“There is a grief worse than death. It is the grief of a life half-lived. Not because you don’t know what could have been—but because you do. You realize too late that it was there for the taking—right there in your hands—and you let it slip away. Because you let something—or someone—keep you apart.”
―
Barbara Davis,
The Keeper of Happy Endings
“We read not to escape life but to learn how to live it more deeply and richly, to experience the world through the eyes of the other.” ― Barbara Davis, The Echo of Old Books
“I understand that part, not wanting the world to see your sadness. You think you’re the only one, singled out by fate to suffer. You’re not, of course, but it feels that way. The rest of the world is moving forward, living their lives and dreaming their dreams, while you’re frozen, forever suspended in that terrible moment when your world stopped turning and the ground suddenly fell away. You exist in a void, where everything’s empty and endlessly dark, until little by little the light becomes unbearable.” ― Barbara Davis, The Keeper of Happy Endings
“Life gives us exactly what we need, even what we want, but we’re afraid to grab it and hold on with both hands. We let go when the holding gets hard. We blame when we should forgive.” She paused for the tiniest beat, locking eyes with her son. “And we run when we should stand our ground. Because we don’t understand that we don’t just get the life we wish for. We get the life we fight for.” ― Barbara Davis, The Wishing Tide
“Time, you see, is the enemy, a trap of our own making. The past is lost forever, a wasteland of all that could have been and never was, while the future stretches endlessly before us, always an hourglass’s worth of sand beyond our reach. Today, then, is what we have left—the here and the now—to make our wishes, and to fight for the life we want.” ― Barbara Davis, The Wishing Tide
“it is never a kindness to allow a lie to stand, however hard the pursuit of the truth may be. In the end, light is the only thing that has ever chased away darkness—the only thing that ever will. Seek truth in all things,” ― Barbara Davis, The Last of the Moon Girls
“We plan our lives like we’re in charge, lay all the pieces end to end like we think they should go, and then zing! Something happens we never saw coming, and we end up somewhere else. Sometimes it’s right back where we started.” ― Barbara Davis, The Last of the Moon Girls
“Integrity isn’t something you have in some parts of your life and not in others. You either have it, or you don’t.” ― Barbara Davis, When Never Comes
“Books are feelings,” he replied simply. “They exist to make us feel. To connect us to what’s inside, sometimes to things we don’t even know are there.” ― Barbara Davis, The Echo of Old Books
“That’s what I thought.” Her smile turned wistful before fading entirely. “Life is lived in chapters, my girl. Fairy tales and horror stories all strung together like beads on a string. When one chapter ends—when fate conspires to tear us from our own book—we’ve no choice but to begin again, to invent a new version of ourselves. And we pretend that version is all that has ever been, all that will ever be. We pretend we’re safe. Until the tide comes rushing in again, and we must swim for our lives once more.” ― Barbara Davis, The Wishing Tide
“Maybe it wasn’t about needing them. People hold on to all kinds of things, silly things, even broken things, because of the memories attached to them.” ― Barbara Davis, When Never Comes
“There are times for holding on in this life and times for letting go. You must learn to know the difference. —Esmée Roussel, the Dress Witch” ― Barbara Davis, The Keeper of Happy Endings
“When so much has been uprooted—so many things lost—one must seek comfort in rituals. Even the sad ones.” ― Barbara Davis, The Keeper of Happy Endings
“I’ve lived a good many years, and seen a good many things, and one thing I know to be true is that we are all scarred, all broken in our own way. Some of us may break more quietly than others, but break we all do, when this world dishes out its worst.” ― Barbara Davis, The Last of the Moon Girls
“don’t live a smaller life than you deserve.” ― Barbara Davis, When Never Comes
“There are things we can change and things we can’t. The key is knowing the difference.” ― Barbara Davis, When Never Comes
“the truth is incapable of real harm. It is we who do harm, when we refuse to face what is real, because it’s uncomfortable or inconvenient.” ― Barbara Davis, The Last of the Moon Girls
“There was certainly plenty in her own past that she was reluctant to look at. Because looking made it real.” ― Barbara Davis, When Never Comes
