StoryPeople quotes, by Brian Andreas

Are you a princess? I said & she said I'm much more than a princess but you don't have a name for it yet here on earth.

I like geography best, he said, because your mountains & rivers know the secret. Pay no attention to boundaries.

She said she usually cried at least once each day not because she was sad, but because the world was so beautiful & life was so short.

The first time her laughter unfurled its wings in the wind, we knew that the world would never be the same.

For a long time she flew when she thought no one else was watching.

She kept asking if the stories were true. I kept asking her if it mattered. We finally gave up. She was looking for a place to stand & I wanted a place to fly.

When I die, she said, I'm coming back as a tree with deep roots & I'll wave my leaves at the children every morning on their way to school & whisper tree songs at night in their dreams. Trees with deep roots know about the things children need.

There are things you do because they feel right & they make no sense & they may make no money & it may be the real reason we are here: to love each other & to eat each other's cooking & say it was good.

You're the strangest person I ever met, she said & I said you too & we decided we'd know each other a long time.

I've always liked the time before dawn because there's no one around to remind me who I'm supposed to be, so it's easier to remember who I am

I'm not sure if he's gone, she said, but his body is & that's the part I'm getting used to.

Most people she never tells about the tightrope because she doesn't want to listen to their helpful comments from the ground.

If you hold on to the handle, she said, it's easier to maintain the illusion of control. But it's more fun if you just let the wind carry you.

I sometimes wake in the early morning & listen to the soft breathing of my children & I think to myself, this is one thing I will never regret & I carry that quiet with me all day long.

There are lives I can imagine without children but none of them have the same laughter & noise.

I read once that the ancient Egyptians had fifty words for sand & the Eskimos had a hundred words for snow. I wish I had a thousand words for love, but all that comes to mind is the way you move against me while you sleep & there are no words for that.

Most people don't know there are angels whose only job is to make sure you don't get too comfortable & fall asleep & miss your life.

She laid on my chest & her breathing filled me almost to beyond what I could hold.

I need you to come home soon, she said. I'm walking around like a woman who's let herself go.

They came to sit & dangle their feet off the edge of the world & after awhile they forgot everything but the good & true things they would do someday.

That was the day the ancient songs of blood & war spilled from a hole in the sky & there was a long moment as we listened & fell silent in our grief & then one by one, we stood tall & came together & began to sing of life & love & all that is good & true & I will never forget that day when the ancient songs died because there was no one in the world to sing them.

I have a friend who used to ride bareback in a circus. In one picture I've seen she is wearing blue sequins with her smile spread wide as her arms. One time I asked her was it hard to balance? No, she said, you always balance. Only sometimes, she added, you balance on your butt.

Whenever she stood in line at the bank ,or while waiting for the bus, I noticed her feet. The right always in front & perpendicular to the left just so. Even after 2 children, she still dreamed of being a dancer.

Of course I act like a barbarian, he said. They're the only ones who have any fun in this life.

I have a friend who reads people's auras. He sees all sorts of colors like green & red & purple. He says anyone can do it. All it takes is forgetting everything you think you know & just looking. I've tried it & even though I haven't seen any colors yet, everyone I meet looks so beautiful when I stop knowing everything, that it's pretty hard to go back to the old way.

He followed the sun & she followed the stars & in dreams they listened closely for the beginning of all things, for that was where they knew they'd find each other.

I've always thought death was a lot like Christmas, he said. I can't wait to find out if being good the whole time was worth it.

Can you prove any of the stuff you believe in? my son asked me & when I said that's not how belief works, he nodded & said that's what he thought but he was just checking to make sure he hadn't missed a key point.

In those days,
we finally chose
to walk like giants
& hold the world
in arms grown strong with love
& there may be many things we forget
in the days to come,
but this will not be one of them.

Everything changed the day he figured out there was exactly enough time for the important things in his life.

We lay there & looked up at the night sky & she told me about stars called blue squares & red swirls & I told her I'd never heard of them. Of course not, she said, the really important stuff they never tell you. You have to imagine it on your own.

