β
Love is like the wind, you can't see it but you can feel it.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (A Walk to Remember)
β
I am nothing special, of this I am sure. I am a common man with common thoughts and I've led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten, but I've loved another with all my heart and soul, and to me, this has always been enough..
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook)
β
Just when you think it can't get any worse, it can. And just when you think it can't get any better, it can.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (At First Sight (Jeremy Marsh & Lexie Darnell, #2))
β
So it's not gonna be easy. It's going to be really hard; we're gonna have to work at this everyday, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever, everyday. You and me... everyday.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook)
β
I finally understood what true love meant...love meant that you care for another person's happiness more than your own, no matter how painful the choices you face might be.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (Dear John)
β
You can't live your life for other people. You've got to do what's right for you, even if it hurts some people you love.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook (The Notebook, #1))
β
Sometimes you have to be apart from people you love, but that doesn't make you love them any less. Sometimes you love them more.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Last Song)
β
You are my best friend as well as my lover, and I do not know which side of you I enjoy the most. I treasure each side, just as I have treasured our life together.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook (The Notebook, #1))
β
You are, and always have been, my dream.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook)
β
You're going to come across people in your life who will say all the right words at all the right times. But in the end, it's always their actions you should judge them by. It's actions, not words, that matter.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Rescue)
β
Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark in the hopeless swamps of the not-quite, the not-yet, and the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved and have never been able to reach. The world you desire can be won. It exists.. it is real.. it is possible.. it's yours.
β
β
Ayn Rand (Atlas Shrugged)
β
The best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds. And that's what you've given me. That's what I'd hoped to give you forever
β
β
Nicholas Sparks
β
I love you. I am who I am because of you. You are every reason, every hope, and every dream I've ever had, and no matter what happens to us in the future, everyday we are together is the greatest day of my life. I will always be yours.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook)
β
Nothing thatβs worthwhile is ever easy. Remember that.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (Message in a Bottle)
β
We fell in love, despite our differences, and once we did, something rare and beautiful was created. For me, love like that has only happened once, and that's why every minute we spent together has been seared in my memory. I'll never forget a single moment of it.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook)
β
My daddy said, that the first time you fall in love, it changes you forever and no matter how hard you try, that feeling just never goes away.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook (The Notebook, #1))
β
When you're struggling with something, look at all the people around you and realize that every single person you see is struggling with something, and to them, it's just as hard as what you're going through.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (Dear John)
β
You are the answer to every prayer I've offered. You are a song, a dream, a whisper, and I don't know how I could have lived without you for as long as I have.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook (The Notebook, #1))
β
They didnβt agree on much. In fact, they didnβt agree on anything. They fought all the time and challenged each other ever day. But despite their differences, they had one important thing in common. They were crazy about each other.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook (The Notebook, #1))
β
If you like her, if she makes you happy, and if you feel like you know her---then don't let her go.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (Message in a Bottle)
β
True love is rare, and it's the only thing that gives life real meaning.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (Message in a Bottle)
β
Mom says it's because she has PMS.
Do you even know what that means?
"I'm not a little kid anymore. It means pissed-at- men syndrome
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Last Song)
β
I love you more than there are stars in the sky and fish in the sea.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks
β
I mean, if the relationship can't survive the long term, why on earth would it be worth my time and energy for the short term?
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Last Song)
β
The reason it hurts so much to separate is because our souls are connected.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks
β
The greater the love, the greater the tragedy when it's over.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (Nights in Rodanthe)
β
Maybe that's what we look for in the people we love, the spark of unhappiness we think we know how to extinguish.
β
β
Tom Perrotta (Election)
β
Every great love starts with a great story...
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook (The Notebook, #1))
β
Our story has three parts: a beginning, a middle, and an end. And although this is the way all stories unfold, I still can't believe that ours didn't go on forever.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (Dear John)
β
It's possible to go on, no matter how impossible it seems, and that in time, the grief . . . lessens. It may not go away completely, but after a while it's not so overwhelming.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (Dear John)
β
Life, he realize, was much like a song. In the beginning there is mystery, in the end there is confirmation, but it's in the middle where all the emotion resides to make the whole thing worthwhile.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Last Song)
β
In times of grief and sorrow I will hold you and rock you and take your grief and make it my own. When you cry I cry and when you hurt I hurt. And together we will try to hold back the floods to tears and despair and make it through the potholed street of life
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook (The Notebook, #1))
β
I don't know that love changes. People change. Circumstances change.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks
β
If conversation was the lyrics, laughter was the music, making time spent together a melody that could be replayed over and over without getting stale.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks
β
Without suffering, there'd be no compassion.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (A Walk to Remember)
β
It happens to everyone as they grow up. You find out who you are and what you want, and then you realize that people you've known forever don't see things the way you do. So you keep the wonderful memories, but find yourself moving on.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks
β
Truth only means something when it's hard to admit.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Last Song)
β
The emotion that can break your heart is sometimes the very one that heals it...
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (At First Sight (Jeremy Marsh & Lexie Darnell, #2))
β
And when her lips met mine, I knew that I could live to be a hundred and visit every country in the world, but nothing would ever compare to that single moment when I first kissed the girl of my dreams and knew that my love would last forever.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (Dear John)
β
I fell in love with her when we were together, then fell deeper in love with her in the years we were apart.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (Dear John)
β
I love you, not just for now, but for always, and I dream of the day that youβll take me in your arms again.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (Dear John)
β
you have to love something before you can hate it.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Last Song)
β
Without you in my arms, I feel an emptiness in my soul. I find myself searching the crowds for your face - I know it's an impossibility, but I cannot help myself.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (Message in a Bottle)
β
Passion is passion. It's the excitement between the tedious spaces, and it doesn't matter where it's directed...It can be coins or sports or politics or horses or music or faith...the saddest people I've ever met in life are the ones who don't care deeply about anything at all.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (Dear John)
β
The saddest people I've ever met in life are the ones who don't care deeply about anything at all. Passion and satisfaction go hand in hand, and without them, any happiness is only temporary, because there's nothing to make it last.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (Dear John)
β
So how, children, does the brain, which lives without a spark of light, build for us a world full of light?
