Jess Walter - Beautiful Ruins (2012)

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I think so, too. I know I felt that way. For years. It was as if I was a character in a movie and the real action was about to start at any minute. But I think some people wait forever, and only at the end of their lives do they realize that their life has happened while they were waiting for it to start.

Jess Walter
Stories are people. I'm a story, you're a story...your father is a story. Our stories go in every direction, but sometimes, if we're lucky, our stories join into one, and for awhile, we're less alone.

Jess Walter
He considered it a shame when people couldn't grasp the infinite-a failure not just of imagination but of simple vision.

Jess Walter
He thought it might be the most intimate thing possible, to fall asleep next to someone in the afternoon.

Jess Walter
All we have is the story we tell. Everything we do, every decision we make, our strength, weakness, motivation, history, and character-what we believe-none of it is real; it's all part of the story we tell. But here's the thing: it's our goddamned story!

Jess Walter
Some memories remain close; you can shut your eyes and find yourself back in them. But there are second-person memories, too, distant you memories, and these are trickier: you watch yourself in disbelief.

Jess Walter
A writer needs four things to achieve greatness, Pasquale: desire, disappointment, and the sea. That's only three. Alvis finished his wine. You have to do disappointment twice.

Jess Walter
Then she smiled, and in that instant, if such a thing were possible, Pasquale fell in love, and he would remain in love for the rest of his life—not so much with the woman, whom he didn't even know, but with the moment.

Jess Walter
What kind of wife would I be if I left your father simply because he was dead?

Jess Walter