Piper Caryl

“Joar's jaw ached from laughing so hard in a way he hadn't even known he could laugh before her, an all-encompassing laugh that his body seemed to have been keeping in reserve just in case he met a completely perfect idiot. Every time Ali heard it, she looked like her body had been saving an extra pair of eyes just for him, unused until that day.”
― Fredrik Backman, My Friends

“Early tomorrow morning even the most serious critics, even those who have never written a kind word about the artist's paintings, will whisper "Oh no" into their phones when they hear what has happened. And Ted has to forgive them, because in grief we are reminded that we're human beings. In life we might be enemies, but when faced with death, we see the truth: we are one species, all we have is each other, and where you go, I shall follow.”
― Fredrik Backman, My Friends

“Ted shuts his eyes tightly and tries to think happy thoughts, he isn't very successful. People say that anxiety is fear for no reason, but Ted's brain is very helpful when it comes to providing suggestions. Once he read a book that said that people with neuropsychiatric disorders need to "make friends with their brain," but Ted and Ted's brain are not friends, they're classmates, forced to do a group assignment called "life" together. And it's not going great.”
― Fredrik Backman, My Friends

“I mean ... she's great, my mom. I was just a handful as a kid, that's all. I always hated when she pointed to paintings and asked, 'What does that say to you?' It felt like a test in school. But now I'm starting to realize that it's pretty much the nicest thing you can say to anyone. One time I asked her why she was so obsessed with what I was thinking, and she got angry and yelled: 'Because I want to know what's happening inside you! Because you happened to me! You happen to me every second I'm alive!”
― Fredrik Backman, My Friends