He told me that the night his mother died, there were storms & far away he saw purple lightning & someone left the window open & the room filled with a swirl of butterflies & she slipped out quietly without anyone noticing & I'm sure the grief was softer because of that.

Some days it's not worth the effort to pull myself together, she said, so I'm glad I get cable.

Whenever I go on a trip, I think about all the homes I've had & I remember how little has changed about what comforts me.

There came a moment in the middle of the song when he suddenly felt every heartbeat in the room & after that he never forgot he was part of something much bigger.

I'm not sure if there's one right place I'm supposed to be, he said, but I know a couple of wrong places I'd give a second try in a heartbeat.

I have too much to lose, she said, if I cross that line. Like what? I said. She could not think of anything that day so she said she'd get back to me. Since then I've been thinking what I would lose if I cross my line & I haven't come up with anything either. There's always another line somewhere.

“And we looked into each other and started laughing. I loved that we were lying there naked and laughing for no reason other than the fact that we- and nobody else- were us.” -Megan Mccafferty, Second Helpings

“The ignorant take themselves too seriously. The brilliant know better, and laugh at themselves.” -Megan Mccafferty, Second Helpings

“Even with the best intentions, growing apart might just be an inevitable part of growing up. It's no ones fault, so there's nothing to feel guilty about. It's just the way things are. I know this is pessimistic, but i just don't see the point in putting any effort in this. Life, as it is, always seems to get in the way.” Megan Mccafferty, Second Helpings

"I've learned you can't control what other people are going to think about you. The best you can do in life is not piss yourself off."-Megan Mccafferty, Second Helpings

“We are perfect in our imperfection.” -Megan Mccafferty, Second Helpings

“All I’m saying is that you can’t hide from certain death, so you shouldn’t hide from uncertain life.” -Megan Mccafferty, Charmed Thirds

“So that’s why you’re so teary-eyed. Don’t be sad. The people who really matter, you’ll see them again.” Megan Mccafferty, Charmed Thirds

“Someone once said: it’s the good girls who keep diaries. The bad girls never have the time. Me… I just wanna live a life I’m gonna remember. Even if I don’t write it down.” -One Tree Hill

“There's just something about being from the Carolinas. We've got this assured swagger that's unmistakable, a charm that could only come from being from the coast. Never ask us if were ready to party, chances are we're the ones throwing it. Our life is about the water, country music, football, front porches and taking care of the people around us. Sure we may tend to be a little behind the times in the way we live, but the truth is we just like to keep it simple and take things a little bit slower.”

“When you can't make sense of someone leaving, you sometimes try to make sense of what they left behind. And it makes it a whole lot easier when what they left you was beautiful.“ -Dead Like Me

"Think of all the women you know who will not allow themselves to be seen without makeup. I often wonder how they feel about themselves at night when they are climbing into bed with intimate partners. Are they overwhelmed with secret shame that someone sees them as they really are? Or do they sleep with rage that who they really are can be celebrated or cared for only in secret?" -Communion, Bell Hooks

"I have to remind myself that some birds aren't meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright. And when they fly away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up does rejoice. Still, the place you live in is that much more drab and empty that they're gone..." -Shawshank Redemption