“then, she knew better than most that the face a person chose to show the world wasn’t always the real one. Everyone had a story. Not everyone wanted to share.” ― Barbara Davis, When Never Comes
“We read not to escape life but to learn how to live it more deeply and richly, to experience the world through the eyes of the other.” ― Barbara Davis, The Echo of Old Books
“I understand that part, not wanting the world to see your sadness. You think you’re the only one, singled out by fate to suffer. You’re not, of course, but it feels that way. The rest of the world is moving forward, living their lives and dreaming their dreams, while you’re frozen, forever suspended in that terrible moment when your world stopped turning and the ground suddenly fell away. You exist in a void, where everything’s empty and endlessly dark, until little by little the light becomes unbearable.” ― Barbara Davis, The Keeper of Happy Endings
“Life gives us exactly what we need, even what we want, but we’re afraid to grab it and hold on with both hands. We let go when the holding gets hard. We blame when we should forgive.” She paused for the tiniest beat, locking eyes with her son. “And we run when we should stand our ground. Because we don’t understand that we don’t just get the life we wish for. We get the life we fight for.” ― Barbara Davis, The Wishing Tide
“Time, you see, is the enemy, a trap of our own making. The past is lost forever, a wasteland of all that could have been and never was, while the future stretches endlessly before us, always an hourglass’s worth of sand beyond our reach. Today, then, is what we have left—the here and the now—to make our wishes, and to fight for the life we want.” ― Barbara Davis, The Wishing Tide
“it is never a kindness to allow a lie to stand, however hard the pursuit of the truth may be. In the end, light is the only thing that has ever chased away darkness—the only thing that ever will. Seek truth in all things,” ― Barbara Davis, The Last of the Moon Girls
“We plan our lives like we’re in charge, lay all the pieces end to end like we think they should go, and then zing! Something happens we never saw coming, and we end up somewhere else. Sometimes it’s right back where we started.” ― Barbara Davis, The Last of the Moon Girls
“Integrity isn’t something you have in some parts of your life and not in others. You either have it, or you don’t.” ― Barbara Davis, When Never Comes
“Books are feelings,” he replied simply. “They exist to make us feel. To connect us to what’s inside, sometimes to things we don’t even know are there.” ― Barbara Davis, The Echo of Old Books
“That’s what I thought.” Her smile turned wistful before fading entirely. “Life is lived in chapters, my girl. Fairy tales and horror stories all strung together like beads on a string. When one chapter ends—when fate conspires to tear us from our own book—we’ve no choice but to begin again, to invent a new version of ourselves. And we pretend that version is all that has ever been, all that will ever be. We pretend we’re safe. Until the tide comes rushing in again, and we must swim for our lives once more.” ― Barbara Davis, The Wishing Tide
“Maybe it wasn’t about needing them. People hold on to all kinds of things, silly things, even broken things, because of the memories attached to them.” ― Barbara Davis, When Never Comes
“There are times for holding on in this life and times for letting go. You must learn to know the difference. —Esmée Roussel, the Dress Witch” ― Barbara Davis, The Keeper of Happy Endings
“When so much has been uprooted—so many things lost—one must seek comfort in rituals. Even the sad ones.” ― Barbara Davis, The Keeper of Happy Endings
“I’ve lived a good many years, and seen a good many things, and one thing I know to be true is that we are all scarred, all broken in our own way. Some of us may break more quietly than others, but break we all do, when this world dishes out its worst.” ― Barbara Davis, The Last of the Moon Girls
“don’t live a smaller life than you deserve.” ― Barbara Davis, When Never Comes
“There are things we can change and things we can’t. The key is knowing the difference.” ― Barbara Davis, When Never Comes
“the truth is incapable of real harm. It is we who do harm, when we refuse to face what is real, because it’s uncomfortable or inconvenient.” ― Barbara Davis, The Last of the Moon Girls
“There was certainly plenty in her own past that she was reluctant to look at. Because looking made it real.” ― Barbara Davis, When Never Comes
“then, she knew better than most that the face a person chose to show the world wasn’t always the real one. Everyone had a story. Not everyone wanted to share.” ― Barbara Davis, When Never Comes
