hopeful, optimistic person before the ground gave way under my feet.”
― Julianne MacLean, The Color of Heaven

“Love is our greatest achievement. Don't ever forget that. Don't squander it. Seek it. Experience it. Savor it every day that you can, because you never know when a rogue wave might sweep you away.”
― Julianne MacLean, The Color of Heaven

“You just need to recognize inspiration when it strikes. And be brave. Don’t lose faith in the good things, even when life is tough. The good things come in waves, along with the bad.” I”
― Julianne MacLean, The Color of Heaven

“It may seem an odd thing to say, but I sometimes felt that Megan’s cancer, even though it was painful, had brought something good. It had taught us so much about life and love.”
― Julianne MacLean, The Color of Heaven

“Don’t give up hope. You never know what brilliant accomplishments might be in your future.”
― Julianne MacLean, The Color of Heaven

“Then you see a light—a brilliant, dazzling light—more calming and loving than any words can possibly describe, and everything finally makes sense to you. You are no longer afraid, and you know what lies ahead.”
― Julianne MacLean, The Color of Heaven

“gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without adversity.” – Donina Va’a Renata”
― Julianne MacLean, The Color of Heaven

“A lot goes through your mind when you’re dying. What they say about life flashing before your eyes is true. You remember things from your childhood and adolescence—specific images, vivid and real, like brilliant sparks of light exploding in your brain. Somehow you’re able to comprehend the whole of your life in that single instant of reflection, as if it were a panoramic view. You have no choice but to look at your decisions and accomplishments—or lack of them—and decide for yourself if you did all that you could do. And you panic just a little, wishing for one more chance at all the beautiful moments you didn’t appreciate, or for one more day with the person you didn’t love quite enough. You also wonder in those frantic, fleeting seconds, as your spirit shoots through a dark tunnel, if heaven exists on the other side, and if so, what you will find there. What will it look like? What color will it be? Then you see a light—a brilliant, dazzling light—more calming and loving than any words can possibly describe, and everything finally makes sense to you. You are no longer afraid, and you know what lies ahead.”
― Julianne MacLean, The Color of Heaven

“Perhaps there was hope for happiness as well, some day in the future. Perhaps I wouldn’t always feel so disappointed.”
― Julianne MacLean, The Color of Heaven

“It’s okay to be sad. Just know that…”
― Julianne MacLean, The Color of Heaven

“Oh, how I had willed her to come back.”
― Julianne MacLean, The Color of Heaven

“I hated her for leaving us. I hated her. I hated her most for leaving me with Dad.”
― Julianne MacLean, The Color of Heaven

“you’re going to tell me to stop crying and get over it.”
― Julianne MacLean, The Color of Heaven

“My relationship with my father was strained at best, and there were certain pivotal events that I preferred to forget altogether—events that involved my mother, which I don’t really wish to go into now, but I will explain later, I promise.”
― Julianne MacLean, The Color of Heaven

“And you panic just a little, wishing for one more chance at all the beautiful moments you didn’t appreciate, or for one more day with the person you didn’t love quite enough.”
― Julianne MacLean, The Color of Heaven

“Everything seems perfect on the surface,” I told him, “but sometimes I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing, or where I really want to be, and I’ve always had this strange unexplainable urge to escape from wherever I am, because nothing seems quite enough, and I feel incredibly frustrated sometimes, like there’s more to life out there somewhere, but I don’t know what it is, or where it is.”
― Julianne MacLean, The Color of Heaven

“But that’s life, isn’t it? For all we know, each day could be our last.”
― Julianne MacLean, The Color of Heaven

“In this remarkable, complex world of ours, there are certain people who appear to lead charmed lives. They are blessed with natural beauty, have successful and fulfilling careers. They drive expensive cars, live in upscale neighborhoods, and are happily married to gorgeous and brilliant spouses.”
― Julianne MacLean, The Color of Heaven