Suzanne Kelman > Quotes

“I soon forgot about my bedraggled appearance. Until, that is, an old man shuffled in and propped himself, hunched and wheezing, over the check-in desk. Karen asked him if he needed assistance.
“No,” he grunted sucking on his teeth, “your wet-T-shirt librarian with the punk rock hair is helping me out just fine.”
― Suzanne Kelman, The Rejected Writers' Book Club

“One doesn't know how brave one is until the cost outweighs the fear.”
― Suzanne Kelman, A View Across the Rooftops

“No point worrying about a storm until we smell rain”
― Suzanne Kelman, The Rejected Writers' Book Club

“He squinted and said, “Hmmm,” which translated from “male” means, “I don’t actually agree with that idea, but I don’t have a comeback line to common sense.”
― Suzanne Kelman, The Rejected Writers' Book Club

“I taught mathematics here at the university for many years. But before that time, I used to create beautiful music with my beloved wife, who passed away. Her name was Sarah.” He paused for a moment to gather himself after uttering her name, but then continued. “I didn’t play for many years after she died, but one thing that loss has taught me is that keeping a gift locked away only brings harm. It is essential to express ourselves. Walls and doors keep out not just the bad but also the good. It is our job to own the keys of our freedom, and to be able to open those doors. I spent many years behind a closed door without knowing where to find the key to my life, but thanks to my music, I am now finding my way out. To quote an extraordinary but lesser-known philosopher, my late wife Sarah Held, ‘What is life without the beauty of art or music or poetry to help us interpret it, encourage us to know how to feel, how to love and how to live?’ In music I see the darkness, the light, the messiness, the beauty, and the complexities of life that simply can’t be summed up like an equation. Music, for me, helps bring down the walls, to open those locked doors. And I hope it has been that way for you too, tonight.”
― Suzanne Kelman, A View Across the Rooftops

“There was something so wrong about war, something so horrific and soul-destroying that she hadn't ever contemplated, until now, as the senseless loss of life crushed her. On one side you were crippled by it; on the other side you were the perpetrator of it. There were no winners”
― Suzanne Kelman, A View Across the Rooftops

“Jorge Luis Borges: “I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library.” “The”
― Suzanne Kelman, The Rejected Writers' Book Club

“It was so quiet in that room I could practically hear the plants growing.”
― Suzanne Kelman, The Rejected Writers' Book Club

“And the weird thing is, when people talk about grief, they talk about it like it’s an illness, as if you have the flu, as if one day you’ll just feel better if you wait long enough. What I’ve realised is I’m never going to feel better. This is just an emptiness I’ll live with for the rest of my life. And I’ve come to accept that. It’s a shadow that’s always with me and always will be.”
― Suzanne Kelman, When We Were Brave

“The darker the night, the brighter we shine”
― Suzanne Kelman, Under a Sky on Fire

“I am battle-worn without lifting a weapon And scarred without a cut to my flesh But still I will lift up my head. Still I will not give up the fight.”
― Suzanne Kelman, A View Across the Rooftops

“Sometimes the most courageous love is whispered in the quietest moments.”
― Suzanne Kelman, A View Across the Rooftops

“It made me wonder if there is much difference in our hearts between love and grief. they both have a yearning that seems unable to be satisfied.”
― Suzanne Kelman, The Rejected Writers' Book Club

“The ‘coons had enjoyed a real party, and my trashcan had been the piñata! They’d obviously indulged in an evening of feasting on our wares and then staggered off the property loaded up with our birdseed as a little take-home gift!”
― Suzanne Kelman, The Rejected Writers' Book Club

“If she had learned anything in her eighty-five years, it was that friendships forged in the fire were the hardest to extinguish. They were the ones seared into your being, melded to your heart, a forever charred part of your soul.”
― Suzanne Kelman, When the Nightingale Sings

“8”
― Suzanne Kelman, The Bookseller of Paris

“One doesn’t know how brave one is until the cost outweighs the fear.”
― Suzanne Kelman, A View Across the Rooftops

“The face that greeted me, however, was far from welcoming, it was a miniature stick insect of a woman with wiry white hair and enormous glasses that emphasized her heavily wrinkled face. She blinked twice and looked me up and down. By the look on her face, she wasn’t that impressed with what she saw. “Who is it, Ethel?”
She responded, “It’s some homeless woman. She looks like she needs money and a good wash.”
And I thought I’d already reached the lowest point of my day.”
― Suzanne Kelman, The Rejected Writers' Book Club

“Even the weeping willow grows upward.”
― Suzanne Kelman, Garden of Secrets

“Jorge Luis Borges: “I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library.”
― Suzanne Kelman, The Rejected Writers' Book Club

“This bookshop was more than just a place of business; it was her sanctuary, her anchor, a small island of stability in a sea of uncertainty.”
― Suzanne Kelman, The Bookseller of Paris

“She was a fascinating character, to say the least. A pioneer and instigator of many weird and wooly projects and who liked to “instigate” you right along with her. Every village has one, and Doris was ours. A lively individual who was always throwing herself into some harebrained scheme or other, taking no prisoners as she pulled you into her wild world of wackiness. Doris’s “urgent” could mean anything from the need to raise money for lame goats to singing at the top of a living Christmas tree.”
― Suzanne Kelman, The Rejected Writers' Book Club

“As”
― Suzanne Kelman, The Bookseller of Paris

“One thing I have learned while doing research is that history is rarely black and white. People who are seen as heroes may have made questionable decisions, and those deemed villains might have had moments of compassion. We can’t judge the past by our current standards; it was a different time, with different pressures and challenges. Besides, there may be much more to this story that we haven’t uncovered yet. I just felt you needed to know what we have found out so”
― Suzanne Kelman, The Paris Promise

“She was charmed, reminded that not everything was swept away by such desperate times; innocence still prevailed. Teeth fell out of children’s mouths, and swallows still built spring nests.”
― Suzanne Kelman, A View Across the Rooftops

“around her, his mouth finding hers in a passionate kiss. In the distance, a voice called for them. Sarah grabbed Josef by his shirt collars and pulled him down into a dip among the tulips as the long veil, whipped up by the wind, entwined the pair of them. “Shhh,” she whispered. “If we stay still and out of sight, Mama will not find us.” “I’m not complaining,” Josef”
― Suzanne Kelman, A View Across the Rooftops

“Far off, palm trees swayed in the bay, illuminated by shafts of silvery light from a ripened moon. A breeze rippled the water's surface, disappearing into a shimmery puddle that skimmed the top of the beach. As the water breathed out frothy waves, it nudged at the sand gently. It appeared to be trying not to wake it.”
― Suzanne Kelman, When the Nightingale Sings

“I suspect men were given that intense, unwavering conviction to lull you into believing they always know exactly what they are talking about. It takes about six months into a marriage to figure out that you’ve been fooled.”
― Suzanne Kelman, The Rejected Writers' Book Club

“music or poetry to help us interpret it, encourage us to know how to feel, how to love and how to live?”
― Suzanne Kelman, A View Across the Rooftops

“He had long since stopped trying to figure out our daughter, who as an adult had quietly removed his superhero cape and in return offered him a cape of indifference.”
― Suzanne Kelman, The Rejected Writers' Book Club