Julia Rosengren > Julia's Quotes

“It's funny how bed and pillows and covers can change a conversation. Words turn quiet and you mean more and say less. It's like you can build your own little world, Population: 2.”
― Robin Benway, Audrey, Wait!

“I wish friends held hands more often, like the children I see on the streets sometimes. I'm not sure why we have to grow up and get embarrassed about it.”
― Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss

“I mean, really. Who sends their kid to boarding school? It's so Hogwarts. Only mine doesn't have cute boy wizards or magic candy or flying lessons.”
― Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss

“Soap?"
"School of America in Paris" he explains. "SOAP".
Nice. My father sent me here to be cleansed.”
― Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss

“Most people in Atlanta don't have an accent. It's pretty urban. A lot of people speak gangsta, though," I add jokingly.
"Fo' shiz," he replies in his polite English accent.
I spurt orangey-red soup across the table. St. Clair gives a surprised ha-HA kind of laugh, and I'm laughing too, the painful kind like abdominal crunches. He hands me a napkin to wipe my chin. "Fo'. Shiz." He repeats it solemnly.
Cough cough. "Please don't ever stop saying that. It's too-" I gasp. "Much."
"You oughtn't to have said that. Now I shall have to save it for special occasions."
"My birthday is in February." Cough choke wheeze. "Please don't forget.”
― Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss

“Anna, Anna," Josh interrupts. "If I had a euro for every stupid thing I've done, I could buy the Mona Lisa. You'll be fine.”
― Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss

“Rule #1: You may bring only what fits in your backpack. Don’t try to fake it with a purse or a carry-on.

Rule #2: You may not bring guidebooks, phrase books, or any kind of foreign language aid. And no journals.

Rule #3: You cannot bring extra money or credit/debit cards, travelers’ checks, etc. I’ll take care of all that.

Rule #4: No electronic crutches. This means no laptop, no cell phone, no music, and no camera. You can’t call home or communicate with people in the U.S. by Internet or telephone. Postcards and letters are acceptable and encouraged.

That’s all you need to know for now. ”
― Maureen Johnson, 13 Little Blue Envelopes

“Write the kind of story you would like to read. People will give you all sorts of advice about writing, but if you are not writing something you like, no one else will like it either.”
― Meg Cabot

“Needless to say, the fact that he actually spoke to me at all practically caused me to pass out. And then the fact that he was actually saying something that sounded like it might be a prelude to asking me out - well, I nearly threw up. I mean it. I felt really sick, but in a good way.”
― Meg Cabot, The Princess Diaries

“Maybe, sometimes, it's easier to be mad at the people you trust because you know they'll always love you, no matter what.”
― Ann Brashares, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

“Live, laugh, love.

When you can feel someone else's pain and joy as if it's your own, thats when you know you really love them - Tina Lowell”
― Ann Brashares, Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood

“I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.”
― Pablo Neruda, 100 Love Sonnets

“The more you know who you are, and what you want, the less you let things upset you.”
― Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss

“Oh my. He's English.

"Er. Does Mer live here?"

Seriously, I don't know any American girl who can resist an English accent.

The boy clears his throat. "Meredith Chevalier? Tall girl? Big, curly hair?" Then he looks at me like I'm crazy or half deaf, like my Nana Oliphant. Nanna just smiles and shakes her head whenever I ask, "What kind of salad dressing would you like?" or "Where did you put Granddad's false teeth?"

"I'm sorry." He takes the smallest step away from me. "You were going to bed."

"Yes! Meredith lives here. I've just spent two hours with her." I announce this proudly like my little brother, Seany, whenever he finds something disgusting in the yard. "I'm Anna! I'm new here!" Oh, [Gosh]. What. Is with. The scary enthusiasm? My cheeks catch fire, and it's all so humiliating.

The beautiful boy gives an amused grin. His teeth are lovely - straight on top and crooked on the bottom, with a touch of overbite. I'm a sucker for smiles like this, due to my own lack of orthodontia. I have a gap between my front teeth the size of a raisin.

