Home > Work > The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
141 " People think that intimacy is about sex. But intimacy is about truth. When you realize you can tell someone your truth, when you can show yourself to them, when you stand in front of them bare and their response is “You’re safe with me”—that’s intimacy. "
― Taylor Jenkins Reid , The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
142 " You do not know how fast you have been running, how hard you have been working, how truly exhausted you are, until someone stands behind you and says,"It's ok, you can fall down now. I'll catch you."So I fell down. "
143 " I don’t want to let you love me if you don’t think you can lose me again. One last time. "
144 " The devastating luxury of panic overtook me.And it has never left. "
145 " Relationships are complex,” Evelyn says. “People are messy, and love can be ugly. I'm included to always err on the side of compassion. "
146 " I wanted to give her a lot of things. I wanted what I had to be hers. I wondered if this was what it felt like to love someone. I already knew what it meant to be in love with someone. I'd felt it, and I'd acted it. But to love someone. To care for them. To throw your lot in with theirs and think, Whatever happens, it's you and me. "
147 " Evelyn, who was the love of your life? You can tell me."Evelyn looks out the window, breaths in deeply, and then says,"Celia. St. James". "
148 " It’s on the house,” he said, which I thought was the dumbest thing, because if there is anyone that should be getting free food, it isn’t rich people. "
149 " So I got into the bed with him. I held his hand even though it felt limp. Maybe I should have been mad at him for getting behind the wheel of a car when he'd been drinking. But I couldn't ever get very mad at Harry. I knew he was always doing the very best he could with the pain he felt at any given moment. And this, however tragic, had been the best he could do. "
150 " No one goes around throwing caution to the wind unless the wind is blowing their way. "
151 " You’re not really famous if anyone still likes you. "
152 " The fact that I wanted to be around Celia all the time, the fact that I cared about her enough that I valued her happiness over my own, the fact that I liked to think about that moment when she stood in front of me without her shirt on—now, you put those pieces together, and you say, one plus one equals I’m in love with a woman. But back then, at least for me, I didn’t have that equation. And if you don’t even realize that there's a formula to be working with, how the hell are you supposed to find the answer? "
153 " I can survive it. I’d rather survive it than never feel it. "
154 " It was around that time that I started to believe that friendships could be written in the stars. “If there are all different types of soul mates,” I told Harry one afternoon, when the two of us were sitting out on the patio with Connor, “then you are one of mine. "
155 " I had learned all too well that pain was sometimes stronger than the need to keep up appearances. "
156 " Ah, yes. So that people won’t know you’re a lesbian.” I hated being called a lesbian. Not because I thought there was anything wrong with loving a woman, mind you. No, I’d come to terms with that a long time ago. But Celia only saw things in black and white. She liked women and only women. And I liked her. And so she often denied the rest of me. She liked to ignore the fact that I had truly loved Don Adler once. She liked to ignore the fact that I had made love to men and enjoyed it. She liked to ignore it until the very moment she decided to be threatened by it. That seemed to be her pattern. I was a lesbian when she loved me and a straight woman when she hated me. "
157 " I can’t rest until I’m done. I have to push her. I have to ask and be willing to be told no. I have to know my worth. "
158 " People don't find it very sympathetic or endearing, a woman who puts herself first. "
159 " Evelyn. If you can handle this. But I can’t, in good conscience, do this to you if you don’t think you’ll survive it.” “Survive what, exactly?” “Losing me again. I don’t want to let you love me if you don’t think you can lose me again. One last time.” “I can’t. Of course I can’t. But I want to anyway. I’m going to anyway. Yes,” I said finally. “I can survive it. I’d rather survive it than never feel it.” “Are you sure?” she said. “Yes,” I said. “Yes, I’m sure. I’ve never been more sure about anything. I love you, Celia. I’ve always loved you. And we should spend the rest of the time we have together. "
160 " There's a difference between sexuality and sex. I used sex to get what I wanted. Sex is just an act. Sexuality is a sincere expression of desire and pleasure. "