Patricia Gaffney Quotes

All my life I've wanted to tell people I love them. Fear usually held me back, that they wouldn't care, or they wouldn't hear, or they would take too much from me once they knew.

What the hell is this stuff?" he muttered, frowning at the oily spot on the linen cloth. "Pearlman slathered it on me this morning."
"It's macassar oil. Gentlemen use it to keep their hair neat. Nicholas used it," she added pointedly.
"Well, tomorrow he's giving it up. I smell like a rotten apple."
"You do not. And I think it looks rather nice."
He sent her an incredulous look. "I look like an otter. And everything I put my head against gets greasy."
"That's why someone invented the antimacassar," she told him, almost smiling.
"The-aha!" He laughed as he made the connection. "Of course. First they invent something stupid, then something ugly to make up for it. We live in a wondrous age, Annie.

I was small enough to mind that Rudy had a good friend other than me.

Little things. The thought of losing them makes them unbearably dear ... I only think of the sweetness. Simple things. The quarter moon, the taste of an orange. The smell of the pages of a new book.

I was thinking in a Scottish brogue, because I'd just heard this guy interviewed on NPR, Lonnie McSomething.

I hate jealousy. At least it's its own punishment; it makes me feel like hell.

I love the slow, warming sensation of my body going numb when I drink.

I often think my life would be a lot easier if I were a mute.

An informed customer is a satisfied one.

What was it called, that symbol of the serpent eating its own tail? It probably signified infinity, endlessness, timelessness. But for me it would mean the effort to love well going on and on, round and round, always imperfect and always forgivable. The best we could ever do for each other.

Skepticism is luxury.

I just tried to put myself in her place and figure out what would be the scariest thing. If I thought I might be dying. And it was being alone' ... 'To me,' she said, 'the scariest thing is oblivion. Being, and then not being.

And Honey, I just want you to know, even though I didn't see it coming, it makes absolutely no difference to your father or to me that you are a thespian.

Imagine me maintaining anybody's equilibrium.

Bad news doesn't hurt as much, if you hear it in good company. It's like, if somebody pushes you out of a 5th floor window and you bounce off an awning, a car roof, and a pile of plastic garbage bags before you smash onto the pavement, you've got a pretty good chance of surviving.

Misery alternates with euphoria.

Fear kills. Protecting yourself backfires eventually. And living in fear of pain isn't really living at all.

You were the best thing in my life … I did love you. I do. As much as I've ever loved anyone, as much as I can. It feels like a lot – it takes up my whole heart.

Laughter is cathartic and cleansing, that it's good for the body and the soul, and when it's real it's better than sex.