“You're so beautiful," said Alice. "I'm afraid of looking at you and not knowing who you are.""I think that even if you don't know who I am someday, you'll still know that I love you.""What if I see you, and I don't know that you're my daughter, and I don't know that you love me?""Then, I'll tell you that I do, and you'll believe me.”
―
Lisa Genova,
Still Alice
“She liked being reminded of butterflies. She remembered being six or seven and crying over the fates of the butterflies in her yard after learning that they lived for only a few days. Her mother had comforted her and told her not to be sad for the butterflies, that just because their lives were short didn't mean they were tragic. Watching them flying in the warm sun among the daisies in their garden, her mother had said to her, see, they have a beautiful life. Alice liked remembering that.” ― Lisa Genova, Still Alice
“And I have no control over which yesterdays I keep and which ones get deleted. This disease will not be bargained with. I can't offer it the names of the US presidents in exchange for the names of my children. I can't give it the names of state capitals and keep the memories of my husband....My yesterdays are disappearing, and my tomorrows are uncertain, so what do I live for? I live for each day. I live in the moment. Some tomorrow soon, I'll forget that I stood before you and gave this speech. But just because I'll forget it some tomorrow doesn't mean that I didn't live every second of it today. I will forget today, but that doesn't mean that today doesn't matter.” ― Lisa Genova, Still Alice
“... just because [butterflies'] lives were short didn't mean they were tragic... See, they have a beautiful life.” ― Lisa Genova, Still Alice
“Be creative, be useful, be practical, be generous and finish big” ― Lisa Genova, Still Alice
“My yesterdays are disappearing, and my tomorrows are uncertain, so what do I live for? I live for each day. I live in the moment. Some tomorrow soon, I'll forget that I stood before you and gave this speech. But just because I'll forget it some tomorrow doesn't mean that I didn't live every second of it today. I will forget today, but that doesn't mean that today didn't matter.” ― Lisa Genova, Still Alice
“The mother in her believed that the love she had for her daughter was safe from the mayhem of her mind, because it lived in her heart.” ― Lisa Genova (Author), Still Alice
“Alice: I miss myself.John: I miss you too, Ali, so much.” ― Lisa Genova, Still Alice
“Everything she did and love, everything she was, required language.” ― Lisa Genova, Still Alice
“Alice watched and listened and focused beyond the words the actress spoke. She saw her eyes become desperate, searching, pleading for truth. She saw them land softly and gratefully on it. Her voice felt at first tentative and scared. Slowly, and without getting louder, it grew more confident and then joyful, playing sometimes like a song. Her eyebrows and shoulders and hands softened and opened, asking for acceptance and offering forgiveness. Her voice and body created an energy that filled Alice and moved her to tears. She squeezed the beautiful baby in her lap and kissed his sweet-smelling head.The actress stopped and came back into herself. She looked at Alice and waited.“Okay, what do you feel?”“I feel love. It’s about love.” ― Lisa Genova, Still Alice
“Normal's overrated.” ― Lisa Genova, Left Neglected
“At some point, there would simply be no point. ” ― Lisa Genova, Still Alice
“Even then, more than a year earlier, there were neurons in her head, not far from her ears, that were being strangled to death, too quietly for her to hear them. Some would argue that things were going so insiduously wrong that the neurons themselves initiated events that would lead to their own destruction. Whether it was molecular murder or cellular suicide, they were unable to warn her of what was happening before they died.” ― Lisa Genova, Still Alice
“But will I always love her? Does my love for her reside in my head or my heart? The scientist in her believed that emotion resulted from complex limbic brain circuitry that was for her, at this very moment, trapped in the trenches of a battle in which there would be no survivors. The mother in her believed that the love she hadd for her daughter was safe from the mayhem in her mind, because it lived in her heart.” ― Lisa Genova, Still Alice
“She wished she had cancer instead. She'd trade Alzheimer's for cancer in a heartbeat. She felt ashamed for wishing this, and it was certainly a pointless bargaining, but she permitted herself the fantasy anyway. With cancer, she'd have something to fight. There was surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. There was the chance that she could win. Her family and the community at Harvard would rally behind her battle and consider it noble. And even if it defeated her in the end, she'd be able to look them knowingly in the eye and say good-bye before she left.” ― Lisa Genova, Still Alice
“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” ― Lisa Genova, Inside the O'Briens
“What’s the saying? Not forgiving someone is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.” ― Lisa Genova, Every Note Played
“She read it again. It was fascinating and surreal, like reading a diary that had been hers when she was a teenager, secret and heartfelt words written by a girl she only vaguely remembered. She wished she'd written more. Her words mad her feel sad and proud, powerful and relieved.” ― Lisa Genova, Still Alice
