Quotes About Perspective

Pieces and parts were always easier to process. The full picture, the entire story, was another thing entirely. But you just never knew. Sometimes, people could surprise you.

It's still a memory worth having, even if it's not exactly what you imagined.

I am the middle sister. The one in between. Not oldest, not youngest, not boldest, not nicest. I am the shade of gray, the glass half empty or full, depending on your view. In my life, there has been little that I have done first or better than the one preceding or following me. Of all of us, though, I am the only one who has been broken.

Looking back, it seemed like it should have been harder to lose someone, or have them lose you, especially when they were in the same state, only a few towns over.

I didnt pay atteniton to times or distance, instead focusing on how it felt just to be in motion, knowing it wasn't about the finish line but how I got there that mattered.

It's not always easy being her daughter.' I think,' she said, 'sometimes it's hard no matter whose daughter you are.

Love is an excuse to put up with the shit that you shouldn't. That's how it gets you. It throws off the scales so that things that should weigh heavily don't seem to. It's a crock. A trap.

That was the thing about being on the inside: the world was just going on, even when it seemed like time for you had stopped for good.

It's funny how someone's perception of you can be formed without you even knowing it.

It was unrealistic to expect to be constantly in the happiest place. In real life, you're lucky just to be always somewhere nearby.

The truth was, there was no way everything could be the Best. Sometimes, when it came to events and people, it had to be okay to just be .

That was the thing. You just never knew. Forever was so many different things. It was always changing, it was what everything was really all about.

The thing is, you can't always have the best of everything. Because for a life to be real, you need it all: good and bad, beach and concrete, the familiar and the unknown, big talkers and small towns.

I am still the center sister. But I see it differently now. There has to be a middle. Without it, nothing can truly be whole. Because it is not just the space between, but also what holds everything together.

Look at it this way: I might be saying you're fat, but at least I'm not punching you in the face.' Are those the only options?' Not always. Just sometimes.

We all have one idea of what the color blue is, but pressed to describe it specifically, there are so many ways: the ocean, lapis lazuli, the sky, someone's eyes. Our definitions are as different as we are ourselves.

This was always the problem with my mother and me, I suddenly realized. There were so many things we thought we agreed on, but anythign can have two meanings. Like sides of a coin, it just matters how it falls.

It's never something huge that changes the everything, but instead the tiniest of details, irrevocably tweaking the balance of the universe while you're busy focusing on the big picture.

He'd always had that fearless optimism that made cynics like me squirm. I wondered if it was enough for both of us. I would never know from here, though. And time was passing. Crucial minutes and seconds, each one capable of changing everything.

Look. We both know life is short, Macy. Too short to waste a single second with anyone who doesn't appreciate and value you. You said the other day life was long, I shot back. Which is it? It's both, she said, shrugging. It all depends on how you choose to live it. It's like forever, always changing. Nothing can be two opposite things at once, I said. It's impossible. No, she replied, squeezing my hand, what's impossible is that we actually think it could be anything OTHER than that.

And that was it; it was so easy for her. My own memories did not even belong to me. But I knew she was wrong. I had seen that comet. I knew it as well as I knew my own face, my own hands. My own heart.

No,' I said, shooting him a look. 'But you don't have to give everyone the benefit of the doubt.' You don't have to assume the worst about everyone, either. THe world isn't always out to get you.' In your opinion,' I added. Look,' he said, 'the point is there's no way to be a hundred percent sure about anyone or anything. so you're left with a choice. Eitherhope for the best, or just expect the worst.' If you expect the worst you're never disappointed,' I pointed out. ~Ruby and Nate, pg 259

Sometimes things don't turn out the way you want them to, Haven. Sometimes the people you choose to believe are wrong.

This was how I was dealing with everyone and everything lately, taking the good when it came, and the bad the same way, knowing each would pass in its own time.