Home > Author > Dolly Alderton
101 " It takes a village to mend a broken heart. "
― Dolly Alderton , Everything I Know About Love
102 " I vow to always let you grow. I’ll never tell you that I know who you really are just because we’ve known each other since we were kids. "
103 " was curated and censored, enabled by an algorithm, determined by self-selection. "
― Dolly Alderton , Ghosts
104 " Nostalgia: Greek compound combining "
105 " it’s strange how quickly you can become a natal connoisseur by proxy of those around you. Five years ago, I could have barely differentiated between a one-year-old and a one-day-old baby. Now, I knew about Braxton Hicks and mastitis and pre-labour perineum massage. I knew about sleep training, growth spurts, teething and potty training. The lexicon of our peer group morphed in every decade. "
106 " Not for the first time upon looking in on my friends' long-term relationships, I marveled at how a marriage ironically seemed to provide men of my generations with even more of an excuse to not grow up. "
107 " Max often disarmed me in seemingly unromantic conversation with these grand, surprising statements about our relationship. It felt like a test. I never knew the correct way to respond. "
108 " Monthaversary dinner. How did these women do it? What was their secret?... Was it that they simply told them what to do and when to do it, and the imposed restriction of choice made their boyfriends feel safely shepherded rather than ready for slaughter? Had I been treating men too much like adults and not enough like little directionless lambs? "
109 " What would it be like, I wondered, to be seen through such adoring eyes, that they could not only capture you in a painting, but rearrange you to further exhibit who you were? "
110 " Mum was right, he didn't need these relics of mundanity, but I understood his inclination to hold on to them. I too had shoe boxes of cinema tickets from first dates with Joe and utility bills from flats I no longer lived in. I'd never known why they were important, but they were - they felt like proof of life lived, in case a time came when it was needed, like a driving license or a passport. "
111 " I often hear married people say that they're never aware of each other aging. Some sort of survivalist magic akin to Shakespearean comedy must descend on long-term couples at the very beginning of their relationship that means they only ever see the face they fell in love with. "
112 " I took a big gulp of prosecco and held my breath, but it made no difference—when would I be allowed to stop drinking this thin, sour, fruity venom of terrible parties and terrible conversation? "
113 " I thought that, to be a writer, I had to be a collector of experiences. "
114 " Because I am enough. "
115 " On long, lonely nights when your fears crawl over your brain like cockroaches and you can’t get to sleep, dream of the time you were loved—in another lifetime, one of toil and blood. Remember how it felt to find shelter in someone’s arms. Hope that you’ll find it again. "
116 " Absolutely everyone is dysfunctional on some level, but a lot of people can function dysfunctionally. "
117 " Time and time again, I had created intensity with a man and confused it with intimacy. "
118 " But cynicism, while funny and self-protecting, is very easy. Finding trust, sustaining hope - that’s the real art form. "
119 " Because I am enough. My heart is enough. The stories and the sentences twisting around my mind are enough. I am fizzing and frothing and buzzing and exploding. I'm bubbling over and burning up. My early-morning walks and my late-night baths are enough. My loud laugh at the pub is enough. My piercing whistle, my singing in the shower, my double jointed toes are enough. I am a just-pulled pint with a good, frothy head on it. I am my own universe; a galaxy; a solar system. I am the warm-up act, the main event, and the backing singers. "
120 " Summer soon. Long days, long nights, light at all hours, illuminating everything. Nowhere to hide. "