Have you ever thought about why we can connect and relate to the books we read? Is it because the characters are going through something we have? Is it because the story events remind us of our own memories? Is it because we see ourselves in the characters of our story?
Or is it simply because words in front of us speak to who we are? An Abundance of Katherines by John Green said it best, “Maybe our favorite quotations say more about us than about the stories and people we’re quoting.”
Here are my favorite quotes and why they speak to me and my character.
“It’s the imperfections that make things beautiful.” – Jenny Han, The Summer I Turned Pretty
o Life isn’t perfect, but instead far from it. But we live in a world that constantly pushes us toward finding perfection that simply doesn’t exist. We are imperfect, but life is about finding the beauty those imperfections. To love who we are as individuals and find our place in this big world.
“Would you rather live one perfect day over and over or live your life with no perfect days, but just decent ones?” – Jenny Han, The Summer I Turned Pretty
o This reminds me of the movie Groundhog Day. If you think about it, the question is a no brainer. If you lived one perfect day over and over again, you would eventually grow tired of it, nullifying its perfection. If you live life with no perfect days, perfect being a relative term, you would have a new adventure every single day.
“And no matter what you do or how hard you try, you can’t stop yourself from dreaming.” – Jenny Han, It’s Not Summer Without You
o Sometimes, it hurts to dream because dreaming involves hope. Hope is a scary thing to have, especially in a world where nothing is guaranteed. The important thing to remember is that we live in fear of the unknown. Hope is a good thing to have because it pushes us to imagine, to dream, and push closer to our goals.
“You never know the last time you’ll see a place. A person.” – Jenny Han, It’s Not Summer Without You
o The lesson I take from this is to never take anything for granted because you never know when it will be gone. We get so caught up in life and the future that we completely ignore the present day. We need to live in the present and not worry about the future because tomorrow is not guaranteed.
“The future is unclear. But it’s still mine.” – Jenny Han, It’s Not Summer Without You
o This used to scare me because I am the type of person who likes to be in control of my life. I used to think that meant that I needed to know what was going to happen and when it would happen, but now I realize that I am always in control, despite not knowing this. It is my life and the future may be unclear, but to me, that just means that it is full of possibilities.
“Love is Scary: it changes; it can go away. That’s part of the risk.” – Jenny Han, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before
o This is the one major thing that scares me about love. You can get so lost in someone, but you never know if one day, that could change and be gone in an instant. Everyone is going to get hurt by loving someone in their life, but the strength is picking yourself back up and trying again.
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