The Tell Quotes

“He was so forthright and so clear. I had never heard him share this truth publicly. I studied him, wondering why the party line had changed, and so dramatically. It was a reminder that multiple stories could be true at the same time, that we select our narratives in accordance with how honest we want to be and how honest we can be with ourselves.”
― Amy Griffin, The Tell: A Memoir

“It was a reminder that multiple stories could be true at the same time, that we select our narratives in accordance with how honest we want to be and how honest we can be with ourselves.”
― Amy Griffin, The Tell: A Memoir

“Memory is a sieve that catches only the most important moments. The insignificant details of daily life don’t stick; instead, they flow through the sieve. Then there are experiences that are unusual, set apart from the everyday, that carry an emotional charge. These we often hold on to, turning them over and over.”
― Amy Griffin, The Tell: A Memoir

“Remembering was so hard, but now I understood why we did it—why it was worth remembering at all. It wasn’t so we could wallow in the pain. It was so we could more fully touch the joy.”
― Amy Griffin, The Tell: A Memoir

“Women are always doing things so we can be better for other people. My relationships had changed for the better, but I didn’t do it for anyone else. I did it for me.”
― Amy Griffin, The Tell: A Memoir

“I was learning how to be self-sufficient, and in being self-sufficient, I would be safe.”
― Amy Griffin, The Tell: A Memoir

“We have to make the unconscious conscious, or it will direct our life and we will call it fate.”
― Amy Griffin, The Tell: A Memoir

“There must be those among whom we can sit down and weep, and still be counted as warriors.”
― Amy Griffin, The Tell: A Memoir

“There was an essential me that no abuse could ever harm. The me before I felt that I had to be perfect. The me before I felt shame. The me that wanted to be kind, not as a distraction of what was happening to me, but simply because it was the purest expression of love I knew. All of that was always within me. That was what I had to remember.”
― Amy Griffin, The Tell: A Memoir

“Perfect—the way every parent loves their child, not for anything they’ve done but just for being who they are.”
― Amy Griffin, The Tell: A Memoir

“But I understood that it was only through the telling that I had set myself free.”
― Amy Griffin, The Tell: A Memoir

“Even if facing it is hard, it’s also so important. I thought of this as something I was running from. But in running from that, I was also running from the best things this life has to offer—freedom and happiness and real relationships with the people around me. You can’t have light without the darkness. You have to feel all of it in order to feel any of it.”
― Amy Griffin, The Tell: A Memoir

“The day of the session, she sat across from me on the couch. “I’m hoping this brings you more resolution,” she said in her gentle, accented voice. “Remember to be compassionate with yourself. You don’t have to go in looking for anything. What you need to know, you’ll find.” I nodded. “One reason we do this work is so we can face whatever it is that we need to face,” she said. “So we can live with what we’ve been through, instead of living from it.”
― Amy Griffin, The Tell: A Memoir

“It was like my body knew something that I didn’t.”
― Amy Griffin, The Tell: A Memoir

“was taught to prioritize the comfort of others and not to share anything overly personal. But I have learned that the more I tell my”
― Amy Griffin, The Tell: A Memoir

“Memory is a sieve that catches only the most important moments. The insignificant details of daily life don’t stick; instead, they flow through the sieve. Then there are experiences that are unusual, set apart from the everyday, that carry an emotional charge. These we often hold on to, turning them over and over. As”
― Amy Griffin, The Tell: A Memoir

“My mother modeled kindness and my father modeled achievement.”
― Amy Griffin, The Tell: A Memoir

“It’s only a car. Cars can be fixed. I’m just glad you’re all right.”
― Amy Griffin, The Tell: A Memoir

“Yes, there was a place for convenience. But not everything needed to sit tidily on a shelf. Some things were messy, difficult, or impossible to contain. Some things defied easy categorization. What happened to me when I was a girl was all of those things. It didn't fit neatly in a box. But I had to accept it - no matter how inconvenient it was.”
― Amy Griffin, The Tell: Oprah's Book Club: A Memoir

“It was so obvious. How had I missed it? Perfect—the way every parent loves their child, not for anything they’ve done but just for being who they are. The way my father loved me, the way I loved my own children. At last, I knew what perfect meant.”
― Amy Griffin, The Tell: A Memoir

“Telling allowed me to process, to keep going—to live. And in that moment, I felt profound, exquisite gratitude for all I had remembered, no matter how painful it had been to face. Remembering was so hard, but now I understood why we did it—why it was worth remembering at all. It wasn’t so we could wallow in the pain. It was so we could more fully touch the joy.”
― Amy Griffin, The Tell: A Memoir

“Remembering is so much better than not remembering. Telling is so much better than not telling.”
― Amy Griffin, The Tell: A Memoir

“I dissociated because the pain was too great.”
― Amy Griffin, The Tell: A Memoir

“dissociated because the pain was too great.”
― Amy Griffin, The Tell: A Memoir

“it again. To return to this fundamental truth, no matter how many times it takes.”
― Amy Griffin, The Tell: A Memoir

“There are so many layers to awareness, the conscious and the unconscious and all the places in between.”
― Amy Griffin, The Tell: A Memoir

“The secret was so big I could not ignore it, and yet the size of it made it impossible to see.”
― Amy Griffin, The Tell: A Memoir

“But recovery was an ocean, and I was learning how to swim.”
― Amy Griffin, The Tell: A Memoir

“You were always perfect, just as you are,” she said.”
― Amy Griffin, The Tell: A Memoir

“That’s good,” she said. “You’re learning how to take up space—and not to judge yourself for it but to be kind with yourself instead.”
― Amy Griffin, The Tell: A Memoir