Was I insane? Maybe. But then, there were many different kinds of insanity. Aunt Rose had always taken for granted that the whole world was in a state of constantly fluctuating madness, and that a neurosis was not an illness, but a fact of life, like pimples. Some have more, some have less, but only truly abnormal people have none at all. This commonsense philosophy had consoled me many times before, and it did now, too.

Anne Fortier

Categorized in : Philosophy Taken Aunt

Everything we say is a story. But nothing we say is just a story.

Anne Fortier

stories

In many ways, a degree in the history of ideas is the ideal training for an aspiring writer.

Anne Fortier

training degrees ideas

She had died peacefully, in her sleep, after an evening of listening to all of her favorite Fred Astaire songs, one crackling record after another. Once the last chord of the last piece had died out, she had stood up and opened the French doors to the garden outside, perhaps waiting to breathe in the honeysuckle one more time.

Anne Fortier

garden sleep song

Romeo was cute …” “Cute?” Alessandro rolled his eyes. “What kind of man is cute?” “… and an excellent dancer …” “Romeo had feet of lead! He said so himself!” “… but most importantly,” I concluded, “he had nice hands!

Anne Fortier

nice eye cute

I’ll be back tomorrow,” he said, “at nine o’clock. Don’t open your door to anyone else.” “Not even my balcony door?” “Especially not your balcony door.

Anne Fortier

tomorrow nine doors

It's what we call a dolce pazzia... a sweet madness. Once you feel it, you will never want to leave it.

Anne Fortier

madness want sweet

Don't underestimate the power of events that happened a long time ago. That is the tragic flaw of modern man.

Anne Fortier

events men long

I did not know my soul until I saw it's reflection in your eyes.

Anne Fortier

eye reflection love

You owe me nothing, but I want everything.

Anne Fortier

want

Think about it. He drinks poison. What kind of man drinks poison? She is the one who stabs herself with his dagger. The manly way.

Anne Fortier

poison men thinking

But he is an Italian," was Umberto's sensible reply. "He doesn't care if you break some law a little bit, as long as you wear beautiful shoes. Are you wearing beautiful shoes? Are you wearing the shoes I gave you?...principessa?" I looked down at my flip-flops. "I guess I'm toast.

Anne Fortier

italian law beautiful

...it is fifty percent what they see, and fifty percent what they think they see.

Anne Fortier

percent fifty thinking

And whether or not we had now paid our dues, he was my blessing, and I was his.

Anne Fortier

my-blessing dues blessing

Look,' I said, struggling to keep up, 'I just wanna make one thing absolutely clear. I don't believe in guns. I just want peace. Okay?' Alessandro stopped in the middle of the corridor, took out the gun, and wrapped my hand around it before I realized what he was doing. 'Can you feel that? That's a gun. It exists. And there are a lot of people out there who do believe in it. So, excused me for taking care of them so you can have your peace.

Anne Fortier

gun struggle believe

She laughed out loud, a warm, knowing laughter that made me once again wonder about the secret ingredient in these women’s lives. Whatever it was, I was clearly missing it. It was so much more than just self-confidence; it seemed to be the ability to love oneself, enthusiastically and unsparingly, body and soul, naturally followed by the assumption that every man on the planet is dying to get in on the act.

Anne Fortier

self-confidence laughter men

There is lust and then there is love. They are related, but still very different things. To indulge in one requires little but honeyed speech and a change of clothes; to obtain the other, by contrast, a man must give up his rib. In return, his woman will undo the sin of Eve, and bring him back into Paradise.

Anne Fortier

indulge-in giving-up men

After the dress rehearsal that afternoon, someone had misplaced the vial of poison, and for lack of better, Romeo would have to commit suicide by eating Tic Tacs.

Anne Fortier

afternoon poison suicide

By the time we left college, I had become my own image: a dandelion in the flower bed of society. Kinda cute, but still a weed.

Anne Fortier

weed flower cute

Perhaps. But the firstborn of hope is tragedy.

Anne Fortier

tragedy

You were right and I was wrong. When life hurts more than death, it is not worth living.

Anne Fortier

life-hurts worth-living hurt