"I started thinking about why I like country music and doing this show so much, and here is what I came up with, ya'll: I like country music because it's about the things in life that really matter. It ain't about braggin' about how you're gonna mess somebody up or how somebody ain't respecting you-- it's about love, family, friends, a few beers, a cheap woman and a two-timing man, thrown in for spice. It doesn't take political sides, even on things as ugly as war. Instead, it celebrates the brave men and women who go to fight them, the price they pay to do it and the longing we have for them to return home to the ones that they love. It's about kids and how there ain't nothing like them. I get tired of hearing about how bad kids are today, because there are a lot of great kids out there that just need someone to love them and believe in them. Country folks love their kids and they will jack you up if you try to mess with them. People in country music don't forget the people that allow them to do what they do for a living. They sign autographs and take pictures with the fans because they know without them, most of us entertainers would get a lot dirtier in the course of our work day. We are thankful that people want to hear the songs and the jokes that we write. Country music doesn't have to be politically correct. We sing about God because we believe in Him. We're not trying to offend anybody, but the evidence that we have seen of Him in our small little lives trumps your opinion on whether or not He exists. We love country music because it touches us where we live. It's about mamas and when they were hot and when they are unappreciated and when they were dying. It's about daddies and the difficulties they have sometimes in telling the people that they work so hard to protect and provide for how they feel about them. Country music is about new love and it's about old love. It's about getting drunk and it's about getting sober. It's about leaving and it's about coming home. It's real music sung by real people, for real people, the people that make up the backbone of this country. You can call us rednecks if you want, we're not offended, 'cause we know what we're all about. We get up and go to work, we get up and go to church and we get up and go to war when neccessary. All we ask for is a few songs to carry us along the way, and that's why I love this show, because it ain't some self-important, Hollywood-hype with the winners determined by somebody else. On this show, you decide who goes home with a trophy and you get to dance and sing along with the people that bring you the songs of your life." -Jeff Foxworthy, CMT Awards

“You gotta do what your heart tells you to do. Let me tell you somethin' right now. You're only allowed three great women in your lifetime. They come along like the great fighters, every ten years. Rocky Marciano. Sugar Ray Robinson. Joe Louis. Sometimes you get 'em all at once. Me? I had my three when I was 16. That happens. What are you gonna do? That's the way it goes, you know? Tell you right now. See this girl? Maybe this girl, she put wind in your sails. Maybe she's your first great one.“ -A Bronx Tale

"Too often, the thing you want most is the one thing you can’t have. Desire leaves us heartbroken, it wears us out. Desire can wreck your life. And as tough as wanting something can be, the people who suffer the most are those who don’t know what they want." - Grey's Anatomy

“Lost love is still love. It takes a different form. That’s all. You can't see their smile or bring them food or tousle their hair or move them around a dance floor. But when those senses weaken, another heightens. Memory. Memory becomes your partner. You nurture it. You hold it. You dance with it.” -The Five People You Meet in Heaven

"Do you not see God in your science? How can you miss Him! You proclaim that even the slightest change in the force of gravity or the weight of an atom would have rendered our universe a lifeless mist rather then our magnificent sea of heavenly bodies, and yet you fail to see God's hand in this? Is it really so much easier to believe that we simply chose the right card from a deck of billions? Have we become so spiritually bankrupt that we would rather believe in mathematical impossibility than in a power greater then us?" -Dan Brown, Angels & Demons

"The thing about good music is this: if you were to take out all the lyrics in a song, you'll still know what the song’s about..." -Jimi Hendrix

“All the really exciting things in life require more courage than we currently have. A deep breath and a leap. See, the kind of fear you’re talking about, sometimes it’s how you know what’s worthwhile.” -Dawson's Creek

“The only way to find true happiness is to risk being completely cut open.” -Chuck Palaniuk, Invisible Monsters

“I wondered what happened when you offered yourself to someone, and they opened you, only to discover you were not the gift they expected and they had to smile and nod and say thank you all the same.” -Jodi Picoult, My Sister's Keeper

“The romantics would call this a love story, the cynics would call it a tragedy. In my mind it's a little bit of both, and no matter how you choose to view it in the end, it does not change the fact that it involves a great deal of my life and the path I've chosen to follow.” - Nicholas Sparks, 'The Notebook'

“Sometimes we don't do things that we want to do, so that others don't know we want to do them.” -The Village

“It doesn't really matter whether you grip the arms of the dentist's chair or let your hands lie in your lap. The drill drills on.” -C.S. Lewis

“To die will be an awfully big adventure.” -J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

"Whether you think you can’t, or whether you think you can, you're right." -Henry Ford

"Start by doing the hardest thing, forgive yourself." -Spiderman 3

"You want forgiveness, get religion." Spiderman 3