Alexandra Potter Quotes

“My chest tightens: seeing him so upset breaks my own heart. 'Don't you ever wish you could make that bit go away?" I say, feeling angry at the past. 'That you could erase those painful memories, forget they every happened, just remember the happy times you had together?'

'You must never say that,' he reprimands sternly.
'But why not?' I look at him in surprise.
'Because it's the bad memories that makes you appreciate the good ones. Don't ever wish them away. it's like your nan always used to say, "You need both the sun and the rain to make a rainbow".”
― Alexandra Potter, Don't You Forget About Me

“Because you know what’s more terrifying? The thought of never feeling happy again.”
― Alexandra Potter, One Good Thing

“All you need is one good thing to turn your life around and make it worth living again.”
― Alexandra Potter, One Good Thing

“She was just so annoying; the way she was going on at you, trying to get gossip under the guise of being concerned.”
― Alexandra Potter, One Good Thing

“But here’s the thing: shock and disbelief don’t simply disappear overnight. Worse still, you don’t want to disappoint or burden anyone by admitting you’re still not over it. That last weekend you weren’t really busy; you just couldn’t face getting dressed. That the future, which used to seem so secure, now scares the living daylights out of you.”
― Alexandra Potter, One Good Thing

“It would be like a stranger coming up to you and giving you a kiss”, Dr Khan had explained.”
― Alexandra Potter, One Good Thing

“Now no one greets me. When I close the front door there’s no one to talk to or share things with.”
― Alexandra Potter, One Good Thing

“I wanted to run away from everything, I say simply. I wanted to disappear. To leave it all behind and make a new life for myself.”
― Alexandra Potter, One Good Thing

“It’s forced me to slow down, to stop rushing about, to look and listen. To really notice things. And I’ve realized that actually the countryside is far more alive and invigorating than any city. I mean, just look at that landscape.”
― Alexandra Potter, One Good Thing

“How could she simply disappear from our lives like that and not come back? It’s been two years, and I know she’s not coming back. I still have conversations with her in my head, though.”
― Alexandra Potter, One Good Thing

“Loss and grief don’t magically disappear; they just find a different outlet. You have to find a way to deal with it, and we dealt with it in different ways.”
― Alexandra Potter, One Good Thing

“Like all these years I thought it was the men who were the commitment-phobes. But actually it was me all along.”
― Alexandra Potter, One Good Thing

“I was scared of being trapped. Making a mistake. Needing someone. Scared of letting someone in, in case they let me down. In case they broke my heart.”
― Alexandra Potter, One Good Thing

“I needed to protect myself, so my world would never collapse again, like it did when my mum died.”
― Alexandra Potter, One Good Thing

“And maybe some relationships don’t even start. Maybe they’re only a spark and, if you don’t catch it quickly enough, it goes out.”
― Alexandra Potter, One Good Thing

“By writing down all the things you’re grateful for, you will feel more positive, stop negative thought patterns and transform your life.”
― Alexandra Potter, Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up

“But somewhere, deep inside this wounded soul of mine, it also ignited a little flicker of hope that maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t over for me yet.”
― Alexandra Potter, Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up

“Honestly, no wonder men and women have difficulty communicating. Just because a woman says something, it doesn’t mean she actually means it. If that were the case, when a man asks a woman what’s wrong and she says ‘nothing’, she would actually mean nothing, and not, in fact, that she is furious with him for a variety of reasons.”
― Alexandra Potter, Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up

“Differences can make or break a marriage. Often the differences you love in the beginning can be the reasons you want to murder them five years later.”
― Alexandra Potter, Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up

“I’m grateful for: Being child-free, so I can spend tomorrow busy sleeping until noon.”
― Alexandra Potter, Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up

“The Fear paralyses you. It grips you by the throat so you can’t breathe and makes your heart thump loud and fast in your ears. It makes you feel like you’re going to die and part of you wants to. That’s why it’s so horrible. Because after it’s finished beating you up, you beat yourself up even more. It’s your dirty little secret and I’ve kept mine for years.”
― Alexandra Potter, Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up

“Sometimes there are advantages to an eight-hour time difference.”
― Alexandra Potter, Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up

“Why is it you always bump into someone when you look terrible and never when you’ve had a blow-dry? It’s like some horrible cosmic law.”
― Alexandra Potter, Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up