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Sarah Jio QUOTES

Sarah Jio QUOTES

1 " You can never play a part in life, especially not in love. "

― Sarah Jio , The Bungalow

2 " What is childhood without stories? And how will children fall in love with stories without bookstores? You can't get that from a computer. "

― Sarah Jio , Goodnight June

3 " I am lonely here sometimes. I'm like the gate, swinging in the breeze when I long for someone to just secure the latch and stop me from flailing about "

― Sarah Jio , Goodnight June

4 " The stars have their own language, you know. If you're careful, you can learn it. "

― Sarah Jio , The Last Camellia

5 " I walked to the bookcase and examined the storybooks inside. As a girl, I had dreamed of having stacks of books at my disposal--stories to get lost in, other worlds to live in when mine was so bleak. "

― Sarah Jio , The Last Camellia

6 " We want the kind of love that sells movie tickets. "

― Sarah Jio , The Look of Love

7 " All I hear is my own grating thoughts. Is there anything more horrid than being trapped inside yourself with nothing but your own insecurities. "

― Sarah Jio , Goodnight June

8 " I've come to realize that you can fight a lot of things in life, but you can't help who you love. You can't change who your heart chooses. I'm afraid that very fact will be the greatest tragedy of my life. "

― Sarah Jio , The Last Camellia

9 " I think of the way James proposed, at our favorite New York City restaurant. He'd tucked the ring in his pocket and gotten down on one knee. Simple, perfect. I feel the familiar pain creeping back, and then I remember what Alex said. I know I may always ache for the past, for the two greatest loves of my life, but I want to be a bird now. I want to flap my wings through the rainstorms. I want to start my day with the earnestness of the morning glory, the way its blossoms open with the sunrise, ready to shine no matter what. "

― Sarah Jio , Morning Glory

10 " We dip beneath an underpruned flowering vine that threatens to overthrow the very trellis that has given it life. A crimson flower tickles my cheek as I duck under it.
The scene just ahead is like something out of a fairy tale, or at least a fairy tale I'd like to read: at our feet a patch of wooly thyme, so soft it looks like a green pillow, and all around, roses, hydrangeas, alliums as large as dinner plates- flowers everywhere. But the view of Paris from this magical little perch is what really takes my breath away. "

― Sarah Jio , All the Flowers in Paris

11 " I sighed, looking down at the book in my hands. The Years. I rested my elbow against the arm of the couch and cracked the spine. It had the feel of a book that hadn't been touched in decades, creaking, as if to say ahhh. "

― Sarah Jio , The Last Camellia

12 " First, I'd stop by the butcher and select a special steak to accompany his favorite dish, gratin dauphinois, a simple yet inexplicably divine mixture of thinly sliced and layered potatoes, garlic, Gruyère cheese, and cream. "

― Sarah Jio , All the Flowers in Paris

13 " I looked up at the moon and stars through the glass roof above and gasped at the stunning sight, like a mural painted by a great artist. No wonder Lady Anna had loved this place.
I walked to the orchids and plucked a weed from a small terra-cotta pot that held a speckled pink and white flower. "There you are, beautiful," I whispered, releasing a patch of clover roots from the bark near the orchid's stem. "Is that better?" In the quiet of the night, I could almost hear the flower sigh.
I walked to the water spigot and filled a green watering can to the brim, then sprinkled the flower and her comrades. I marveled at how the droplets sparkled in the moonlight. "

― Sarah Jio , The Last Camellia

14 " No matter the state of the world, or how dark the shadow that has fallen on our city, I find it curiously comforting to know that if you plant a seed and give it sunlight and water, it will grow. "

― Sarah Jio , All the Flowers in Paris

15 " Papa says that some people seem mean, but they're just sad inside. "

― Sarah Jio , All the Flowers in Paris

16 " Lotus flowers lead harrowing journeys. Their seeds sprout in murky swamp water, thick with dirt and debris and snarls of roots. For a lotus to bloom, she must forge her way through this terrible darkness, avoid being eaten by fish and insects, and keep pressing onward, innately knowing, or at least hoping, that there is sunlight somewhere above the water's surface, if she can only summon the strength to get there. And when she does, she emerges unscathed by her journey and blooms triumphantly. "

― Sarah Jio , All the Flowers in Paris

17 " You know why Antoinette will persevere, just as you and I will?"
"Why?" she asks, searching my eyes.
"Because she's a lotus, and so are we."
"A lotus?"
I smile to myself, recalling the story Papa told me as a girl. "The flower. Have you seen one?"
"They're gorgeous," I say. "But my point isn't about their beauty. Lotus flowers lead harrowing journeys. Their seeds sprout in murky swamp water, thick with dirt and debris and snarls of roots. For a lotus to bloom, she must forge her way through this terrible darkness, avoid being eaten by fish and insects, and keep pressing onward, innately knowing, or at least hoping, that there is sunlight somewhere above the water's surface, if she can only summon the strength to get there. And when she does, she emerges unscathed by her journey and blooms triumphantly." I place both of my hands on her shoulders. "Suzette, you are a lotus. "

― Sarah Jio , All the Flowers in Paris

18 " Ella isn't like other little girls. She's inquisitive and curious, with a heart that senses others' emotions with the precision of Doppler radar. She drops coins from her piggy bank into the outstretched hands of the homeless in Times Square, frets over the plight of hurt animals on the roadside, and two Christmases ago, organized a coat drive at her school when she saw a little boy shivering on the playground. "

― Sarah Jio , Morning Glory

19 " And can we get a tarte normande, the kind you used to love as a little girl?"
The mere mention has my mouth watering and my heart aching. I can almost taste the tarts my mother used to make, with apples from the trees in our garden, loads of freshly grated cinnamon, and a dollop of whipped cream on top.
"And can we look for treasure on the beach?"
"Yes, sweet child."
"And can we throw rocks in the water and look for starfish in the tide pools? "

― Sarah Jio , All the Flowers in Paris

20 " A familiar melody suddenly drifts through the little living room. It makes me freeze, and I don't know why. And then I hear the silky, sweet sound of Karen Carpenter's voice.
"'Rainy Days and Mondays,'" Alex says.
I can't find my voice. I just stare ahead, fighting back the tears.
Alex sits down beside me. I know he senses that something's wrong. "I'm sorry," he says quickly. "If you don't like it, I'll turn it off."
"No," I say. "No. Please don't." I wipe a tear from my eye, just as another spills onto my cheek. "My husband loved this song." I smile. "Which made him the only straight man on earth to love the Carpenters."
Alex grins. "The only two straight men on earth."
I smile again. For some reason, I feel someone has lifted a great weight from my shoulders, just for a moment. "James died on a Monday," I say.
We sit there for a moment listening to the song together, each alone in our own thoughts, until Alex reaches over and takes my hand in his. I don't let go. "

― Sarah Jio , Morning Glory