β
β
Anthony Doerr (All the Light We Cannot See)
β
You always have a choice. It's just that some people make the wrong one.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Guardian)
β
To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.
β
β
Victor Hugo
β
Will you show me what you really look like? You don't sparkle, do you?
β
β
Jennifer L. Armentrout (Obsidian (Lux, #1))
β
When I look in the mirror, I know Iβm looking at someone who isnβt sure she deserves to be loved at all.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (Dear John)
β
Spending time with you showed me what Iβve been missing in my life.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Choice)
β
Every couple needs to argue now and then. Just to prove that the relationship is strong enough to survive. Long-term relationships, the ones that matter, are all about weathering the peaks and the valleys.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (Safe Haven)
β
While I sleep, I dream of you, and when I wake, I long to hold you in my arms. If anything, our time apart has only made me more certain that I want to spend my nights by your side, and my days with your heart.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (Nights in Rodanthe)
β
In our time together, you claimed a special place in my heart, one I'll carry with me forever and that no one can ever replace.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (Dear John)
β
Stephenie Meyer: Her vampires are sparkly, which I think we can all agree is wrong.
β
β
Christopher Moore
β
I'd learned that some things are best kept secret.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (Dear John)
β
love, I've come to understand is more than three words mumbled before bedtime.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks
β
Romance is thinking about your significant other, when you are supposed to be thinking about something else.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks
β
If you're a bird... I'm a bird...
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook (The Notebook, #1))
β
I'm not saying I'm gonna change the world, but I guarantee that I will spark the brain that will change the world.
β
β
Tupac Shakur
β
She wanted something else, something different, something more. Passion and romance, perhaps, or maybe quiet conversations in candlelit rooms, or perhaps something as simple as not being second.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook (The Notebook, #1))
β
She wasn't a person to whom things happen. She did all the happenings.
β
β
Muriel Spark (Aiding and Abetting)
β
Someday you'll find someone special again. People who've been in love once usually do. It's in their nature.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (Message in a Bottle)
β
Dreams are always crushing when they don't come true. But it's the simple dreams that are often the most painful because they seem so personal, so reasonable, so attainable. You're always close enough to touch, but never quite close enough to hold and it's enough to break your heart.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (Three Weeks with My Brother)
β
You are an ember in the ashes, Elias Veturius. You will spark and burn, ravage and destroy. You cannot change it. You cannot stop it.
β
β
Sabaa Tahir (An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes, #1))
β
People come, people go β theyβll drift in and out of your life, almost like characters in a favorite book. When you finally close the cover, the characters have told their story and you start up again with another book, complete with new characters and adventures. Then you find yourself focusing on the new ones, not the ones from the past.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Rescue)
β
The scariest thing about distance is that you donβt know whether theyβll miss you or forget you.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook (The Notebook, #1))
β
In the end you should always do the right thing even if it's hard.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Last Song)
β
Every couple has ups and downs, every couple argues, and thatβs the thingβyouβre a couple, and couples canβt function without trust.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (At First Sight (Jeremy Marsh & Lexie Darnell, #2))
β
She was my dream. She made me who I am, and holding her in my arms was more natural to me than my own heartbeat. I think about her all the time. Even now, when I'm sitting here, I think about her. There could never have been another.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook (The Notebook, #1))
β
The reason it hurts so much to separate is because our souls are connected. Maybe they always have been and will be. Maybe we've lived a thousand lives before this one and in each of them we've found each other. And maybe each time, we've been forced apart for the same reasons. That means that this goodbye is both a goodbye for the past ten thousand years and a prelude to what will come.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook (The Notebook, #1))
β
To whatever end?β she breathed. Rowan followed her, as he had his entire life, long before they had ever met, before their souls had sparked into existence. βTo whatever end, Fireheart.
β
β
Sarah J. Maas (Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass, #7))
β
And for the briefest instant, it almost feels like we're together again.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (Dear John)
β
He stared at her, knowing with certainty that he was falling in love. He pulled her close and kissed her beneath a blanket of stars, wondering how on earth he'd been lucky enough to find her.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Last Song)
β
I have faith that God will show you the answer. But you have to understand that sometimes it takes a while to be able to recognize what God wants you to do. That's how it often is. God's voice is usually nothing more than a whisper, and you have to listen very carefully to hear it. But other times, in those rarest of moments, the answer is obvious and rings as loud as a church bell.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Last Song)
β
I held her close to me with my eyes closed, wonering if anything in my life had ever been this perfect and knowing at the same time that it hadn't. I was in love, and the feeling was even more wonderful than I ever imagined it could be.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (A Walk to Remember)
β
I'm going to marry you one day, you know." "Is that a promise?" "If you want it to be.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (Dear John)
β
She was struck by the simple truth that sometimes the most ordinary things could be made extraordinary, simply by doing them with the right people...
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Lucky One)
β
In time, the hurt began to fade and it was easier to just let it go. At least I thought it was. But in every boy I met in the next few years, I found myself looking for you, and when the feelings got too strong, I'd write you another letter. But I never sent them for fear of what I might find. By then, you'd gone on with your life and I didn't want to think about you loving someone else. I wanted to remember us like we were that summer. I didn't ever want to lose that.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook (The Notebook, #1))
β
Passion and satisfaction go hand in hand, and without them, any happiness is only temporary, because thereβs nothing to make it last.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (Dear John)
β
I would rather be ashes than dust!
I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot.
I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.
The function of man is to live, not to exist.
I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time.
