The Book of Lost Friends Quotes

“We die once when the last breath leaves our bodies. We die a second time when the last person speaks our name.’ The first death is beyond our control, but the second one we can strive to prevent.”
― Lisa Wingate, The Book of Lost Friends

“No two readers read the same book, because we all see the words through different eyes, filter the story through different life experiences.”
― Lisa Wingate, The Book of Lost Friends

“It’s history,” I pointed out. “I’m trying to impress upon my students that everyone has history. Just because we’re not always happy with what’s true doesn’t mean we shouldn’t know it. It’s how we learn. It’s how we do better in the future. Hopefully, anyway.”
― Lisa Wingate, The Book of Lost Friends

“Books made me believe that smart girls who didn’t necessarily fit in with the popular crowd could be the ones to solve mysteries, rescue people in distress, ferret out international criminals, fly spaceships to distant planets, take up arms and fight battles. Books showed me that not all fathers understand their daughters or even seek to, but that people can turn out okay despite that. Books made me feel beautiful when I wasn’t. Capable when I couldn’t be.”
― Lisa Wingate, The Book of Lost Friends

“Sad thing when stories die for the lack of listenin' ears.”
― Lisa Wingate, The Book of Lost Friends

“Civil debate is a healthy and democratic process. If one cannot make one's point without yelling, name-calling, or insulting others, one should develop a stronger argument before speaking further.”
― Lisa Wingate, The Book of Lost Friends

“We die once when the last breath leaves our bodies. We die a second time when the last person speaks our name.”
― Lisa Wingate, The Book of Lost Friends

“Eventually you have to stop letting people define you and start defining yourself. It’s a lesson I’m both teaching and learning.”
― Lisa Wingate, The Book of Lost Friends

“There are no right or wrong answers. Not when it comes to literature.”
― Lisa Wingate, The Book of Lost Friends

“Stories change people. History, real history, helps people understand each other, see each other from the inside out.”
― Lisa Wingate, The Book of Lost Friends

“I want them to see that there is no faster way to change your circumstance than to open a great book.”
― Lisa Wingate, The Book of Lost Friends

“I always assume people’s behaviors are a reaction to something I’ve done, not that they’re just doing their thing.”
― Lisa Wingate, The Book of Lost Friends

“A good heart can’t ever let the bad get in, Mama’s voice whispers in my head. You got a good heart, Hannie. Don’t let the bad get in you. Don’t open the door to it, no matter how much it comes knockin’ or how sweet it sounds askin’.”
― Lisa Wingate, The Book of Lost Friends

“We all have scars. It's when you're honest about them that you find the people who will love you in spite of your nicks and dents. Perhaps even because of them. The people who don't. These people aren't the ones for you.”
― Lisa Wingate, The Book of Lost Friends

“It’s strange how you can feel guilty for a family history you didn’t have anything to do with, isn’t it?”
― Lisa Wingate, The Book of Lost Friends

“They showed me what a stable life could look like. If they hadn’t bothered, how would I have even known there was another way to live? You can’t aspire to something you’ve never seen.”
― Lisa Wingate, The Book of Lost Friends

“The great thing about literature is that it's subjective. No two readers read the same book, because we all see the words through different eyes, filter the story through different life experiences.”
― Lisa Wingate, The Book of Lost Friends

“mockingbird sings his borrowed songs all hooked together like different-colored ribbons tied end after end.”
― Lisa Wingate, The Book of Lost Friends

“The most important endeavors require a risk,” I tell her. It’s the hardest piece of reality to accept. Striking off into the unknown is terrifying, but if we don’t begin the journey, we’ll never know where it could lead.”
― Lisa Wingate, The Book of Lost Friends

“When you’re a kid in a tough family situation, you’re painfully vulnerable to trying to fill the void with peers.”
― Lisa Wingate, The Book of Lost Friends

“I ponder how we can put a man on the moon, fly shuttles back and forth to outer space, send probes to Mars, and yet we can’t traverse the boundaries in the human heart, fix what’s wrong. How can things still be this way?”
― Lisa Wingate, The Book of Lost Friends

“I need more pieces to the puzzle, but no one is going to hand them to me. I have to find them. Dig them from their hiding places, from the ground and the people. Listen, the road seems to admonish. Listen. I have stories. I close my eyes, and I hear voices. Thousands whispering all at once. I can’t make out any single one, but I know they’re here. What do they have to say?”
― Lisa Wingate, The Book of Lost Friends

“Into every life a little rain must fall.”
― Lisa Wingate, The Book of Lost Friends

“Life never is just about what you want. Seldom ever.”
― Lisa Wingate, The Book of Lost Friends

“It's history," I pointed out. "I'm trying to impress upon my students that everyone has history. Just because we're not always happy with what's true doesn't mean we shouldn't know it. It's how we learn. It's how we do better in the future. Hopefully, anyway.”
― Lisa Wingate, The Book of Lost Friends

“An unenthusiastic chorus responds, “We encourage vigorous debate. Civil debate is a healthy and democratic process. If one cannot make one’s point without yelling, name-calling, or insulting others, one should develop a stronger argument before speaking further.”
― Lisa Wingate, The Book of Lost Friends

“Just because we’re not always happy with what’s true doesn’t mean we shouldn’t know it. It’s how we learn. It’s how we do better in the future. Hopefully, anyway.”
― Lisa Wingate, The Book of Lost Friends

“they’ve all come to the same end. They are dust beneath the soil. All that is left behind lies in the people who remain. And the stories.”
― Lisa Wingate, The Book of Lost Friends

“No two readers read the same book, because we all see the words through different eyes, filter the story through different life experiences”
― Lisa Wingate, The Book of Lost Friends

“Books made me believe that smart girls who didn't necessarily fit in with the popular crowd could be the ones to solve mysteries, rescue people in distress, ferret out international criminals, fly spaceships to distant planets, take up arms and fight battles... Books made me feel beautiful when I wasn't. Capable when I couldn't be. Books built my identity.”
― Lisa Wingate, The Book of Lost Friends