Amy Harmon Quotes & Sayings

My brain is already scrambled enough.""Cracked," I said, not thinking.
"Yeah." Moses scowled.
"Well, it's working for you." I turned and looked at my walls. "Cracks and all. In fact, if your brain wasn't cracked, none of the brilliance could spill out. Do you realize that? — Amy Harmon

I wondered if weakness wasn't just as dangerous. The weak allowed evil to flourish. — Amy Harmon

There's no sense in running from the past. We can't throw it away or pretend it didn't happen, Miss Echohawk. But maybe we can learn something from it. You have an interesting story, and I'd like you to tell me more. — Amy Harmon

Here Katy. I have a cooler trick than Finn's. I can show you how to write poop on a calculator . . . now that's awesome." I pulled the calculator from her little hands and proceeded to teach her some potty humor every kid should know.
Finn grabbed it from my hand and punched in some numbers and passed it back. When I turned it upside down it read "hILLBILLI." Well, I definitely was that. — Amy Harmon

I wondered how he'd learned to push the words away, to drown them, to not feel them pounding against his head and his heart, begging to be spoken. — Amy Harmon

I am not a weapon. I don't want to be a weapon!
"You are what you are. I am what I am. It matters little what we want. — Amy Harmon

There are times when you just need to acknowledge the shit ... You just need to acknowledge it. Face the shit ... Accept the truth in it. Own it, wallow in it, become one with the shit. — Amy Harmon

I cornered him a few nights after the stampede and made sure he knew that little boys who liked rope got sliced up by men who liked knives. — Amy Harmon

I know you are incredibly bright, because when you are not being a smartarse your comments in class are very insightful, and when you ARE being a smartarse you are witty and clever and you make me laugh even when I want to slap you. — Amy Harmon

Falling is easier if you don't fight it. — Amy Harmon

Maybe the secret to happiness is simplicity. — Amy Harmon

God has given you one face and you make yourself another. - Hamlet — Amy Harmon

Your hate will only harm you," he said. "Just — Amy Harmon

But it was a road I hadn't built, and I'm convinced you can't ever be completely happy walking on someone else's road. Someone else's path. — Amy Harmon

You glow, Lark." His hand climbed back up again and swept over my unbound hair. I swallowed, suddenly close to tears. Then why does no one see me? "I see you," he said. — Amy Harmon

I've often thought that beauty can be a
deterrent to love," Fern's father mused.
"Why?"
"Because sometimes we fall in love with a
face and not what's behind it. — Amy Harmon

Like a shoe that has lost its mate is never worn again, I had lost my matching part and didn't know how to run barefoot. — Amy Harmon

MILLIE STOOD AND with no warning, lifted the tape recorder above her head and threw it to the ground as if she couldn't bear to hear another word. The back of the tape recorder sprang off when it hit the ground, and the fat D batteries rolled out like wounded soldiers, their tank disabled, their weapons depleted — Amy Harmon

No weight in her pockets and far too much heaviness in her heart. — Amy Harmon

I would rather be lost with you than alone without you. — Amy Harmon

Lust is different from desire. There are women who will gladly assuage your lust. I will not.
"You want me. I heard it. I feel it."
It matters little what we want, I shot back, using his words against him. I may be your weapon. But I am not your queen. — Amy Harmon

You were not supposed to love me, Lark. I did not set out to make you love me. And I was not supposed to love you. But I do. And it is terrible. — Amy Harmon

I've been in love with you since you helped me bury that spider in my garden, and you sang with me like we were singing "Amazing Grace" instead of "The Itsy, Bitsy Spider." I've loved you since you quoted Hamlet like you understood him, since you said you loved ferris wheels more than roller coasters because life shouldn't be lived at full speed, but in anticipation and appreciation. I read and re-read your letters to Rita because I felt like you'd opened up a little window into your soul, and the light was pouring out with every word. They weren't even for me, but it didn't matter. I loved every word, every thought, and I loved you ... so much. — Amy Harmon

So often, I felt like my hands and heart knew something I did not, and I surrendered the art to them. — Amy Harmon

The roof of my mouth was so sensitive it was as if I'd eaten peanut butter while in a coma. — Amy Harmon

Rita has spent her whole life being chased by boys. Because of that, she never had a chance to stop running long enough to figure out who she was and what kind of guy she should let catch her. — Amy Harmon

. . . death isn't anything I need to be afraid of. I'm not a perfect man. But I think I'm a good man. I've lived a hell of a life, even with all the heartache. Millie told me once that the ability to devastate is what makes a song beautiful. Maybe that's what makes life beautiful too. The ability to devastate. Maybe that's how we know we've lived. How we know we've truly loved."

