Ocean State Quotes

“In its homely familiarity, it's all magical to her, charged with a fleeting beauty, like the leaves.”
― Stewart O'Nan, Ocean State

“After being cooped up all day, [she] breathes in the clean air, watching the sky, surrendering to the feeling of infinite space. How is the world still beautiful?”
― Stewart O'Nan, Ocean State

“The people look shabby to her - middle-aged, slump-shouldered, overweight. It seems impossible that any of them were ever beautiful or in love.”
― Stewart O'Nan, Ocean State

“I don't know if [she] was in love with him or just wanted to be with someone. It was always hard to tell. She was practical in everything but love.”
― Stewart O'Nan, Ocean State

“Wasn't all love desperate?”
― Stewart O'Nan, Ocean State

“We weren't happy that fall, in that rotting, underwater house, with everything we'd already lost, & everything still to come.”
― Stewart O'Nan, Ocean State

“I hardly ever said anything, afraid of making things worse. I watched them like a scorekeeper, silently recording every slight & insult, every failure to be kind. I was thirteen, and like all children, had an overdeveloped sense of justice. I wanted everyone to be happy, despite our actual lives.”
― Stewart O'Nan, Ocean State