β
β
Jack London
β
We sit silently and watch the world around us. This has taken a lifetime to learn. It seems only the old are able to sit next to one another and not say anything and still feel content. The young, brash and impatient, must always break the silence. It is a waste, for silence is pure. Silence is holy. It draws people together because only those who are comfortable with each other can sit without speaking. This is the great paradox.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook)
β
I dont think that we're meant to understand it all the time. I think that sometimes we just have to have faith.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (A Walk to Remember)
β
People always fall in love with the most perfect aspects of each otherβs personalities. Who wouldnβt? Anybody can love the most wonderful parts of another person. But thatβs not the clever trick. The really clever trick is this: Can you accept the flaws? Can you look at your partnerβs faults honestly and say, βI can work around that. I can make something out of it.β? Because the good stuff is always going to be there, and itβs always going to pretty and sparkly, but the crap underneath can ruin you.
β
β
Elizabeth Gilbert (Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage)
β
You really love her don't you," she said.
With all my heart."
She looked as sad as I'd ever seen her.
What's your heart telling you to do?"
I don't know."
Maybe", she said gently,"You're trying to hard to hear it.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks
β
Hope is a difficult thing to kill, just a spark of it can start a fire.
β
β
Stephanie Garber (Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1))
β
Thank you for coming into my life and giving me joy, thank you for loving me and receiving my love in return. Thank you for the memories I will cherish forever. But most of all, thank you for showing me that there will come a time when I can eventually let you go.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (Message in a Bottle)
β
How far should a person go in the name of true love?
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Choice)
β
To me education is a leading out of what is already there in the pupil's soul.
β
β
Muriel Spark (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie)
β
You see, women are like fires, like flames. Some women are like candles, bright and friendly. Some are like single sparks, or embers, like fireflies for chasing on summer nights. Some are like campfires, all light and heat for a night and willing to be left after. Some women are like hearthfires, not much to look at but underneath they are all warm red coal that burns a long, long while.
β
β
Patrick Rothfuss (The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #1))
β
He was ordinary in a world that loved the extraordinary.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Last Song)
β
Loving someone and having them love you back is the most precious thing in the world.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Rescue)
β
There are moments when I wish I could roll back the clock and take all the sadness away, but I have the feeling that if I did, the joy would be gone as well.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (A Walk to Remember)
β
Love should bring joy, it should grant a person peace, but here and not, it was bringing only pain.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (Dear John)
β
A living poem" had always been the words that came to mind when he tried to describe her to others.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook)
β
I want all of you, forever, you and me, everyday
β
β
Nicholas Sparks
β
I don't want to lose you.' His voice almost a whisper. Seeing his haggard expression, she took his hand and squeezed it, then reluctantly let it go. She could feel the tears again, and she fought them back. 'But you don't want to keep me, either, do you?' To that, he had no response.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Rescue)
β
She wasnt exactly sure when it happened. Or even when it started. All she knew for sure was that right here and now, she was falling hard and she could only pray that he was feeling the same way.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (Safe Haven)
β
People want pretty much the same things: They wanted to be happy. Most young people seemed to think that those things lay somewhere in the future, while most older people believed they lay in the past.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (Nights in Rodanthe)
β
Life, I've learned, is never fair. If they teach anything in schools, that should be it.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks
β
How far would you go to keep the hope of love alive?
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Choice)
β
Knowing there's one thing I still haven't told you: I now believe, by the way, that miracles can happen.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (A Walk to Remember)
β
What it's like to be a parent: It's one of the hardest things you'll ever do but in exchange it teaches you the meaning of unconditional love.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Wedding (The Notebook, #2))
β
There are moments when i wish i could roll back the clock and take all the sadness away, but i have a feeling that if i did, the joy would be gone as well. So i take the memories as they come, accepting them all, letting them guide me whenever i can.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (Dear John)
β
Noah: "You wanna dance with me?"
Allie: "Sure. Now?"
Noah: "Mmm Hmm"
Allie: "You're not supposed to dance in the street."
Noah: "You are supposed to dance in the street."
Allie: "Yeah, but we don't have any music."
Noah: "Well, we'll make some... Bum bum bum bum bum bum..."
Allie: "You're a terrible singer."
Noah: "I know."
Allie: "And I like this song.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook)
β
Poetry, she thought, wasn't written to be analyzed; it was meant to inspire without reason, to touch without understanding.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook (The Notebook, #1))
β
Everyone is always going through tough things, the irony in it is that everyone thinks what they're going through is just as hard as what you are. Life isn't about surviving this, it's about understanding this.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks
β
Yes... it wasn't over, it still isn't over.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks
β
I guess what I'm trying to say is that you are there, in everything I am, in everything I've ever done, and looking back, I know that I should have told you know much you've always meant to me.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Wedding (The Notebook, #2))
β
It wasn't that long, and it certainly wasn't the kind of kiss you see in movies these days, but it was wonderful in its own way, and all I can remember about the moment is that when our lips touched, I knew the memory would last forever.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (A Walk to Remember)
β
First you will smile, and then you will cry -- don't say you haven't been warned.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (A Walk to Remember)
β
When people cared about each other, they always found a way to make it work.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (True Believer (Jeremy Marsh & Lexie Darnell, #1))
β
He liked her; it was as simple as that.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Last Song)
β
Weβd met at a carefree time, a moment full of promise, in its place now were the harsh lessons of the real world.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (Dear John)
β
And I learned what is obvious to a child. That life is simply a collection of little lives, each lived one day at a time. That each day should be spent finding beauty in flowers and poetry and talking to animals. That a day spent with dreaming and sunsets and refreshing breezes cannot be bettered. But most of all, I learned that life is about sitting on benches next to ancient creeks with my hand on her knee and sometimes, on good days, for falling in love.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks
β
This is not a goodbye, my darling, this is a thank you. Thank you for coming into my life and giving me joy, thank you for loving me and receiving my love in return. Thank you for the memories I will cherish forever. But most of all, thank you for showing me that there will come a time when I can eventually let you go.
