Quote by Marie Benedict

“We are the stories we tell about ourselves. But when those stories are lies, we are the most surprised of all.”

— Brent Weeks

“The way adults could talk themselves into and out of feeling okay about something always amazed her.”

— Elizabeth Stuckey-French

“I was thrilled by discovery, crushed by disappointment, and mortified by any misplaced enthusiasm. I declared allegiance, took a position, and always had a…

— Lavinia Greenlaw

“as she spoke, she watched the expressions on the faces go from incredulous shock, to hopeful belief, and finally to awestruck acceptance”

— Dan Brown

“This surprised me because it made me realize that what I sought was not outside myself. It was within me, already there, waiting. Awakening…

— Sue Monk Kidd

“I make the surprised O with my mouth, although I am not really that surprised. It was the kind of story that grownups tell…

— Claire King

“Her expression was that of a woman with multiple children who was no longer surprised by anything they did, up to and including arriving…

— Gail Carriger

“There was something strange and extraordinary about her – something that was frightening and at the same time most exciting.”

— P.L. Travers

“It pained me to imagine how our twosome appeared to others, marked as those kind of girls who belonged to each other. Those sexless…

— Emma Cline

“We began our stories. Her face changed as most women’s do when they listen to their men: from amusement to horror to incomprehensibility.”

— Stephen Tobolowsky

“In truth I was very pleased with myself and with my story and all that had happened in it. Because you can't help being…

— Brock Clarke

“I don’t know who was more surprised, her or me.”

— G.L. Snodgrass