All My Mothers Quotes

“You don’t get over death,’ I said. ‘You swallow it inside you. And your grief forms a layer of you. Because that’s what we are, layer on layer of experience,”
― Joanna Glen, All My Mothers

“saudade – a yearning for a happiness that has passed, or perhaps never existed.”
― Joanna Glen, All My Mothers

“We were both looking for something we couldn’t have again. The past.”
― Joanna Glen, All My Mothers

“Some days heaven touches earth. And do we notice it at the time? Or do we know it later – when heaven is snatched away?”
― Joanna Glen, All My Mothers

“why were women made to feel bad for saying things that were reasonable?”
― Joanna Glen, All My Mothers

“People don’t know things unless you tell them. This is an important point to remember.”
― Joanna Glen, All My Mothers

“I wanted to say that you don’t grieve in the same way for love you’ve never had, but it still feels like a punch in the stomach. I wanted to say that you don’t get any sympathy cards for the love you’ve never had, however much it hurts.”
― Joanna Glen, All My Mothers

“It is, surprisingly, possible to feel deep joy inside deep sadness”
― Joanna Glen, All My Mothers

“I now realise that the reason adults don’t mention death is because they are worked up about it, not because they’re not. It’s not too small to mention – it’s too big.”
― Joanna Glen, All My Mothers

“How did God hear so many different voices all at once, I wondered.
He must have amazing ears, I thought.
And be very good at languages.
And also feel like he's losing his mind.”
― Joanna Glen, All My Mothers

“We all find different ways to cover up our pain. Most of them don’t work.”
― Joanna Glen, All My Mothers

“If stars only came out once every thirty years, we'd be totally mesmerized by them, and we'd stay up all night lying on our backs looking at them. But because they're here forever we take them for granted.”
― Joanna Glen, All My Mothers

“Life is never enough for us. That's the great tragedy of being human.”
― Joanna Glen, All My Mothers

“Why doesn't everyone get more worked up about the fact that we're all going to die, I wondered on the way home from Lyme Regis after the car accident. Adults didn't seem to mention death at all. I now realise that the reason adults don't mention death is because they are worked up about it, not because they're not. It's not too small to mention - it's too big.
Now I'm an adult.
And death is too big for me.”
― Joanna Glen, All My Mothers

“We can convince ourselves about absolutely anything – this is our intrinsic weakness as human beings.”
― Joanna Glen, All My Mothers

“take it from me that a fragile mother is a scary thing for a child – it feels like your whole life is made of paper.)”
― Joanna Glen, All My Mothers

“I had seventeen years,’ said Mr Blue. ‘Over six thousand days of love. But no matter how many days you have, it’s never enough. Life is never enough for us. That’s the great tragedy of being human.”
― Joanna Glen, All My Mothers

“Sometimes you can't solve the problems you've helped to create.”
― Joanna Glen, All My Mothers

“Over six thousand days of love. But no matter how many days you have, it’s never enough.”
― Joanna Glen, All My Mothers

“Life stories are allowed to be selective.”
― Joanna Glen, All My Mothers

“way we catch each other’s feelings, that’s the joy and the agony of love.”
― Joanna Glen, All My Mothers

“Success is almost as good as love, I find, but not quite.”
― Joanna Glen, All My Mothers

“it felt sad having nobody to say goodnight to.”
― Joanna Glen, All My Mothers

“You don’t get over death,’ I said. ‘You swallow it inside you. And your grief forms a layer of you. Because that’s what we are, layer on layer of experience”
― Joanna Glen, All My Mothers

“But love is supposed to be a watering hole, where you come and go by choice, and leave refreshed.”
― Joanna Glen, All My Mothers

“She said that, on the worst days in her life, she would go for a walk and pray that she’d see something lovely. It might be a cat sitting in someone’s window. Or a blossom tree. Or a baby in a bobble hat. She hoped that might help me, if I ever felt lonely.”
― Joanna Glen, All My Mothers

“The world was, apparently, made for extroverts.”
― Joanna Glen, All My Mothers

“I just can’t imagine not being able to look at your face every day,’ I said. ‘I love your face more than any face in the entire world.”
― Joanna Glen, All My Mothers

“I guess there are moments when we’d all like to climb out of time,”
― Joanna Glen, All My Mothers

“Do happy people have less need to remember the details of their life, I wondered.”
― Joanna Glen, All My Mothers