Quotes from Kristin Harmel

She hadn't realized that once one opened the door to one's heart, it was impossible to fully close it again.

That's what books were for, after all. They were passageways to other worlds, other realities, other lives one could imagine living.

she looked into the child's eyes and saw a future there, long and beautiful and bright, a future that would go on after Yona herself had passed from the world, a future still unwritten.

La vita diventa complicata, le circostanze ci separano, le decisioni determinano il nostro destino. Ma il tuo cuore ti mostrerà sempre la direzione.

life is darkest when we choose to walk it alone.

This is where the war in Europe ended, on May 7, at 2:41 in the morning." "Wait, World War II ended here? In Reims?

Please. I learned far too late that life is simply about being good and decent to others. It's as plain as that. But first, you must be good and decent to yourself. Find

think you're sad. And I think you're searching for purpose. But becoming someone's mistress is not the way to find yourself.

Yona shook her head. "He sees me as more than I am, I think." "No. He sees you for exactly who you are. And that is very difficult for him.

the greatest deeds in life require us to rise above our fear.

Please. I learned far too late that life is simply about being good and decent to others. It's as plain as that. But first, you must be good and decent to yourself. Find your own road. Find your own happiness. You must, my dear. You must, or you will wind up old and alone and full of regrets.

You didn't think that was just a holiday for them, did you? Surely you don't expect me to let them simply sit around and play. Their brains would turn to soup.

We aren't defined by the names we carry, or the religion we practice, or the nation whose flag flies over our heads, I know that now. We are defined by who we are in our hearts, who we choose to be on this earth.

One's reward for marching through the decades is a gradual process of erasure.

In the spring, tattered and emaciated Jews who had spent the war in the concentration camps to the east had begun to return. Those who had lost family members peered into the faces of these walking skeletons, struggling to find the people they were so sure they'd never see again. Sometimes, there were joyous reunions. Mostly, though, the survivors returned to find that everyone they loved had perished and that their reward for enduring hell was a renewed sense of loss and despair.

maybe the best way to change your life is to look inside yourself. But that's harder to do, isn't it?

And the past has a way of showing you things clearly, whether you like it or not.

Sometimes, God's plans are different from ours, and it's impossible to know why,

Would you have traded the life you've had with me for one with evil parents, just because it came with love?" "I don't know," Yona said. "You never gave me the chance to choose.

pain loses its power when we share it.

all make mistakes. But life goes on, and we can always become better. It's not the decisions in your past that matter, but the choices you make about your future.

And to librarians and booksellers everywhere, who ensure that the books with the power to change lives find their way into the hands of the people who need them most.

it's what's inside a person that counts. And sometimes, you have to walk through fire in order to find your true self. Maybe this is your fire.

The thing is, not every happily ever after needs to end with a Prince Charming