Sarah Dessen, The Truth About Forever

"I'd been through so much, falling short again and again, and only recently had found a place where who I was, right now, was enough."

"Look, everyone mourns at their own pace. Maybe you're just a little bit ahead of her, but she'll get to you eventually. The important thing is that you keep trying to talk to each other, even if it's difficult at first. It gets easier. I promise."

"Grieving doesn't make you imperfect. It makes you human."

"Isn't it weird," I said, "the way you remember things, when someone's gone"What do you mean"I ate another piece of waffle. "When my dad first died, all I could think about was that day. It's taken me so long to be able to think back to before that, to everything else."Wes was nodding before I even finished. "It's even worse when someone's sick for a long time," he said. "You forget they were ever healthy, ever okay. It's like there was never a time when you weren't waiting for something awful to happen."But there was," I said. "I mean, it's only been in the last few months that I've started remembering all this good stuff, funny stuff about my dad. I can't believe I ever forgot it in the first place."You didn't forget," Wes said, taking a sip of his water. "You just couldn't remember right then. But now you're ready to, so you can."I thought about this as I finished off my waffle."

"Grief can be a burden, but also an anchor. You get used to the weight, how it holds you in place."

"That was the hard thing about grief, and the grieving. They spoke another language, and the words we knew always fell short of what we wanted them to say."

"It's not that I believe everything happens for a reason, it's just that... I just think that some things are meant to be broken. Imperfect. Chaotic. It's the universe's way of providing contrast, you know? There have to be a few holes in the road. It's how life is."

"I'm not into appearances. I like flaws, I think they make things interesting."

"I was distracted, thinking about what she'd said, until she got to this last part. "Sherman" I said. She nodded. "That's John and Craig's friend. He's visiting from Shreveport."Sherman from Shreveport" I said. "This is the guy you're determined I go out"

"To me she said, "It's this stupid gotcha thing, they've been doing it for weeks now. Leaping out at each other and us, scaring the hell out of everyone."It's a game of wits," Bert said to me."Half-wits," Kristy added."

"So you should remember that, when you're thinking about what other people can deal with. Maybe it's not so bad."

"Shit," Delia said. "I mean, shoot. No, actually, I mean shit. I really do."

"Here was a boy who liked flaws, who saw them not as failings but as strengths. Who knew such a person could exist, or what would have happened if we'd found each other under different circumstances? Maybe in a perfect world. But not in this one."

"I knew, in the silence that followed, that anything could happen here. It might be too late: again, I might have missed my chance. But I would at least know I tried, that I took my heart and extended my hand, whatever the outcome."Okay," he said. He took a breath. "What would you do, if you could do anything"I took a step toward him, closing the space between us. "This," I said. And then I kissed him."

"You said the other day life was long,' I shot back. 'Which is it' 'It's both,' she said, shrugging. 'It all depends on how you choose to live it. It's like forever, always changing.'Kristy and Macy; p.135"

"Fine," he repeated, and I wondered why it was I kept coming back to this, again and again, a word that you said when someone asked how you were but didn't really care to know the truth."

"But as long as something is never even started, you never have to worry about it ending. It has endless potential."

"Macy: “In Truth,” I said, “there are no rules other than you have to tell the truth.”Wes: “How do you win?” he asked Macy: “That,” I said, “is such a boy question."

"What you have to decide... is how you want your life to be. If your forever was ending tomorrow, would this be how you'd want to have spent it? Listen, the truth is, nothing is guaranteed. You know that more than anybody. So dont be afraid. Be alive."

"I didnt pay atteniton to times or distance, instead focusing on how it felt just to be in motion, knowing it wasn't about the finish line but how I got there that mattered."