Paula Stokes > Quotes

“When you care about someone, you can’t just turn that off because you learn they betrayed you.”
― Paula Stokes, Liars, Inc.

“To me, Mother Nature isn't nearly as scary as human nature.”
― Paula Stokes, Liars, Inc.

“We can’t define people by their worst actions.”
― Paula Stokes, This is How it Happened

“Monsters don’t get happy endings.”
― Paula Stokes, Ferocious

“Where does seeking justice end and seeking vengeance begin?”
― Paula Stokes, This is How it Happened

“We are not killers,” Gideon says firmly.

“In my experience everyone is a killer.” Baz’s eyes go cold. He leans back against the wall. “Or a victim. Some people just need a little coaxing to choose a side.”
― Paula Stokes, Vicarious

“You have more power than you think. Be careful what you do with it.”
― Paula Stokes, This is How it Happened

“I am not warm. That is why my sister chose the name Winter for me.”
― Paula Stokes, Vicarious

“A lot of kids think high school represents the best years of their lives, but others recognize that it's mostly irrelevant bullshit, and that life doesn't even begin until afterward.”
― Paula Stokes, Liars, Inc.

“How can something feel so crucial in the moment and then seem completely trivial after the fact?”
― Paula Stokes, Girl Against the Universe

“The truth never hurts worse than finding out someone you care about lied to you.”
― Paula Stokes, The Key to Everything

“The world needs more beautiful things.”
― Paula Stokes, Hidden Pieces

“Some people just want to be part of the story, even if it’s a story that’s completely fabricated.”
― Paula Stokes, This is How it Happened

“We’re like magnets, you know. Only I’m spinning, so I keep pulling you in and then pushing you away. I like you, but then you hurt me, so I run. I like you, but then something makes things feel impossible, so I turn away. And you. You’re so constant. Your orientation never wavers. You feel what you feel and you want what you want without hesitation or doubt. God, I envy that. I feel like if someone stripped away my hesitation and doubt that there’d be nothing left.”
― Paula Stokes, Ferocious

“It’s no small thing—ending someone else’s life. There should be some sort of gravity to that, shouldn’t there? My insides are heavy, but it has nothing to do with what I did. It is only about what I have lost.”
― Paula Stokes, Ferocious

“There’s nothing abnormal about loneliness.”
― Paula Stokes, Hidden Pieces

“If you’ve never been close to death, life probably seems pretty solid. The truth is, it can be destroyed in an instant, like a photograph. One moment your world is slick and shiny. But then the Universe crumples everything into a ball. And even if you don’t get crushed, if you fight to straighten things out, your life will never be the same again.”
― Paula Stokes, Girl Against the Universe

“Time doesn’t heal anything. It’s like drinking. The best it can do is help you forget, if you’re lucky.”
― Paula Stokes, Girl Against the Universe

“But my history isn’t something I should hide from or be ashamed of. Everyone has dealt with things in their past. It’s not our struggles that make us who we are, it’s how we respond to them.”
― Paula Stokes, Stronger Than Words

“When you share feelings with someone, or secrets, it adds a layer of complexity to even the simplest things.”
― Paula Stokes, The Art of Lainey

“Sometimes being poor means having to choose between your principles and your survival.”
― Paula Stokes, Hidden Pieces

“The world is full of holes and uneven seams, wrinkled places that you can’t make smooth, no matter how hard you try.”
― Paula Stokes, Girl Against the Universe

“Our “protective bubbles”—our houses, our cars, our friends, our online identities—might make us feel secure, but most of it’s just an illusion. It’s easy to get hurt, just like it’s easy to hurt other people.”
― Paula Stokes, This is How it Happened

“Love is the kind of thing you have to nurture and care for. You can’t just lock it up in some faraway place if you want it to last.”
― Paula Stokes, Ferocious

“I study her expression, trying to memorize what love looks like, just in case things don’t work out. Apparently, it looks vulnerable, like a dog that’s been hit by a car. Just lying there on the pavement, waiting for you to run into the street and scoop it up in your arms.”
― Paula Stokes, Liars, Inc.

“I’ve read so many stories online about how tragedy brings people together, how hard times encourage bravery and sacrifice, how a crisis can turn ordinary folks into heroes. But what about the opposite, when something horrible happens and it strips us bare, exposing weaknesses we didn’t even know we had. What about when tragedy makes people worse?”
― Paula Stokes, This is How it Happened

“To us, reality is just raw footage: Unclear. Desultory. Too shocking or not quite shocking enough. It’s ironic that making something more real involves making it less real, but Gideon always says people don’t want real. They want the idea of real, which involves production.”
― Paula Stokes, Vicarious

“People are always clinging to what they want to hear, discarding the evidence that doesn’t fit with their beliefs, giving greater weight to evidence that does.”
― Paula Stokes, The Key to Everything

“That's one of the problems with nice guys. If They can't stand up for themselves then they won't be able to stand up for you either.”
― Paula Stokes, Stronger Than Words

“No,” Gideon says. “No guns. The most dangerous weapon you have is your brain. Give someone a gun and they tend to quit using it.”
― Paula Stokes, Vicarious