Quotes from Rachel Simon

A person comes into the world with a fist-and a grasp. Yes, we are built to fight one another, but also to embrace. How cleverly we are created.

There were two kinds of students who liked the library: those who devoured one book after another and those who savored the same book repeatedly. Now she understood those rereaders differently ... she realized it was not the rereading that led to fresh insights. It was the rereader-- because when a person is changing inside, there are inevitably new things to see.

There are two kinds of hope: the kind you couldn't do anything about and the kind you could. And even if the kind you could do something about wasn't what you'd originally wanted, it was still worth doing. A rainy day is better than no day. A small happiness can make a big sadness less sad.

Silence made space for other people's words, which was important for those who needed to be listened to.

A rainy day can actually be a very important day. And a small hope isn't really small if it makes a lost hope less sad.

She felt so lovely in his hands. She felt so loved in his eyes.

she realized it was not the rereading that led to fresh insights. It was the rereader—because when a person is changing inside, there are inevitably new things to see

How many other lives are hidden, and hearts are seeking? How many would give anything in the world to be held by the person they love?

Happiness, I have grasped, is a destination, like strawberry Fields. Once you find the way in, there you are, and you'll never feel low again.

she had wondered which was worse: the sudden good-bye you know is a good-bye or the long good-bye you have to guess.

A small happiness can make a big sadness less sad.

Sometimes you think you know what you want, she said, hugging her children, until you see how much more you can have.

Follow your inclination. It will take you to the thoughts you'd never known you'd had.

But never had come first.

Maybe we are all Beths, boarding other people's life journeys, or letting them hop aboard ours. For a while we ride together. A few minutes, a few miles. Companions on the road, sharing our air and our view, our feet swaying to the same beat. Then you get off at your stop, or I get off at mine. Unless we decide to stay on longer together. p 251

she's sad a lot. She's sad in the way Laura wears glasses and Max has freckles and Beth is retarded. There's no reason, it's just the way it is.

When change happened to an individual, it happened to everyone around her - sometimes in ways she wished for, though sometimes in ways she wished against" Lynnie p 228-229

Then," he says, "as my mind got functioning, everything was just beautiful. There was no right or wrong feeling, no social pressure. I believe that's what heaven's going to be like..." p 55

Yes, we can all cart our fractured selves along as we move through our lives. But we can choose whether we keep plodding along the same rutted road, or take a turn we'd never thought was ours to take.

How many others are out there? How many other lives are hidden, and hearts are seeking? How many would give anything in the world to be held by the person they love?

He could not talk himself out of pain any longer. He had no one to be strong for. So finally, he cried. He cried with deep sobs, head bent to the ground, palms pressed to his eyes. He cried so hard that sorrow rushed out of his face. He cried until he felt like the sea.

So you never know when you can get through. p 179 Jack the Bus Driver talking about helping a woman on the bus who was an alcoholic

But those were only the headlines. The more important stories lay deep inside... p 292

There were two kinds of hope: the kind you couldn't do anything about and the kind you could. And even if the kind you could do something about wasn't what you'd originally wanted, it was still worth doing. A rainy day is better than no day. A small happiness can make a big sadness less sad.