The Three Lives of Cate Kay Quotes

“The trick of life, as I see it now, is to make what’s around you beautiful. It’ll grow from there. Took me a long time to see that.”
― Kate Fagan, The Three Lives of Cate Kay

“You hold me steady without holding me still.”
― Kate Fagan, The Three Lives of Cate Kay

“But like everything in life, you’d be amazed at what you can get used to.”
― Kate Fagan, The Three Lives of Cate Kay

“What many people don’t understand about serious injury or illness is that what you’re really coming to grips with isn’t the physical limitations (although there is that); it’s how the physical limitations alter your interactions with the world. At first, you can only take. You take people’s time, their physical energy, their emotional reserves. You’re in a state of need and you take, take, take without giving. And taking without giving, that messes with your head. You start asking yourself what the point of your existence is. A drain on the world’s resources, on the resources of those you love, nothing else. But eventually—and it may take years, as it did for me—you discover ways to start giving again. Honestly, you’d be shocked at how many ways exist to give in this world if that’s all you’re looking for.”
― Kate Fagan, The Three Lives of Cate Kay

“Broken things are beautiful. More beautiful in the end than perfect things, which are usually an illusion of some sort. I hoped I had given her a beautiful life.”
― Kate Fagan, The Three Lives of Cate Kay

“I hadn’t achieved anything and already wanted more. What was the word for that? Insatiable, perhaps. But that was so earthly, calling to mind sex, or food. What I craved was cosmic bigness.”
― Kate Fagan, The Three Lives of Cate Kay

“being cool in high school was a death sentence. No pain to fuel you later.”
― Kate Fagan, The Three Lives of Cate Kay

“She was a confident person. But like all confident people, it was only about 87 percent authentic. Doubt just lived on the outskirts of town instead of in the center, like it does for everyone else.”
― Kate Fagan, The Three Lives of Cate Kay

“It’s like… ummm… how do I explain this? It’s like you hold me steady, but without holding me still.” After a long pause, the other said, “It’s an honor to hold you steady.”
― Kate Fagan, The Three Lives of Cate Kay

“Lawyers, we get a bad rap. We’re just storytellers. The only difference is, unlike a book or movie, we don’t say whether the story is true or false.”
― Kate Fagan, The Three Lives of Cate Kay

“Listening to my brain was exhausting.”
― Kate Fagan, The Three Lives of Cate Kay

“the day this story started—the day I caught the sickness of wanting to eat the world.”
― Kate Fagan, The Three Lives of Cate Kay

“The trick of life, as I see it now, is to make what’s around you beautiful. It’ll grow from there. Took me a long time to see that.” I sat”
― Kate Fagan, The Three Lives of Cate Kay

“How sublime the feeling, to be known again.”
― Kate Fagan, The Three Lives of Cate Kay

“And I wonder how many other things in life I’ve misjudged this badly. More than I can stomach, I’m sure.”
― Kate Fagan, The Three Lives of Cate Kay

“I just can’t make a decision about her based on this one action—we’re all so much more, and less, than our best, or worst, moment,” I said.”
― Kate Fagan, The Three Lives of Cate Kay

“Silence terrifies people. I’m always noticing the little ways society protects us from the menace of silence, like with Muzak in elevators. Humans: we built the Pyramids and made all the world’s information instantly accessible, but apparently if we stand together quietly, we’ll short-circuit and melt.”
― Kate Fagan, The Three Lives of Cate Kay

“The thing about writing—” I heard one guy say, and my ears perked. I paused, my fingers on a thumbtack, and tuned fully into their conversation. “—is that it’s unlike other creative endeavors. It’s not about you, it’s only about the story and the words. To be an actor or musician, you must perform—you’re trading on yourself—but not the writer. Most readers don’t even consider the author.I I love that about writing.”
― Kate Fagan, The Three Lives of Cate Kay

“people are always building a web of lies around a kernel of truth and calling it honesty—”
― Kate Fagan, The Three Lives of Cate Kay

“I’m always noticing the little ways society protects us from the menace of silence, like with Muzak in elevators. Humans: we built the Pyramids and made all the world’s information instantly accessible, but apparently if we stand together quietly, we’ll short-circuit and melt.”
― Kate Fagan, The Three Lives of Cate Kay

“I’d been maimed playing the game of life.”
― Kate Fagan, The Three Lives of Cate Kay

“We were like all young people in that way, in full belief that we were revolutionizing the human experience.”
― Kate Fagan, The Three Lives of Cate Kay

“What many people don’t understand about serious injury or illness is that what you’re really coming to grips with isn’t the physical limitations (although there is that); it’s how the physical limitations alter your interactions with the world.”
― Kate Fagan, The Three Lives of Cate Kay

“I once read this book about near-death experiences. In it, people tried to explain what it felt like when their souls left their bodies, and they all seemed frustrated at the inadequacy of language. They all bumped up against its limitations and eventually concluded that this thing they wanted to convey to the reader, that no words could do it justice.”
― Kate Fagan, The Three Lives of Cate Kay

“My mom has been with this book every step of the way. Actually, let’s rewind and rewind… ever since my first step! That’s how lucky I am. Mom, I know you know how important you are to me. My sister, Ryan, read an early draft and her enthusiasm made me believe I was onto something. I love you both. (Dad, I love you, too. The 11:11 was for you; I miss you.)”
― Kate Fagan, The Three Lives of Cate Kay

“I’d tell her that only love will fill the black hole—that it’s the only thing worth chasing.”
― Kate Fagan, The Three Lives of Cate Kay

“Reading had always made me feel closer to the world, and everything in it.”
― Kate Fagan, The Three Lives of Cate Kay

“we’re all so much more, and less, than our best, or worst, moment,” I”
― Kate Fagan, The Three Lives of Cate Kay

“Love didn’t always mean staying.”
― Kate Fagan, The Three Lives of Cate Kay

“was running away from the story my brain had created, but all Amanda needed was for me to… stand still and block the sun from her eyes. And I wonder how many other things in life I’ve misjudged this badly. More than I could stomach, I’m sure.”
― Kate Fagan, The Three Lives of Cate Kay