The Favorites Layne Fargo Quotes

His love for me hadn't been motivation enough to reach his full potential. His hatred, though? That made him capable of anything.

There are lots of different kinds of love. Love like a steady, warming campfire that keeps you alive in the cold. Love like a raging blaze that burns down everything in its path until nothing but ash remains.

Imagine being down so bad you’d master a whole Olympic sport to spend time with someone.

The thing is, when pushing your limits is all you know, when it seems normal to you...it's hard to remember you even have limits. Until you run right into them.

We used to joke that they were going to die in each other's arms or kill each other with their bare hands. Nothing in between.

I became a skater because I wanted to feel like that. Fierce. Confident. A warrior goddess covered in glitter. So sure of myself, I could make my dreams come true through sheer force of will.

When a woman smacks a man in the face? She usually has a damn good reason.

Heath had a bottomless pit inside him too, but it had nothing to do with ambition. No matter how much love I gave him, it would never be enough. He wanted to be everything to me, the way I was everything to him. And I would always want more.

I hated them. I wanted to be them. I couldn't take my eyes off them.

They wanted a grand, epic love story. They wanted raw, rip-your-clothes-off passion. They didn’t simply want us to be lovers—they wanted us to be so in love, we’d burn the whole world down to be together. 

You can always be better. But don't let that stop you from carrying yourself like a champion. If you don't believe you're the best, no one else will either.

Happiness couldn’t be won. It couldn’t be hung around our necks while a crowd of thousands cheered. It wasn’t a prize, something we had to suffer and toil to earn. If we wanted happiness, we had to create it ourselves. Not in one shining moment on a medal stand, but every single day, over and over again.

Interview: “Do you consider yourself a role model?” the interviewer asks? “As the first Chinese-American woman to win the Olympic gold in ice dance, you-“ Sheiks interrupts. “I think you mean the first American woman.

I didn't invent misogyny, I just shamelessly profited from it.

Soon, I told myself, staring into the shadows beyond my bedroom window, Heath and I would be free of this place. And no matter what, we would be together.

Gossip is a powerful tool that the marginalized can wield against the establishment. Sometimes the only tool we have.

He enjoyed winning, but he didn't feel the same gnawing ache of ambition, the bottomless pit inside me that got exactly what it wanted and then demanded more, more, more

No days off. No breaks. No excuses. Some days, I thought I might not make it through. But every day, I felt happier than ever before in my life.

I'd convinced myself if I became the best, it didn't matter who I hurt, because in the end, it would be worth it. Even if I hurt myself most of all.

I may not have an Olympic gold medal, but I have something better: a life where I spend every day with my favorite people in the world, doing exactly what I love. If that's not winning, I don't know what is.

We were sixteen, and so sure of everything.

You can always be better. But don’t let that stop you from carrying yourself like a champion. If you don’t believe you’re the best, no one else will either. You understand?

Katarina Shaw was in the building, and that bitch had come to win.

Heath hesitated. I watched the warring desires skirmish on his face. A part of him longed to surrender to my curiosity; another part wanted to keep defending the barriers he'd built up to protect himself. I couldn't force him. I couldn't rush him. He had to be the one to tear down the walls, brick by brick - and whenever he was ready, I'd be waiting on the other side.

Heath knew me when I was a gangly little girl with bloody kneecaps and prairie grass in my hair. He'd seen me sobbing and weak and shaking with helpless rage. He knew my pressure points. He knew how to provoke me. Garrett had never known me as Kat Shaw from Nowhere, Illinois. I could leave her behind, as abruptly and heartlessly as Heath had left me. With Heath, I could be myself. But with Garrett, I could be someone better. And if Heath wanted to see me again? He could watch me on television winning goddamn gold medals with Garrett Lin.

Francesca had grown up watching me, like I'd grown up watching Sheila. She said I was inspiring, but what had I inspired? There was no joy left in her, no light. Those smiles were a mask, concealing a molten core of grasping ambition. I wanted to shake her by the shoulders and tell her it wasn't too late. She could wake up. She could realize there was more to life than winning. Happiness couldn't be won. It couldn't be hung around our necks while a crowd of thousands cheered. It wasn't a prize, something we had to suffer and toil to earn. If we wanted happiness, we had to create it ourselves. Not in one shining moment on a medal stand, but every single day, over and over again. I could have told Francesca all that, but it wouldn't have mattered. She'd have to learn for herself, like I did.

Tell you what,” Wes says. “I’ll make you a mix.” “Oh, you don’t have to—” “Just some of my favorites, and you can let me know if you like any of them.

Imagine being down so bad you'd master an Olympic sport to spend time with someone

His love for me hadn’t been motivation enough to reach his full potential. His hatred, though? That made him capable of anything.

And he shoved me through a stained-glass window." "Jesus." "I think it was Saint Andrew, actually.

Some days, I was content too. Other days, I felt trapped in a purgatory of my own making. Every day the same as the next, not working towards anything, not improving, not striving. Simply existing.

She said I was inspiring, but what had I inspired? There was no joy left in her, no light. Those smiles were a mask, concealing a molten core of grasping ambition.

A few feet away, Ellis Dean eyed us over his plate of hors d’oeuvres, popping a miniature puff pastry into his mouth as if it were popcorn.

Lin Li-Mei. She changed it when she left home, I guess. Her parents both died in the ’90s, but that’s what it said in their obituaries.

Imagine being so down bad you’d master a whole Olympic sport to spend time with someone.

The thing is, when pushing your limits is all you know, when it seems normal to you…it’s hard to remember you even have limits. Until you run right into them.

No matter how much love I gave him, it would never be enough. He wanted to be everything to me, the way I was everything to him. And I would always want more.

Two-man luge, American football, beach volleyball. Fucking wrestling, hello?

When I was strong and self-assured, people recoiled from me. They told me I was too competitive, too ambitious, too much. But when I was brought low, bruised and bleeding, a princess in need of rescue instead of a conquering queen, they loved me.

I hated myself for the way I bent toward him, like a flower yearning for the light.