Sue Miller Quotes

Now he turned the radio on to the news. As we did our separate chores, we listened and commented idly to each other on what we heard - the politics, the plane crashes and crimes, the large disasters of the day, which we all use to keep the smaller, more long-term sorrows at bay. ~ Sue Miller

The words make our silences easier
they're the current that runs under them. ~ Sue Miller

I sometimes worried that the more instinctive forms of love were not so available to you. That easy maternal devotion, for instance, that seemed so natural in some women, and which, as we spoke of from time to time, was something you had to struggle to feel. [p. 189] ~ Sue Miller

I was struck after 9/11 by what seemed the assumption that everyone bereaved by that event was suffering the same thing. I wanted to explore how individual grief is, how complicated, how colored by the complexity of the mourner's relationship with the person who's died. ~ Sue Miller

Kids need to see that Jesus is the best thing that ever happened to us. And they need to know it can happen to them. ~ Sue Miller

There are things I read doing research, and there are certain books and writers I just love to read. There are books of Brian Morten's that I love, for instance. There's a wonderful book by an Australian writer named Helen Garner called 'The Children's Bach,' and I just love the way she uses language in it. ~ Sue Miller

My mother was a dramatic and egocentric person, and she died before my father, who died of Alzheimer's disease. But I'd often thought, God, we were so lucky that was the order in which they died because she would have felt put upon. ~ Sue Miller

People are always thinking that I'm the main character in my books, but each one has been different, and sometimes they've been men. ~ Sue Miller

her. "How do you always know that stuff?" she asked. "Are you kidding? Everyone knows that stuff." He went back to the kitchen to start cleaning up. Meri crossed to the lilies. Bending over them, ~ Sue Miller

That she is beautiful, an impossible kind of beauty, composed of all the wrong elements: white hair, the flawless but deeply lined skin, the freckles of age dotting the hands and face. ~ Sue Miller

Abruptly, they seemed alike to me and equally dear: my father, my son. I felt as though my father had been waiting for this moment to be born to me as the young man he'd been, so touchingly willing to bear witness to his conscience; and the surprise of this new sense of him, this birth, was a gift to me, a sudden balm in those days of my most intense grief. ~ Sue Miller

And I was remembering that time in our lives together, the time of those ritual walks. I was remembering the way it feels at just that moment when you begin to turn, when you're poised exactly between the things in life you want to do and those you need to do, and it seems for a few blessed seconds that they are all going to be the same. ~ Sue Miller

And suddenly...it made a kind of emotional sense that caused me to feel, instantly, how little sense my earlier...assumptions had made...And with that thought it was as though my father stepped forward to meet me as he had been in 1940: twenty-five years old, newly married, teaching literature and history and religion as his first real job, as an assistant professor at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota.

That stage of his life – and he in it – had always been indistinct to me, as the lives of parents before their children exist always are to those children; but now, holding this letter in my hands, I remembered anew and vividly the numerous photographs in our family albums of him then – a slender young man, intense-looking and handsome, with a shock of dark hair swept back from his high forehead. A radical young man, it would seem. More radical in many ways than my own son was now. A young man, ready, perhaps even eager to embrace the fate his powerful beliefs were calling him to. Sitting there, I felt a rush of love and pity for him in his youth, in his passionate convictions... ~ Sue Miller

But pain may be a gift to us. Remember, after all, that pain is one of the ways we register in memory the things that vanish, that are taken away. We fix them in our minds forever by yearning, by pain, by crying out. Pain, the pain that seems unbearable at the time, is memory's first imprinting step, the cornerstone of the temple we erect inside us in memory of the dead. Pain is part of memory, and memory is a God-given gift. ~ Sue Miller

But perhaps this is all to the good. Perhaps it's best to live with the possibility that around any corner, at any time, may come the person who reminds you of your own capacity to surprise yourself, to put at risk everything that's dear to you. Who reminds you of the distances we have to bridge to begin to know anything about one another. Who reminds you that what seems to be - even about yourself - may not be. That like him, you need to be forgiven. ~ Sue Miller

