Five Brothers Quotes

“She’s in love with being alive. And that’s also why I despise her. She can be what I can only see. She’s the breath others breathe. I’ll never be beautiful like that.”
― Penelope Douglas, Five Brothers

“Women love being owned by a good man.”
― Penelope Douglas, Five Brothers

“Everything in life is about power, and it wasn't that I was taught that I didn't have any. I learned that men would like me better if I didn't show it.”
― Penelope Douglas, Five Brothers

“Some people spend years settling for something, because it’s better than nothing, before one day we finally realize that it’s actually not. Nothing is better than the wrong thing.” Wrong things kill our insides.”
― Penelope Douglas, Five Brothers

“Doing what you have to in order to survive isn't noble if your soul can't survive you.”
― Penelope Douglas, Five Brothers

“Because beauty is in the small things and character is in the flaws, and learning that fact can’t be taught or told.”
― Penelope Douglas, Five Brothers

“I think it takes everyone some time to figure out what they want and what they’re worth. Some people spend years settling for something, because it’s better than nothing, before one day we finally realize that it’s actually not. Nothing is better than the wrong thing.”
― Penelope Douglas, Five Brothers

“But I still have no idea what I want to do with my life.

I never wanted to be a lawyer, a stockbroker, or a CEO.

All I ever wanted was to love waking up. To be counted on to make someone’s life better.

And I want a man who breathes me. Who craves me and needs me.”
― Penelope Douglas, Five Brothers

“Life isn’t about what happens to us, Dallas, because things are going to happen. Rich, poor, good parents, bad parents, no matter what, we can’t predict other people. If I can’t change it or prevent it, then I don’t think about it. Just adapt when it happens, and remember how lucky I am to breathe at all.”
― Penelope Douglas, Five Brothers

“Life takes you over like that. You lose yourself. Who you were when you were five was the real you. Before everything started to kill you.”
― Penelope Douglas, Five Brothers

“All I ever wanted was to love waking up. To be counted on to make someone’s life better. And I want a man who breathes me. Who craves me and needs me.”
― Penelope Douglas, Five Brothers

“things I hated were the things that were lazy. Things that lacked pride. Things like…Keurigs. And punch cards and restaurants that considered potato chips an acceptable side dish.”
― Penelope Douglas, Five Brothers

“Beauty is in the small things and character is in the flaws.”
― Penelope Douglas, Five Brothers

“When you don't know what you want to do for yourself, be useful to someone else.”
― Penelope Douglas, Five Brothers

“Pink. She reminds me of things that are flamingo pink. And water guns and treehouses and fresh-cut grass. I can smell sunscreen, all of it reminding me of being a kid. She’s like it’s summer all the time.”
― Penelope Douglas, Five Brothers

“The more I got a glimpse of how big the world is, the smaller I wanted mine to be,”
― Penelope Douglas, Five Brothers

“I just want to love you.” All I can do is whisper. “That, I will do beautifully.”
― Penelope Douglas, Five Brothers

“I joke in his ear, “Just don’t ask me to wait for you, okay?” “Not me,” he says, letting me go. “But…you will be a Jaeger someday.” I look at him. “You feel it, don’t you, Krisjen?” His eyes light up. “You belong in that house.”
― Penelope Douglas, Five Brothers

“Someday,” he says as he squeezes my throat, “when you look, act, and smell like a pristine pair of fifteen-hundred-dollar heels, and you’re married to a lawyer or a banker who tastes like glue and parades you around like his little trophy…” He flicks his tongue over my ear, taunting me. “I can wonder if it’s my son he’s playing Daddy to.”
― Penelope Douglas, Five Brothers

“I swallow through the tightness in my throat. “I always thought I was some special little shit growing up,” I say. He still doesn’t face me. “I was told I was smart,” I tell him. “That I would take on the world and everyone would know who I was. I would be someone great, and no one would be outside my sphere of influence.” Adults tell every kid they’re significant. We want to believe it. “But the thing is …” I go on, “I’m not unique. I was never that smart. I’ll never be an astronaut, or the captain of a ship, or a professor of biology or philosophy. I’m not a good athlete, and I’m fine seeing mountains and operas and Alaska just on TV.” None of that is what I wanted out of life. I want none of what I was taught to want. “No one will remember me after I’m gone,” I say, “and I’ll never be someone kids learn about in school.” I drop my eyes, heat covering my cheeks and my pulse racing painfully. “I just want to love you.” All I can do is whisper. “That, I will do beautifully.”
― Penelope Douglas, Five Brothers

“But then you just kept rising back up like some kind of hero,” she goes on. “You cunty little bitch.”
― Penelope Douglas, Five Brothers

“It’s just this black cloud that hangs over you and follows,” he tells me, and I see more tears pool in his eyes. “If you’re hungry, you eat. If you’re injured, you go to a doctor. If you’re running late, you drive faster. I have a house, a healthy family, a little money in the bank, my own business, a means of supporting myself and those around me, so why do I feel like this? How do I stop it?”
― Penelope Douglas, Five Brothers

“She’s in love with being alive.”
― Penelope Douglas, Five Brothers

“He can’t stop himself. He laughs, bowing his head, still holding his fork. Then he looks at me, disbelieving. “What the fuck?” He scoops up another bite. “I sound like the devil.”
― Penelope Douglas, Five Brothers

“People make life hard. Even the ones who love us bring pressure and obligation, and I'm no exception. We're all culprits of making someone else's life difficult.”
― Penelope Douglas, Five Brothers

“go!”
― Penelope Douglas, Five Brothers

“I glance at Aracely. “You’re not slashing their tires, are you?” “No, I want them to leave.”
― Penelope Douglas, Five Brothers

“Because beauty is in the small things and character is in the flaws, and learning that fact can't be taught or told.”
― Penelope Douglas, Five Brothers

“He isn’t angry.”
I turn to Trace, whose voice chimes in. He hangs his elbows over the side of the truck.
“He’s worried,” he tells me. “What the hell does Macon have when we’re gone?”
He looks past me, and I follow his gaze, seeing Macon toss two tires out of the garage. The sun beats down on his back, his head hanging like it weighs a ton.
“He has no woman who loves him,” Trace goes on. “No kids of his own running around. He has nothing but us. Liv left. You’re going,” he says to me, then looks at Dallas. “And how long are you gonna stick around without him here?” He doesn’t wait for an answer. “I’ll be next, and Army will stay only because he has Dex in tow. What will Macon have to do with his life then?”
― Penelope Douglas, Five Brothers

“He cares more about their lives than he ever did his own.”
― Penelope Douglas, Five Brothers