1. “Some wounds we carry with us everywhere, and though the cut’s long gone, the pain still lingers.”

2. “Too often, the thing you want most is the one thing you can’t have.”

3. “You got to wonder why we cling to our expectations because the expected is just what keeps us steady. The expected is just the beginning, the unexpected is what changes our lives.”

4. “I think you can’t wait for someone to fly underneath you and save your life. I think you have to save yourself.”

5. “Don’t let fear keep you quiet. You have a voice, so use it. Speak up. Raise your hands. Shout your answers. Make yourself heard. Whatever it takes, just find your voice and when you do, fill the damn silence.”

6. “The reality is that pain is there to tell us something, and there’s only so much pleasure we can take without getting a stomachache. And maybe that’s okay. Maybe some fantasies are only supposed to live in our dreams.”

7. “Sometimes, it takes a huge loss to remind you of what you care about the most. Sometimes, you find yourself becoming stronger as a result, wiser, better to deal with the next big disaster that comes along—sometimes, but not always.”

8. “You don’t have to be tough every minute of every day. It’s okay to let down your guard. In fact, there are moments when it’s the best thing you can possibly do—as long as you choose your moments wisely.”

9. “Decide. Is this the life you want to live? Is this the person you want to love? Is this the best you can be? Can you be stronger? Kinder? More compassionate? Decide. Breathe in. Breathe out. And decide.”

10. “Pain—you just have to ride it out, hope it goes away on its own, hope the wound that caused it heals. There are no solutions, no easy answers. You just breathe deep and wait for it to subside.”

11. “There’s an end to every storm—once all the trees have been uprooted, once all the houses have been ripped apart, the wind will hush, the clouds will part, the rain will stop, and the sky will clear in an instant. But only then, in those quiet moments after the storm, do we learn who was strong enough to survive it.” 

12. “I’m all glued back together now. I make no apologies for how I chose to repair what you broke. You don’t get to call me a whore.”

13. “Failure is inevitable, unavoidable. But failure should never get the last word. You have to hold on to what you want. You have to not take no for an answer, and take what’s coming to you. Never give in. Never give up. Stand up. Stand up and take it.”

14. “What’s worse? New wounds, which are so horribly painful, or old wounds that should have healed years ago and never did? Maybe our old wounds teach us something. They remind us where we’ve been and what we’ve overcome. They teach us lessons about what to avoid in the future.”

15. “Pain, you just have to fight through, because the truth is you can’t outrun it, and life always makes more.”

16. “We’re adults. How did that happen, and how can we make it stop?”

17. “They say death is hardest on the living. It’s tough to actually say goodbye. Sometimes, it’s impossible. You never really stop feeling the loss. It’s what makes things so bittersweet. We leave little bits of ourselves behind, little reminders. A lifetime of memories, photos, trinkets. Things to remember us by even when we’re gone.”

18. “We all think we’re going to be great. And we feel a little bit robbed when our expectations aren’t met.”

19. “Who gets to determine when the old ends and the new begins?”

20. “Life is not a spectator sport.”

21. “So pick me. Choose me. Love me.”

22. “The body is a slave to its impulses.”

23. “Sometimes, change is everything.”

24. “Just like we need food and water, humans need each other.”

25. “Why do bad things happen to good people?”

26. “Responsibility, it really does suck.”

27. “Sometimes, the most important history is the history we’re making today.”

28. “So, you keep going. You don’t give up. You stand tall. You fight. You always show up to save the day.”

29. “Knowing is better than wondering, waking is better than sleeping, and even the biggest failure, even the worst, beats the hell out of never trying.”

30. “We have to learn our own lessons. We have to sweep today’s possibility under tomorrow’s rug until we can’t anymore.”

31. “Letting go is the easy part. It’s the moving on that’s painful. So sometimes, we fight it, trying to keep things the same. Things can’t stay the same though. At some point, you just have to let it go. Move on. Because no matter how painful it is, it’s the only way we grow.”

32. “We have to keep reinventing ourselves, almost every minute because the world can change in an instant.”

33. “Just because we can live without something, it doesn’t mean we have to.”

34. “Vulnerability isn’t the opposite of strength. It’s a necessary part. You have to force yourselves to open up, to expose ourselves, to offer everything we have, and just pray that it’s good enough. Otherwise, we’ll never succeed.”

35. “Some days, the whole world seems upside down. And then, somehow, improbably and when you least expect it, the world rights itself again.”

36. “Not everybody has to be happy all the time. That’s not mental health. That’s crap.”

37. “When we follow our hearts, when we choose not to settle, it’s funny. Isn’t it? A weight lifts, the sun shines a little brighter, and for a brief moment, we find a little peace.”