I love you, T.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (Message in a Bottle)
β
What are we after all our dreams, after all our memories?
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook (The Notebook, #1))
β
He was the toast to her butter.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Lucky One)
β
The pieces all fit together. Yet everything was falling apart.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Last Song)
β
Emotions come and go and can't be controlled so there's no reason to worry about them. That in the end, people should be judged by their actions since in the end it was actions that defined everyone.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Last Song)
β
It has to get ugly before it gets pretty!
β
β
Nicholas Sparks
β
I was in love, and the feeling was even more wonderful than I ever imagined it could be.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks
β
She was a stranger now, but she'd been a friend once, and that was enough for him.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Last Song)
β
There are moments when mental overload can render words impossible.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Choice)
β
Love doesn't mean anything if you're not willing to make a commitment, and you have to think not only about what you want, but about what he wants. Not just now, but in the future.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (Safe Haven)
β
But because they didn't see each other very often, their relationship had more ups and downs than either of them had experienced before. Since everything felt right when they were together, everything felt wrong when they weren't.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (Message in a Bottle)
β
love means to see the one you love happy
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (Dear John)
β
You never called me back," he said. "I called you so many times and you never called me back."
Magnus looked at Alec as if he'd lost his mind. "Your city is under attack," he said. "The wards have been broken, and the streets are full of demons. And you want to know why I haven't called you?"
Alec set his jaw in a stubborn line. "I want to know why you haven't called me back."
Magnus threw his hands up in the air in a gesture of utter exasperation. Alec noted with interest that when he did it, a few sparks escaped from his fingertips, like fireflies escaping from a jar. "You're an idiot."
"Is that why you haven't called me? Because I'm an idiot?"
"No." Magnus strode toward him. "I didn't call you because I'm tired of you only wanting me around when you need something. I'm tired of watching you be in love with someone else - someone, incidentally, who will never love you back. Not the way I do."
"You love me?"
"You stupid Nephilim," Magnus said patiently. "Why else am I here? Why else would I have spent the past few weeks patching up all your moronic friends every time they got hurt? And getting you out of every ridiculous situation you found yourself in? Not to mention helping you win a battle against Valentine. And all completely free of charge!
β
β
Cassandra Clare (City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments, #3))
β
i'm sorry she never got her miracle.
she did get her miracle, Landon, her miracle was you.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (A Walk to Remember)
β
It's the possibility that keeps me going, not the guarantee.
β
β
Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook (The Notebook, #1))
β
It is the possibility that keeps me going, and though you may call me a dreamer or a fool or any other thing, I believe that anything is possible.
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Nicholas Sparks
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I'm not really sure which parts of myself are real and which parts are things I've gotten from books.
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Beatrice Sparks (Go Ask Alice)
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I know that somehow, every step I took since the moment I could walk was a step towards finding you.
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Nicholas Sparks (Message in a Bottle)
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He often felt that too many people lived their lives acting and pretending,wearing masks and losing themselves in the process.
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Nicholas Sparks (The Choice)
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But...as bad as it was, I learned something about myself. That I could go through something like that and survive. I mean, I know it could have been worse--a lot worse-- but for me, it was all I could have handled at the time. And I learned from it.
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Nicholas Sparks (Dear John)
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And when I came in with tears in my eyes, you always knew whether I needed you to hold me or just let me be. I don't know how you knew, but you did, and you made it easier for me.
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Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook (The Notebook, #1))
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Dusk is just an illusion because the sun is either above the horizon or below it. And that means that day and night are linked in a way that few things are there cannot be one without the other yet they cannot exist at the same time. How would it feel I remember wondering to be always together yet forever apart?
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Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook (The Notebook, #1))
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There's no love like the first.
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Nicholas Sparks
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Summer romances end for all kinds of reasons. But when all is said and done, they have one thing in common: They are shooting stars-a spectacular moment of light in the heavens, a fleeting glimpse of eternity. And in a flash, they're gone.
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Nicholas Sparks
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In a lifetime of mistakes, you two are the greatest things that have ever happened to me.
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Nicholas Sparks (The Last Song)
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If you discovered something that made you tighten inside, you had better try to learn more about it.
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Nicholas Sparks (Message in a Bottle)
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Women want the fairytale. Not all women, of course, but most women grow up dreaming about the kind of man who would risk everything for them, even knowing they might get hurt.
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Nicholas Sparks (True Believer (Jeremy Marsh & Lexie Darnell, #1))
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But love, Iβve come to understand, is more than three words mumbled before bedtime. Love is sustained by action, a pattern of devotion in the things we do for each other every day.
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Nicholas Sparks (The Wedding (The Notebook, #2))
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I'll be anything you want, just tell me what you want and I'll be that.
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Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook (The Notebook, #1))
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You have to promise you won't fall in love with me.
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Nicholas Sparks (A Walk to Remember)
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There are winds of destiny that blow when we least expect them. Sometimes they gust with the fury of a hurricane, sometimes they barely fan oneβs cheek. But the winds cannot be denied, bringing as they often do a future that is impossible to ignore.
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Nicholas Sparks (Message in a Bottle)
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Sometimes we need to be apart to understand just how much we truly love each other .
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Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook (The Notebook, #1))
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All of sudden, this shooting star went by, and all I could think was that they were listening to us somehow.
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Nicholas Sparks
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Too far-fetched to believe, too obvious to ignore.
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Nicholas Sparks
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Do you ever wonder why things have to turn out the way they do?
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Nicholas Sparks (A Walk to Remember)
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Being in love, I find myself smiling for no reason at all...
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Nicholas Sparks (Dear John)
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She would tell him what she wanted in her life--her hopes and dreams for the future--and he would listen intently and then promise to make it all come true. And the way he said it made her believe him, and she knew how much he meant to her.