"Étienne," he says. "I live one floor up."

"I live here." I point dumbly at my room while my mind whirs: French name, English accent, American school. Anna confused.

He raps twice on Meredith's door. "Well. I'll see you around then, Anna."

Eh-t-yen says my name like this: Ah-na.”
― Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss

“There are few things worse than having feelings for someone you shouldn't, and I don't like where my thoughts were headed.”
― Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss

“Sorry to be your second choice."
"Don't be stupid. Third choice. Mum's asleep, remember?" He laughs again.”
― Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss

“Why?" His voice is suspicious. "Are you two going out now?"
"Yeah, we set up our first date right after he asked me to marry him. Please. We're just friends.”
― Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss

“Beautiful. He called me beautiful! But wait. I don't like Dave. Do I like Dave?”
― Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss

“Yes, St. Claire. I like you. But I can't say it aloud, because he's my friend. And friends don't let other friends make drunken declarations and expect them to act upon them the next day”
― Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss

“You'll be so busy with Bridge and what's-his-name that you'll forget all about your English mate, St. Clair."
"Ha! So you are English!" I poke him in the stomach.
He grabs my hand and we wrestle, laughing. "I claim... no... nationality.”
― Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss

“Some people are finicky about going to the theater alone, but I’m not. Because when the lights go down, the only relationship left in the room is the one between the movie and me.”
― Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss

“I trail my fingers across his cheek. He stays perfectly still for me. “Please stop apologizing, Étienne.”
“Say my name again,” he whispers.
I close my eyes and lean forward. “Étienne.”
He takes my hands into his.Those perfect hands, that fit mine just so. “Anna?”
Our foreheads touch. “Yes?”
“Will you please tell me you love me? I’m dying here.”
And then we’re laughing. And then I’m in his arms, and we’re kissing, at first quickly—to make up for lost time—and then slowly, because we have all
the time in the world. And his lips are soft and honey sweet, and the careful, passionate way he moves them against my own says that he savors the way I
taste, too.
And in between kisses, I tell him I love him.
Again and again and again.”
― Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss

“This warmth over the telephone. Is it possible for home to be a person and not a place? Bridgette used to be home to me. Maybe St. Clair is my new home.

I mull this over as our voices grow tired and we stop talking. We just keep each other company. My breath. His breath. My breath. His breath.

I could never tell him, but it's true.

This is home. The two of us.”
― Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss

“Accept the things I cannot change," I said. "And pray for the courage to change the things I can, as well as the wisdom to know the difference."
The thing is... I know this is good advice. It's called the Serenity Prayer, and it really does put things in perspective (it's suppose to be for recovering alcoholics, but it helps recovering freakoutaholics, like me, as well).”
― Meg Cabot, Forever Princess

“Just because something isn't practical doesn't mean it's not worth creating. Sometimes beauty and real-life magic are enough.”
― Stephanie Perkins, Lola and the Boy Next Door

“When it's right, it's simple.”
― Stephanie Perkins, Lola and the Boy Next Door

“People should say what they mean and not make other people stumble around.”
― Stephanie Perkins, Lola and the Boy Next Door

“What just happened?"
"Your father invited the former love of your life in for pie."
"Yeah, that's what I thought.”
― Stephanie Perkins, Lola and the Boy Next Door

“Anna prods St. Clair's shoulder. "Come on. Weren't you gonna show me that thing?"
"What thing?"
She stares at him. He stares back. She cocks her head toward Cricket and me.
"Ah, yes." St. Clair stands. "That thing."
They rush out. The door shuts, and St. Clair shouts, "Lola, Cricket wants to show you his thing, too-oo!”
― Stephanie Perkins, Lola and the Boy Next Door

“I look at you, and I think about you, and ... I don't know. No one has ever confounded me the way you do.”
― Stephanie Perkins, Lola and the Boy Next Door