Mary Alice Monroe > Quotes

“Age is real life is short. It's foolhardy to deny it. We grow up, our bodies grow frail, death is coming. There's so much I want to do!
There's a whole world out there I havent seen, ppl I havent met and who havent know me.
God, there 're a million books I want to read.
I dont want to sleep... I want to be awake.
This is my life - I want to live it”
― Mary Alice Monroe, The Book Club

“Friends come and go. But through the thick and thin, the good and bad, you can only ever count on your family. That's the heart of it. Family.”
― Mary Alice Monroe, The Summer Girls

“Privacy is something that we maintain for the good of ourselves and others. Secrecy we keep to separate ourselves from others, even those we love.”
― Mary Alice Monroe

“She thought how sharp words could sting when they held the truth.”
― mary alice monroe, The Butterfly's Daughter

“I know I can't change the past. Not my mistakes or the mistakes of others. But I can begin by changing me.”
― Mary Alice Monroe, The Summer Girls

“See how people smile when they see a butterfly? They can't help themselves. Butterflies are joy with wings.”
― Mary Alice Monroe

“All stories come to an end. That moment when we sigh and close the book, perhaps sit back in our chair and rest our palm over the cover, is met with quixotic emotions. On the one hand, we’re satisfied if the author successfully tied up loose ends, turned a memorable phrase and rewarded the hero’s moral choice with his heart’s desire. Yet we’re also saddened that the adventure is over. Sometimes when we see that we only have a few pages left we slow down, savoring each word, staving off the”
― Mary Alice Monroe, The Book Club

“A woman does not need to live among many people to be content. She needs but one true companion, one soul mate with whom to share this long journey we call life.”
― Mary Alice Monroe, Time Is a River

“Mom’s are our best cheerleaders. No one else ever cares quite the same. Who else is going to be as angry at you when you do something wrong, or be as proud of you when you do something right?”
― Mary Alice Monroe, The Book Club

“The tree had become our unspoken symbol of that important Christmas when we had all dug deep and fought for one another--for our survival. For our family. For our happiness. And in the process, discovering the true meaning of Christmas.”
― Mary Alice Monroe, A Lowcountry Christmas

“Oh, if only I were young again, I would travel! There's so much of the world I would like to have seen. But I'm too old for that now and too ill to manage the trip. I don't care much for clothes. I'm giving away all my jewelry. At this point in my life, I see all possessions as just more stuff, , as Cara called it. Meaningless! Worse than meaningless. They are distractions.”
― Mary Alice Monroe

“The secret to happiness is to embrace the humility to accept what comes and the courage to continue on your life's path with an open heart.”
― Mary Alice Monroe, The Summer's End

“My story will change, and so will yours. We’ll just go on changing, making a new set of choices, then living them out. That’s what life is anyway, just a long string of choices.”
― Mary Alice Monroe, The Book Club

“Life is more about the journey than the destination”
― Mary Alice Monroe

“Sometimes people get angry and do things they shouldn't. Things they regret.”
― Mary Alice Monroe, The Summer Girls

“Treat your family like guests and your guests like family.”
― Mary Alice Monroe, The Book Club

“Basically it means there is no one correct view of the universe. We each see things from our own frame of reference.”
― Mary Alice Monroe, The Four Seasons

“Intuition guides us and the wise person listens.”
― Mary Alice Monroe, Beach House Reunion

“inevitable. The characters we’ve come to know and love are no longer part of our lives. This can leave us with a certain longing. Perhaps we’ll open the book again and skim through it, searching out favorite passages to kindle again those powerful emotions. But the passion is never stirred quite as strong the second time around. So it is with life. We rush through the days that we’re given, eager to engage in the conflicts and passions, to push through and conquer and see how it all ends. When suddenly the end is in sight, we’re surprised. We stall, frantically savoring each moment. The sun shines brighter, the smiles appear more tender and we listen for words of love with an urgency that would be poignant if it were”
― Mary Alice Monroe, The Book Club

“I can’t change the past. I can’t take the hurt back. But I can soften it if I can just learn how to accept it.”
― Mary Alice Monroe, The Four Seasons

“The secret to happiness is to embrace the humility to accept what comes and the courage to continue on your life’s path with an open heart.”
― Mary Alice Monroe, The Summer's End

“This dog had shown more courage than I. This great, powerful, beautiful dog was willing to take a chance on me - a broken, depressed, lonely Marine.”
― Mary Alice Monroe, A Lowcountry Christmas

“Friendships were easy when life was going smoothly. What was hard was to be there for your friend when life got rough and the friendship was neither easy nor fun. The challenge was to forgive the friend when she failed.”
― Mary Alice Monroe, The Book Club

“No knowledge is wasted,”
― Mary Alice Monroe, The Beach House: A Moving Women's Fiction Novel Set in the Scenic Lowcountry

“caterpillar must shed its skin five times before it forms the chrysalis. The caterpillar doesn’t just change. It completely transforms. The old form dies and the new is reborn. That’s the miracle that gives us hope.”
― Mary Alice Monroe, The Butterfly's Daughter

“The secret to survival was in seeing the world through the eyes—and heart—of a child. That was Merry’s lesson to her sisters. To treasure life, and most of all, to love. Simply, unconditionally and with joyful abandon. To love without demanding or expecting anything in return.”
― Mary Alice Monroe, The Four Seasons

“Love is a sprint. Marriage is a marathon. An endurance race, if you will.”
― Mary Alice Monroe, The Summer's End

“And quickly. If you let it, grief could swallow you whole.”
― Mary Alice Monroe, Beach House for Rent

“Dawn tore at the seam of night, pulling the blackness back a little farther with each passing minute.”
― Mary Alice Monroe, The Butterfly's Daughter

“Our children are grown, we’ve enjoyed some success in our lives, and we’re looking for something else now to fulfill ourselves....It’s like being adolescents all over again, only this time we don’t care if everyone likes the way we look or the clothes we wear. Or even if people like us at all. That nasty competition is over. I see this as a time to be who we’ve always seen ourselves as being, deep in our hearts.”
― Mary Alice Monroe, The Book Club