Brett Stroud

“It was okay to win as long as I acted surprised when I did and attributed it to luck. I should never let on how much I wanted to win or, worse, that I believed I deserved to win. And I should never, under any circumstances, admit that I did not believe all of my opponents were just as worthy as I was. The bulk of the commentators... they wanted a woman whose eyes would tear up with gratitude, as if she owed them her victory, as if she owed them everything she had.”
― Taylor Jenkins Reid, Carrie Soto Is Back

“Falling in
love is really quite simple,” she says. “You want to know the secret?
It’s the same thing we are all doing about life every single day.”

I look to her.

“Forget there’s an ending.”
― Taylor Jenkins Reid, Carrie Soto Is Back

“Some men's childhoods are permitted to last forever, but women are so often reminded that there is work to be done.”
― Taylor Jenkins Reid, Carrie Soto Is Back

“You left!” he says, his voice rising. And then he shakes his head and laughs to himself. “You hurt your knee, you lost a couple matches, and you gave up. That’s what you did. You’re saying we’re the same, but we’re not. I stuck around. I had the guts to try. I have the guts to lose. You, you just run. Well, guess what, Carrie? People who are actually playing the game lose. We all lose. We lose all the time. That is life. So we are not the same, Soto. I have courage. You’re just good at tennis.”
― Taylor Jenkins Reid, Carrie Soto Is Back