The feeling that you get.... when you know something is happening that will change you, and you don't want it to, but you can't stop it. And you know, for the first time, that there will now be a before and an after, a was and a will be. And that you will never again quite be the same person you were.

Jennifer Donnelly

Categorized in : Firsts Feelings Want

Meet me where the sky touches the sea. Wait for me where the world begins.

Jennifer Donnelly

sea love romantic

I know it is a bad thing to break a promise, but I think now that it is a worse thing to let a promise break you.

Jennifer Donnelly

keeping-promises break thinking

For mad I may be, but I will never be convenient.

Jennifer Donnelly

strong-women mad may

Most of the mess that is called history comes about because kings and presidents cannot be satisfied with a nice chicken and a good loaf of bread.

Jennifer Donnelly

greed nice kings

We're not punished for our sins, lad. We're punished by them.

Jennifer Donnelly

sin lad

I'm wishing he could see that music lives. Forever. That it's stronger than death. Stronger than time. And that its strength holds you together when nothing else can.

Jennifer Donnelly

music strength time

Life’s all about the revolution, isn’t it? The one inside, I mean. You can’t change history. You can’t change the world. All you can ever change is yourself.

Jennifer Donnelly

revolution mean world

He who cannot endure the bad will not live to see the good.

Jennifer Donnelly

yiddish endure jew

I don't like hope very much. In fact, I hate it. It's the crystal meth of emotions. It hooks you fast and kills you hard. It's bad news. The worst. It's sharp sticks and cherry bombs. When hope shows up, it's only a matter of time until someone gets hurt.

Jennifer Donnelly

news hate hurt

Why is it that weeks and months and years go by so quickly, all in a blur, but moments last forever?

Jennifer Donnelly

thought-provoking forever years

I play until my fingers are blue and stiff from the cold, and then I keep on playing. Until I'm lost in the music. Until I am the music--notes and chords, the melody and harmony. It hurts, but it's okay because when I'm the music, I'm not me. Not sad. Not afraid. Not desperate. Not guilty.

Jennifer Donnelly

hurt play blue

The world goes on, as stupid and brutal as tomorrow as it was today. And though I am shuddering with pain, and twisting with pain, and sobbing with pain, i laugh.Because I know now. I know the answer. I know the truth. Oh,dead man, you are dead wrong, I tell him.Can't you see? The world goes on, stupid and brutal, but I [do not. I do not.]

Jennifer Donnelly

pain stupid men

They sat quietly together for a few minutes, Joe holding Fiona's hand, Fiona sniffling. No flowery words, no platitudes passed between them. Joe would have done anything to ease her suffering, but he knew nothing he might do, or say, could. Her grief would run its course, like a fever, and release her when it was spent. He would not shush her or tell her it was God's will and that her da was better off. That was rubbish and they both knew it. When something hurt as bad as this, you had to let it hurt. There were no shortcuts.

Jennifer Donnelly

grief hurt running

Together in our house, in the firelight, we are the world made small.

Jennifer Donnelly

together house world

What I saw next stopped me dead in my tracks. Books. Not just one or two dozen, but hundreds of them. In crates. In piles on the floor. In bookcases that stretched from floor to ceiling and lined the entire room. I turned around and around in a slow circle, feeling as if I'd just stumbled into Ali Baba's cave. I was breathless, close to tears, and positively dizzy with greed.

Jennifer Donnelly

circles two book

...Listen to your own thoughts and feelings very carefully, be aware of your observations, and learn to value them. When you're a teenager—and even when you're older—lots of people will try to tell you what to think and feel. Try to stand still inside all of that and hear your own voice. It's yours and only yours, it's unique and worth of your attention, and if you cultivate it properly, it might just make you a writer.

Jennifer Donnelly

teenager unique thinking

When you can write music that endures, bravo. Until then, keep quiet and study the work of those who can.

Jennifer Donnelly

study writing quiet

She's got a big belt around her hips. It has a shiny buckle with PRADA on it, which is Italian for insecure.

Jennifer Donnelly

insecure revolution italian

Because just for a few seconds, someone else hurts, too. For just a few seconds, I'm not alone.

Jennifer Donnelly

seconds not-alone hurt

Turn away. From the darkness, the madness, the pain. Open your eyes and look at the light.

Jennifer Donnelly

pain light eye