"The ability to devastate," I repeated. And my voice broke. If that wasn't a perfect description of the agony of love, I didn't know what was. — Amy Harmon

And the guilt and the loathing slipped away, pushed out by the overwhelming gratitude that I was alive, that I could feel, that I could hear the music. — Amy Harmon

The very best things in life are born of difficulty. Whatever comes too easily is easily abandoned. — Amy Harmon

He said Bailey taught him to love and to put things in perspective, to live for the present, to say I love you often and to mean it. And to be grateful for every day. It taught him patience and perseverance. — Amy Harmon

And true love suffereth long, and is kind; true love envieth not; true love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil. True love rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; true love beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. True love never faileth ... — Amy Harmon

Doubt thou the stars are fiew,
Doubt the sun doth move,
Doubt truth to be a liar
But never doubt I love. -Fern — Amy Harmon

I'm Manny!" Manny shot back, folding his arms. "That's what I am. I'm Manny! I don't know why I can't compliment a cute guy and a cute girl! Everybody needs positive reinforcement, Blue. — Amy Harmon

She was my little lark. The name had entered my mind the moment I laid eyes on her, — Amy Harmon

Normal was so lost to me that I didn't even know where to look for it — Amy Harmon

The world is alive with words — Amy Harmon

I hated making small talk and avoided people in the grocery store and other places just so that i wouldn't have to think of things to say. I liked people, i cared about them, and i wanted to be a good person, but don't make me chat idly on the telephone or make pleasant conversation just for the sake of being polite.- Josie Jo Jensen — Amy Harmon

If I tell you right up front, right in the beginning that I lost him, it will be easier for you to bear. — Amy Harmon

I'm okay with death, Mo. I'm good with it," Tag said quietly. "But dying...dying is different. I'm afraid of dying. I'm afraid of not being strong for the people who love me. I'm afraid of the suffering I will cause. I'm afraid of the helplessness I'll feel when I can't make it all better. I don't want to sit in a hospital bed, day after day, dying. I don't want Millie trying to take care of me. I don't want Henry watching me fade from giant to shadow. Can you understand that, Mo? — Amy Harmon

I've never felt about anybody the way I feel about you," I confessed in a rush. "I can't imagine that what I'm feeling isn't love. But 'I love you' doesn't feel adequate to express it." I plunged headlong into babbling. "I desperately want you to love me. I need you to love me - but I don't want to need it, and I'm afraid that I need it too much. — Amy Harmon

I will spend the rest of my life trying to make you happy, and when you get tired of looking at me, I promise I'll sing. — Amy Harmon

You are kind," she said softly. "I am not kind," Kjell scoffed. "And you are good," she added. "I am not good!" he laughed. "I have never known a man like you." "You were a slave in Quondoon! The men you knew were not trying to impress you." "Neither are you, Captain. Yet I am still impressed." "Then you have a lot to learn." She — Amy Harmon

I turned, letting her catch me. And I caught her too, wrapping my arms around her so tight that the space between us became space around us, space above us, but not space inside us. — Amy Harmon

Shhhh," Johnny soothed, sliding his hands up and down her back, nuzzling her hair. "Car thieves don't cry, baby. You gotta toughen up if you're gonna have a future with good old Clyde here."

"I like it when you do that."

"What?"

"Call me baby," Maggie whispered.

"You liked it when I called you Bonnie too," he replied with a smile in his voice. "Why?"

"You used to call me baby all the time. It makes me believe you can love me again."

Johnny wrapped his arms tightly around her waist and lifted her to him, kissing her tear-streaked cheeks before he touched his lips to hers.

"I'm already there Maggie. I fell in love when you begged me to help you escape the cops. I fell in love when we danced to Nat King Cole singing 'Stardust' on a moonlit beach. Hell, I fell in love when you told me how blondes spell farm."

"E-I-E-I-O," Maggie quipped wetly.

Johnny laughed and held her tightly. — Amy Harmon

Tag stopped, his spoon paused in mid-air. I watched as a Cheerio made a desperate dive for freedom, plopping back in the bowl, safe for another few seconds. — Amy Harmon

Oh, please. You know damn well you're amazing. You don't think I watched you the other night? The whole place was glued to your every move," he paused. "I was egging you on, you know. I wanted you to go out there. I wanted to see you..."

"You did not!' Maggie interrupted hotly. "You didn't think I could. You think I'm unattractive and boring."