I was recalling that other world in which it had thrilled me, in a way, the surprise of thinking that I could be a person who would betray Daniel. Now I wondered if Daniel could surprise himself, could surprise me, by being such a person too. Would he let himself do such a thing? I didn't think so. And then I wondered: Is it by will, then, that we are who we are? Do we decide, do we make ourselves, after a certain point in life?
I tried to call up the moment when I had decided I could be such a person. It seemed to me I hadn't quite got there, not really. That I was still just playing with the idea of it when the ground shifted under me. But perhaps to play with such an idea was already to be a certain kind of person.
~ Sue Miller

But then he returned and our life went on. Three days gone. A week. I measured the time in the faint waning of my consciousness of my misery, and wondered if this would one day be enough: simply not to be consciously miserable anymore. ~ Sue Miller

My writing life is always a bit disorganized. It's hard for me to get going, but sometimes, once I begin, I go like the wind. ~ Sue Miller

My sister and I were the ones in the family who had seen this as necessary; neither of my brothers felt there was a problem with Dad. And in general when I'd expressed my concern for him, she was the one of my siblings who responded. She and I had also been the ones who sorted through and distributed mother's possessions after she had died. ~ Sue Miller

I try to work in the mornings. Usually, I write in my pajamas and slowly assemble myself. I don't get organized and sit down and get dressed. I do the laundry. I drift in and out of writing. ~ Sue Miller

Everything I've written I see in a very precise way and I hear in my inner ear. ~ Sue Miller

A secret weighs on us, a terrible secret weighs with a terrible weight. ~ Sue Miller

I tried to talk about it to Lily, to make her see that for once, I'd earned a feeling. [p. 174] ~ Sue Miller

I suppose in our contemporary lives, our cumulative e-mails might constitute a kind of diary: that informal, moment-by-moment description of life as it goes by. As I think of those notes now - what I wrote, what I said - it seems to me they danced across the surface just as my grandmother's diaries did - Anais Nin she wasn't, and I wasn't, either. Who is? Not even Anais Nin. ~ Sue Miller

Loss brings pain. Yes. But pain triggers memory. And memory is a kind of new birth, within each of us. And it is that new birth after long pain, that resurrection - in memory - that, to our surprise, perhaps, comforts us. ~ Sue Miller

She guarded herself against it, she supposed, the way she guarded herself against everything difficult or painful - by being loving, by being solicitous. ~ Sue Miller

I felt the kind of desperation, I think, that cancels the possibility of empathy ... that makes you unkind. ~ Sue Miller

'Jane Eyre' must have been something I read six or seven times as an early adolescent. And 'Kristin Lavransdatter,' and 'Lorna Doone' when I was younger. My parents had a pretty rich library, no jackets on any of the books, so no descriptions. You just pulled something off the shelf and started to read it. ~ Sue Miller

This was all of it, no doubt, the strange passing feeling that had come to me in the boat. Age. Vanity. The impossibility of accepting the new versions of oneself that life kept offering. The impossibility of the old version's vanishing. ~ Sue Miller

I believe we give feelings permission to live in our hearts by whether we choose to think upon such things or not. The more we think about certain matters the greater impact they effect, until they can tend to obsess us. ~ Carolyn Miller

I can't swallow another drop of soda by this point because the carbonation is burning my throat.
"Oh really? Well ... " I trail off as I feel bubbling at the base of my throat. This is not good.
Before I can stop myself, I let out the biggest burp I've ever, ever, ever had. I slap a hand over my mouth and stare at Logan whose eyebrows have reached astronomical heights.
"Dude! So not smooth, man! Girls cannot stand rudeness," Dan yells from the back room. ~ Leah Rae Miller

We don't yet know, above all, what the world might be like if children were to grow up without being subjected to humiliation, if parents would respect them and take them seriously as people. ~ Alice Miller

If I had my life to live over..I wouldn't have time.. ~ Roger Miller

I would ask him to forgive me, for being his mother and never knowing what was going on inside his head, for not being able to help him, for not being the person that he could confide in." When ~ Sue Klebold

Hormones, hormones, lovely little hormones,' Gus sang. 'Give 'em chocolate, give 'em salt, give 'em a credit card and let them sort themselves out. But you never give 'em a gun. Hormones, hormones, lovely little ... ~ Christiana Miller

