Shadow Me Quotes

“It’s not the pain that’s unendurable. It’s the hopelessness. It’s the hopelessness that makes you reckless.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Shadow Me

“I’m lonely but I’m not alone. My body works, my brain works, I’m alive. It’s a good life. I have to make a conscious effort to remember that. To choose to be happy every day. If I didn’t, I think my own pain would’ve killed me a long time ago.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Shadow Me

“It’s crazy how much I wish I didn’t care. I wish, so much, all the time, that I didn’t give a shit about this sort of thing—that I could be like Warner, a frozen, unforgiving island; or even like Adam, who’s found his happiness in family, in his relationship with his brother—but I’m like neither. Instead, I’m a big, raw, bleeding heart, and I spend my days pretending not to notice that I want more. That I need more.
Maybe it sounds weird to say, but I know I could love the shit out of someone. I feel it, in my heart. This capacity to love. To be romantic and passionate. Like it’s a superpower I have. A gift, even.
And I’ve got no one to share it with.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Shadow Me

“She gets me. I give her a lot of crap for being emotional all the time, but I love how empathetic she is. I love how she feels things so deeply that sometimes even joy manages to wound her. It’s who she is. She’s all heart.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Shadow Me

“I’m grateful.

I’m exhausted, overworked, and stressed out, but I’m grateful.

I force myself to say it, out loud. I’m grateful. I take a few moments to feel it. Recognize it”
― Tahereh Mafi, Shadow Me

“I'm lonely but I'm not alone.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Shadow Me

“I'm so happy for my friends. I love them, even when they piss me off. I care about them. I want their joy. But it still hurts a little when it feels like, everywhere I look everyone seems to have someone.
Everyone but me.
It's crazy how much I wish I didn't care. I wish, so much, all the time, that I didn't give a shit about this sort of thing”
― Tahereh Mafi, Shadow Me

“I always hated it about myself, that I couldn’t be tougher. Hated that I cried so hard when I saw a dead bird for the first time. Or that I used to bring home all the stray animals I found until Castle finally told for a week. I hated that I cried. Hated that I couldn’t help it. Everyone thinks I’m not supposed to give a shit—that I shouldn’t—but I do. I always do.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Shadow Me

“Kishimoto, if I considered other people’s mediocre standards a sufficient metric by which to measure my own accomplishments, I’d never have amounted to anything.” He looks up, meets my eyes. “You should demand more of yourself. You’re entirely capable.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Shadow Me

“Somehow, I’ve become a magnet for pain. Other people’s pain. My own pain. The thing is, I have no one to blame but myself. I ask the follow-up questions that land me here. I care too much. I make it my business when I shouldn’t, and I only ever seem to get shit for it.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Shadow Me

“And not only in love, but beyond salvation.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Shadow Me

“You don’t see yourself around her. Your feelings are obvious to everyone. From anywhere.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Shadow Me

“It's not the pain that's unendurable. It's the hopelessness. It's the hopelessness that makes you reckless.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Shadow Me

“Maybe it sounds weird to say, but I know I could love the
shit out of someone. I feel it, in my heart. This capacity to
love. To be romantic and passionate. Like it’s a superpower I
have. A gift, even.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Shadow Me

“Adam hasn't changed a bit. Still moody. No sense of humor. Generally irritated. Sometimes I can't remember why we're friends”
― Tahereh Mafi, Shadow Me

“My greatest wish for you,” he says, “is for you to see yourself the way that I do: as a brilliant, handsome, compassionate young man who would do anything for the people he loves.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Shadow Me

“If I considered other people's mediocre standards a sufficient metric by which to measure my own accomplishments, I'd have never amounted to anything.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Shadow Me

“Are you out of your mind ? ” And when he says, without a hint of irony— “No more than usual” —it’s crystal clear to me that this dude is not okay. I sigh, hard, and turn away, hating myself for always noticing this kind of thing, and hating myself even more for my constant need to follow up.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Shadow Me

“I wonder if she has any idea what she’s doing to me. My lungs feel too small. My heart feels both fast and absurdly heavy.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Shadow Me

“I don’t think you do, actually. In fact, I hope you don’t. I wouldn’t want you to know how I feel right now. I wouldn’t wish that for you.” That hits me harder”
― Tahereh Mafi, Shadow Me

“In my less charitable moments I might call him a coward, but I get it. I'd opt out, too, if I could. I just don't feel like I can. There's still too much I'm willing to die for.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Shadow Me

“I don’t understand this. I don’t understand why she’s treating me like this. And I open my mouth to say exactly that when she says— “Never mind, I don’t want to talk to any of you. Please go away. Or maybe you can all go to hell. I don’t actually care.” I flinch. Her words land like physical blows. She’s talking to me like I’m the enemy, and I can’t believe it. “Are you—wait, are you serious right now?”
― Tahereh Mafi, Shadow Me

“Like the pain has disfigured her.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Shadow Me

“It’s nice to have space at the end of the night to be alone with my thoughts. Somewhere to hang the happy face I force myself to wear even when I’m having a shitty day. I’m grateful. I’m exhausted, overworked, and stressed out, but I’m grateful. I force myself to say it, out loud. I’m grateful. I take a few moments to feel it. Recognize it. I force myself to smile, to unclench the tightness in my face that would otherwise default too easily to anger. I whisper a quick thank-you to the unknown, to the air, to the lonely ghosts eavesdropping on my private conversations with no one. I have a roof over my head and clothes on my back and food waiting for me every morning.I have friends. A makeshift family. I’m lonely but I’m not alone.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Shadow Me

“Like a little bird with hollow bones.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Shadow Me

“but beyond salvation. When they break apart they both look a little crazy, but Warner looks especially unhinged.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Shadow Me

“something about the cold, poisonous expression in her eyes breaks my heart like nothing else. I don’t know what happened to my friend.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Shadow Me

“skin. I thought I might die. I thought I might actually die of embarrassment. I wanted to. I wanted to melt into the Earth. Evaporate. Disappear.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Shadow Me

“Instead, I’m a big, raw, bleeding heart, and I spend my days pretending not to notice that I want more. That I need more.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Shadow Me

“but my less gracious thoughts keep circling me, pecking at my heart and mind like emotional vultures.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Shadow Me