Shelter Quotes

“If you think too much, you won’t ever accomplish anything.” Had”
― Jung Yun, Shelter

“At twenty two, he didn't have the foresight to understand how one decision could affect so many others. Now that he's older and everything has settled into a just-tolerable state of atrophy, the options he once had-options that his young students still have- feel like they've passed him by.”
― Jung Yun, Shelter

“Weekends are best when there's nothing to do and no one to see.”
― Jung Yun, Shelter

“We were all too good at pretending to be normal, like the world would end if anyone realized who we actually were inside--”
― Jung Yun, Shelter

“The twins turned out well, not because of anything that Craig or his wife did but because of the kind of people they are. Good, decent people who always put the needs of their children ahead of their own. It was never more complicated than love, one generation raising a better version of the next.”
― Jung Yun, Shelter

“We were so good at pretending to be normal, like the world would end if anyone realized who we actually were inside.”
― Jung Yun, Shelter

“This is the problem with being in the dark. All he does is guess.”
― Jung Yun, Shelter

“There’s a familiar thread of insult woven into all of this, but Kyung refuses to have the same argument again. He’s not a good son; he knows this already. But he’s the best possible version of the son they raised him to be. Present, but not adoring. Helpful, but not generous. Obligated and nothing more.”
― Jung Yun, Shelter

“There are times when sorry alone won't save him, when his behavior has to be dissected and discussed before anything resembling forgiveness can occur. It's always the wait that he finds unsettling, that moment right before she opens her mouth when he can see it all building up inside.”
― Jung Yun, Shelter

“Unable and unwilling aren't the same thing.”
― Jung Yun, Shelter

“How does he make it stop? All this worrying about other people, worrying about himself, worrying about hings that might happen before they even do-- what did any of that get him except a life he wants to leave?”
― Jung Yun, Shelter

“Isn't that what devout people do? Sin and repent; sin and repent again.”
― Jung Yun, Shelter

“That sounds like your husband talking, not you.

It's the truth.

But what good is that? It's not like you had a conversation with God. It's not like you said 'I'm sorry' and heard him accept.

No, but I have faith that he heard me.

That kind of forgiveness is all up in here. He taps the side of his head too hard. It's what my son does with his stuffed animals. It's make-believe.

Maybe it'd be better is you talked with my husband about this. I don't think I'm expressing myself very clearly.

It's not about being clear or unclear. I just don't buy this devout little wife act. You're either fooling yourself or the rest of us-- I can never tell.”
― Jung Yun, Shelter

“That sounds like your husband talking, not you.

It's the truth.

But what good is that? It's not like you had a conversation with God. It's not like you said 'I'm sorry' and heard him accept.

No, but I have faith that he heard me.

That kind of forgiveness is all up in here. He taps the side of his head too hard. It's what my son does with his stuffed animals. It's make-believe.

Maybe it'd be better is you talked with my husband about this. I don't think I'm expressing myself very clearly.

It's not about being clear or unclear. I just don't buy this devout little wife act. You're either fooling yourself or the seat of us-- I can never tell.”
― Jung Yun, Shelter

“They offered mine a dowry.

You mean like money?

Yes, money.

Somehow, it seems only fitting that what brought his parents together, what's kept them together all these years is the same thing the Kyung worries about every waking minute of his life. It's like a disease they passed on through their bloodlines, mutated into a new form for his generation.”
― Jung Yun, Shelter

“The men in my country-- they did bad things to people because they believe in something. They all think God give them the right.”
― Jung Yun, Shelter

“He didn't want to subject someone he loved, or even vaguely liked, to the life of a foot servant like his mother.”
― Jung Yun, Shelter

“Most of them grew up in the States or came here from Korea when they were young. But the way the way they behave around each other-- it was as if they never left. The women are all subservient to their husbands and fathers and in-laws, which always seems so sad to him. Everywhere he looks, a woman is serving a plate of food to someone else. The daughter-in-laws are the easiest to spot, the way them seem so eager to please.”
― Jung Yun, Shelter

“He realized how little it took to reveal a secret, and what a burden it was on people once they knew.”
― Jung Yun, Shelter

“Pride won't get his license renewed or pay the water bill or keep the collection agencies at bay. It's a useless form of currency they can't afford to trade in anymore.”
― Jung Yun, Shelter

“Children have a strange tolerance for repetition.”
― Jung Yun, Shelter

“It's worse to listen to someone in pain. Hearing a beating and not being able to do anything about it are their own form of punishment.”
― Jung Yun, Shelter

“The wrinkle between his brows where the skin usually creases into a frown—it seems permanent now, as if every fear he’s ever experienced has burrowed into that space. How does he make it stop? All this worrying about other people, worrying about himself, worrying about things that might happen before they even do—what did any of that get him except a life he wants to leave?”
― Jung Yun, Shelter

“Kyung knows how desperate Gillian is to keep the money—he can see it on her face, the way it looks so old and lined with worry. She understands, just as he does, that pride won’t fill their refrigerator next week. Pride won’t get his license renewed or pay the water bill or keep the collection agencies at bay. It’s a useless form of currency they can’t afford to trade in anymore.”
― Jung Yun, Shelter

“But the happiest he ever saw his father was when he was with Ethan, someone who never knew him as he was before, who simply accepted the person he was trying to be. Jin wasn't acting then, he thinks. He was just being kind to Ethan, returning the very thing that everyone else had denied him.”
― Jung Yun, Shelter