Nicholas Sparks on Life

"The saddest people I've ever met in life are the ones who don't care deeply about anything at all. Passion and satisfaction go hand in hand, and without them, any happiness is only temporary, because there's nothing to make it last."

"Life, he realize, was much like a song. In the beginning there is mystery, in the end there is confirmation, but it's in the middle where all the emotion resides to make the whole thing worthwhile."

"We’d met at a carefree time, a moment full of promise, in its place now were the harsh lessons of the real world."

"Just when you think it can't get any worse, it can. And just when you think it can't get any better, it can."

"I knew my dad was a good man, a kind man, and though he'd led a wounded life, he'd done the best he could in raising me."

"Too many people seem to believe that silence was a void that needed to be filled, even if nothing important was said."

"That's the thing about life. A lot of the time, it isn't easy at all. We just have to try to make the best of it."

"When I look in the mirror, I know I’m looking at someone who isn’t sure she deserves to be loved at all."

"As your father used to say, we shared the longest ride together, this thing called life, and mine has been filled with joy because of you."

"I'm not sure anyone's life turns out exactly the way they imagine. All we can do is to try to make the best of it. Even when it seems impossible."

"It isn't easy living with an author. I know this because my wife has informed me of this fact."

"His voice, even now, follows me everywhere on this longest of rides, this thing called life."

"While she was exceptional, I was average, a man whose major accomplishment in life was to love her without reservation, and that would never change."

"One day, you're going to learn something that can't be explained with science. And when that happens, your life's going to change in ways you can't imagine."

"If it's over--if it's really over--then don't let it screw up the rest of your life."

"I'd learned that some things are best kept secret."

"Relationships are the most important thing in life, and friends are part of that."

"Youth offers the promise of happiness, but life offers the realities of grief."

"It is life, I think, to watch the water. A man can learn so many things."

"I'm sure you think that I don't understand what you're going through, but I do. It's just that sometimes, our future is dictated by what we are, opposed to what we want."

"Katie eventually realizes that she must choose between a life of transient safety and one of riskier rewards...and that in the darkest hour, love is the only true safe haven."

"Never forget that anticipation is an important part of life. Work's important, family's important, but without excitement, you have nothing. You're cheating yourself if you refuse to enjoy what's coming."

"Strange, what being forced to slow down could do to a person."

"...The greater the love, the greater the tragedy when it's over. Those two elements always go together. … The best we can hope for in life is that it doesn't happen for a long, long time."

"...I said everything that matters... Don't take my advice. Or anyone's advice. Trust yourself. For good or for bad, happy or unhappy, it's your life, and what you do with it has always been entirely up to you."

"Life, he decided, was for living, not for having, and he wanted to experience every moment that he could. At the deepest level, he'd come to understand that life could end at any moment, and it was better to be happy than busy."

"Jamie: You know what I figured out today?Landon: What?Jamie: Maybe God has a bigger plan for me than I had for myself. Like this journey never ends. Like you were sent to me because I'm sick. To help me through all this. You're my angel."

"Do you know what you're saying when you say, "Whatever"? It's just a code word for the f-word, followed by "you." And at your age, you never, ever. say that to anyone.' " Blaze leaned back. "So now, when someone says it to me, I just say, 'You too.' (72)"

"...when two people live together, the stress flows both ways. This, I come to believe, is both the blessing and the curse of marriage. It's a blessing because there's an outlet for the everyday strains of life; it's a curse because the outlet is someone you care deeply about."

"Everyone wanted to believe that endless love was possible. She'd believed in it once too, back when she was eighteen. But she knew that love was messy, just like life. It took turns that people couldn't foresee or even understand, leaving a long trail of regret in its wake. And almost always, those regrets led to the kinds of what if questions that could never be answered."