Bittersweet Memories Quotes

“There are the girls we love, the men we look up to, the tenderness, the friendships, the opportunities, the pleasures! But the fact remains that you must touch your reward with clean hands, lest it turn to dead leaves, to thorns, in your grasp.”
― Joseph Conrad, Lord Jim

“Tessa said, “The natural state of Shadowhunters is battle. When it is always ongoing, there is no time to stop and think that it is not an ideal condition for happiness. Shadowhunters are not suited to a halcyon state, yet we have had that time for the past decade or so. Perhaps we had begun to think ourselves invincible.”
“People are only invincible in books,” said Cordelia.
“I think you will find most of the time, not even then,” said Tessa. “But at least we can always pick up a book and read it anew. Stories offer a thousand fresh starts.”
“The only equivalent in real life is memory,” Tessa said, looking up as Will Herondale came into the room, followed by Cousin Jem. “But memories can be bitter as well as sweet.”
― Cassandra Clare, Chain of Gold

“I could spend the whole afternoon telling you about him, but it's not gonna do much good, is it? You never smelled his hair after he just got out of the bath, or carried him from the car after he'd fallen asleep on the way home, or heard the way he laughed when someone tickled him. So you'll just have to take my word for it: He was a great kid and he made you glad to be alive.”
― Tom Perrotta, The Leftovers

“A familiar melody suddenly drifts through the little living room. It makes me freeze, and I don't know why. And then I hear the silky, sweet sound of Karen Carpenter's voice.
"'Rainy Days and Mondays,'" Alex says.
I can't find my voice. I just stare ahead, fighting back the tears.
Alex sits down beside me. I know he senses that something's wrong. "I'm sorry," he says quickly. "If you don't like it, I'll turn it off."
"No," I say. "No. Please don't." I wipe a tear from my eye, just as another spills onto my cheek. "My husband loved this song." I smile. "Which made him the only straight man on earth to love the Carpenters."
Alex grins. "The only two straight men on earth."
I smile again. For some reason, I feel someone has lifted a great weight from my shoulders, just for a moment. "James died on a Monday," I say.
We sit there for a moment listening to the song together, each alone in our own thoughts, until Alex reaches over and takes my hand in his. I don't let go.”
― Sarah Jio, Morning Glory

“And then there's Ireneo. I know I'll probably never see him again, but I'm not sad. The mark he left on me, the way he passed through me, that cannot be erased. Maybe this is what "love is forever" means: it's not timeless, but it leaves a mark so deep that it accompanies us all our life.”
― Assia Petricelli, Per sempre

“Hesitantly Eric pulled something out of his pocket. At first Ariel thought it would be a pipe- it seemed appropriate for someone of Eric's current age and station. But as he placed it to his lips she realized that it was a tiny instrument. Smaller than the recorder he used to carry with him, and fatter. More like an ocarina, the instrument humans used to play in the days they still talked to animals and merfolk.
He took a breath and waited for a moment.
Then he played a few notes. Quietly and slowly.
Ariel's heart nearly stopped.
It was the song she had sung after she rescued him, the song that had burst unbidden out of her heart as he lay there, unconscious. It described the beauty of the sea and the land and the mortality of humans and the wonder of life. It had poured out of her like life itself.
Hearing it again was the sweetest pain she had ever experienced. Far deeper even than having her tail split in twain for legs. It coursed through her whole body, hurt and recognition and pleasure all at once.”
― Liz Braswell, Part of Your World