Elizabeth L. Silver > Quotes

“It's a funny phenomenon. You can never visit your own funeral, but if you want to see how people feel about you, commit a crime.”
― Elizabeth L. Silver, The Execution of Noa P. Singleton

“But you see, the problem is that apologies are really just little weeds that grow over monuments and headstones. They keep coming back, but never stop ruining what lies beneath. If an apology is truly authentic, the pain is supposed to stop. Right?”
― Elizabeth L. Silver, The Execution of Noa P. Singleton

“Jury trials are really nothing more than poorly written stage plays. You’ve got two authors writing opposing narratives and a director who is paid not to care about either outcome. Hired actors sit on either end of the stage, while unwitting audience members strive to remain quiet. No applause should be rendered, no gasps of glory. Witnesses sit agape with fury as they stumble across their rehearsed lines. If only they had practiced just once more. If only they had more time or a dress rehearsal, then they would recite their packaged words with such eloquent delivery that the critics in the jury box would believe only them.”
― Elizabeth L. Silver, The Execution of Noa P. Singleton

“It’s funny how undressed a smile can make you feel.”
― Elizabeth L. Silver, The Execution of Noa P. Singleton

“In this world, you are either good or evil. If not, then a court or a teacher or a parent is bound to tag your identity before you've had a chance to figure it out on your own. The gray middle ground, that mucous-thin terrain where most of life resides, is really only a temporary annex, like gestation or purgatory.”
― Elizabeth L. Silver, The Execution of Noa P. Singleton

“I can't even begin to count the ways that is disgusting. I'll try. In fact, I'll go alphabetically."
"Noa."
"Arrogant. Beastly. Criminal. Devilish. Empty and evil." My chest climbed up and down with breath. "There's two for E, because it's so exceptionally, egregiously, egotistically erroneous."
"Let me just explain."
"Felonious. Grotesque.”
― Elizabeth L. Silver, The Execution of Noa P. Singleton

“forcing a laugh. “Uh-huh,” he said.”
― Elizabeth L. Silver, The Execution of Noa P. Singleton

“You’re calling me a disability, I heard her say. You’re calling me your disability. I couldn’t get it out of my head. Motherhood is your problem. The thing holding you back. No, I wanted to scream. It’s not holding me back. It’s society that isn’t helping people, pregnant or disabled. It’s not the injury or the medical condition or pregnancy or even motherhood that is a disability. It’s society that is disabling people by not creating a level playing field.”
― Elizabeth L. Silver, The Majority

“It’s like law school trains these junkies to masticate language as if it’s gum. Stick a slice in your mouth, chew on it, blow it full of hot air, and then spit it on the ground when it no longer tastes good.”
― Elizabeth L. Silver, The Execution of Noa P. Singleton

“Without witnessing history, everything that follows is pure perspective.”
― Elizabeth L. Silver, The Execution of Noa P. Singleton