38. “But the thing that makes us human is what we can control. After the storm, after the rush, after the heat of the moment has passed, we can cool off and clean up the messes we made. We can try to let go of what was.”

39. “Deep down, everyone wants to believe they can be hardcore. But being hardcore isn’t just about being tough. It’s about acceptance.”

40. “They say the bigger your investment, the bigger your return. But you have to be willing to take a chance. You have to understand—you might lose it all. But if you take that chance, if you invest wisely, the payoff just might surprise you.”

41. “The future is the home of our deepest fears and our wildest hopes. But one thing is certain— when it finally reveals itself, the future is never the way we imagined it.”

42. “Sometimes, it’s good to be scared. It means you still have something to lose.”

43. “What’s important is that we never stop believing we can have a new beginning. But it’s also important to remember that amid all the crap are a few things really worth holding on to.” 

44. “There are days that make the sacrifices seem worthwhile and then there are the days where everything feels like a sacrifice. And then there are the sacrifices that you can’t even figure out why you’re making.”

45. “Pain comes in all forms. The small twinge, a bit of soreness, the random pain. The normal pains we live with every day. Then there’s the kind of pain you can’t ignore. A level of pain so great that it blocks out everything else, makes the rest of your world fade away until all we can think about is how much we hurt. How we manage our pain is up to us. Pain. We anesthetize, ride it out, embrace it, ignore it, and for some of us the best way to manage pain is to just push through it.”

46. “Change. We don’t like it. We fear it, but we can’t stop it from coming. We either adapt to change or we get left behind. It hurts to grow, anybody who tells you it doesn’t is lying, but here’s the truth sometimes the more things change the more they stay the same. And sometimes, oh, sometimes change is good.”

47. “We deny that we’re tired, we deny we are scared, we deny how badly we want to succeed, and most importantly we deny that we are in denial. We only see what we want to see, and believe what we want to believe, and it works. We lie to ourselves so much that after a while, the lies start to seem like the truth. We deny so much that we can’t recognize the truth right in front of our faces.”

48. “Desire leaves us heartbroken. It wears us out. Desire can wreck your life. But as tough as wanting something can be, the people who suffer the most are those who don’t know what they want.”

49. “We’re all damaged, it seems. Some of us, more than others, carry the damage with us from childhood, then as grownups, we give as good as we get. Ultimately, we all do damage and then, we set about the business of fixing whatever we can.”

50. “Maybe we like the pain. Maybe we’re wired that way. Because without it, I don’t know, maybe we just wouldn’t feel real. What’s that saying? Why do I keep hitting myself with a hammer? Because it feels so good when I stop.”

51. “The thing about addiction is, it never ends well. Because eventually, whatever it is that was getting us high, stops feeling good, and starts to hurt. Still, they say you don’t kick the habit until you hit rock bottom. But how do you know when you are there? Because no matter how badly a thing is hurting us, sometimes, letting it go hurts even worse.”

52. “Adapt or die. As many times as we’ve heard it, the lesson doesn’t get easier. Problem is, we’re human. We want more than just to survive. We want success. We want to be the best we can be so we fight like hell to get those things. Anything else feels like death.”

53. “When bad things come, they come out of nowhere. The bad things come suddenly, with no warning. But we forget that sometimes, that’s how the good things come too.”

54. “You’re letting her think you’re emotionally available. You’re letting her think she has a chance. And there is nothing worse in the world than thinking you have a chance when you really don’t.”

55. “No matter how hard you fight it, you fall and it’s scary as hell. Except there’s an upside to free-falling. It’s the chance you give your friends to catch you.”

56. “Maybe we’re thankful for the familiar things we know. And maybe we’re thankful for the things we’ll never know. At the end of the day, the fact that we have the courage to still be standing is reason enough to celebrate.”

57. “We’re friends—real friends—and that means no matter how long it takes, when you finally decide to look back, I’ll still be here.”

58. “The key to making progress is to recognize how to take that very first step. Then you start your journey. You hope for the best and you stick with it, day in, day out. Even if you’re tired, even if you want to walk away, you don’t. Because you are a pioneer, and nobody ever said it’d be easy.”

59. “Sometimes, reality has a way of sneaking up and biting us in the ass.”

60. “The thing people forget is how good it can feel when you finally set secrets free. Whether good or bad, at least they’re out in the open, like it or not. And once your secrets are out in the open, you don’t have to hide behind them anymore. The problem with secrets is even when you think you’re in control, you’re not.”

61. “Boundaries don’t keep other people out. They fence you in. Life is messy. That’s how we’re made. So, you can waste your life drawing lines. Or you can live your life crossing them.”

62. “Just when we think we’ve figured things out, the universe throws us a curveball. So we have to improvise. We find happiness in unexpected places. We find our way back to the things that matter the most. The universe is funny that way, sometimes it just has a way of making sure we wind up exactly where we belong.”