At an Olympics Game, you want to enjoy it, especially if you know it's going to be your last one. ~ Shannon Miller

Yes, I called him mine. He'd put his mouth on my vagina, and I was a feeling a little territorial about the whole thing. Sue me. ~ Elizabeth Brown

I think it is easier to do bad things than to do good things. And there is something in that basic fact, some little clue to the meaning of the universe. ~ Donald Miller

The fewer responsibilities we have, the less free we are. Communism and democracy differ in this only by a matter of degree. We can vote away freedom as easily as it can be taken away. ~ David Miller

Saturdays and Mondays were Sundays' bookends. On Saturdays preachers were neurotic planning what they would say, and on Mondays they were neurotic for having said it."7 ~ Calvin Miller

I'm spectacularly disorganised. I wrote my latest book in seven different notebooks scattered throughout my house. ~ Sue Townsend

When today fails to offer the justification for hope, tomorrow becomes the only grail worth pursuing. ~ Arthur Miller

Love is a strange creature that no man can understand ~ Lisa C. Miller

I was lost in her and it felt so goddamn wonderful, I never wanted to be found again. Lost for forever in this moment with her. I could die a happy death right now and I would definitely be smiling. ~ Raine Miller

Beau, will you please watch the entrance for us?"
"What should I do if I see anyone suspicious?"
"Kick a car," Iain said.
"Kick a car?"
"To set off the alarm."
"Gotcha," Beau said. "Good thinking. ~ Kirsten Miller

Because I see
A rainstorm in June
Just before the sun
The black of night
Just before the stars
And, girl, I see your ghost
Just before our dawn ~ Laura Miller

Whatever there be of progress in life comes not through adaptation but through daring. ~ Henry Miller

We lived for honey. We swallowed a spoonful in the morning to wake us up and one at night to put us to sleep. We took it with every meal to calm the mind, give us stamina, and prevent fatal disease. We swabbed ourselves in it to disinfect cuts or heal chapped lips. It went in our baths, our skin cream, our raspberry tea and biscuits. Nothing was safe from honey ... honey was the ambrosia of the gods and the shampoo of the goddesses. ~ Sue Monk Kidd

In an age of molecular genomics, it is ever more apparent that the fingerprints of evolution are pressed deeply into human DNA, just as they are into the genomes of every other organism. Biologists understand this, and so do students who study the science of life. ~ Kenneth R. Miller

Travel light, and death will never find you. ~ John Jackson Miller

No man is great enough or wise enough for any of us to surrender our destiny to. The only way in which anyone can lead us is to restore to us the belief in our own guidance. ~ Henry Miller

I remember once my kid got in trouble for saying to his teacher, "What time is fucking recess?" and I remember thinking, "Now where would he fucking pick up something like that? ~ Dennis Miller

You're fortunate I've already beaten someone else to death today, gunslinger. I have a schedule to keep. ~ John Jackson Miller

Such a notion made it virtually impossible to enjoy life! And this, If God did not exist, man would ~ Sue Monk Kidd

They told me never fall in love, it never works out in your favor. You way too young and right now thats just human nature. ~ Mac Miller

Why change the world? Change worlds! ~ Henry Miller

Disagree with someone on the right and he is likely to think you obtuse, wrong, foolish, a dope. Disagree with someone on the left, and he is more likely to think you selfish, a sell-out, insensitive, possibly evil. ~ J.R. Miller

Far from a simple attempt to rid the nation of crime and drugs,
our policy against narcotics
like any public policy
comes with strings attached. And increasingly these strings
are constricting around the necks of Americans' lives and liberties. ~ Joel Miller

To see your-self you must first be yourself, to be your-self you must first know yourself, and to know your-self you must first love your-self more than anything in the world.-Mark Miller ~ Mark Miller

W-Who knows? W-Who cares? I'm eating. - Gilbert Miller ~ Claudia Osmond

Everything remains unsettled forever, depend on it ~ Henry Miller

Barry Kent's father looks like a big ape and has got more hair on the back of his hands than my father has got on his entire head. ~ Sue Townsend

