What's Left Unsaid Quotes

“knew of her own value. Was this what women had become used to? Men became more powerful, wise, and experienced as they grew older. Women became . . . irrelevant.”
― Emily Bleeker, What's Left Unsaid

“It’s easy to run away, you know. Staying and fixing—that’s the hard part.”
― Emily Bleeker, What's Left Unsaid

“but discrimination is everywhere too; it just wears different masks,”
― Emily Bleeker, What's Left Unsaid

“You leaned on that relationship to give you that structure and stabilize your self-image. And then when that scaffolding was gone, poof, you were left to carry this preexisting condition without any coping mechanisms.”
― Emily Bleeker, What's Left Unsaid

“I found out that once you’ve learned to do something really well, nobody asks how many times you fell down while you were learning how to do it. You didn’t walk the first time you tried, right?”
― Emily Bleeker, What's Left Unsaid

“brought back all that pain and loss, tears not just filling her eyes but flooding her face and mouth and pouring down her neck and soaking into the collar of her shirt. The kind of crying that hurt, not in some existential way, but also made her chest, shoulders, throat, and head ache. “Damn you.” She gasped, pushing her fists into her closed eyes till stars appeared. “Damn you. Damn you. Damn you!” Sh”
― Emily Bleeker, What's Left Unsaid

“to give up hope entirely is to throw away your ticket to a better tomorrow.”
― Emily Bleeker, What's Left Unsaid

“you act like you know what it is like being a person of color, and as well-meaning as you are—you don’t know. And I appreciate your outrage. I promise I do, like I’ve said before—it’s refreshing in some ways. But it’s exhausting always taking care of your outrage when I have enough to be outraged about.”
― Emily Bleeker, What's Left Unsaid

“Staying and fixing—that’s the hard part.”
― Emily Bleeker, What's Left Unsaid

“independent in spirit, but she was coming to see that her bold nature didn’t translate to not being dependent. Until she found her worth inside herself, instead of from outside sources, she’d be susceptible to the slings and arrows of life. And discovering that would take time and work and sacrifice.”
― Emily Bleeker, What's Left Unsaid

“made her feel even more damaged and unlovable, but she sat, speechless, reluctantly letting Laura finish. “You leaned on that relationship to give you that structure and stabilize your self-image. And then when that scaffolding was gone, poof, you were left to carry this preexisting condition without any coping mechanisms.”
― Emily Bleeker, What's Left Unsaid

“But you act like you know what it is like being a person of color, and as well-meaning as you are—you don’t know. And I appreciate your outrage. I promise I do, like I’ve said before—it’s refreshing in some ways. But it’s exhausting always taking care of your outrage when I have enough to be outraged about.”
― Emily Bleeker, What's Left Unsaid

“It was like explaining salt without using the word salty”
― Emily Bleeker, What's Left Unsaid

“Relationships are made from the hard moments, not the good ones,”
― Emily Bleeker, What's Left Unsaid

“The air sucked around her as the front doors opened again, like the room was taking a deep breath.”
― Emily Bleeker, What's Left Unsaid

“her mechanical hospital bed, Mamaw sat upright on top of her comforter, changed into the quilted dressing gown she wore each”
― Emily Bleeker, What's Left Unsaid

“it was one thing losing respect for your neighbor; it was another thing losing respect for your family.”
― Emily Bleeker, What's Left Unsaid