The Boy at the Door Quotes

“frightening and painful memories hurt much less when we bring them into the light and give them a little bit of our attention, but not too much. Acknowledge them and accept that they cannot be changed, then let them go.”
― Alex Dahl, The Boy at the Door

“If my life has taught me one thing, it's this - don't look back and don't look ahead, just do your best right now.”
― Alex Dahl, The Boy at the Door

“When did I know that my life as I knew it was breaking apart? I don't remember the day my father left, or my mother's face when she told me. When did I become who I am now? Was my future persona added to childhood Cecilia layer by layer, like brush strokes to an oil painting? Or, did one Cecilia become another as a result of certain episodes? And if so, which episodes were the most influential?”
― Alex Dahl, The Boy at the Door

“I want to tell him that I need him here, that I'm afraid of being alone with the strange boy, of what this all means. But how do we ever tell anyone that we need them? I want him to know that inside of me there is a gash so deep and so black that it holds me in a perennial iron grip of anxiety and terror, and that it has been like that for a very long time.”
― Alex Dahl, The Boy at the Door

“Sometimes, in life-changing moments, we are afforded at least a few minutes to contemplate the stakes before making those crucial calls that can alter the very course of our lives, but other times, a moment's hesitation will give it all away.”
― Alex Dahl, The Boy at the Door

“It's always loss, isn't it, that destabilizes everything and makes all the bricks inside of you come tumbling down. It's always the beginning or end of love that changes everything, that makes all the difference between happy and sad, capable and completely incapable.”
― Alex Dahl, The Boy at the Door