The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau Quotes

“What if it was just as simple as the fact that, sometimes, the people who are meant to be in your life don’t always arrive when you expect them to?”
― Kristin Harmel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

“It’s not about getting it right one hundred percent of the time. It’s about showing up and trying.”
― Kristin Harmel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

“Nazi party had brainwashed men just like Möckel who were neither intelligent nor charismatic. He was a lackluster nobody, and Hitler’s minions had whispered in his ear that his deficiencies weren’t his fault after all. If the Jews were to blame for everything, Möckel and men like him could believe themselves entitled to everything they’d ever wanted. They’d been made into puppets, as stupid men often were, and still they had no idea.”
― Kristin Harmel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

“But please always remember...that there is a difference between a life that honors the past and a life dictated by it. When you let your history shape your future, you relinquish the ability to choose a better way forward.”
― Kristin Harmel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

“Objects were just objects until they became the last things that remained of a person’s life.”
― Kristin Harmel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

“It was remarkable that after so many years in another country, the curves of one’s mother tongue always remained.”
― Kristin Harmel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

“try to do good in the world, for in doing so, it might just be possible to turn back the darkness.”
― Kristin Harmel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

“Is the past as you remember it if you’re the only one left with the memories?”
― Kristin Harmel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

“One should always help if one can,”
― Kristin Harmel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

“There is both exquisite joy and boundless heartache in being a mother,”
― Kristin Harmel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

“It is in the times of greatest danger that we must summon our greatest courage.”
― Kristin Harmel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

“When we find ourselves in darkness, we can't wait for the light to find us.”
― Kristin Harmel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

“When you let your history shape your future, you relinquish the ability to choose a better way forward.”
― Kristin Harmel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

“because to give people books was to give them the world in their hands.”
― Kristin Harmel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

“caring for someone wasn’t about fitting them into spaces that you’d already cut out. It was about allowing them to exist in their own way.”
― Kristin Harmel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

“Why was time so much more generous to men than to women?”
― Kristin Harmel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

“Changing the world doesn't require influence or higher education. Most of the time, it doesn't even require big, old act of courage. It simply requires us to look inside our hearts, to ask how can help others, and to do what we can to stand up for which is right and just.”
― Kristin Harmel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

“A great swell of sadness washed over her. Hatred simmered in his eyes as he looked down at her, and she could see it then, the way the Nazi party had brainwashed men just like Möckel who were neither intelligent nor charismatic. He was a lackluster nobody, and Hitler’s minions had whispered in his ear that his deficiencies weren’t his fault after all. If the Jews were to blame for everything, Möckel and men like him could believe themselves”
― Kristin Harmel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

“It leaves one with the question: Is the past as you remember it if you're the only one left with the memories?”
― Kristin Harmel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

“The woman narrowed her eyes. “You don’t believe in God?” “That isn’t what I meant. It is just that God is not the one doing such terrible things in the world right now. I believe in God very much.”
― Kristin Harmel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

“The more years one lived, the more indignities one was forced to endure.”
― Kristin Harmel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

“there is a difference between a life that honors the past and a life dictated by it. When you let your history shape your future, you relinquish the ability to choose a better way forward.”
― Kristin Harmel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

“It leaves one with a question: Is the past as you remember it if you’re the only one left with the memories?”
― Kristin Harmel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

“When one has lived as long as we have, the sea of loss is nearly too great to fathom.”
― Kristin Harmel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

“when we find ourselves in darkness, we can’t wait for the light to find us,”
― Kristin Harmel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

“They had been so naïve, so happy, with no idea of what was coming. She hadn’t known just how much the years could change a person. Or was this who he’d always been, and it was just that, at last, the veneer had fallen away?”
― Kristin Harmel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

“By being yourself,” Colette said. “Your mother raised you. She already poured herself into you, into who you are. Just stay true to that path, and she’ll be with you always.”
― Kristin Harmel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

“Those who came from old money were born into the ways of moving and dressing and speaking that came with family inheritance. Those who had worked hard and found success were often quiet and humble. But those who had clambered their way into wealth often lacked polish, the way an uncut diamond lacked shine.”
― Kristin Harmel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

“you done with them?” A great swell of sadness washed over her. Hatred simmered in his eyes as he looked down at her”
― Kristin Harmel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

“great swell of sadness washed over her. Hatred simmered in his eyes as he looked down at her”
― Kristin Harmel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau