Quotes from Jenny Valentine

I smiled back and I thought how incredible that was, that they would find the time to smile. There was goodness in the world still, even if you couldn't always see it.

Even when you'd lost everything you thought there was to lose, somebody came along and gave you something for free.

I smiled back and I thought how incredible that was, that they would find the time to smile. There was goodness in the world still, even if you couldn't always see it.

Everything is going to be fine." I hate it when people say that, people who have absolutely no idea of what's coming next. They turn you into an idiot for even asking.

I told myself that some families we get without asking, while others we choose. And I chose those two. I think that's what you'd call a silver lining.

I thought about having a proper room, breathing life into it, and nobody minding.

There was goodness in the world still, even if you couldn't always see it.

What's wrong with the world Peter? God, I don't know. Where do you start? People give up. We're defeatists and we stop striving or fighting or enjoying things. It doesn't matter what you're talking about - war, work, marriage, democracy, love, it all fails because everybody gives up trying after a while, we can't help ourselves. And don't ask me to solve it because I am the worst. I'd escape tomorrow if I could, from every single thing I've always wanted.

It's amazing what storms your face can hide, what terrible wrecks can writhe and heave beneath, without one ripple on the surface.

It's not knowing that drives you mad. It's imaging things that you wish you couldn't think up all by yourself.

I didn't have time to lose it. I didn't have time to lie down in the corner shop and scream and beat the floor until my hands bled. I didn't have time to miss Jack. Stroma kept on chattering away and getting excited over novelty spaghetti shapes and finding the joy in every little thing, and it occurred to me even then that she was probably looking after me, too.

What are you afraid of," she said. "Daylight?" No. I'm afraid of you. I'm afraid of myself, of whatever it is I'm going to do or say to make it all go wrong. I'm desperately trying to avoid that moment and walking straight toward it, all at the same time. "I'm just tired," I said.

But Wishing is addictive.

According to Grandad, being a vegetarian wasn't about just health or cruelty of money or flavor: it was about manners. He said that stealing milk and eggs and honey was enough of a liberty without hacking off someone's leg and then drowning it in gravy. He had a point.

It's what you do when you grow up, apparently, face up to things you'd rather not and accept the fact that nobody is who you thought they were, maybe not even close.

Get on with the business of living," Ernest told me. "You don't have any other choice.

I savoured the moment because the moment was more than enough

It's amazing what storms your face can hide, what terrible wrecks can writhe and heave beneath, without one ripple on the surface.