Dele Weds Destiny Quotes

“Thinking about life's unfairness was a fool's errand. It paralyzed you. It was best to count your blessings and keep it moving.”
― Tomi Obaro, Dele Weds Destiny

“But marriages were mysterious and private things, even to the people in the marriages themselves. One spouse's perception of how the relationship was fairing could be drastically different from the other spouse's. In marriage, you were ultimately alone together”
― Tomi Obaro, Dele Weds Destiny

“Oh, the reckless, unthinking cruelty of children! How they broke their mothers' hearts so casually.”
― Tomi Obaro, Dele Weds Destiny

“...romance left you too vulnerable, too exposed to the wanton cruelties of the world.”
― Tomi Obaro, Dele Weds Destiny

“And what about what is happening in Afghanistan? The Soviet Union there invading a Muslim country. You think the Communists are so pure in their motives but they’re just as imperialist as the U.S. They are just as greedy.’ This was from the only woman in the circle. She was wearing a headscarf and drinking a bottle of malt.”
― Tomi Obaro, Dele Weds Destiny

“Enitan knew, knew, that if ever her life was on the line in any way, her mother wouldn’t hesitate to kill herself in Enitan’s stead. And that kind of love frightened her.”
― Tomi Obaro, Dele Weds Destiny

“Constantly worried that he was looking for someone younger, for someone fairer, Dorcas bleached her skin and had the twins pluck her chin hairs with tweezers. And she took out her anger on Funmi.”
― Tomi Obaro, Dele Weds Destiny

“The ways to die were endless. That’s why you had to live, and live ferociously, and often selfishly and exploitatively, but Funmi did not worry herself about these details. Thinking about life’s unfairness was a fool’s errand. It paralyzed you. It was best to count your blessings and keep it moving.”
― Tomi Obaro, Dele Weds Destiny

“from Esau. God blessed Jacob anyway.”
― Tomi Obaro, Dele Weds Destiny

“Life was fundamentally, cruelly, capriciously unfair. Jacob stole his blessing”
― Tomi Obaro, Dele Weds Destiny

“Oh, the reckless, unthinking cruelty of children! How they broke their mothers’ hearts so casually!”
― Tomi Obaro, Dele Weds Destiny

“Over the years, her waist had thickened; her hair had begun to gray. She went to the same tailor every year, who stealthily let out the dresses she wore to weddings and naming ceremonies.”
― Tomi Obaro, Dele Weds Destiny

“Enitan was taken aback by the question. It reminded her of Charles, always going back to old fights, waiting for moments when Enitan thought all was resolved and then pouncing with an intensity that overwhelmed her.”
― Tomi Obaro, Dele Weds Destiny

“He was the kind of person who accrued degrees, collected them like art to display in his office. The kind of person who would subscribe to magazines he would not read, who would buy season tickets to the opera – that he did not like opera would not matter.”
― Tomi Obaro, Dele Weds Destiny

“(Remi was always telling her to stop assuming that all Asian people were Chinese, it was rude and incorrect; and Enitan would tell her that in Nigeria, all Asian people were Chinese).”
― Tomi Obaro, Dele Weds Destiny

“It’s not as if anyone believes that their daughter is worth a monetary price for goodness’ sake,’ said Funmi. ‘Anyways, the traditional wedding is a way to celebrate our culture. And the white wedding or church wedding is the official ceremony. Doing both is just how it is done now.”
― Tomi Obaro, Dele Weds Destiny

“That was what Americans did with their elderly and infirm, they put them away in homes, stripped them from their families. Enitan had told her the horror stories and had always sworn that she didn’t want to grow old in America. It was a cruel, cruel place.”
― Tomi Obaro, Dele Weds Destiny

“had ruined the joys of the exclamation mark, using it too promiscuously, cheapening its adrenaline shot effect on the sentence.”
― Tomi Obaro, Dele Weds Destiny

“Some people have jobs and it doesn’t matter. There is a wickedness in their hearts that comes from the Devil and no human being can get rid of it.”
― Tomi Obaro, Dele Weds Destiny

“an instance of government failure,’ said Remi, her voice rising. ‘It makes you wonder if there were more steps put in place to address the income inequality in this country, maybe these robbers wouldn’t have had to resort to violence like that.”
― Tomi Obaro, Dele Weds Destiny

“She insisted that they only use tote bags when they went shopping, no more plastic, cringing every time Enitan would unceremoniously add a nylon to their growing plastic bag drawer that never shut completely because it was so full. No more buying things on Amazon. No real Christmas tree (even Charles had struggled with that one, as taking a day trip to go to a Christmas tree farm upstate had been a family tradition).”
― Tomi Obaro, Dele Weds Destiny

“Vegetarianism was the latest trend Remi had picked up from that liberal arts”
― Tomi Obaro, Dele Weds Destiny

“There would be fog machines and mood lighting, performances from rap stars, so much spraying of dollar bills, maybe even fireworks. Zainab had never been to such a wedding; she only read about them in the society pages. But she knew that this wedding was guaranteed to be a scene;”
― Tomi Obaro, Dele Weds Destiny

“This was Remi’s first time in Nigeria, and Enitan was surprised at how suddenly and urgently she wanted Remi to love the country. As if she hadn’t left Nigeria voluntarily for a whole raft of reasons.”
― Tomi Obaro, Dele Weds Destiny

“who had never liked her, and all their bratty children – loud and entitled in that uniquely white American way – made her say no.”
― Tomi Obaro, Dele Weds Destiny

“And one of them will become quite rich, as in she-has-an-apartment-in-London, shops-at-Harrods rich, as in she-also-has-a-house-in-Lekki-and-a-sprawling-compound-in-her-husband’s-village rich. As in tinted-black-SUV-windows rich and walk-in-closet-full-of-brand-name-shoes-she-seldom-wears rich, as in drivers-and-servants-and-what-her-husband-does-is-ill-defined-and-definitely-involves-bribery, but-she-prefers-not-to-think-about-it rich.”
― Tomi Obaro, Dele Weds Destiny

“Zainab and Funmi were the striking beauties of the trio – ‘Coke and Fanta’ people would joke when they would see the three of them walking together on campus. That Enitan never got a nickname was a slight she was used to. ‘You attract beauty,’ a boy had told her once, but he had meant this quite literally; she attracted beauty only in the sense that she herself was not beautiful but her two best friends were.”
― Tomi Obaro, Dele Weds Destiny