Clare Vanderpool > Quotes

“Memories were like sunshine. They warmed you up and left a pleasant glow, but you couldn't hold them.”
― Clare Vanderpool, Moon Over Manifest

“Who would dream that one can love without being crushed under the weight of it?”
― Clare Vanderpool, Moon Over Manifest

“Sometimes it's best not to see your whole path laid out before you. Let life surprise you...There are more stars out there than just the ones with names. And they're all beautiful.”
― Clare Vanderpool, Navigating Early

“Finding your way doesn't mean you always know where you're going. It's knowing how to find your way back home that's important.”
― Clare Vanderpool, Navigating Early

“...the person you encounter is often more than the person you see.”
― Clare Vanderpool, Moon Over Manifest

“Which would you rather be, Jackie? Angry mad or crazy mad? I think I'd rather be crazy mad, because you can be crazy and still happy.”
― Clare Vanderpool, Navigating Early

“If there is such a thing as a universal--and I wasn't ready to throw all of mine out the window--it's that there is power in a story. And if someone pays you such a kindness as to make up a tale so you'll enjoy a gingersnap, you go along with that story and enjoy every last bite.”
― Clare Vanderpool, Moon Over Manifest

“There are no coincidences. Just miracles by the boatload.”
― Clare Vanderpool, Navigating Early

“This was a land of lost souls. Human beings who had weathered great storms in life, had suffered unspeakable loss, had been put to painful tests of existence, and still remained standing—but just barely.”
― Clare Vanderpool, Navigating Early

“Connecting the dots. That's what Mom said stargazing is all about. It's the same up there as it is down here, Jackie. You have to look for the things that connect us all. Find the ways our paths cross, our lives intersect, and our hearts collide.”
― Clare Vanderpool, Navigating Early

“They asked him questions he had never thought of: What is more important, the soul or the mind? Are we responsible for each other or only ourselves? Is there such a thing as mystery, or only that which is not yet understood?”
― Clare Vanderpool, Navigating Early

“Louis Armstrong on Mondays, Frank Sinatra on Wednesdays, Glenn Miller on Fridays, and Mozart on Sundays. Unless it was raining. If it's raining, it's always Billie Holiday.”
― Clare Vanderpool, Navigating Early

“When there is suffering, we look for a reason. That reason is easiest found within oneself.”
― Clare Vanderpool, Moon Over Manifest

“Maybe the world wasn’t made of universals that could be summed up in neat little packages. Maybe there were just people. People who were tired and hurt and lonely and kind in their own way and their own time.”
― Clare Vanderpool, Moon Over Manifest:

“And if Mozart is for Sundays, who do you listen to the rest of the week?"
"Louis Armstrong on Mondays, Frank Sinatra on Wednesdays. And Glenn Miller on Fridays, unless it's raining. If it's raining, it's always Billie Holiday."
"What about Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday?" I asked.
"Those days are quiet. Unless it's raining.”
― Clare Vanderpool, Navigating Early

“But my mom shook her head at him and said to me, "Yes, you made your bed, but for heaven's sakes, don't just lie in it!”
― Clare Vanderpool, Navigating Early

“Still, the question remained. Was he straitjacket strange or just go-off-by-yourself-at-recess-and-put-bugs-in-your-nose strange?”
― Clare Vanderpool, Navigating Early

“My mother was like sand. The kind that warms you on a beach when you come shivering out of the cold water. The kind that clings to your body, leaving its impression on your skin to remind you where you’ve been and where you’ve come from. The kind you keep finding in your shoes and your pockets long after you’ve left the beach. She was also like the sand that archaeologists dig through. Layers and layers of sand that have kept dinosaur bones together for millions of years. And as hot and dusty and plain as that sand might be, those archaeologists are grateful for it, because without it to keep the bones in place, everything would scatter. Everything would fall apart.”
― Clare Vanderpool, Navigating Early

“Maybe that was how I found comfort just then, even with him being so far away. By remembering the flavor of his words.”
― Clare Vanderpool, Moon Over Manifest

“But the woman, the mother, she watches, she waits, she loves. And she bears the weight of that love. She bears the loss of her son to war. She bears the story of Manifest. When everyone else is crushed by it, by the loss, the pain. When no one else can bear to remember. She is the keeper of the story. Until someone who needs to hear it comes along. When it will be time to make it known. To manifest. That's what a diviner does.”
― Clare Vanderpool, Moon Over Manifest

“No, the sky, it is not a contest or an exam. The only question is, can you look up? Can you take it all in?”
― Clare Vanderpool, Navigating Early

“You know how men are. When they don't feel good, the world comes to a standstill.”
― Clare Vanderpool, Moon Over Manifest

“You have to look for the things that connect us all. Find the ways our paths cross, our lives intersect, and our hearts collide.”
― Clare Vanderpool, Navigating Early

“He could hear trhe voices, the whispers, the sighs, of these souls who were unable to let go of their burdens. ... Pi understood this need to hold on. To let let go of his pain. It had become such a part of him. Who would he be without it? The thought frightened him. So he wandered the halls of the catacombs like the other souls who were half-dead and half-alive.”
― Clare Vanderpool, Navigating Early

“Fly fishing is not about catching the fish. It is about enjoying the water, the breeze, the fish swimming all around. If you catch one, good. If you don't...that is even better. That mean you come out and get to try all over again.”
― Clare Vanderpool, Navigating Early

“Arthur Devlin, you and my husband may have been in the same grade, but you were never in the same class.”
― Clare Vanderpool, Moon Over Manifest

“It was afternoon as we made our way down to the river, accompanied by a running commentary by Early about whether or not the Lord had actually been fly-fishing.
Jesus did have lots of friends who were fishermen, said Early. Maybe after Peter fell into the Sea of Galilee, he decided to give up deep-sea fishing and take up fly-fishing in the river Jordan. Jesus and Peter were friends, so they have gone together. And besides, Jesus wouldn't have even needed waders, because he could walk on water...”
― Clare Vanderpool, Navigating Early

“Don’t Moan About”
― Clare Vanderpool, Moon Over Manifest:

“Eustasia Johannsen was ready. Anyone could see that. Everything about her ancient self gave evidence to it: Her skin, wrinkled and transparent... But mainly, it was her eyes. They were drawn into her face as if her memories occupied more of her sight than what was actually in front of her.”
― Clare Vanderpool, Navigating Early

“They certainly know their stuff, and any remaining mistakes or intentional variations from the factual are my own doing. In fact, why don't we just say any variations from the factual are intentional and call it good.”
― Clare Vanderpool, Navigating Early