"Keep tellin' yourself that, Maggie, and I'll keep telling myself that, and we'll both be happier in the long run. — Amy Harmon

Maybe someday, as the knots became unraveled, this moment would wrap around him, tying him to her. Or maybe her love would simply loosen the strings, freeing him to walk away. — Amy Harmon

How did you know I needed you?" Fern whispered in broken tones.
"Because I needed you," Ambrose confessed without artifice, his voice thick with heartache. — Amy Harmon

Usually redemption implies rescue - being saved. What were you being saved from?' he inquired, his voice carefully neutral. 'Ugliness. — Amy Harmon

The tattoo is a reminder that choices made out of desperation are almost always bad choices." Finn paused, hoping Bonnie was thinking — Amy Harmon

And just like that the mood was broken. — Amy Harmon

I didn't know what grace was, but maybe it sounded like the music. Maybe that was what I was feeling. How sweet the sound. And it was sweet, impossibly so. How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. — Amy Harmon

Life is like a long note; it persists without variance, without wavering. There is no cessation in sound or pause in tempo. It continues on, and we must master it or it will master us. — Amy Harmon

I think I'm just trying to find what's real. Dreamin' of mansions isn't a bad thing. But there's got to be more to life than just enduring or dreaming. And too often, it feels like hope is the only thing most people have. Rich, poor, sick, healthy - we're all just drowning in dreams and hoping someone else will make them come true. — Amy Harmon

Gratitude works best when you're the one feeling it. — Amy Harmon

Books allow you to be whoever you want to be, to escape yourself for a while. — Amy Harmon

My father told me once that we are on earth to learn. God wants us to receive everything that life was meant to teach. Then we take what we've learned, and it becomes our offering to God and to mankind. But we have to live in order to learn. And sometimes we have to fight in order to live. — Amy Harmon

Why are you so angry?"
His question surprised me, and I laughed a little. "This isn't angry," I smirked. "This is just me. Get used to it. — Amy Harmon

Guess it wasn't all fun
and games being a champion. — Amy Harmon

And in her reverence of his skin, he felt that shame wither and curl, like paper on a flame, and float upward, disintegrating into nothing more substantial than ash, and with her breath, she blew it all away. — Amy Harmon

It was a Friday morning, and Walmart was populated only by the occasional mom with very young children and the random senior citizen, which made my bathroom makeover less conspicuous. Only one woman came in while I stood in front of the mirror, and she went straight to the toilets. I made sure that when she came out I was no longer standing in front of the mirror but was huddled with my palms stretched out beneath a loud hand dryer, my face completely averted. No one expects to see a celebrity in their local Walmart bathroom. Most of us don't really look at each other anyway. Our eyes glance off without really registering what we're seeing. It's human nature. It's polite society. Ignore each other unless someone is grotesquely fat or immodestly dressed or disfigured in some way - and then we pretend not to see, but we see everything. I was none of those things, and so far human nature was working in my favor. — Amy Harmon

There's a lot I don't understand ... but not understanding is better not believing - Ambrose — Amy Harmon

Time softens memories, sanding down the rough edges of death. — Amy Harmon

Death is easy. Living is the hard part. — Amy Harmon

Lost or Alone? Ambrose said alone, and Fern responded, "I would much rather be lost with you than alone without you, so I choose lost with a caveat." Ambrose responded, "No caveats," to which Fern replied, "Then lost, because alone feels permanent, and lost can be found." Streetlights — Amy Harmon

I didn't know if his art was helping. But Moses's pictures were like that, glorious and terrible. Glorious because they brought memory to life, terrible for the same reason.
Time softens memories, sanding down the rough edges of death.
But Moses's pictures dripped with life and reminded us of our loss. — Amy Harmon

Why you runnin' away?"
"The question is, why aren't you?" she asked, biting her lip.
"Do you want to be a Taggerson, Millie?" I whispered, freeing her lip with my teeth and kissing it better.
"A what?" she breathed.
"Or maybe an Andert?" I brushed my mouth over hers again, and her lips opened slightly, waiting for me to apply a little pressure.
"Henry seems to think we should merge our names," I explained.
Millie groaned, and I could feel the embarrassment coming off her in waves.
"Henry really needs to quit asking grown men to marry him," she complained.
"Yeah . . . he's a little young for that kind of commitment. — Amy Harmon

We can't escape ourselves, Tag. Here, there, half-way across the world, or in a psych ward in Salt Lake City. I'm Moses and you're Tag. And that part never changes. So either we figure it out here or we figure it out there. But we still gotta deal. And death won't change that. — Amy Harmon