“She's said she doesn't want to. Go ahead and ask her. Just because she has Alzheimer's doesn't mean she doesn't know what she does and doesn't want. At three in the morning, she wanted scrambled eggs and toast, and she didn't want to go back to bed. You're choosing to dismiss what she wants because she has Alzheimer's” ― Lisa Genova, Still Alice
“She liked being reminded of butterflies. She remembered being six or seven and crying over the fates of the butterflies in her yard after learning that they lived for only a few days. Her mother had comforted her and told her not to be sad for the butterflies, that just because their lives were short didn't mean they were tragic. Watching them flying in the warm sun among the daisies in their garden, her mother had said to her, see, they have a beautiful life. Alice liked remembering that.” ― Lisa Genova, Still Alice
“And I have no control over which yesterdays I keep and which ones get deleted. This disease will not be bargained with. I can't offer it the names of the US presidents in exchange for the names of my children. I can't give it the names of state capitals and keep the memories of my husband....My yesterdays are disappearing, and my tomorrows are uncertain, so what do I live for? I live for each day. I live in the moment. Some tomorrow soon, I'll forget that I stood before you and gave this speech. But just because I'll forget it some tomorrow doesn't mean that I didn't live every second of it today. I will forget today, but that doesn't mean that today doesn't matter.” ― Lisa Genova, Still Alice
“... just because [butterflies'] lives were short didn't mean they were tragic... See, they have a beautiful life.” ― Lisa Genova, Still Alice
“Be creative, be useful, be practical, be generous and finish big” ― Lisa Genova, Still Alice
“My yesterdays are disappearing, and my tomorrows are uncertain, so what do I live for? I live for each day. I live in the moment. Some tomorrow soon, I'll forget that I stood before you and gave this speech. But just because I'll forget it some tomorrow doesn't mean that I didn't live every second of it today. I will forget today, but that doesn't mean that today didn't matter.” ― Lisa Genova, Still Alice
“The mother in her believed that the love she had for her daughter was safe from the mayhem of her mind, because it lived in her heart.” ― Lisa Genova (Author), Still Alice
“Alice: I miss myself.John: I miss you too, Ali, so much.” ― Lisa Genova, Still Alice
“Everything she did and love, everything she was, required language.” ― Lisa Genova, Still Alice
“Alice watched and listened and focused beyond the words the actress spoke. She saw her eyes become desperate, searching, pleading for truth. She saw them land softly and gratefully on it. Her voice felt at first tentative and scared. Slowly, and without getting louder, it grew more confident and then joyful, playing sometimes like a song. Her eyebrows and shoulders and hands softened and opened, asking for acceptance and offering forgiveness. Her voice and body created an energy that filled Alice and moved her to tears. She squeezed the beautiful baby in her lap and kissed his sweet-smelling head.The actress stopped and came back into herself. She looked at Alice and waited.“Okay, what do you feel?”“I feel love. It’s about love.” ― Lisa Genova, Still Alice
“Normal's overrated.” ― Lisa Genova, Left Neglected
“At some point, there would simply be no point. ” ― Lisa Genova, Still Alice
“Even then, more than a year earlier, there were neurons in her head, not far from her ears, that were being strangled to death, too quietly for her to hear them. Some would argue that things were going so insiduously wrong that the neurons themselves initiated events that would lead to their own destruction. Whether it was molecular murder or cellular suicide, they were unable to warn her of what was happening before they died.” ― Lisa Genova, Still Alice
“But will I always love her? Does my love for her reside in my head or my heart? The scientist in her believed that emotion resulted from complex limbic brain circuitry that was for her, at this very moment, trapped in the trenches of a battle in which there would be no survivors. The mother in her believed that the love she hadd for her daughter was safe from the mayhem in her mind, because it lived in her heart.” ― Lisa Genova, Still Alice
“She wished she had cancer instead. She'd trade Alzheimer's for cancer in a heartbeat. She felt ashamed for wishing this, and it was certainly a pointless bargaining, but she permitted herself the fantasy anyway. With cancer, she'd have something to fight. There was surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. There was the chance that she could win. Her family and the community at Harvard would rally behind her battle and consider it noble. And even if it defeated her in the end, she'd be able to look them knowingly in the eye and say good-bye before she left.” ― Lisa Genova, Still Alice
“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” ― Lisa Genova, Inside the O'Briens
“What’s the saying? Not forgiving someone is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.” ― Lisa Genova, Every Note Played
“She read it again. It was fascinating and surreal, like reading a diary that had been hers when she was a teenager, secret and heartfelt words written by a girl she only vaguely remembered. She wished she'd written more. Her words mad her feel sad and proud, powerful and relieved.” ― Lisa Genova, Still Alice
“She's said she doesn't want to. Go ahead and ask her. Just because she has Alzheimer's doesn't mean she doesn't know what she does and doesn't want. At three in the morning, she wanted scrambled eggs and toast, and she didn't want to go back to bed. You're choosing to dismiss what she wants because she has Alzheimer's” ― Lisa Genova, Still Alice