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Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook (The Notebook, #1))
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No matter where it is in the sky... No matter where you are in the world... the moon is never bigger than your thumb. -John
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Nicholas Sparks (Dear John)
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You and I were different. We came from different worlds, and yet you were the one how taught me the value of love. You showed me what it was like to care for another, and I am a better man because of it. I don't want you to ever forget that.
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Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook (The Notebook, #1))
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I may be irresponsible but I am a good irresponsible.
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Nicholas Sparks (A Walk to Remember)
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I know, but no matter what I choose I have to live with it. Forever. I have to be able to go forward and not look back anymore. Can you understand that?
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Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook (The Notebook, #1))
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For me, trees have always been the most penetrating preachers. I revere them when they live in tribes and families, in forests and groves. And even more I revere them when they stand alone. They are like lonely persons. Not like hermits who have stolen away out of some weakness, but like great, solitary men, like Beethoven and Nietzsche. In their highest boughs the world rustles, their roots rest in infinity; but they do not lose themselves there, they struggle with all the force of their lives for one thing only: to fulfil themselves according to their own laws, to build up their own form, to represent themselves. Nothing is holier, nothing is more exemplary than a beautiful, strong tree. When a tree is cut down and reveals its naked death-wound to the sun, one can read its whole history in the luminous, inscribed disk of its trunk: in the rings of its years, its scars, all the struggle, all the suffering, all the sickness, all the happiness and prosperity stand truly written, the narrow years and the luxurious years, the attacks withstood, the storms endured. And every young farmboy knows that the hardest and noblest wood has the narrowest rings, that high on the mountains and in continuing danger the most indestructible, the strongest, the ideal trees grow.
Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. They do not preach learning and precepts, they preach, undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life.
A tree says: A kernel is hidden in me, a spark, a thought, I am life from eternal life. The attempt and the risk that the eternal mother took with me is unique, unique the form and veins of my skin, unique the smallest play of leaves in my branches and the smallest scar on my bark. I was made to form and reveal the eternal in my smallest special detail.
A tree says: My strength is trust. I know nothing about my fathers, I know nothing about the thousand children that every year spring out of me. I live out the secret of my seed to the very end, and I care for nothing else. I trust that God is in me. I trust that my labor is holy. Out of this trust I live.
When we are stricken and cannot bear our lives any longer, then a tree has something to say to us: Be still! Be still! Look at me! Life is not easy, life is not difficult. Those are childish thoughts. Let God speak within you, and your thoughts will grow silent. You are anxious because your path leads away from mother and home. But every step and every day lead you back again to the mother. Home is neither here nor there. Home is within you, or home is nowhere at all.
A longing to wander tears my heart when I hear trees rustling in the wind at evening. If one listens to them silently for a long time, this longing reveals its kernel, its meaning. It is not so much a matter of escaping from one's suffering, though it may seem to be so. It is a longing for home, for a memory of the mother, for new metaphors for life. It leads home. Every path leads homeward, every step is birth, every step is death, every grave is mother.
So the tree rustles in the evening, when we stand uneasy before our own childish thoughts: Trees have long thoughts, long-breathing and restful, just as they have longer lives than ours. They are wiser than we are, as long as we do not listen to them. But when we have learned how to listen to trees, then the brevity and the quickness and the childlike hastiness of our thoughts achieve an incomparable joy. Whoever has learned how to listen to trees no longer wants to be a tree. He wants to be nothing except what he is. That is home. That is happiness.
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Hermann Hesse (BΓ€ume: Betrachtungen und Gedichte)
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You're a hero and a gentleman, you're kind and honest, but more than that, you're the first man I ever truly loved. And no matter what the future brings, you always will be, and I know that my life is better for it.
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Nicholas Sparks (Dear John)
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Things changed, people changed, and the world went rolling along right outside the window.
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Nicholas Sparks (Message in a Bottle)
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a person can get used to anything if given enough time
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Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook (The Notebook, #1))
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I think it happens to everyone as they grow up. You find out who you are and what you want, and then you realize that people you've known forever don't see things the way you do. And so you keep the wonderful memories, but find yourself moving on.
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Nicholas Sparks (True Believer (Jeremy Marsh & Lexie Darnell, #1))
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Too many people seem to believe that silence was a void that needed to be filled, even if nothing important was said.
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Nicholas Sparks (Nights in Rodanthe)
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Don't take my advice. Or anyone's advice. Trust yourself. For good or for bad, happy or unhappy, it's your life, and what you do with it has always been entirely up to you.
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Nicholas Sparks (The Best of Me)
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There's no need to wait for the bad things and bullshit to be over. Change now. Love now. Live now. Don't wait for people to give you permission to live, because they won't.
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Kris Carr (Crazy Sexy Diet: Eat Your Veggies, Ignite Your Spark, and Live Like You Mean It!)
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Stories are as unique as the people who tell them, and the best stories are in which the ending is a surprise.
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Nicholas Sparks (The Choice)
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I lost you once, I think I can do it again.
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Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook (The Notebook, #1))
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Would you stop thinking about what everyone wants. Stop thinking
about what I want, what he wants, what your parents want. What do you want?
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Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook (The Notebook, #1))
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The problem isn't finding out where you are gonna go-its figuring out what you are gonna do once you get there that is! (Jamie Sullivan)
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Nicholas Sparks (A Walk to Remember)
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I've been burdened by questions I've asked myself a thousand times since the last time we were together.
Why did I do it? And would I do it again?
It was I, you see, who ended it.
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Nicholas Sparks (Dear John)
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Never forget that anticipation is an important part of life. Work's important, family's important, but without excitement, you have nothing. You're cheating yourself if you refuse to enjoy what's coming.
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Nicholas Sparks (Three Weeks with My Brother)
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Love is fragile. And we're not always its best caretakers. We just muddle through and do the best we can. And hope this fragile thing survives against all odds.