I have a new nickname. A few of the guys have noticed that I am reading the bible on my free time. I am now 'preacher.' Not very fitting, if you ask me. Don't preachers have to stand up and teach people? I guess it could be worse. Some of the guys were talking about their favorite kind of music. Nobody said classical. I wasn't surprised, and I didn't volunteer my preference. Later on, I was talking to Tyler Young, and he asked me what I liked to listen to, so I told him about Beethoven. He asked me what songs I liked. I told him I especially liked Air on a G String - big mistake!! He thought I was talking about women's underwear. He's calling me 'G' now. I think I prefer Preacher. Tyler has a big mouth, especially when he thinks he's going to get laughs, and before I knew it, he'd told everyone about Air on a G String. Now I'm 'Preacher G. — Amy Harmon

Think about it. There isn't heartache if there hasn't been joy. I wouldn't feel loss of there hadn't been love. — Amy Harmon

I said once that you are like ice. And you are. Silver and perfect . . . glistening. And hard. You're so hard, Lark. I want you to be soft sometimes. I need you to let me in. — Amy Harmon

For a moment I forgot to resist as our mouths moved and our bodies conversed, exchanging secrets without sound. — Amy Harmon

I kissed you because it was beautiful and you make me feel..." he bit out, his voice a harsh whisper. "You make me feel...crazy things. Desperate things. Impossible things. You make me feel. And feeling that much is irresistible sometimes. You are irresitible sometimes. — Amy Harmon

It is one thing to kill someone. It is another to degrade and humiliate, to strip away a person's dignity like stripping away flesh. One made a man a murderer. The other made him a monster. — Amy Harmon

I love the way you smile at me ... knocks me on my arse. — Amy Harmon

But the voices of fear and discontent are always the loudest ... — Amy Harmon

But there's no way to avoid regret. Don't let anybody tell you different. Regret is just life's aftertaste. No matter what you choose, you're gonna wonder if you shoulda done things different. I didn't necessarily choose wrong. I just chose. And I lived with my choice, aftertaste and all. — Amy Harmon

Main characters never die in books. If they did, the story would be ruined, or over."
"Everybody is a main character to someone. There are no minor characters. — Amy Harmon

Oh Josie," Samuel sighed gently. "Your heart is too tender for your own good."
"I don't usually cry like this, Samuel. Geez, it's been years since I've cried like this. Since you've been back I can't seem to stop. It's like a cloud has burst inside me, and I'm caught in a constant downpour"
"Come here, Josie," Samuel said, and when I slid over next to him he kissed me gently on the forehead and smoothed my hair from my damp cheeks. "Well then, maybe you should go ahead and just let it rain for a while"
And so I did. — Amy Harmon

Regret is just life's aftertaste. — Amy Harmon

I guess it means we don't understand everything, and we're not going to. Maybe the whys aren't answered here. Not because there aren't answers, but because we wouldn't understand the answers if we had them. Maybe there's a bigger purpose, a bigger picture that we only contribute a very small piece to. You know, like one of those thousand piece puzzles? There's no way you can tell by looking at one piece of the puzzle what the puzzle is going to look like in the end. And we don't have the picture on the outside of the puzzle box to guide us. Maybe everyone represents a piece of the puzzle. We all fit together to create this experience we call life. None of us can see the part we play or the way it all turns out. Maybe the miracles that we see are just the tip of the iceberg. And maybe we just don't recognize the blessings that come as a result of terrible things. — Amy Harmon

If Bailey had been born without MD, he wouldn't be Bailey. The Bailey who is smart and sensitive, and seems to understand so many things we don't. You might have looked right past Bailey if he'd grown up healthy, wrestling on his dad's team, acting like every other guy you've ever known. A big part of the reason Bailey is so special is because life has sculpted him into something amazing ... maybe not on the outside, but on the inside. On the inside, Bailey looks like Michelangelo's David. And when I look at him, and when you look at him, that's what we see. — Amy Harmon

You loved ferris wheels more than roller coasters because life shouldn't be lived at full speed, but in anticipation and appreciation. — Amy Harmon

You make me feel safe, Fern. You make me forget. And when I kiss you I just want to keep kissing you. Everything else falls away. — Amy Harmon

