Caroline George > Quotes

“Coffee first. Save the world later.”
― Caroline George, The Vestige

“Nobody talks about the other loss, the loss that happens within us. We lose people and things, but we also lose parts of ourselves. We grieve those missing parts too. We grieve them, and we grieve us. But I think losing those parts creates space. For newness. For understanding others’ hurts and welcoming them into our free spaces.”
― Caroline George, Dearest Josephine

“Perhaps we never stop loving someone. We just learn to move forward. To live without them because of them. Perhaps we let go to hold on.”
― Caroline George, Dearest Josephine

“I do believe literature holds the best of us . . . or perhaps it reflects the better versions of who we are.”
― Caroline George, Dearest Josephine

“A book is but a stack of paper until someone reads it. And when someone reads it, they build a house within its pages so whenever they return to that book, they feel right at home.”
― Caroline George, Dearest Josephine

“Poets use countless words to describe their pain, but I only need three: I miss you.”
― Caroline George, Dearest Josephine

“I have grieved so much, but loss does not dim with practice. If anything, it gains momentum.”
― Caroline George, Dearest Josephine

“The missing comes in waves, some more intense than others. I miss the toothpaste globs he left in the sink, how he’d watch the morning news while I ate breakfast. I miss crying on his shoulder, talking his ears off, being the first person to hear about his good days and the first to embrace him on his bad ones. I miss the small things more than the big things because the small things proved he was mine.”
― Caroline George, Dearest Josephine

“She was the book he couldn’t put down.”
― Caroline George, Dearest Josephine

“I’ll cling to the hope that one day, after such a strenuous wait, I shall hold you in my arms and whisper against your lips, “My dearest, you were worth every second.”
― Caroline George, Dearest Josephine

“Missing someone is the worst form of torture because it never goes away no matter where you are or what you do with your life. When a person is gone and all you have of them is a fuzzy recollection of what it was like to hear your phone buzz with texts from them, the joy you experienced while in their company, that instance when the bond you shared shattered, you long for all that was lost and could’ve been gained. You have memories and nothing more. And no matter how much times passes, you still feel the ache of their absence whenever they rise into your thoughts. Torture.”
― Caroline George, The Vestige

“The choice isn’t to move on—life moves whether I want it to or not. No, the choice is to look forward, not backward, to take a step because refusing to move won’t draw the past nearer, only postpone better days.”
― Caroline George, Dearest Josephine

“It was through words I found you. Through words, I reach you. And through words, I beg to keep you close.”
― Caroline George, Dearest Josephine

“There is only one thing in this world worse than dying and that’s watching someone you love die instead—you feel their pain with no final solace.”
― Caroline George, The Vestige

“So many people waste time waiting for good things to happen to them. But sometimes we need to make good things happen. And when we finally start doing that, we often see there were good things in our lives all along.”
― Caroline George, Dearest Josephine

“I wish to be content and loved, yet I find it poetic, even romantic at times, to be sad and alone. Truly, despair adds intrigue to my otherwise dull existence.”
― Caroline George, Dearest Josephine

“We don’t choose people. Our hearts do. And they’re little saboteurs, always trying to get themselves broken.”
― Caroline George, The Summer We Forgot

“Missing someone is the same as breathing, I suppose. It continues until the end.”
― Caroline George, Dearest Josephine

“Knowing him was sweatpants and suntans and riding in his Jeep until the sky turned pink and purple. Growing up with him involved the best days, fishing off his dock as crickets chirped in the background, watching outdoor movies until we fell asleep on his old bedspread. It was love. It was young. And I feel it all still, burning in the places it shouldn’t be.
Even though he betrayed me.”
― Caroline George, The Summer We Forgot

“In the pursuit of perfection, I forgot I was already enough.”
― Caroline George, The Summer We Forgot

“We’re not what people have done to us. We’re not what we’ve done to ourselves. We’re not the past. We’re the future. Not what’s been done. What we’ll do.”
― Caroline George, The Summer We Forgot

“Nostalgia makes hallowed ground from mundane places.”
― Caroline George, The Summer We Forgot

“Dogs are like that, I guess—they know how to fix you without ever saying a word.”
― Caroline George, The Vestige

“You could spend your whole life searching for love with your eyes closed.”
― Caroline George, Dearest Josephine

“Words give power to feelings, and not all feelings deserve power.”
― Caroline George, Dearest Josephine

“Never has it been inappropriate for a girl to wear a red dress.”
― Caroline George, The Vestige

“I meant humans often fail to acknowledge the beauty around them, but their lack of notice doesn't determine a thing’s value. Gorse does not require an audience to grow, and neither do people. We aren't who we are because of what others see or say.”
― Caroline George, Dearest Josephine

“If a child falls and scrapes his knee, he does not say, “At least I didn’t break my leg.” He cries because pain causes discomfort regardless of its intensity. All pains are equal and valid, and deserving of attention.”
― Caroline George, Dearest Josephine

“Humanity knows not to take big things for granted. We understand the importance of loved ones, health, acceptance, but what about the billion other elements that define who we are? Big we see. For big, we toss and turn at night, fearing big loss. And yet, the little things we overlook. Forgetting to savour life’s details, such as the taste of fresh scones or the scent of books opened for the first time, is our greatest deprivation. Such pleasures are not subject to change. However, we change. Our hearts break, and pastries lose their flavour. Love dies, and our senses dull. By losing a big thing, we lose all the littles by default.”
― Caroline George, Dearest Josephine

“The night was bright. He was seen.
And she was everything.”
― Caroline George, Dearest Josephine