Britt > Britt's Quotes

“Even after everything else has gone wrong, pancakes still smell the same.”
― Claire Legrand, Some Kind of Happiness

“Like most artists, everything I produced was connected to who I was - and so I suffered according to how my work was received. The idea that anyone might be able to detach their personal value from their public output was revolutionary. I didn't know if it was possible, even desirable. Surely it would affect the quality of the work?
Still, I knew I'd gone too far in the opposite direction, and something had to change. Ever since I could pick up a pen, other people's pleasure was how I'd garnered attention and defined success. When I began receiving public acknowledgement for a private act, something was essentially lost. My writing became the axis upon which all my identity and happiness hinged. It was not outward-looking, a self-conscious performance. I was asked to repeat the pleasure for people, again and again, until the facsimile of my act became the act itself.
...I'd been writing so long for the particular purpose of being approved that I'd forgotten the genesis of my impulse; unbothered, pure creation, existing outside the parameters of success and failure. And somewhere along the line, this being 'good' had come to paralyse my belief that I could write at all.”
― Jessie Burton, The Muse

“Create a story of which you will be proud.”
― Pam Jenoff, The Lost Girls of Paris

“Too many grown ups tell kids to follow their dreams, like that's going to get them somewhere. Auntie Laurie says follow your nightmares instead. Because when you figure out what's eating you alive, you can slay it.”
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Shout

“You can't let one or two bad experiences stop you from being happy”
― Claire Kann, Let's Talk About Love

“...I'd rather see her as my hero than as somebody else's villain.”
― Angie Thomas, On the Come Up

“It's a viper's nest, child. I'll not deny it. See that you have the strongest venom.”
― Tehlor Kay Mejia, We Set the Dark on Fire

“Mateo thought she was powerless. That he could reduce her to a trembling victim with some harsh words and the scent of his breath on her face. But she wasn't powerless. And if she played her cards right, she would never have to be again.”
― Tehlor Kay Mejia, We Set the Dark on Fire

“You can't stop worrying? Fine, worry away. But make it count for something.”
― Sarah Knight, Calm the F*ck Down: How to Control What You Can and Accept What You Can't So You Can Stop Freaking Out and Get On With Your Life

“This note about anatomy
from me to you
is for the remembering that
after you speak
after you shout
your open mouth
will breathe in the light
for which you've hungered
and your backbone will unfurl,
until you can again dance to the beat
of your steadfast heart.”
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Shout

“We should teach our girls that snapping is ok, instead of waiting for someone else to break them.”
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Shout

“Shame, turned inside out, is rage.”
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Shout

“Think about love, or hate, or joy, or rage - whatever makes you feel something, makes your palms sweat or your toes curl. Focus on that feeling. When people don’t express themselves, they die one piece at a time.”
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

“It's true, I'm no murderer. But I do have an impulse control problem. And a sword.”
― A.R. Capetta, Once & Future

“They set off and drove up and along Maltsborough road to the sound of AC/DC, played volume level two and a half.”
― Phaedra Patrick, The Library of Lost and Found

“People like Lawrie - who never wrote a single line of prose, as far as I knew -seemed to want those who did to walk around with a pad and pencil hanging round their neck, jotting down the whole thing, turning it into a book for their own pleasure.”
― Jessie Burton, The Muse

“Not all of us receive the ends that we deserve. Many moments that change a life's course - a conversation with a stranger on a ship, for example - are pure luck. And yet no one writes you a letter, or chooses you as their confessor, without good reason. This is what she taught me: you have to be ready in order to be lucky. You have to put your pieces into play.”
― Jessie Burton, The Muse

“You really are an artist, aren’t you? You think it’s all about you, and you never stop looking for pain.”
― Jessie Burton, The Muse

“It's not about danger. It's about fear. People are willing to trade their freedom, even for a false sense of protection.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“A compass doesn’t tell you where you are, and it doesn’t tell you where you have to go. It can only point you in a direction. It’s up to you to always find your true north.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“But it's also a reminder that being quiet doesn't always signify weakness. Sometimes it takes great strength to find that silence. Sometimes it takes incredible strength to survive.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“The step is small and suddenly I'm aware of how close we are. Close enough that I can smell the smoky sweetness of coffee beans on him.
"That does not smell like the coffee that's in the mess. Contraband?"
He chuckles. "I grind my own. It's one of the lessons my dad imparted to me about military life. He was army to the core. And when I left for basic training he said, "always grind your own coffee.""
"Is that like a metaphor?" I ask.
"No. He literally meant grind my own beans. Basic training coffee sucked." We share a laugh.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“Praying is important. But you can’t simply pray for what you want. You have to act.”
― Samira Ahmed, Internment

“Prejudice, a dirty word, and faith, a clean one, have something in common: they both begin where reason ends.”
― Harper Lee, Go Set a Watchman

“The only thing I’m afraid of about this country is that its government will become so monstrous that the smallest person in it will be trampled underfoot, and then it wouldn’t be worth living in. The only thing in America that is still unique in this tired world is that a man can go as far as his brains will take him or he can go to hell if he wants to, but it won’t be that way much longer.”
― Harper Lee, Go Set a Watchman

“I’m only trying to make you see beyond men’s acts to their motives. A man can appear to be a part of something not-so-good on its face, but don’t take it upon yourself to judge him unless you know his motives as well. A man can be boiling inside, but he knows a mild answer works better than showing his rage. A man can condemn his enemies, but it’s wiser to know them.”
― Harper Lee, Go Set a Watchman

“Things usually work out in the end."
"What if they don't?"
"That just means you haven't come to the end yet.”
― Jeannette Walls, The Glass Castle

“You should never hate anyone, even your worst enemies. Everyone has something good about them. You have to find the redeeming quality and love the person for that.”
― Jeannette Walls, The Glass Castle

“She had her addictions and one of them was reading.”
― Jeannette Walls, The Glass Castle

“The enhanced call us misfits - people who don't fir their intended purpose. So maybe you're a misfit too. Doesn't mean you're not deserving. Doesn't mean you shouldn't be here.”
― Becky Chambers, A Closed and Common Orbit