Merrit Malloy > Quotes

“When I die
Give what’s left of me away
To children
And old men that wait to die.

And if you need to cry,
Cry for your brother
Walking the street beside you
And when you need me,
Put your arms
Around anyone
And give to them
What you need to give to me.

I want to leave you something,
Something better
Than words
Or sounds.

Look for me
In the people I’ve known
Or loved,
And if you cannot give me away,
At least let me live in your eyes
And not on your mind.

You can love me most
By letting
Hands touch hands
By letting
Bodies touch bodies
And by letting go
Of children
That need to be free.

Love doesn’t die,
People do.
So, when all that’s left of me
Is love,
Give me away”
― Merrit Malloy

“One of the first things we have to let go of is not being able to let go of anybody.”
― Merrit Malloy, The People Who Didn't Say Goodbye

“There are people who cannot say good-bye
They are born this way/this is how they die
They are the keepers of promises/what moves them does not wear out
Their loyalty will tear apart your clocks

These are the people who can hear the music in songs
They are the Vow carriers
The grandmothers who always leave the porchlight on
No one is lost to the one who sees

These are the women widowed by men they never married
These are the girls who wait even when you don't come
These are the mothers of orphans/They can turn a fake into an original
They will hear the prayer in your self-contempt

As distance is measured/people do not end
It is one of those stories that cannot be written down except across a lifetime of open doors
There is a holding on beyond the letting go
There is a reunion in everybody's chest
This is how we come to make a family from strangers
This is how we light candles

These are people who will remember you when you meet them
These are the people you can always call at night
They are humans turned angels by your asking
With each separation they go to seed again.

These are the men who carried you on their shoulders
This is the one your are lonely for
the one who begins and ends your hunger
This is the man who said "Always"

There is something that does not wear out
It is the third part of any two people who join
It opens and closes

There are people who are alone who are not apart
This is why we listen to the madman when he speaks
People change but they do not stop
This is how we learn "Forever"

There are people you can count on/They are the keepers of promises
They are candles lit from each other
They can teach us eternity
We can get what we can give/This is the instruction
There are people who do not say goodbye
As distance is measured
You are one of them”
― Merrit Malloy, The People Who Didn't Say Goodbye

“That One Man (from The People Who Didn't Say Goodbye)

There is always that one man
who you can't avoid
that one face that becomes the only
representative of
Heaven.”
― Merrit Malloy

“And I choose to be alone
Rather than wrapped in arms I could never need.”
― Merrit Malloy

“There is a great fear that plagues only romantics and children... it is that they might be alright alone.”
― Merrit Malloy

“When all that's left of me is love,
Give me away.”
― Merrit Malloy

“There are some people
who would rather be right than happy,
as though making a point
was more fun than having a good time

These are the people
who will risk their lives to get the last laugh
even when it isn't funny”
― Merrit Malloy, The People Who Didn't Say Goodbye

“It's amazing how many people will care about you
if only you would care about them, and
It's even more remarkable
how many people will care about you anyway”
― Merrit Malloy, The People Who Didn't Say Goodbye

“If you are with someone you love
Tell them.”
― Merrit Malloy, My Song for Him Who Never Sang to Me

“I move impatiently
towards a lover
I haven't met”
― Merrit Malloy, The People Who Didn't Say Goodbye

“She thought men were saviors...
...And she looked for more in them than what they were...
Only to rescue herself from those she wished would rescue her...

And isn't that the most tragic lie...
The lie where we tell what we wished were true and believe it...?

She had an artificial memory, a prosthesis to a past that never was...
She was like a party that no one ever went to...
Like a cure...without a disease...

And isn't that the greatest fear of all...to be ready with the answers
to questions that no one asks anymore?”
― Merrit Malloy, Things I Meant to Say to You When We Were Old

“The Long Way Home

Why is it when people feel they are losing each other they always leave each other?

Why do people walk away from their house when all they have to do to get home is turn around?”
― Merrit Malloy, The People Who Didn't Say Goodbye

“Whatever it means,
it matters,
and most of it is true
I loved every one of them
and all of them...were you”
― Merrit Malloy, Things I Meant to Say to You When We Were Old

“The Thief who Couldn't Get Away

I knew a man who didn't come to see his children for years...
how inept a thief he was to rob from himself like that
...Ironically, his punishment for this
was that his children loved him anyway...and
it broke his heart”
― Merrit Malloy, The People Who Didn't Say Goodbye

“Compromise...is simply
When we change the question
To fit the answer...”
― Merrit Malloy, Things I Meant to Say to You When We Were Old

“Whatever we say
We're always telling each other exactly what we want them to know...
We are always telling each other
The truth
Even when
We're lying”
― Merrit Malloy, Things I Meant to Say to You When We Were Old

“We grow to deserve what we need to believe...
Since I've known you
I've been careful not to pray out loud
Wishes have a way of coming true when you least expect...”
― Merrit Malloy, Things I Meant to Say to You When We Were Old

“PRIVATE PRACTICES

We may all
get there...we may even
arrive at the
same time...but
we all
come
alone”
― Merrit Malloy, The People Who Didn't Say Goodbye

“Why is it that we always remember that people forget;
but we always forget that they remember?

I used to remember...but I forgot!”
― Merrit Malloy, Things I Meant to Say to You When We Were Old

“Persistence can (sometimes) make things last
but it doesn't always make things work.

The muscle will harden wherever you give it exercise, but
Endurance isn't always enough...Because

Practice can make anything perfect
...even grief can become an art”
― Merrit Malloy, The People Who Didn't Say Goodbye

“Love doesn’t die,
People do.
So, when all that’s left of me
Is love,
Give me away.”
― Merrit Malloy

“I want to tell you
in a few words
what I could not tell you
in too many

I want you to know
that it will be hard
to live without you
again

You will always be the one
I'm thinking about
when somebody asks me
who I'm thinking about”
― Merrit Malloy, The People Who Didn't Say Goodbye

“Love doesn't die; people do.”
― Merrit Malloy

“When I die
Give what’s left of me away
To children
And old men that wait to die.

And if you need to cry,
Cry for your brother
Walking the street beside you
And when you need me,
Put your arms
Around anyone
And give to them
What you need to give to me.

I want to leave you something,
Something better
Than words
Or sounds.

Look for me
In the people I’ve known
Or loved,
And if you cannot give me away,
At least let me live in your eyes
And not on your mind.

You can love me most
By letting
Hands touch hands
By letting
Bodies touch bodies
And by letting go
Of children
That need to be free.

Love doesn’t die,
People do.
So, when all that’s left of me
Is love,
Give me away”

― Merrit Malloy”
― Merrit Malloy

“He thinks marriage will make our love more real
when marriage will only make our love more necessary.

Marriage (Often) is just a publicity stunt
a social security,
Yes, I will stay with you
BUT you don't have to marry me
Marriage is not a payment or something you can 'give' me
It is not something that you can do 'for' me only 'with me”
― Merrit Malloy, The People Who Didn't Say Goodbye

“How often
do you think of all those people
who you were never going to
forgrt?”
― Merrit Malloy, The People Who Didn't Say Goodbye