“it’s not about comparison, as my counselor used to say. My pain is my pain.”
―
Barbara O'Neal,
When We Believed in Mermaids
“There are seasons of darkness, yes? Loss and sadness all around.” He tightens his grip. “But if you are patient, the circle turns, and then there is happiness all around, everything good, everyone happy.” He flings a hand out, palm up, as if scattering glitter. “My friend, he just forgot that happiness is part of living too.” ― Barbara O'Neal, When We Believed in Mermaids
“Your quest is powerful. You needn’t apologize for the space it takes.” ― Barbara O'Neal, When We Believed in Mermaids
“That isn’t who you are. You’re afraid. And you cannot have a life of great meaning if you make decisions out of fear.” ― Barbara O'Neal, The Art of Inheriting Secrets
“Resistance will break you. Kill you. The only way to survive is to let go.” ― Barbara O'Neal, When We Believed in Mermaids
“"I always read everything when I was a kid-and I do mean everything, from Nancy Drew to Dickens to my dad's John D. MacDonald-but then I went to regular school and the English teachers started telling me to read 'real' books, so I tried. And you know, I kinda went off reading for a while. I had already been reading literary novels and the classics mixed in with whatever else, but-" She waved a hand. "So I went back to reading whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted to-reading had been my greatest pleasure in all the world. I mean I never really watched all that much television, because we were moving around, never really had solid digs until I was thirteen, so reading was everything.” ― Barbara O'Neal, The Secret of Everything
“A girl without a mother who protects her is a girl at the mercy of the world.” ― Barbara O'Neal, When We Believed in Mermaids
“Every girl needs a mother who protects her with a savage fury.” ― Barbara O'Neal, When We Believed in Mermaids
“When I saw you, I recognized you, like I’ve been waiting, all this time, for you to show up. And there you were.” ― Barbara O'Neal, When We Believed in Mermaids
“I’ve carried a torch of hatred for my mother for so long now that it’s hard to even see beyond the straw woman I’ve made of her.” ― Barbara O'Neal, When We Believed in Mermaids
“There are seasons of darkness, yes? Loss and sadness all around.” He tightens his grip. “But if you are patient, the circle turns, and then there is happiness all around, everything good, everyone happy.” He flings a hand out, palm up, as if scattering glitter.” ― Barbara O'Neal, When We Believed in Mermaids
“He sat across from her and took her small hands in his own. "Babe, you don't have to carry the world. I've got it, okay?” ― Barbara O'Neal, The Secret of Everything
“It was as if their feet ran on parallel train tracks and pulled in at the same stations at the same time, over and over.” ― Barbara O'Neal, The Secret of Everything
“My gift has always been an ability to be happy. It sounds small until you live in the world for a while.” ― Barbara O'Neal, Write My Name Across the Sky
“Paris” ― Barbara O'Neal, When We Believed in Mermaids
“Not everything is a disaster waiting to happen,” ― Barbara O'Neal, When We Believed in Mermaids
“Life is always a mixed bag.” ― Barbara O'Neal, When We Believed in Mermaids
“A lifetime of secrets and lies later, I drive through the dark back to my neighborhood.” ― Barbara O'Neal, When We Believed in Mermaids
“Life had washed me here on this strange errand. Maybe the best thing to do was to just let it show me what it had in mind.” ― Barbara O'Neal, The Art of Inheriting Secrets
“There are seasons of darkness, yes? Loss and sadness all around.” He tightens his grip. “But if you are patient, the circle turns, and then there is happiness all around, everything good, everyone happy.” He flings a hand out, palm up, as if scattering glitter. “My friend, he just forgot that happiness is part of living too.” ― Barbara O'Neal, When We Believed in Mermaids
“Your quest is powerful. You needn’t apologize for the space it takes.” ― Barbara O'Neal, When We Believed in Mermaids
“That isn’t who you are. You’re afraid. And you cannot have a life of great meaning if you make decisions out of fear.” ― Barbara O'Neal, The Art of Inheriting Secrets
“Resistance will break you. Kill you. The only way to survive is to let go.” ― Barbara O'Neal, When We Believed in Mermaids
“"I always read everything when I was a kid-and I do mean everything, from Nancy Drew to Dickens to my dad's John D. MacDonald-but then I went to regular school and the English teachers started telling me to read 'real' books, so I tried. And you know, I kinda went off reading for a while. I had already been reading literary novels and the classics mixed in with whatever else, but-" She waved a hand. "So I went back to reading whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted to-reading had been my greatest pleasure in all the world. I mean I never really watched all that much television, because we were moving around, never really had solid digs until I was thirteen, so reading was everything.” ― Barbara O'Neal, The Secret of Everything
“A girl without a mother who protects her is a girl at the mercy of the world.” ― Barbara O'Neal, When We Believed in Mermaids
“Every girl needs a mother who protects her with a savage fury.” ― Barbara O'Neal, When We Believed in Mermaids
“When I saw you, I recognized you, like I’ve been waiting, all this time, for you to show up. And there you were.” ― Barbara O'Neal, When We Believed in Mermaids
“I’ve carried a torch of hatred for my mother for so long now that it’s hard to even see beyond the straw woman I’ve made of her.” ― Barbara O'Neal, When We Believed in Mermaids
“There are seasons of darkness, yes? Loss and sadness all around.” He tightens his grip. “But if you are patient, the circle turns, and then there is happiness all around, everything good, everyone happy.” He flings a hand out, palm up, as if scattering glitter.” ― Barbara O'Neal, When We Believed in Mermaids
“He sat across from her and took her small hands in his own. "Babe, you don't have to carry the world. I've got it, okay?” ― Barbara O'Neal, The Secret of Everything
“It was as if their feet ran on parallel train tracks and pulled in at the same stations at the same time, over and over.” ― Barbara O'Neal, The Secret of Everything
“My gift has always been an ability to be happy. It sounds small until you live in the world for a while.” ― Barbara O'Neal, Write My Name Across the Sky
“Paris” ― Barbara O'Neal, When We Believed in Mermaids
“Not everything is a disaster waiting to happen,” ― Barbara O'Neal, When We Believed in Mermaids
“Life is always a mixed bag.” ― Barbara O'Neal, When We Believed in Mermaids
“A lifetime of secrets and lies later, I drive through the dark back to my neighborhood.” ― Barbara O'Neal, When We Believed in Mermaids
“Life had washed me here on this strange errand. Maybe the best thing to do was to just let it show me what it had in mind.” ― Barbara O'Neal, The Art of Inheriting Secrets