If the world is too flat, people like me will slide right off. — Amy Harmon

I'd wandered over to Kathleen's, knowing Moses should be done with work, and coaxed him to the backyard with a couple of Cokes and two pieces of lemon meringue pie Kathleen had been happy to part with. She liked me, and I knew it, and she was incredibly helpful in maneuvering Moses when he pretended to not want my company or lemon meringue pie when we both knew darn well he wanted both. — Amy Harmon

Speaking of names and all-time favorite romances, Bailey told me you write under a pen name. I've been really curious about that."
Fern groaned loudly. She shook her fist toward Bailey's house. "Curse your big mouth, Bailey Sheen" She looked at Ambrose with trepidation. "You are going to think I'm some stalker chick. That I'm totally obsessed. But you have to remember that I came up with this alter ego when I was sixteen and I was a bit obsessed. Okay, I'm still a bit obsessed."
"With what?" Ambrose was confused.
"With you," Fern's response was muffled as she buried her forehead in his chest, but Ambrose still heard her. He laughed and forced her chin up so he could see her face. "I still don't understand what that has to do with your pen name."
Fern sighed. "It's Amber Rose."
"Ambrose?"
"Amber Rose," Fern corrected.
"Amber Rose?" Ambrose sputtered.
"Yes," Fern said in a very, very small voice. And Ambrose laughed for a very, very long time. — Amy Harmon

Sometimes I feel like I have a huge, gaping hole from my chin to my waist, a wide open negative space that life has just carved away. But it's not beautiful, Wilson. Sometimes it feels empty and dark ... and ... and no amount of sanding or polish will make it into something it isn't. I'm afraid if I let you love me, your love will be swallowed up in that hole, and in turn YOU will be swallowed up by it. Wilson — Amy Harmon

This place is in my heart, but it can't be my home, not now, maybe not ever ... - Samuel Yates — Amy Harmon

He tried to soften his mouth against hers, tried to tell her he was sorry, but she stayed frozen in his arms, as if she couldn't believe, after everything that had happened, that he thought he could break her heart and take a kiss too. — Amy Harmon

Beef stew and biscuits?!" I thought to myself, outraged. He couldn't even say hello? I looked down at my silky black dress and high heeled shoes and suddenly felt very foolish. I had been passed over for beef stew and biscuits. — Amy Harmon

Fern had no rhythm. Bailey wasn't much better. But his lack of skill wasn't exactly his fault. He moved his chair forward and back in a parody of the simple step-touch move everyone resorted to at a school dance. He bobbed his head in time with the music and his face wore an expression that said "Hell, yeah," even though his body said "No way. — Amy Harmon

What do you want from me, Ambrose?" Fern cried from behind her hands. He pulled at her wrists, wanting to see her face as he laid it all on the line.
"I want your body. I want your mouth. I want your red hair in my hands. I want your laugh and your funny faces. I want your friendship and your inspirational thoughts. I want Shakespeare and Amber Rose novels and your memories of Bailey. And I want you to come with me when I go. — Amy Harmon

My hair, your eyes, Eli's smile, her great-grandmother's name . . ."
"And Tag's charm. Let's hope she has Tag's charm. — Amy Harmon

Time may heal all wounds, but it ain't no plastic surgeon.'" "What — Amy Harmon

Words can be terrible when the truth is unwelcome. — Amy Harmon

To heal with herbs and soothe with my touch. I learned wisdom and wariness, and I learned to patiently accept and quietly wait. — Amy Harmon

Maybe it was because I was raised in Appalachia, raised in faith and poverty and little else, but I believed in things like fate and destiny. I believed in angels, and I believed in God's ability to direct our paths, to guide us and move us in unseen ways, and I believed in miracles. Suddenly, Finn Clyde felt like a miracle, and I felt sure that Minnie had sent him to me. — Amy Harmon

I drove to Liberty Park, just south of downtown, and within minutes, Henry had his kite out and was urging LeBron James into the air.
"He's done this before," I said in surprise.
"Not in forever. I can't remember the last time, actually," Millie replied. "Is he doing it?"
"Listen," I said. "Can you hear it?" I listened with her, straining for a sound that would connect her to the visual. Then the kite dipped, caught the wind again, and lifted, making a soft, wop wop in the air, like laundry on a clothes line, flapping in the breeze.
"I hear it!"
"That's Henry's kite. He's a natural."
"Will you help me get mine in the air? I could take off running, but that might be dangerous. I don't want to run head first into the pond. There is a pond, isn't there?"
"Just run away from the sound of the ducks. — Amy Harmon

We are at war. War has a way of stripping us of perspective. War is about life and death, and it paints everything in shades of now or never. — Amy Harmon