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Nicholas Sparks (The Last Song)
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Silence is pure and holy. It draws people together because only those who are comfortable with each other can sit without speaking.
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Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook (The Notebook, #1))
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I'd love to, she finally said,"on one condition."
I steadied myself, hoping it wasn't something too awful.
"Yes?"
"You have to promise that you won't fall in love with me."
I knew she was kidding me by the way she laughed, and I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Sometimes, I had to admit, Jamie had a pretty good sense of humor.
I smiled and gave her my word.
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Nicholas Sparks
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I think it would be easier to fight in a dress,β says Marlene, tapping her chin. βIt would give your legs freer movement. And who really cares if you flash people your underwear, as long as youβre kicking the crap out of them?β
Lynn goes silent, like she recognizes that as a spark of brilliance but canβt bring herself to admit it.
βWhatβs this about flashing underwear?β says Uriah, sidestepping a bunk. βWhatever it is, Iβm in.
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Veronica Roth (Insurgent (Divergent, #2))
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Poets often describe love as an emotion that we can't control, one that overwhelms logic and common sense. That's what it was like for me. I didn't plan on falling in love with you, and I doubt if oyu planned on fallin gin love with me. But once we met, it was clear that neither of us could control what was happening to us. We fell in love, despite our differences, and once we did, something rare and beautiful was created. For me, love like that has happened only once, and that's why every minute we spent together has been seared in my memory. I'll never forget a single moment of it.
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Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook (The Notebook, #1))
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Part of me aches at the thought of her being so close yet so untouchable, but her story and mine are different now. It wasn't easy for me to accept this simple truth, because there was a time when our stories were the same, but that was six years and two lifetimes ago.
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Nicholas Sparks (Dear John)
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WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING?" There was a sound of shattering glass, and they both sat up to see Alec glaring at them. He had dropped the empty bottle of wine he had been carrying, and there were bits of sparkly glass all over the cave floor. "WHY CAN'T YOU GO SOMEWHERE ELSE TO DO THESE HORRIBLE THINGS? MY EYES."
"It's a demon realm, Alec," Isabelle said. "There's nowhere for us to go."
"And you said I should look after her-" Simon began, then realized that would not be a productive line of conversation, and shut up.
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Cassandra Clare (City of Heavenly Fire (The Mortal Instruments, #6))
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Never forget that God is your friend. And like all friends, He longs to hear what's been happening in your life. Good or bad, whether it's been full of sorrow or anger, or even when you're questioning why terrible things have to happen.
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Nicholas Sparks (The Last Song)
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An ordinary beginning, something that would have been forgotten had it been anyone but her. But as he shook her hand and met those striking emerald eyes, he knew before he'd taken his next breath that she was the one he could spend the rest of his life looking for but never find again. She seemed that good, that perfect, while a summer wind blew through the trees.
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Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook (The Notebook, #1))
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I call it God Light, because it reminds me of heaven. Every time the light shines through the window we built or any window at all, you'll know I'm right there with you, okay? That's going to be me. I'll be the light in the window.
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Nicholas Sparks (The Last Song)
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For, after all, you do grow up, you do outgrow your ideals, which turn to dust and ashes, which are shattered into fragments; and if you have no other life, you just have to build one up out of these fragments. And all the time your soul is craving and longing for something else. And in vain does the dreamer rummage about in his old dreams, raking them over as though they were a heap of cinders, looking in these cinders for some spark, however tiny, to fan it into a flame so as to warm his chilled blood by it and revive in it all that he held so dear before, all that touched his heart, that made his blood course through his veins, that drew tears from his eyes, and that so splendidly deceived him!
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Fyodor Dostoevsky (White Nights and Other Stories)
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Do you want a cookie?
- What?
- A cookie. Like an Oreo. Do you want one?
- No.
- How can you not want a cookie?
- I just don't.
- Okay, fine,let's say you did want a cookie. Let's say you were dying for a cookie, and there were cookies in the cupboard. What would you do?
- I'd eat a cookie?
- Exactly. That's all I'm saying.
- What are you saying?
- That if people want cookies, they should get a cookie. It's what people do.
- Let me guess. Dad won't let you have a
cookie?
- No. Even though I'm practically starving to death, he won't even consider it. He says I have to have a sandwich first.
- And you don't think that's fair.
- You just said you'd get a cookie if you wanted one. So why can't I? I'm not a little kid. I can make my own decisions.
- Hmm. I can see why this bothers you so
much.
- It's not fair. If he wants a cookie, he can have one. If you want a cookie,
you can have one. But if I want a cookie, the rules don't count. Like you
said, it's not fair.
- So what are you going to do?
- I'm going to eat a sandwich. Because I have to. Because the world isn't fair
to ten-year-olds.
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Nicholas Sparks (The Last Song)
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My Dearest Allie. I couldn't sleep last night because I know that it's over between us. I'm not bitter anymore, because I know that what we had was real. And if in some distant place in the future we see each other in our new lives, I'll smile at you with joy and remember how we spent the summer beneath the trees, learning from each other and growing in love. The best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds, and that's what you've given me. That's what I hope to give to you forever. I love you. I'll be seeing you. Noah
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Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook (The Notebook, #1))
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Iβm stuck babysitting turtle eggs while a volleyball player slash grease monkey slash aquarium volunteer tries to hit on me.β
Iβm not hitting on you,β he protested.
No?β
Believe me, youβd know if I was hitting on you. You wouldnβt be able to stop yourself from succumbing to my charms.
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Nicholas Sparks (The Last Song)
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If you simply ignored the feeling, you would never know what might happen, and in many ways that was worse than finding out in the first place. Because if you were wrong, you could go forward in your life without ever looking back over your shoulder and wondering what might have been.
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Nicholas Sparks (Message in a Bottle)
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Youβre here!β Isabelle danced up to them in delight, carrying a glass of fuchsia liquid, which she thrust at Clary. βHave some of this!β
Clary squinted at it. βIs it going to turn me into a rodent?β
βWhere is the trust? I think itβs strawberry juice,β Isabelle said. βAnyways, itβs yummy. Jace?β She offered him the glass.