Taylor held a finger up to Val and Kate. "Hold that thought for a second while I get this."
As she headed into the living room, she overheard Kate mumble to Val, "Hold what thought? I haven't understood a word she's said yet."
Taylor unlocked her front door and opened it. Before she could react, Jason barreled right in, all fired up.
"Where have you been?? I tried calling you - is your cell phone off? I need you to tell me who the hell I can sue. I just met with Marty - we got back the mock-ups for the new publicity posters the studio's going to use to promote Inferno ."
Jason stormed into the kitchen, so engrossed in his rant he didn't notice Valerie and Kate. He opened Taylor's fridge and helped himself to a bottled water.
"And get this," he fumed angrily, "the dumbasses who designed the posters have me pictured in this scene where I'm putting out a fire with all these other firemen. But if you look at the poster from the side, the water from the hose of one of the other firefighters looks like it's shooting right out of my crotch. And the best part is, they want to put this poster over the theater entrance for the premiere. I can just see it - " He gestured grandly to the air. " 'Come see Inferno! Get pissed on by Jason Andrews!'"
With that, he threw Taylor a wink. "It should be right up your alley."
Finished with his rant, Jason took a sip of water. Then he finally noticed Kate and Val. He smiled charmingly.
"Oh. People. Hello."
Julie James

My father is black and my mother is white. Therefore, I could answer to either, which kind of makes me a racial Lone Ranger, caught between two communities. ~ Wentworth Miller

The body knows things a long time before the mind catches up to them. I was wondering what my body knew that I didn't. ~ Sue Monk Kidd

What you call your life is not yours at all
not yours to plan, manipulate, or control, at least not very often ... In fleeting moments of deep satisfaction and insight, I saw the absolute truth of life: the unbroken line of love that had led to my existence and would lead on through my daughter. My mother's love, her mother's love, her mother's love, and back and back forever ago. Love that is no mere word, love that goes beyond feeling, love that is life itself ... What miracles, what sacrifice, what love! ... Can you imagine this love? Can you anticipate it, fabricate it, measure and evaluate it? No you can't, you can only be love, and your child will release its magnitude within you. ~ Karen Maezen Miller

Name one hero who was happy."
I considered. Heracles went mad and killed his family; Theseus lost his bride and father; Jason's children and new wife were murdered by his old; Bellerophon killed the Chimera but was crippled by the fall from Pegasus' back.
"You can't." He was sitting up now, leaning forward.
"I can't."
"I know. They never let you be famous AND happy." He lifted an eyebrow. "I'll tell you a secret."
"Tell me." I loved it when he was like this.
"I'm going to be the first." He took my palm and held it to his. "Swear it."
"Why me?"
"Because you're the reason. Swear it."
"I swear it," I said, lost in the high color of his cheeks, the flame in his eyes.
"I swear it," he echoed.
We sat like that a moment, hands touching. He grinned.
"I feel like I could eat the world raw. ~ Madeline Miller

Sometimes the hearts we steal are not the hearts we were ever meant to keep. ~ Laura Miller

The cripple gave him a look. 'I remember that just yesterday you told me I was a cretin and a fool and a disgrace to the memory of my ancestors.'
'Academic hyperbole.' Morg dismissed the complaint with the wave of one hand.'It was merely enthusiastic encouragement, I assure you.'
'Perhaps overenthusiastic would be a more accurate description' muttered the cripple. ~ Karen Miller

It was our weakness that drew the war out, not her strength. ~ Madeline Miller

Definition of responsibility: a commitment of the head, heart, and hands to fix the problem and never again affix blame. ~ John G. Miller

This surprised me because it made me realize that what I sought was not outside myself. It was within me, already there, waiting. Awakening was really the act of remembering myself, remembering this deep Feminine Source. ~ Sue Monk Kidd

I want to get more familiar with you. I love you. I loved you when you came and sat on the bed--all that second afternoon was like warm mist--and I hear again the way you say my name--with that queer accent of yours. You arouse in me such a mixture of feelings, I don't know how to approach you. Only come to me--get closer and closer to me. It will be beautiful, I promise you. ~ Henry Miller