Hannah Bonam-Young > Quotes

“Our souls were tied a long time ago, I think. We’re just finally admitting it to each other.”
― Hannah Bonam-Young, Out on a Limb

“You are my soul’s purpose, Win. To know you, to love you, to build a family with you, to spend every day taking care of you, to watch you shine and get all the good things you deserve out of this life.”
― Hannah Bonam-Young, Out on a Limb

“It’s so much easier to communicate insecurities when you don’t need to communicate them at all. Isn’t that all we ever want? To be seen and heard? Validated, even when we’re not able to ask for it.”
― Hannah Bonam-Young, Out on a Limb

“If you give me the space to grow, I’ll plant myself next to you. Always.”
― Hannah Bonam-Young, Out of the Woods

“I can tell life has not been easy or always kind to you, but you haven’t let it turn you hard. Not like a stone. You became like water. You move with it all. You’re soft… but powerful.” I”
― Hannah Bonam-Young, Out on a Limb

“I love you, Win. I love you so much it makes me feel like I’ve hated everything else in my life up until now. Nothing compares to what I feel for you. Not even close.”
― Hannah Bonam-Young, Out on a Limb

“You can’t change anything by hiding it. You’ll just look back on memories and realise you tried to erase yourself. And how sad that would be.”
― Hannah Bonam-Young, Out on a Limb

“Perhaps that’s all Bo and I are. Two people leaving behind the worst, looking forward to the good to come.”
― Hannah Bonam-Young, Out on a Limb

“When did you start making your feelings smaller for other people’s benefit?”
― Hannah Bonam-Young, Next of Kin

“I, like most women my age, have learned to hate myself just enough to appease others. If you’re too fond of how you look, you’re told you’ll be unlikeable. Labelled as self-involved, egotistical, or stuck-up. But it’s purposeful—pinning us against one another. Consumerism demands we remain unsatisfied with our appearance. If we all liked ourselves, dozens of industries would crumble like Babylon. We have to want a solution to whatever or however many problems plague us in order to keep those factories running. To keep money in men’s pockets.”
― Hannah Bonam-Young, Out on a Limb

“Everyday we seem to talk about nothing and everything all at once. Every thought, every feeling, every memory recounted until we run dry. We continue to pour all of ourselves out to each other. Until our histories and stories started becoming more of a woven tapestry than a blank slate. And the nothing too. The insignificant observations and the silly anecdotes that no one else would care to hear. Those are just as important.”
― Hannah Bonam-Young, Out on a Limb

“When you’re not near, you occupy every corner of my life. Half of my thoughts are about you. All of my dreams involve you. My hopes and fears and purpose revolve around you.”
― Hannah Bonam-Young, Out of the Woods

“Are you flirting with me?” I ask. Or at least I think I do. His soft, single laugh surprises me. “For over a year now. Thanks for noticing.” He kisses next to my ear.”
― Hannah Bonam-Young, Next to You

“They go for my leg every time. I don’t know if it’s because it’s shiny and they like that, or if geese are just little ableist fucks, but they’re always trying to attack me.”
― Hannah Bonam-Young, Out on a Limb

“A dove is a symbol of peace.” He reaches towards me, holding my cheek in his palm. “That’s what you are to me… peace.”
― Hannah Bonam-Young, Next of Kin

“It’s horribly cliché, but his smile is beaming—far brighter than the sun. I feel myself bloom with it, as if it’s my own personal version of photosynthesis.”
― Hannah Bonam-Young, Out on a Limb

“I’m going to friend the shit out of you, Freddie McNulty.”
― Hannah Bonam-Young, Out on a Limb

“This book is dedicated to those who think Jess was Rory's best boyfriend. The rest of you are wrong.”
― Hannah Bonam-Young, Next of Kin

“The last letter, by total chance, is my favourite. No poetic prose or details. He’s not trying to impress me, and he’s not trying to earn me. It’s only ten words on a full sheet of paper—not even signed. Fuck, I miss you. You’ve ruined me. Do it again.”
― Hannah Bonam-Young, Next to You

“I, like most women my age, have learned to hate myself just enough to appease others.”
― Hannah Bonam-Young, Out on a Limb

“It can sometimes be difficult for me to feel grateful for what I have because I’m thinking about what I’ve lost or what I could lose. I feel directionless, because I don’t really know my own feelings or wants or desires. I just sort of live in some…middle.”
― Hannah Bonam-Young, Out of the Woods

“Happiness is like one of those places on an enchanted island, its gates guarded by dragons. One must fight to gain it.”
― Hannah Bonam-Young, Next to You

“So you don’t know who the dad is?” “It’s a bit of a Mamma Mia situation, I’m afraid,” I answer. “Here we go again,” Bo mutters under his breath”
― Hannah Bonam-Young, Out on a Limb

“I have a bachelor’s degree in how to take people canoeing for their mental health, essentially.” “Don’t do that,” Bo says sternly. “What?” I blink at double speed. “Dismiss yourself like that. That sounds really fucking cool and important to me. Don’t trivialise what you accomplished.” “Oh, uh, well… thanks.”
― Hannah Bonam-Young, Out on a Limb

“I wanted to write a book for anyone who’s let fear of failure slow them down. Not just for those of us who choose to have kids, or those of us who are disabled, but for anyone who’s been thrust into something new that took them so far out of their comfort zone they no longer recognised their past, afraid self.”
― Hannah Bonam-Young, Out on a Limb

“There’s no guarantee for any of us. We just have to do the best with the time we’ve got.”
― Hannah Bonam-Young, Out on a Limb

“It’s no longer a question if I love him. I know I do. It’s whether I can love myself as much as I love Matt that matters. If I can allow myself to love him in a way that he deserves, free from fear.”
― Hannah Bonam-Young, Next to You

“The disabled elite, if you will. The surfer with one arm, the mountain climber with no legs, a drummer with one hand. And, deep down, I knew I should be proud of them. They were my community, and they were only working to erase stigma for the rest of us. But I didn’t feel proud. I felt bitter. Jealous too. Angry that they weren’t just great surfer, record-breaking mountain climber, and successful drummer. To me, they were a reminder that the world will always view me differently—put me in a different bracket—even if I landed myself on a pedestal. I didn’t want to achieve despite myself. I didn’t want to defy anything. I just wanted to feel ordinary. To not overcompensate every day. I wanted to be bad at things and have people laugh at me because that’s life. I didn’t want pity.”
― Hannah Bonam-Young, Out on a Limb

“Sometimes it feels like everyone else has a script, and I’m doing improv.”
― Hannah Bonam-Young, Next to You

“You’re it for me, dove. You’re going to be my last everything.”
― Hannah Bonam-Young, Next of Kin