Cammie McGovern > Quotes

“This feeling will pass. The fear is real but the danger is not.”
― Cammie McGovern, Say What You Will

“I've decided that it's possible to love someone for entirely selfless reasons, for all of their flaws and weaknesses, and still not succeed in having them love you back. It's sad, perhaps, but not tragic, unless you dwell forever in the pursuit of their elusive affections.”
― Cammie McGovern, Say What You Will

“Let's don't wait forever for our lives to start. Let's begin them ourselves. Let's be fearless for once and say, we can do this.”
― Cammie McGovern, Say What You Will

“I thought helping someone else might take me out of my own head for a while.”
― Cammie McGovern, Say What You Will

“Dear Matthew-
There's one more thing I didn't get to tell you that night in my bedroom. Here it is: I love you. I'm in love with you. I have been for a long time. This might seem like a strange thing for me to say given the fact we aren't speaking to each other. But I've decided that it's possible to love someone for entirely selfless reasons, for all of their flaws and weaknesses, and still not succeed in having them love you back. It's sad perhaps, but not tragic, unless you dwell forever in the pursuit of their elusive affections.”
― Cammie McGovern, Say What You Will

“This is what we do, my mother's life said. We find ourselves in the sacrifices we make.”
― Cammie McGovern, Neighborhood Watch

“Stains were a patchwork of mistakes you couldn't get rid of. They showed the world your real self, even the parts you didn't want it to see.”
― Cammie McGovern, Say What You Will

“I have learned not to judge people by their limitations, but by the way they push past them.”
― Cammie McGovern, Say What You Will

“Freakishness could happen to anyone at any time.”
― Cammie McGovern, Say What You Will

“The real problem with his type of OCD--chronic fear of hurting other people--was that you thought so much about not running over children, not sideswiping pedestrians, not poisoning strangers with germs on your hands--essentially not killing a world full of strangers--that you ended up hurting the people you loved most. He saw that now.”
― Cammie McGovern, Say What You Will

“I have learned that some people who look fine are more crippled than I am, by fears they can’t explain. Other people are held back by shyness, or anger. In making friends, I see the way some people handicap themselves. I believe there are choices each of us make every single day. We can dwell on our limitations or we can push ourselves past them.”
― Cammie McGovern, Say What You Will

“He stood in front of her and told her he'd come, not to climb her tower but to shelter it. In his clumsy way, he was like a prince who arrived with sweaty armpits and bad hair. At least I'm here, he might have said. That's better than nothing. And it was.”
― Cammie McGovern, Say What You Will

“JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE TOO SCARED TO TAKE ANY RISKS DOESN'T MEAN THE REST OF US SHOULD BE.”
― Cammie McGovern, Say What You Will

“Her idea had a beautiful simplicity at first.”
― Cammie McGovern, Say What You Will

“What's a strapless bra?" he finally asked.

"LIKE A TOURNIQUET FOR YOUR CHEST."

"Can you breathe if you're wearing it?"

"BARELY”
― Cammie McGovern, Say What You Will

“You don't have to date me, just don't date her. Please, as your friend, I'm begging you not to date someone who doesn't appreciate you.”
― Cammie McGovern, A Step Toward Falling

“It was electrifying the way he watched her so carefully that he forgot himself.”
― Cammie McGovern, Say What You Will

“According to Sarah, who had gone two years ago, prom was famous for being an overpriced disappointment where most people had no fun.”
― Cammie McGovern, Say What You Will

“Oh God, this is my fantasy! Where those just-friend boys suddenly realize they love me.'

'I don't know if this was like that.'

'What happened?'

He thought for a moment. 'Well. I realized I loved her.'

Hannah gasped. 'Oh God, that's so sweet.”
― Cammie McGovern, Say What You Will

“There isn't any one big test or way to validate ourselves in the world. There's just a long, quiet process of finding our place in it”
― Cammie McGovern, Say What You Will

“Don't worry. Here's the thing I've learned about pregnancy. Everything feels like a crisis and everything turns out to be heartburn.”
― Cammie McGovern, Say What You Will

“It surprised me because she put it as well (or better) than I could have and made a simple point she didn’t even intend: being disabled wasn’t the main thing about her.”
― Cammie McGovern, A Step Toward Falling

“Scratch a female inmate, I've discovered, and you'll usually find a girl whose mother had terrible taste in men.”
― Cammie McGovern, Neighborhood Watch

“After that, a strange thing happened: Amy couldn't stop her expectations from rising. She imagined herself transformed and beautiful, like Molly Ringwald in Pretty in Pink, with her homemade dress and mysterious lace boots. She pictured her hair in an upsweep of loose curls. In the fantasy, her prom face looked like the one she only wore asleep, loose and relaxed. She imagined a photographer asking her to smile and, for the first time in her life, being able to do it.”
― Cammie McGovern, Say What You Will

“YOUR FEAR MAY SEEM REAL BUT THE DANGER IS NOT. YOU’RE SAFE. YOU’RE ALL RIGHT. YOU’RE HAVING A PANIC ATTACK.”
― Cammie McGovern, Say What You Will

“He had no idea how wonderful he was. How his hands were so beautiful she could hardly look at them. How his truest smile was crooked and lifted higher on the left side than the right, which made her feel like he might understand her better, her hemiplegic face that was all crooked half smiles, too. But it couldn't be denied. He was also slightly crazy. Maybe more than slightly.”
― Cammie McGovern, Say What You Will

“It was about acceptance, he thought. About realizing no one is perfect and no one can expect to change someone else. Which”
― Cammie McGovern, Say What You Will

“WHY DID YOU TELL PEOPLE MY ESSAY WASN’T TRUE?”

“I don’t know,” he said, breaking out in a sweat. “Because I don’t believe it. I don’t believe anyone could be so well adjusted.”

She typed. “WHY NOT?”

“You said you look at your friends’ lives and feel like your own is better, which is fine, except that you don’t have any friends.”

“HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?”

“I sit behind you. I notice things.”

“WHAT KIND OF THINGS?”

“It’s not your fault that you don’t have any friends. You always have an aide with you. No one is going to be themselves when there’s a teacher standing right there. Plus, you talked about parties and dances, but I don’t think you’ve even been to any, so how would you know what you’re not sorry to be missing?”

He kept going. He started saying too much, telling her all the things he’d noticed—that she never said hi to other kids, that she never answered questions when people asked her things before class. “I’m not pretending I’m Mr. Popularity or anything. I’m just saying you’ve got this whole message that doesn’t seem believable. To me, anyway.”

“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU’RE SAYING THIS.”

Her facial expressions were impossible to read. He couldn’t tell how mad she was. Probably pretty mad. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s none of my business. Like, none at all. I don’t know why I just said all that. I had this theory that you’re trying to be a certain kind of person, and that must be hard. But God, I’m hardly one to talk. So let’s forget the whole thing. Please. I’m sorry.”

It startled him when her machine blurted out a single word. “NO!”

“No what?”

“DON’T BE SORRY. YOU’RE RIGHT. MY GOSH, I CAN’T BELIEVE HOW RIGHT YOU ARE.”
― Cammie McGovern, Say What You Will

“It used to be she didn't get dressed a lot of days. Now she comes out of her room most mornings dressed like she's ready to go. She still doesn't go anywhere, but the important part is, she could.”
― Cammie McGovern, A Step Toward Falling

“I’ve decided that it’s possible to love someone for entirely selfless reasons, for all of their flaws and weaknesses, and still not succeed in having them love you back.”
― Cammie McGovern, Say What You Will