Jennifer Nielsen

“Grief is like the flu, she said. It brushes by some, barely leaving its mark. For others, it will take hold, perhaps for a very long time before a person finds healing.
I barely dared to look over at her. Sometimes, the flu wins.”
― Jennifer Nielsen

“What if the plan fails?"
"What if it does? Failure isn't the end of a plan. Just keep pushing back until all that's left is to win."
For some reason, that made him chuckle.
"I've always envied you."
"Me?" Certain I had heard wrong, I turned to look at him. "I'm the embarrassment, remember?"
"That's because you try. You stand at the base of a mountain that cannot be climbed, or should not be, and you start to climb anyway. No, it doesn't work every time, that's why it can be seen as an embarrassment. But when it works, it's a victory." He lowered his eyes as if in shame. "I don't even try the climb, because I know that I might fall. That is a far greater embarrassment.”
― Jennifer Nielsen