Quotes from Catherine Ryan Hyde

Everyone knows, on some deep level, the conversations in which they don't belong. Chloe

Once, my father chastised me in the car on the way home because he said I didn't act like I wanted to be there. I didn't want to be there. Nobody had warned me that I was supposed to act.

The reason people are unhappy is because they're so sure they know what they want. And then it makes them unhappy when they don't get it. I personally think people would be happier if they weren't so sure they knew the difference between a good thing and a bad thing.

You can only hold back tears for just so long.

Because you can't control other people. You can't be responsible for somebody else.

He still keeps more of his insides to himself than I mightve hoped for, but things like that are never a zero-sum game. YOu get progres, you be grateful for it. In the realm of wounded humans, you're never going to have it all. Also, I should noye that in my opinion, we're all wouned humans. The rest is just a matter of degree." Stay by Catherine Ryan Hyde

Younger you are, the more you're not sure what's the right way to be in the world. The more you think you might be getting it wrong, the more sensitive you'll be about it. As you get older, like me, you stop caring so much what people think.

Really? So what did you come over here to say?" "I'm not sure, actually. I just knew I needed an idea. I thought you might have one. I didn't expect one to be dropped into my lap. But I guess life is like that sometimes." "Much of the time as you let it be,

There are only just so many times you can look at something before you no longer see it.

I cover her with myself. See, if I have no body, I can be any shape I want. I can take up any amount of space I choose. I can be a blanket. Drape myself over her like a down comforter. I can pour myself over her head like water. I can shine on her like light, bathe her with myself until she feels something resembling warmth again. Don't believe it entirely, Mom, I say.

I think the whole problem with this world is that we control our kids too much. What they naturally are just seems too darned inconvenient for us, so we get impatient with it, and we tell them not to be who they are. No good comes of it. Not in my opinion.

You could do worse than to be amazed. *

Sometimes it's easy to want something for somebody else, even if it's more than you want for yourself.

That's pretty much the definition of a marriage, wouldn't you say? Two people are what they are, and they want what they want. Some of that works well for the other person, and some of it causes problems. The two people try to find some compromise or common ground. If they can't, and it can't be lived with, then the marriage is over.

Any decent man has to feel something for a woman who dearly loves him. Gratitude, if he can muster nothing else.

People think complaining about a bad thing will make them feel better. But it just stokes it. It keeps it alive. It's like feeding it.

Somehow Bea knew the key would have to be an utter lack of preparation. Of anticipation. Once she allowed space for doubt, she would never overcome it.

Sons get bigger and bigger and turn into grownups, but you still call them your son.

knew I was being too talky. I could hear it. I felt around for the off switch but never found it. Not that I think he cared. I was being too talky for me.

It's not your job to convince him. It's his job to believe it. This is his shortcoming, not yours. He needs to think well enough of himself to believe it. And that's always been a problem for him.

When anything is very bad, usually the method to fix it is also bad, and keeps you from putting it completely behind you.

Talking to robots made real humans more robotic.

And it's funny, looking back. I think about it from time to time. A thing happens, and it's a thing big enough to save a life, and you don't know why it happened. And you sure didn't know it was such a big deal at the time. But, looking back, you wonder why things work out the way they do.

Look, I get it," she added. "I'm not without empathy. He upset you, and the upset needs time to move through you. It usually takes me about three days to let a thing like that move all the way through my system and move on. But while you're waiting, try not to feed it.