Quotes by Donna Lynn Hope

Truth and integrity must be so rare these days that it confuses people when they hear it.

There is the purity of love, harmonious in every way, but not meant for a lifetime, and then there is the steady love of commitment - no less real but completely different. She had both.

Darling, if I take your breath away, I will give you mine.

Underneath the sky, so void of light, the rain soaked me through. I held on to the railing and felt calm, even content, and then he had to reach through the dark, raise my temperature and make my heart beat a little bit faster. Not very gallant I should say...especially so close to bedtime. Friend or not, should he rob me of sleep, Ill be sure to take his.

I think anyone who opened their heart enough to love without restraint and subsequently were devastated by loss knows that in that moment you are forever changed; a apart of you is no longer whole. Some will never again love with that level of abandon where life is perceived as innocent and the threat of loss seems implausible. Love and loss, therefore, are linked.

We love because we can lose. If there was no threat of separation, no death to shake us to our core, we probably wouldnt love much at all.

Connecting with someone is not necessarily a bond with a significant other, or even a friend, but can be the indefinable - perhaps the rarest and most precious thing in life to find at all.

I thought I would prefer apathy over this, I confided to her. Why? she asked. Are you saying you would rather be cold than comforted? Hes looking at you and offering his hand in friendship and youre rudely looking away pretending not to notice. At least with him you wouldnt be so alone. I felt my eyes turn into colorless pools as I glared at her for stating the obvious. Being numb to someone is better than feeling something, I explained. Safer you mean, she interrupted. I sighed and continued, When someone who was once significant in your life comes back after an extended absence, emotions you had finally freed yourself from are reawakened, and if thats not enough to contend with, dormant memories are summoned whether you want them to be or not. And what is it that you want? she posed triumphantly. I swallowed my anger and thought with defeat, Nothing anyone can give me.

Even meant to be takes work.

People change us. It is a rare, if not an impossible occurrence, that we come out of relationships unscathed. In our dealings with people we take something with us and we leave something behind. Some people are haunted more than others, either by the sweet perfume of another or the stink of regret.

There was once a spirited feral mustang broken in by her stern rider. It was a harmonious relationship for the most part but, like any relationship, she tested the boundaries he placed on her and threw him...Would the rider, having suffered his own wound, retaliate, discipline or forgive?

Id rather be befriended as an aimless lost soul than be befriended for adornment, gain or goal.

Am I a friend or a prospect? Imagine how much kinder life would be if people put as much effort into befriending others instead of trying to sell them something.

Its way too easy to see the real face of a person. Theyre amiable and full of pretense when they want something from you, but the minute you dont give in, back away or put yourself first (like they do) is the minute they show you who they really are.

No, we arent civilized, even in our business suits and high heels. People are as mean as ever, and as predictable. Underneath it all, we are not so different from what lurks in the wild, perhaps were worse.

Where are the memories that held us together? Where are the dreams that were yet to come? Im afraid to be happy. I shouldnt be happy. If Im happy without you does that mean Ive told you goodbye?

One of the disadvantages to having a choice is the inevitability to hang oneself on freedoms rope.

The most beautiful women I have known had one thing in common apart from beauty: humility. Its a shame that those with less to boast about do it the most.

I wonder if pain comes from surrendering or resisting?

Bravery is the ability to endure, even unto death, all types of terrible, terrifying and painful situations and we live in a time when people do all that they can to avoid hardship and pain, never realizing that strength and courage is found in both.