Quotes from Alison Gaylin

You know the good thing about digging your own grave? You always make it just the right size.

Beware of men who can string words together like pearls.

there are two types of people in the world-those who matter to his story and those who don't.

If there ever comes a day when we can't be together, keep me in your heart. I'll stay there forever.

None of these monsters are evil. It's the evil of others that makes them powerful. Beaten down by the world, shunned, robbed of what they love, they don't curl up and die. They don't apologize. They fight back. They get bigger, stronger, more terrifying. You are a monster. We all are. Be grateful for THAT.

That's an interesting phrase, isn't it? Open up. Like you rip yourself open and let others see your insides.

Even for the luckiest of us, life is mostly pain, with moments of happiness thrown in just to keep us vertical.

Knowledge breeds confidence.

He told me to tell him all the songs that make me cry. He wanted to know my favorite books, favorite movies, if my heart was ever broken and by whom . . . He said, 'I want to know everything that makes you you.

I raise my glass to karma—which, I'm realizing, is sometimes a group effort.

The hope that grief counselors and clergy try to make you feel. The phrases well-meaning friends throw at you. She's out there, watching over you, gazing down at you. She's with you, every day, living again in every memory. . . . It's all a bunch of crap.

the world is full of young men just like him—unremarkable in every regard, except for the ridiculous privilege with which they were born.

boredom dulls your ability to make the right decisions. Boredom creeps up on you slowly, wraps its tendrils around you and tugs at you in such a subtle yet constant way, you'll do anything to escape it. You'll behave recklessly and stupidly.

If it wasn't him, it was someone just like him, because the world is full of young men just like him—unremarkable in every regard, except for the ridiculous privilege with which they were born.

My whole life, my mother was the only person I felt comfortable talking to—even after she got sick." "Why is that?" "I think," Sarah said, "that she's just a good listener." Brenna looked at her. "Everybody needs that one person, you know? The one person they can talk to." Brenna

The good thing about living alone is, you can say things out loud without worrying about how crazy they sound.

check-cashing place that wasn't open today. No leaf peepers

She reminds me of my old self—the amount of work it took: the manicures and the spray tans and the designer dresses and shoes—just to look "presentable" for a job at a country lifestyle magazine that was mostly coupons,

Am I that hard to understand? Or is it just that they don't want to understand me, people like Glynne Barrett, who curate their wardrobes and fuss over websites and run from anything raw and unplanned, as though my type of pain were catching?

Parents are human beings. Human beings screw things up. It's inevitable.

I don't blame fraternity culture for Emily's death. I don't blame parties or alcohol or the detrimental influence of social media and online porn on Today's Youth. I blame her murderer. Period.

At this very moment, Harris Blanchard is happily brunching with his parents in New York City or enjoying the company of his fellow seniors or hiking or skiing and posting pictures on Instagram, his grinning face behind a pair of enormous goggles as he enjoys these final weeks of winter break. My daughter—the lack of her—is the last thing on his mind.

Always be Kind" By Liam Miller, Age 8 If you meet up with a grizzly With really big claws Or a shark in the ocean Who looks just like Jaws I a scary bank robber Points a gun in your face Or a bully says "you loser" and makes you feel out of place Don't be hurtful or mean That will make you bad as them. Be kind! Join the nice team! Kindness wins in the end.

gape at the blank space where 0001's words were, and a chill runs up my back as it dawns on me—what this oasis on the dark web, this place to vent our most destructive thoughts, could potentially be. I remember my last conversation with Matt—how he had said, You doing websites for hit men, now? Matt, always smarter than he sounds.