βI am a man,β he told her, βand men do not consume pink beverages. Get thee gone, woman, and bring me something brown.β
βBrown?β Isabelle made a face.
βBrown is a manly color,β said Jace, and yanked on a stray lock of Isabelleβs hair with his free hand. βIn fact, look β Alec is wearing it.β
Alec looked mournfully down at his sweater. βIt was black,β he said. βBut then it faded.β
βYou could dress it up with a sequined headband,β Magnus suggested, offering his boyfriend something blue and sparkly. βJust a thought.β
βResist the urge, Alec.β Simon was sitting on the edge of a low wall with Maia beside him, though she appeared to be deep in conversation with Aline. βYouβll look like Olivia Newton-John in Xanadu.β
βThere are worse things,β Magnus observed.
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Cassandra Clare (City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments, #3))
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And then I feel as if I'm witnessing a miracle, as ever so slowly she raises her face towards the moon. I watch her drink in the sight, sensing the flood of memories she's unleashed and wanting nothing more than to let her know I'm here. But instead I stay where I am and stare up at the moon as well. And for the briefest instant, it almost feels like we're together again.
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Nicholas Sparks (Dear John)
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You know me better than anyone, and you're my best friend. I don't think there's anything you could say to me that would lead me to believe that you're doing it just to hurt me. If there's one thing I've come to know about you, it's that you're not even capable of something like that. Why do you think I like spending time with you so much? Because you're a good guy. A nice guy.
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Nicholas Sparks (The Guardian)
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Yes, I decided, a man can truly change. The events of the past year have taught me much about myself, and a few universal truths. I learned, for instance, that while wounds can be inflicted easily upon those we love, it's often much more difficult to heal them. Yet the process of healing those wounds provided the richest experience of my life, leading me to believe that while I've often overestimated what I could accomplish in a day, I had underestimated what I could do in a year. But most of all, I learned that it's possible for two people to fall in love all over again, even when there's been a lifetime of disappointment between them.
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Nicholas Sparks (The Wedding (The Notebook, #2))
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But even though she was attractive, there was something else about her that caught his eye. She was intelligent, he could sense that right away, and confident, too, as if she were able to move through life on her own terms. To him, these were the things that really mattered. Without them, beauty was nothing.
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Nicholas Sparks (Message in a Bottle)
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That's why I loved being with you. We could do the simplest things, like toss starfish into the ocean and share a burger and talk and even then I knew that I was fortunate. Because you were the first guy who wasn't constantly trying to impress me. You accepted who you were, but more than that, you accepted me for me. And nothing else mattered-- not my family or your family or anyone else in the world. It was just us.
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Nicholas Sparks (The Best of Me)
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Don't exist.
Live.
Get out, explore.
Thrive.
Challenge authority. Challenge yourself.
Evolve.
Change forever.
Become who you say you always will. Keep moving. Don't stop. Start the revolution. Become a freedom fighter. Become a superhero. Just because everyone doesn't know your name doesn't mean you dont matter.
Are you happy? Have you ever been happy? What have you done today to matter? Did you exist or did you live? How did you thrive?
Become a chameleon-fit in anywhere. Be a rockstar-stand out everywhere. Do nothing, do everything. Forget everything, remember everyone. Care, don't just pretend to. Listen to everyone. Love everyone and nothing at the same time. Its impossible to be everything,but you can't stop trying to do it all.
All I know is that I have no idea where I am right now. I feel like I am in training for something, making progress with every step I take. I fear standing still. It is my greatest weakness.
I talk big, but often don't follow through. That's my biggest problem. I don't even know what to think right now. It's about time I start to take a jump. Fuck starting to take. Just jump-over everything. Leap.
It's time to be aggressive. You've started to speak your mind, now keep going with it, but not with the intention of sparking controversy or picking a germane fight. Get your gloves on, it's time for rebirth. There IS no room for the nice guys in the history books.
THIS IS THE START OF A REVOLUTION. THE REVOLUTION IS YOUR LIFE. THE GOAL IS IMMORTALITY. LET'S LIVE, BABY. LET'S FEEL ALIVE AT ALL TIMES. TAKE NO PRISONERS. HOLD NO SOUL UNACCOUNTABLE, ESPECIALLY NOT YOUR OWN. IF SOMETHING DOESN'T HAPPEN, IT'S YOUR FAULT.
Make this moment your reckoning. Your head has been held under water for too long and now it is time to rise up and take your first true breath.
Do everything with exact calculation, nothing without meaning. Do not make careful your words, but make no excuses for what you say. Fuck em' all. Set a goal for everyday and never be tired.
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Brian Krans (A Constant Suicide)
β
That initial anger she had felt turned to sadness, and now it had become something else, almost a dullness of sorts. Even though she was constantly in motion, it seemed as if nothing special ever happened to her anymore. Each day seemed exactly like the last, and she had trouble differentiating among them.
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Nicholas Sparks (Message in a Bottle)
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They pulled apart when Keefe shouted, "YOU GUYS HAVE TO SEE THIS!"
They ran to the main room and found Keefe standing under the skylight, holding up Mr. Snuggles like it was a baby lion about to be made king. The sparkly red dragon twinkled almost as much as Keefe's eyes as he said, "I went in to check on our boy and found him cuddling with THIS!"
"Isn't that the same dragon Fitz brought to your house that one time?" Dex asked Sophie.
"WHAT?" Keefe shouted. "YOU KNEW AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME?!"
"Mr. Snuggles wasn't my secret to share," Sophie said.
"IT'S NAME IS MR. SNUGGLES?! That is... I can't even..." Keefe ran back to Fitz's room shouting, "ARE YOU MISSING YOUR SNUGGLE BUDDY?!"
