Kathleen Kelly Quotes

When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does.

It was personal to me." ~Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) in You've Got Mail

With apologies to Kathleen Kelly, what I’ve come to learn is this: if my real life reminds me of something I read in a book, I’m reading well—and I’m probably living well, too.

I wanted it to be you. I wanted it to be you so badly.

With apologies to Kathleen Kelly, what I've come to learn is this: if my real life reminds me of something I read in a book , I'm reading well -- and I'm probably living well, too.

I was in college when I first saw You've Got Mail, and I loved Kathleen Kelly instantly. I was mostly past my wistful gade-school days of wishing myself into every novel I read, but I was alarmingly struck by how she echoed my old fear of settling for my real life, musing in one scene, "So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when shouldn't it be the other way around?" Her impetus was this: once she'd read a story about a butterfly in a subway train, and then...she saw one! The film shows Kathleen rattling along on the train, an open book in her lap, when a butterfly suddenly flits into her field of vision. You can see her visceral delight. That thing she'd only read about had come true. Yet she wondered if her experience was cheapened because she'd read it before she lived it, and my twenty-year-old self wondered right along with her. But I'm not the girl--or the reader--I was then, and I now know the times when reading cheapens anything are few and far between. I've seen how our on -the-page experiences set the stage for our actual lives. Our books frame the scenes for us so we can better understand and experience what's happening when it happens to us--

When you read a book as a child it becomes part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your life does.

There’s a danger in looking up past loves. It’s usually best to keep sacred memories sacred, or they are bound to disappoint.

Hi, Kathleen. You know, when I heard the words ‘flour bomb’ I had a feeling I might see you.” He caught sight of Hercules. “And you,” he said. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out half a piece of beef jerky. The cat’s eyes lit up.