63. “We all have heroes—people we look up to, people we aspire to be, who teach us how to be greater than we are because they are greater than we are. They’re great if we don’t look too closely. Because if we get too close, we realize heroes are just regular people. And regular people can fail us.”

64. “Don’t you wish you could just take it back? That thing you said? That thing you did? There’s no undo button. There’s only hoping we can learn. We can change, right? We can do better. We can’t take back what we’ve done. We can’t undo the past, ‘cause the future keeps coming at us.”

65. “Being an adult is totally overrated. I mean, seriously, don’t be fooled by the hot shoes, and great sex, and no parents anywhere telling you what to do. Being an adult is a responsibility.”

66. “My point is, maybe we don’t give anger enough credit. Maybe it can be a lot more dangerous than we think. After all, when it comes to destructive behavior, it did make the top seven.”

67. “You can seek the advice of others, surround yourself with trusted advisers, but in the end, the decision is always yours and yours alone. And when it’s time to act and you’re all alone with your back against the wall, the only voice that matters is the one in your head. The one telling you what you probably already knew. The one that’s almost always right.”

68. “There comes a moment when it’s more than just a game, and you either take that step forward or turn around and walk away. I could quit. But here’s the thing, I love the playing field.”

69. “At the end of the day, there are some things you just can’t help but talk about, some things we just don’t want to hear, and some things we say because we can’t be silent any longer. Some things are more than what you say, they’re what you do. Some things you say because there’s no other choice, some things you keep to yourself, and not too often, but every now and then, some things simply speak for themselves.”

70. “Funny, isn’t it, the way memory works? The things you can’t quite remember, and the things you can never forget.”

71. “I’ve heard that it’s possible to grow up. I’ve just never met anyone who’s actually done it. Without parents to defy, we break the rules we make for ourselves. We throw tantrums when things don’t go our way. We whisper secrets with our best friend in the dark. We look for comfort where we can find it. And we hope against all logic, against all experience, like children, we never give up hope.”

72. “Things may have changed too radically to ever go back to what they were. It might not even recognize yourself. It’s like you haven’t recovered anything at all. You’re a whole new person with a whole new life.”

73. “We can’t help ourselves. We see a line, we want to cross it. Maybe it’s the thrill of trading the familiar for the unfamiliar, a sort of personal dare. Only problem is, once you have crossed, it’s almost impossible to go back.”

74. “When do you throw in the tower? Admit that a lost cause is just that? There comes a point when it all becomes too much. When we get too tired to fight anymore. So we give up. That’s when the real work begins—to find hope, where there seems to be absolutely none at all.”

75. “Grief may be a thing we all have in common but it looks different on everyone. It isn’t just death we have to grieve. It’s life, it’s loss, it’s change. And when we wonder why it has to suck so much sometimes, it has to hurt so bad.”

76. “No matter how dark it gets, the sun’s going to rise again.”

77. “When the ground gives way and your world collapses, maybe you just need to have faith, and trust that you can survive this. Maybe you just need to hold on tight, and no matter what, don’t let go.”

78. “We take our miracles where we find them. We reach across the gap and sometimes, against all odds, against all logic, we touch.”

79. “We have to constantly come up with new ways to fix ourselves.”

80. “Not all wounds are superficial. Most wounds run deeper than we can imagine. You can’t see them with the naked eye. And then, there are the wounds that take us by surprise.”

81. “The length of your recovery is determined by the extent of your injuries. And it’s not always successful. No matter how hard we work at it, some wounds might never fully heal. You might have to adjust to a whole new way of living.”

82. “We’re supposed to forget the past that landed us here, ignore the future complications that might arise, and go for the quick fix.”

83. “Time waits for no man. Time heals all wounds. All any of us want is more time—time to stand up, time to grow up, time to let go.”

84. “Maybe because when we see how little we actually need to survive, it makes us realize how powerful we actually are. To strip down to only what we need. To hang on to only what we can’t do without. Not just to survive, but to thrive.”

85. “We’re all susceptible to it. The dread and anxiety of not knowing what’s coming. It’s pointless in the end. Because all the worrying, and all the making of plans for things that could, or could not happen, it only makes things worse. So walk your dog. Or take a nap. Just, whatever you do, stop worrying. Because the only cure for paranoia is to be here. Just as you are.”

86. “But that’s not the way it is, is it? Some things we just have to learn over and over and over again.”

87. “The harder the hit, the more it’ll sting. That’s usually the case. So we prescribe meds, ice, compression, elevation. Things you do to stop the immediate pain. But you can only dull the pain for so long, and when the drugs start to wear off, it really hurts.”

88. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The saying’s as true of the human body as it is of a washing machine or a blender. A good surgeon knows that if you go screwing around with something that doesn’t need screwing, you are the one who is liable to end up screwed.”

89. “Scientists still don’t really know why we sleep. We just know we have to sleep because without it, we make poor decisions, we say things we shouldn’t, and sometimes, we see things that aren’t there.”

90. “There’s a reason doctors prefer to see a patient in person, face to face. It’s the laying on of hands. Human touch. That spark of connection. We lay hands on each other so we feel like we’re all in this together. We connect with each other. Because if we didn’t, we would all feel so, so alone.”

91. “In medical school, we have a hundred classes that teach us how to fight off death and not one lesson on how to go on living.”

92. “In hospitals, they say you know. You know when you’re going to die. Some doctors say it’s a look patients get in their eyes. Some say there’s a scent, a smell of death. Some say there’s just some kind of sixth sense, when the great beyond is heading for you, you feel it coming.”

93. “It’s all about lines. The finish line at the end of residency, waiting in line for a chance at the operating table, and then there’s the most important line, the line separating you from the people you work with.”

94. “As doctors, as friends, as human beings, we all try to do the best we can. But the world is full of unexpected twists and turns. And just when you’ve gotten the lay of the land, the ground underneath you shifts.”

95. “No one likes to lose control, but as a surgeon, there’s nothing worse. It’s a sign of weakness. Of not being up to the task. And still, there are times when it just gets away from you. When the world stops spinning and you realize that your shiny little scalpel isn’t going to save you. “

96. “So better health is a direct result of healthy relationships. You don’t need a spouse, you just need someone you can trust, you need someone you can talk to, you need someone who will celebrate your wins and grieve your losses, you need someone who can forgive you, you need someone who will show, no questions asked and walk with you through every unexpected twists and turns life throws your way.”

97. “The ties that bind us are sometimes impossible to explain.”

98. “Intimacy is a four-syllable word for, ‘Here are my heart and soul, please grind them into hamburger, and enjoy.’”

99. “We have to be willing to give up what we used to believe. The more we’re willing to accept what is and not what we thought, we’ll find ourselves exactly where we belong.”

100. “The thing about love is, when it’s good, it’s so very good, and when it’s bad, it hurts so much.”

101. “I think it is important to take the time to tell the people you love how much you love them while they can still hear you.”

102. “You think that is the only thing that could crush your heart, the thing that could take your life and light it up or destroy it.”

103. “I wish there were a rulebook for intimacy. Some kind of a guide that can tell you when you’ve crossed the line.”

104. “Even now I believe, for the most part, love is about choices. It’s about putting down the poison and the dagger and making your own happy ending, most of the time, and that sometimes despite all your best choices and all your best intentions, fate wins anyway.”

105. “I had one great love in my life and he died.”

106. “Promise that you’ll love me, even when you hate me.”

107. “Okay, here it is. Your choice, it’s simple—her or me. And I’m sure she’s really great. But Derek, I love you, in a really, really big ‘pretend to like your taste in music, let you eat the last piece of cheesecake, hold a radio over my head outside your window,’ unfortunate way that makes me hate you—love you.”

108. “Don’t ever date a man who can’t handle your power.”

109. “Why do we often run for the hills when we feel the slightest connection? Why do we feel compelled to fight what we’re hardwired to do? Maybe it’s because when we find someone or something to hold on to, that feeling becomes like air. And we’re terrified we’re going to lose it. And trust me, you can get pretty good at the alone thing. But most things are better when they’re shared with someone else.”

110. “Why does it feel so good to get rid of things? To unload? To let go?”

111. “You’re my sister. You’re my family. You’re all I’ve got.”

112. “When we go without certain things long enough, it’s easy to forget just how much we need them.”

113. “We’ll try and we’ll fail again because that’s what progress looks like. Progress looks like a bunch of failures. And you’re going to have feelings about that because it’s sad, but you cannot fall apart. And then one day, we will succeed and save a person’s life and we will walk on the moon.”

114. “My career is just as important as his. I am the sun. I am the sun, and he can go suck it. I am the sun.”

115. “I go a little dark and twisty, but then I come back.”

116. “Maybe I do believe it, all this ‘meant to be’ stuff. Why not believe it, really? Who doesn’t want more romance in their life? Maybe it’s just up to us to make it happen. To show up and be meant for each other. At least that way you’ll find out for sure if you’re meant to be or not.”

117. “More tequila. More love. More anything. More is better.”

118. “If you want to be a shark, be a shark. Don’t apologize for it.”

119. “At the end of the day, faith is a funny thing. It turns up when you don’t really expect it. It’s like one day you realize the fairy tale may be slightly different than you dreamed of.”

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