"Fitz is going to die of embarrassment, you know that, right?" Biana asked.
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Shannon Messenger (Neverseen (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #4))
β
I love you, Savannah, and I always will," I breathed. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me. You were my best friend and my lover, and I dont regret a single moment of it. You made me feel alive again, and most of all, you gave me my father. I'll never forget you for that. You're always going to be the very best part of me. I'm sorry it has to be this way, but I have to leave, and you have to see your husband." As I spoke, I could feel her shaking with sobs, and I continued to hold her for a long time afterward. When we finally seperated, I knew that it would be the last time I ever held her. I backed away, my eyes holding Savannah's. "I love you, too, John," she said. "Good-bye." I raised a hand.
β
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Nicholas Sparks (Dear John)
β
You have no idea how much the last few days have meant to me," I began. "Meeting you has been the best thing that's ever happened to me." I hesitated, know that if I stopped now, I'd never be able to say it to anyone. "I love you," I whispered. "Did you ever imagine something like this?" she wondered aloud. "You and me , I mean?" "No," I said. "It scares me a little." My stomach flipped, and all at once, I was sure she didnt feel the same way. "You dont have to say it back to me," I began. "That's not why I said it--" "I know," she interrupted. "You don't understand. I wasnt scared because you told me. I got scared because I wanted to say it, too: I love you, John.
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Nicholas Sparks (Dear John)
β
Do you love me?' I asked her. She smiled. 'Yes.' 'Do you want me to be happy?' as I asked her this I felt my heart beginning to race. 'Of course I do.' 'Will you do something for me then?' She looked away, sadness crossing her features. 'I don't know if I can anymore.' she said. 'but if you could, would you?' I cannot adequately describe the intensity of what I was feeling at that moment. Love, anger, sadness, hope, and fear, whirling together sharpened by the nervousness I was feeling. Jamie looked at me curiously and my breaths became shallower. Suddenly I knew that I'd never felt as strongly for another person as I did at that moment. As I returned her gaze, this simple realization made me wish for the millionth time that I could make all this go away. Had it been possible, I would have traded my life for hers. I wanted to tell her my thoughts, but the sound of her voice suddenly silenced the emotions inside me. 'yes' she finally said, her voice weak yet somehow still full of promise. 'I would.' Finally getting control of myself I kissed her again, then brought my hand to her face, gently running my fingers over her cheek. I marveled at the softness of her skin, the gentleness I saw in her eyes. even now she was perfect. My throat began to tighten again, but as I said, I knew what I had to do. Since I had to accept that it was not within my power to cure her, what I wanted to do was give her something that she'd wanted. It was what my heart had been telling me to do all along. Jamie, I understood then, had already given me the answer I'd been searching for, the answer my heart needed to find. She'd told me outside Mr. Jenkins office, the night we'd asked him about doing the play. I smiled softly, and she returned my affection with a slight squeeze of my hand, as if trusting me in what I was about to do. Encouraged, I leaned closer and took a deep breath. When I exhaled, these were the words that flowed with my breath. 'Will you marry me?
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Nicholas Sparks (A Walk to Remember)
β
When I think of you and me and what we shared, I know it would be easy for others to dismiss our time together as simply a by-product of the days and nights we spent by the sea, a "fling" that, in the long run, would mean absolutely nothing. Thats why I don't tell people about us. They wouldn't understand, and I don't feel the need to explain, simply becasue I know in my heart how real it was... how real this is. When I think of you I cant help smiling, knowing that you've completed me somehow. I love you, not just for now, but for always, and I dream of the day that you'll take me in your arms again
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Nicholas Sparks (Dear John)
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No, it's not that. It's not what you're thinking. I was serious when I said 'all of it'. I can remember every moment we were together, and in eachof them there was something wonderful. I can't really pick any one time that meant more than any other. The entire summer was perfect, the kind of summer everyone should have. How could I pick one moment over another? Poets often describe love as an emotion that we can't control, one that overwhelms logic and common sense. That's what it was like for me. I didn't plan on falling in love with you, and I doubt if you planned on falling in love with me. But once we met, it was clear that neither of us could control what was happening to us. We fell in love, despite our differences, and once we did, something rare and beautiful was created. For me, love like that has happened only once, and that's why every minute we spent together has been seared in my memory. I'll never forget a single moment of it.
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Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook (The Notebook, #1))
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Strange memories on this nervous night in Las Vegas. Five years later? Six? It seems like a lifetime, or at least a Main Eraβthe kind of peak that never comes again. San Francisco in the middle sixties was a very special time and place to be a part of. Maybe it meant something. Maybe not, in the long run . . . but no explanation, no mix of words or music or memories can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive in that corner of time and the world. Whatever it meant. . . .
History is hard to know, because of all the hired bullshit, but even without being sure of βhistoryβ it seems entirely reasonable to think that every now and then the energy of a whole generation comes to a head in a long fine flash, for reasons that nobody really understands at the timeβand which never explain, in retrospect, what actually happened.
My central memory of that time seems to hang on one or five or maybe forty nightsβor very early morningsβwhen I left the Fillmore half-crazy and, instead of going home, aimed the big 650 Lightning across the Bay Bridge at a hundred miles an hour wearing L. L. Bean shorts and a Butte sheepherder's jacket . . . booming through the Treasure Island tunnel at the lights of Oakland and Berkeley and Richmond, not quite sure which turn-off to take when I got to the other end (always stalling at the toll-gate, too twisted to find neutral while I fumbled for change) . . . but being absolutely certain that no matter which way I went I would come to a place where people were just as high and wild as I was: No doubt at all about that. . . .
There was madness in any direction, at any hour. If not across the Bay, then up the Golden Gate or down 101 to Los Altos or La Honda. . . . You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning. . . .
And that, I think, was the handleβthat sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didnβt need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fightingβon our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. . . .
So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water markβthat place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.
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Hunter S. Thompson (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream)