Brigid Quotes

Zoe is survived by her husband, Charles, and her daughter, Juliet.

Survived. This guy is right. The words we use to surround death are bizarre. Like we're hiding something.

I guess the obituary wouldn't read right if it said something like, Zoe died on the way home from the airport, after nine months on assignment in a war zone, leaving her husband, Charles, and her daughter, Juliet, with a Welcome Home cake that would sit in the refrigerator for a month before either of them could bear to throw it away.

So maybe we are hiding something. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

You want to know what I believe? I believe in fate, but I also believe in free will. Meaning, there's a path, but we're free to veer away from it. The only problem is that there's no way to know whose path we're following on any given moment. Our own? Our fate's? Other people are on their on paths, too. What happens when we intersect? What happens when someone else wipes our path clean, and we're left with no road to follow? Is that fate? Is that when free will kicks in? Is the path there, but invisible?
Who the hell knows? ~ Brigid Kemmerer

Could we report Tyler for having a gun?" she said.
"He's over eighteen," said Chris. "It's probably legal."
"It's not legal for him to be shooting at me," she snapped. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

...while ruthlessness may have its place, I believe your brand of strength would garner greater loyalty. That is what makes you dangerous. Not because you would ride in with a blade and take control, but because you could quietly sit in this chair, in the dark, with your book...and you could determine the best way to achieve what needs to be done. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

Hey, Mike," he said innocently. "I thought girls weren't allowed to spend the night?"
"Watch it."
"At least your not wearing her shirt."
"I think that's enough. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

What this intensive mothering culture tells us is valuable is at discord with what really is valuable: Love your kids. Keep them safe. Accept them as they are. Then get out of their way. ~ Brigid Schulte

His smile turned into a grin. He looked down at his tray and shoveled rice onto his fork. "You guys hitting that party tonight?"
"Which one?" Becca said drily. "We try to make the circuit."
He smiled in a way that said he saw right through her. "Well - and I want to make sure I get this straight - Monica said Claire said her boyfriend's best friend's brother was home from college with that skank Melissa - "
"No," said Becca sharply. "We're not. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

Multitasking makes you stupid - dumber than getting stoned. ~ Brigid Schulte

The bull-fighter has merely demonstrated that he is a butcher with balletic tendencies. ~ Brigid Brophy

My father was the president of the Hearst Corporation, and my parents were close friends of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and they all had pugs. ~ Brigid Berlin

You know how you can trace back moments to one action that didn´t feel important at the time?
But then later, you go back and think about it, and you realize one little decision turned your whole life upside down. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

Failed a physics test," Nick said.
"You know how I solve that problem?" Said his twin. "I don't take physics. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

And Gabriel Merrick. I'd hoped your recent brush with the law would keep you out of my office for a while.'
'I'm happy to leave. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

Does it scare you?" said Clare. "Living in a house with guns?"
Hunter smiled. "It's not like I wake up in the middle of the night to find them staring down at me."
"Shut up." She gave him a light shove. "No, I mean, are you ever worried you'll accidentally get shot?"
"You mean, when I catch the assault rifle raiding the refrigerator? Like maybe it'll turn on me?"
Her breath caught again. "You have an assault rifle in your house?"
"Sure. It's partial to lime Jell-O. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

We Irish had the right word on the tip of our tongue, but the imperialist got at that. What should trip off it we trip over. ~ Brigid Brophy

The prejudice is against men and women - assuming men stay at work. That's the reason why we don't have enough women in the halls of power - the prejudice is pushing women to go home. ~ Brigid Schulte

Hunter leaned close. "Just to be clear: I'd know exactly what to do if you threw yourself at me."
Then he was in his car, starting the ignition, leaving her in the parking lot, nothing more than a melted puddle of hot, bothered, and seriously pissed off. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

Are you prepared to die, Grey?" I demand. "Because that is all that exists at the end of this path. I am sure of it. This was never a curse to be broken. This is a death sentence. The true curse has been the thought that we might find escape. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

Just a girl in my math class"
"Just a girl, huh?"
Gabriel glared at him. "Just a girl."
Chris smiled. "So was Becca. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

Oh, you can't back out now. I already texted Adam that you'll be there."

His head swung around. "You what?"

"He's looking forward to it. See?" She held up her phone.

A smiley face.

A smiley face? Nick had no idea what that meant. Was that casual happy? Excited happy? An obligatory response that didn't mean anything? It wasn't even a D smiley. It was one of the parenthesis ones.

God, he was trying to puzzle out the hidden meaning of the punctuation in a frigging emoticon.

"You look nervous," said Quinn.

He shrugged. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

Time studies find that a mother, especially one who works outside the home for pay, is among the most time-poor humans on the planet, especially single mothers, weighed down not only by role overload but also what sociologists call "task density" - the intense responsibility she bears and the multitude of jobs she performs in each of those roles.6 ~ Brigid Schulte

When I went in for the [ Embraced] DVD interviews, I thought, "Good lord, it's 17 years later!" I thought that maybe I should do my make-up differently and put extra effort in, or I'd look like a different human being. It's very strange. ~ Brigid Brannagh

He half rose from his seat and reached across another student's desk to drop the mangled paper clip in front of Tommy.
"Look, dude," he said, his voice low and earnest. "You want to ask me out, you man up and do it proper. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

You guys hitting that party tonight?"

"Which one?" Becca said drily. "We try to make the circuit."

He smiled in a way that said he saw right through her. "Well - and I want to make sure I get this straight - Monica said Claire said her boyfriend's best friend's brother was home from college with that skank Melissa - "

"No," said Becca sharply. "We're not."

His eyebrows went up.

"Jesus," said Quinn. "You followed that?"

Becca faltered, knowing she sounded like a freak. But Claire's boyfriend was Matt Carpenter. The goalie of the soccer team.

And Drew McKay's best friend.

"I might have to work," she said lamely. Her heart was kicking.

"I hear you," he said.

"You said you weren't working tonight," said Quinn. "Free and clear, you said."

Becca slapped her water bottle on the table. "Damn it, Quinn."

"Free and clear, huh?" Hunter said. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

She almost wished she smoked, so she could lie on the car's hood, flick a lighter, and make up names for the constellations while nicotine burned her lungs. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

I'm hungry for a juicy life. I lean out my window at night and I can taste it out there, just waiting for me. ~ Brigid Lowry

Today, guilt is a thorn I cannot remove. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

When everything goes to hell around you, the only way to go is forward. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

Your first crush is allowed to be on a doofus."
"Mine won't be. I'll choose a handsome gypsy boy who'll break my heart, or a soft girl with a diamond in her belly button. ~ Brigid Lowry

Can I tell you one thing?" Melonhead says.
I swallow. "Sure."
"One day isn't your whole life, Murph." He waits until I look at him. "A day is just a day."
I scoff and slouch in the chair. "So what are you saying? That people shouldn't judge me on one mistake? Tell that to Judge Ororos."
He leans in against the table. "No, kid. I'm saying you shouldn't judge yourself for it. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

Be a shadow, Hunter. Can you be a shadow? It was one of the first things he'd learned from his father.
He's been six. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

One of the Merrick twins was asleep in the recliner on the other side of the room. His T-shirt said I Google Myself.

Gabriel.

Hunter wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

You're probably thinking I owe you my life."[Chris]
"No." she [Becca] snapped.
"Just sixty bucks."
"You charge for the hero act?" [Chris] ~ Brigid Kemmerer

What is with you?" said Chris.
"Don't worry," said Quinn. "I already know he's an ass."
"Love you, too," said Gabriel. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

Ever the women must work," Brigid grumbled. ~ Sanna Hines

I like you."

"I like you, too."

"I've liked you since the morning you ran into me."

I giggle and try to shove him away, but he uses the motion to pull us closer. "You have not," I say.

"I have," he whispers, and now his lips brush against my cheek. "I remember thinking, 'Nice job, dickhead. Add another girl to the list of people who hate you.'"

"I don't hate you. I've never hated you."

"Now, that's reassuring," he says, but I can hear the smile in his voice. He inhales along my cheekbone, and sparks flare through my abdomen. "You should write for Hallmark."

"All my future love letters will start with 'To whom it may concern.'"

"Are you going to send me future love letters?"

I flush, and I'm sure he can see it. Feel it. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

A knock sounded on his bedroom wall.
"Black," he called. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

I think you´re beautiful. And I´m no stranger to fucked-up families."
And then he was kissing her again. The addictive pull of his mouth almost had her crawling into his lap. Her hands bunched in his shirt, pulling him closer. [...]
Layne always rolled her eyes in health class when they talked about hormones getting out of control. But right now, she could barely remember her name. She totally got how someone could forget something like a silly little condom.
Suddenly Gabriel was laughing. "How someone could forget what?"
She almost fell off the bench. "I said that out loud?"
"Yeah." He leaned closer, his breath against her jaw. "Just what were you thinking about? ~ Brigid Kemmerer

Touch was funny like that. How one movement could choke you and kill you, but another meant nothing more than a caress and an invitation. How sex and rape were just a few motions apart. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

Michael always said if he could get them to eighteen without going to jail or getting a girl pregnant he'd consider it a success. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

It means my luck sucks," she said. "It was nice dating a guy wo treated me like a friend instead of a blow-up doll."
"You were the one trying to unzip my pants in the truck!"
"Yeah, well, I thought you weren't interested. I didn't realize that your divining rod just pointed into a different direction."
"You're killing me," he said. But it sounded like he was smiling. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

If we were wolves, there'd be raised hackles and cautious circling ever time we interact, but we have to do the human thing and glare. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

Wait!" Juliet pulls away from her father, and once again, she's breathless and looking up at me. "Declan."

I hold myself at a distance. The spell is broken. "Juliet."

She closes that distance, though, and then does one better. She grabs the front of my shirt and pulls me forward. For half a second, my brain explodes because I think we're going to have a movie moment and she's going to kiss me. And then it's going to be super awkward because of her father.

But no, she's only pulling me close to whisper. Her breath is warm on my cheek, sweet and perfect.

"We were wrong," she says. "You make your own path."

Then she spins, grabs her father's hand, and leaves me there in the middle of the cemetery. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

I watch news from the minute I wake up till 11. Then I switch to Charlie Rose. Fox News all the way. ~ Brigid Berlin

Music always rode the air until he felt each beat through his whole body. But the air here was full of energy that sparked and rejoiced with the melody. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

You know," he said by way of greeting, "the night I caught you with Layne, I called you a future felon. I didn't realize you'd make good on that prediction so quickly."
"That night you dragged Layne out of my driveway, I called you an asshole. Guess we were both right. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

The stupid things you do in life are the most beautiful. ~ Brigid Pasulka

If your whole life is in those boxes, Hunter, I want you to hold on to all of it. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

The terrible thing about sunlight is it shows the dirt. ~ Brigid Berlin

Rev is about as aggressive as an old golden retriever. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

Fire school? He'd never considered making a career out of his abilities. :I'll think about it," said Gabriel.
Nick clapped him on the shoulder again. "No, you'll do it. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

Aaron Spelling kept trying to bring vampires about, and I feel badly that it happened so much later. He was ahead of his time, in that regard. ~ Brigid Brannagh

The rain is colder than I expect - which is ridiculous, since it's March. My cheeks are freezing by the time we go two blocks, my hair has a sodden weight on my shoulder. My glasses are so wet I need to shove them in a pocket. I threw Mom's pullover windbreaker over my sweatshirt before leaving the house, thinking it would be waterproof, but I am so wrong.

By the time I make the final turn for the church, I wonder if I'm stupid for being out here. It's pouring so hard that a haze has formed around the streetlight, and I can barely see anything through the darkness.

My sneakers squish in the grass. I get to the spot where we sat for the last two nights.

And of course he's not there.

I sigh. Only a complete moron would go meet in the rain.

Then Texy woofs and bounces on her front paws.

I turn, and it's like I'm in a chick flick. His shadowed figure lopes across the grass.

Okay, maybe the dark and rain make it more like a horror movie than a romantic comedy, BUT STILL.

He draws to a stop in front of me. He had the sense to wear a heavy, waterproof coat over his hoodie, but the hood is soaked and rain drips down his cheeks.

"Hey," he says, his voice a little loud over the rain.

I'm blushing. I tell my cheeks to knock it off. "Hey."

"I wasn't sure you'd show up, but I didn't have a way to text you …"

"I had the same thought process. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

I wonder how much I can tell Rowan about this. I need another girl's analysis.

My phone pings, and it's her.

RF: Need to skip lunch. Meeting with teacher for Hon French project. You OK?

Well, there goes that. I text back that I'm fine.

Lunch is grilled cheese, green beans, and Tater Tots. I can already feel my pores clogging, but I didn't bring anything, and the alternative is ice cream on a stick.

I head toward the back of the cafeteria, intending to go outside to sit on the quad and obsess over The Dark's emails, but I spot Rev and Declan sitting at a table in the corner. Well, I assume it's Rev. It could be some other broad-shouldered guy in a hoodie, but I doubt it. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

No one lives in a vacuum. Our actions have an impact on everyone around us. Sometimes without us even realizing it. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

If you can't fix what went wrong, then fix what you can make right. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

You're going to break my heart. I can feel it. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

Aren't your parents going to freak when they see you?"
That rough laugh again. "I'd probably freak if I saw them. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

They kept coming up with more creative ways to screw with him.
He kept coming up with more creative paths to travel. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

If you want me to fix your homework, you need to leave me alone." Then he spotted her. "You're back."
"Yeah." She glanced between him and Gabriel. "You do his homework?"
"Just the math. It's a miracle he can count to ten."
"I can count to one." Gabriel gave him the finger. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

I keep repeating the conversation with Taduesz in mind, reaching out to touch it to make sure it doesn't disappear. ~ Brigid Pasulka

Sentimentalist is the abuse with which people counter the accusation that they are cruel, thereby implying that to be sentimental is worse than to be cruel, which it isn't. ~ Brigid Brophy

He put up with her whining until she was almost sick of herself, and then he called her on her bullshit. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

[Sasha] for me it was a dream. I got to tell everybody where to go and how fast to get there. It was very exciting. It was still an Aaron Spelling show, with the hair and make-up and everything, but there were also motorcycles. For my life, at that time, it was such a perfect thing. I had all this inner anger to get out, and it was so exciting to get paid to do it. She had anger and sexuality and rebellion, but there was still that very sweet core. I didn't have to be something entirely unrecognizable or un-relatable. I just loved her to death. ~ Brigid Brannagh

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

The best thing a society can do is ensure its children are taken care of. ~ Brigid Schulte

And on the other long side, completely alone, sat Becca's father.
The Guide.
"Call me Bill," he'd said.
Yeah, Gabriel had a few ideas of what to call him. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

I haven't gotten in a fight yet this year!
Despite everything, that made her smile. "It's September."
He waved a hand. "Details. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

We head to that corner of the basement. Rev straddles the weight bench and sits down while Declan sits on a yoga ball and leans against the corner. They fall into these positions so easily that I wonder if this is their space, the way Rowan and I claim her room or the plush couch in my basement.

I'm not a violent person, but hitting something sounds really good.

I draw back a hand and swing, throwing my whole body into it.

Ow. Ow. The bag swings slightly, but shock reverberates down my arm. I think I've dislocated every joint of every finger, but I can feel it, and it's the first thing I've truly felt in weeks. It feels fantastic. I need one of these in my basement.

I grit my teeth and pull back my arm to do it again.

"Whoa." A hand catches my arm in midswing.

I'm standing there, gasping, and Declan has a hold of my elbow. His eyebrows are way up.

"So . . . yeah," he says. "I don't want to be sexist here, but after the way you talk about cars, I didn't expect you to throw a punch like that."

I draw back and straighten, feeling foolish. "Sorry."

"What are you apologizing for?" He looks at me like I'm crazy. "I just don't want to watch you break a wrist."

"Here." Rev half stands, holding out a pair of black padded gloves. He's pushed back the hood of his sweatshirt, and I wonder if he's grown more comfortable around me - or if he's just warm. "If you really want to beat ~ Brigid Kemmerer

I'm optimistic. I really believe people in power want to do the right thing. ~ Brigid Schulte

Life has a way of going in circles. Ideally, it would be a straight path forward––we'd always know where we were going, we'd always be able to move on and leave everything else behind. There would be nothing but the present and the future. Instead, we always find ourselves where we started. When we try to move ahead, we end up taking a step back. We carry everything with us, the weight exhausting us until we want to collapse and give up.
We forget things we try to remember. We remember things we'd rather forget. The most frightening thing about memory is that it leaves no choice. It has mastered an incomprehensible art of forgetting. It erases, it smudges, it fills in blank spaces with details that don't exist.
But however we remember it––or choose to remember it––the past is the foundation that holds our lives in place. Without its support, we'd have nothing for guidance. We spend so much time focused on what lies ahead, when what has fallen behind is just as important. What defines us isn't where we're going, but where we've been. Although there are places and people we will never see again, and although we move on and let them go, they remain a part of who we are.
There are things that will never change, things we will carry along with us always. But as we venture into the murky future, we must find our strength by learning to leave things behind. ~ Brigid Gorry-Hines

His door opened, and Michael filled the doorway.
Gabriel yanked the headphones out of his ears, but music still poured out against his comforter. "Ever hear of knocking?"
He wanted his voice to be sharp, but he couldn't generate the usual anger.
He's not worthless. And you're out of line.
"I did knock," said Michael. "Three times. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

The popular distinction between 'constructive' and 'destructive' criticism is a sentimentality: the mind too weak to perceive in what respects the bad fails is not strong enough to appreciate in what the good succeeds. To be without discrimination is to be unable to praise. The critic who lets you know that he always looks for something to like in works he discusses is not telling you anything about the works or about art; he is saying 'see what a nice person I am. ~ Brigid Brophy

Hunter held out the gun, stock first. "You want to just shoot me and save Dad the time?"
Jay smiled and took the weapon, checking the magazine before putting it back on the wall. "He's not going to shoot you."
"That would be too quick? ~ Brigid Kemmerer

I like everything that has to do with ghosts. If I see it, I'm all over it. We all have our thing. ~ Brigid Brannagh

Golden hands. It is said that all Poles have them, and that this is how you know your place in life, by the ease of your hands, that whether you are born to make cakes or butcher animals, cuddle children or paint pictures, drive nails or play jazz, your hands know it before you do. Long before birth, the movements are choreographed into the tendons as they're formed. ~ Brigid Pasulka

The most dangerous person at the party is always the girl sitting alone with a book. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

Unfortunately, the desires of rulers are not always the desires of the people. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

I just adored Peter Medak, the director. He's such a character, but he was so much fun. Some directors come in and they truly get angry about things.Peter was still in a fantastic mood. He's a delightful person. He threw a big party at the end of the pilot, which was so sweet. And his wife is an opera singer. He's just a very warm, crazy beautiful individual. ~ Brigid Brannagh

Before their final trip, Hunter's father had imparted one last lesson, and death had made it stick: Use them before they use you. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

... I understand his desperation to find the heir. This has nothing to do with his throne at all...

Rhen is afraid. Not of losing his throne, but afraid of the magic. Of what it might do to him, and to Emberfall. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

Nick jabbed him in the arm with his fork. "What's up with you? Usually you don't shut up about my crap cooking."
"Maybe I don't want to hurt your feelings."
Chris snorted, finally looking up from the plate. "That'll be the day. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

AP Calculus wasn't much better. Nick had completely forgotten to do the homework. Three questions - three stupid questions! - but he'd never gotten around to opening his assignment book last night, so he hadn't bothered to do them.

