The Whys Have It Quotes

“. . . because she knows the secret: that humans need contact to thrive, that a broken heart is only one crack away from a broken spirit, and that both can be mended by smoothing on thin layers of love.”
― Amy Matayo, The Whys Have It

“You can ask why all day long if you want to. You can ask God why and your friends why and yourself why until you're buried in nothing but that single question, but you'll never get an answer. This side of heaven, time is the only thing that helps a little bit. So don't give in. Don't let the whys have it. Don't let them take advantage of you. They'll crush your heart and steal your peace and mess with your mind and wrap around you so tight you won't be able to breathe. Don't let the whys ruin your life, child. Every time they try to sneak up, push them aside and move forward. Trust me, it's the only way you can get on with living."
I turn toward the window and think about her words. "What if I can't? Let it go, I mean?"
I don't see her smile, but I can hear it. "You can. I know you can. Because no matter how hard life gets, there's always goodness right around the corner. All you have to do is look for it.”
― Amy Matayo, The Whys Have It

“Don't let the whys have it. Don't let them take advantage of you. They'll crush your heart and steal your peace and mess with your mind and wrap around you so tight you won't be able to breathe. Don't le the whys ruin your life, child. Every time they try to sneak up, push them aside and move forward.”
― Amy Matayo, The Whys Have It

“When you hit your lowest point, you have two choices: stay down and let the circumstances drown you, or find your footing and kick until you eventually break the surface. I decide to kick.”
― Amy Matayo, The Whys Have It

“No matter how hard life gets, there's always goodness right around the corner. All you have to do is look for it.”
― Amy Matayo, The Whys Have It

“Last words. They can kill you with their lack of meaning, slay you with the absence of thoughtfulness, shackle you to a career of writing lyrics for the rest of your life just to hopefully one day get them right. Last words cut. Last words haunt. Especially if they're careless. Especially if you have no hope of ever having another chance to make them better.”
― Amy Matayo, The Whys Have It

“I'm more excited than I'll admit when my hand closes around the paperback. It's like I've been handed a secret, a piece of her soul that she just decided to entrust with me. That's the way with writers--every word on a page like a window into their private place, exposing a great deal of vulnerability when they allow others to see inside. Even fiction is made up of the truthful scars of the people telling the story. I should know. I tell the same stories myself every day.”
― Amy Matayo, The Whys Have It

“You'll never be ready. Some things you just have to deal with head on and see what happens. You can't save anything if you don't save yourself first.”
― Amy Matayo, The Whys Have It

“If only.
Isn’t that what we all ask ourselves at one time or another?

If I had to guess, the question of if only has never left my mind. Ten years is a long time to live without answers.
Hurt can’t overtake you when you raise a white flag of surrender.”
― Amy Matayo, The Whys Have It

“Some people have the Midas touch, other’s dip their fingers in sticky, permanent black ink, Smudged. Unlucky.”
― Amy Matayo, The Whys Have It

“You might not be able to run a paintbrush over unpleasant memories, but you can certainly cover them with a black cloth and pretend they don't exist.”
― Amy Matayo, The Whys Have It

“When you hit your lowest point, you have two choices: stay down and let the circumstances down you, or find your footing and kick until you eventually break the surface. I decide to kick.”
― Amy Matayo, The Whys Have It

“You can ask why all day long if you want to. You can ask God why and your friends why and yourself why until you're buried in nothing but that single question, but you'll never get an answer. This side of heaven, time is the only thing that helps a little bit. So don't give in. Don't let the whys have it. Don't let them take advantage of you. They'll crush your heart and steal your peace and mess with your mind and wrap around you so tight you won't be able to breathe. Don't let the whys ruin your life, child. Every time they try to sneak up, push them aside and move forward. Trust me, it's the only way you can get on with living.”
― Amy Matayo, The Whys Have It

“There comes a time in life when you have two choices: either take a step back and let go a bit, or move forward into the unknown and see where things take you. Stepping back is easy, it's safe, a cocoon of warm and routine. Hurt can't overtake you when you raise a white flag of surrender. Conversely, moving forward is scary, everything is a question, you might face rejection. You might lose everything.”
― Amy Matayo, The Whys Have It

“Say what you will about seeing the bright side in every situation, but sometimes there is no bright side. Sometimes the only thing to see is darkness for miles and miles with no way to find even a single glimmer of light.”
― Amy Matayo, The Whys Have It

“I blink at the skyline visible through the window, knowing the only thing waiting out there for me is a funeral home.”
― Amy Matayo, The Whys Have It