Grace Mattioli > Quotes

“I think the only crazy thing is living a life you don't want.”
― Grace Mattioli, Discovery of an Eagle

“There are fights about money, and fights about everything else,”
― Grace Mattioli, Olive Branches Don't Grow On Trees

“Conquer your fears, or they will conquer you.”
― Grace Mattioli, Discovery of an Eagle

“She felt that peace was something that began at home, and if it could not be achieved in one's very own home, then trying to achieve it in the world would be extremely difficult, or even impossible”
― Grace Mattioli

“Sometimes dreams can hurt you.”
― Grace Mattioli, Olive Branches Don't Grow On Trees

“She was a coffee-spilling, plate-dropping wreck of a waitress who surprised herself the few times she got an order right.”
― Grace Mattioli, Olive Branches Don't Grow On Trees

“You know most people don't even know how to say sorry. It's tough to say sorry”
― Grace Mattioli, Olive Branches Don't Grow On Trees

“Silvia knew, that in his heart of hearts, he would rather build than destroy. Destroying had just become a habit, and habits are, after all, hard to break”
― Grace Mattioli, Olive Branches Don't Grow On Trees

“Going back wasn't going backward.”
― Grace Mattioli, Discovery of an Eagle

“Grandma Tucci would say, “You can’t help whom you fall in love with.”
― Grace Mattioli, Olive Branches Don't Grow On Trees

“Grandma Tucci was only too willing to admit to being wrong because she knew that admitting to being wrong was how she could become a better person”
― Grace Mattioli, Olive Branches Don't Grow On Trees

“I kept seeing Vincent with those same sad, lost eyes and kept pushing this awful vision out of my mind, but it just kept returning, each time with what seemed to be a renewed sense of purpose. I was afraid that I'd never be able to stop seeing him like that, or worse yet, that he'd stay that way for the rest of his life.”
― Grace Mattioli, The Bird that Sang in Color

“Why don't we see someone's true greatness until they're gone?”
― Grace Mattioli, The Bird that Sang in Color

“At first my future life looked beautifully out of focus like some kind of a painting I was seeing from a great distance, but the longer I stared into it, the more distinct and clear it became until I could almost smell the roses.”
― Grace Mattioli, The Bird that Sang in Color

“He didn't care so much about what society says about how you should live your life. He didn't look to the outside for happiness. He knew the limitations of the outside world that is. He lived from the inside. He was a painter, a scholar, and a musician. His paintings never hung in any galleries. His name isn't in any scholarly publications, and he never performed for any audiences. He didn't have to. He knew the real joy and richness that came from learning and creating, and that was enough for him.”
― Grace Mattioli, The Bird that Sang in Color

“But the bigger part of her knew he needed to fall on his own face. She only hoped that he would not have to fall as hard as she had. In the meantime, why shouldn’t he enjoy the good times? The dreaming, the cheering, the trying. So instead of giving him any lectures on the topic of self-preservation, she commended him for his lofty ambitions.”
― Grace Mattioli, Olive Branches Don't Grow On Trees

“At first my future life looked beautifully out of focus like some kind of a painting I was seeing from a great distance, but the longer I stared into the it, the more distinct and clear it became until I could almost smell the roses.”
― Grace Mattioli, The Bird that Sang in Color

“The placement of the pictures was telling of how he'd lived his life - not at all like a straight line from start to finish but more of a never ending circle.”
― Grace Mattioli, The Bird that Sang in Color

“You're confused because you're questioning your life, and you're questioning your life because life is confusing.”
― Grace Mattioli, Discovery of an Eagle

“You don’t have to be a student to be studying something.”
― Grace Mattioli, Discovery of an Eagle

“Everybody has to get out of touch with themselves at some point. The world takes people out of themselves. And they have to get out of themselves to live in the world.”
― Grace Mattioli, Discovery of an Eagle

“That sounded so good to me - us all going home to be together, all except for the person who made the house a home. Without her, our home was just a house, a nameless structure, an abandoned warehouse. She was what made it home. She was what made us a family. I knew that without her, our family, for the most part was only being held together by strings, would fall apart.”
― Grace Mattioli, The Bird that Sang in Color

“She also kept herself and her problems sealed up inside of her. She never talked about her problems, and her crazy husband, who she could never leave because she was such a devout Catholic. Instead of dealing with her problems, she chain-smoked and went to church a lot.”
― Grace Mattioli, Olive Branches Don't Grow On Trees

“Sometimes what you want to do isn’t what you should do.”
― Grace Mattioli, The Bird that Sang in Color