He mentally added another zero to his imaginary grade sheet.

At least this was only homework.

By the time he sat at a table at lunch, he was ready for some cutlery, just so he could stab something.

Lunch was pizza. Figured. Not even so much as a plastic fork. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

Whoa. I have no idea what I expected him to do, but that's even better. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

What if I hadn't worked so hard? What if ... I had actually used ... my position to be a role model for balance? Had I done so intentionally, who's to say that, besides having more time with my family, I wouldn't also have been even more focused at work? More creative? More productive? It took inoperable late stage brain cancer to get me to examine things from this angle. - Eugene O'Kelly, former CEO, KPMG ~ Brigid Schulte

Do not fault yourself for choices you believed were right in the moment. It is not princely. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

Time-use researchers call it "contaminated time." It is a product of both role overload - working and still bearing the primary responsibility for children and home - and task density. It's mental pollution, one researcher explained. One's brain is stuffed with all the demands of work along with the kids' calendars, family logistics, and chores. Sure, mothers can delegate tasks on the to-do list, but even that takes up brain space - not simply the asking but also the checking to make sure the task has been done, and the biting of the tongue when it hasn't been done as well or as quickly as you'd like. So it is perhaps not surprising that time researchers are finding that, while "free time" may help ease the feeling of time pressure for men, and in the 1970s helped women a little, by 1998 it was providing women no relief at all.15 ~ Brigid Schulte

Our relationship seems to tick forward like the hands of a clock, always changing in relation to each other. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

You are not a weapon, Grey. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

a picture wasn't worth anything if it didn't produce a reaction, that it takes talent to capture feeling with an image. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

When Chris was ten, we pushed him down the stairs. This was twice as entertaining. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

I think this is the first time we all have a reason to stay.' He paused. 'You're dating a girl who left her kid with you, Michael. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

I went by the house. Tried to work things out with my mom."
"You know I've got three younger brothers, right?"
Hunter frowned. "What?"
"It means I've got a pretty finely tuned bullshit detector. ~ Brigid Kemmerer

I guess I just take things as they come now, as far as that goes. I get really excited to do the project, but I don't think too much beyond that. ~ Brigid Brannagh

Let's go over it again, shall we?"
"We will not shape-shift in front of your children unless it's an emergency," said Drake.
"And if it is an emergency, we will try to find a place to hide, or, if that isn't possible, we will change so that they see our backsides," added Darrius.
I stared at Drake. He rolled his eyes. "I did not 'flop around' in front of Jenny. I was behind the couch and she was on the stairs. She saw only my head." He pointed at his skull. "This one! On mein shoulders!"
"I know." I waved at them. "Continue."
"We will keep shorts or jeans stashed in many locations so that when we shift back into human form, we'll be able to cover our woobies," said Darrius.
"Excellent." I looked at Drake and smiled benignly. "How's your rear end?"
"Sore," he groused. "Not even Brigid would heal the scratches from that damned cat. ~ Michele Bardsley

Was it Brigid Brophy who gave up on a certain Virginia Woolf novel when she discovered that Woolf believed one needed a corkscrew to open a bottle of champagne? ~ David Markson

I have trashed the to-do list to help my brain. ~ Brigid Schulte

A medical profession founded on callousness to the pain of the other animals may eventually destroy its own sensibility to the pain of humans. ~ Brigid Brophy

She spilled your secrets," said Quinn
"Yeah?" He sliced off a piece of chicken and glanced across the table. "What's my name Becca?"
Busted. Becca wanted to melt into a puddle.
Quinn grinned. "You mean it's not really New Kid? ~ Brigid Kemmerer

The quiet lets my thoughts roam free, and they don't travel in happy directions. ~ Brigid Kemmerer