Dear John Quotes
"What does it mean to truly love another? There was a time in my life when I thought I knew the answer: It meant that I’d care for Savannah more deeply than I cared for myself and that we’d spend the rest of our lives together."
"She once told me that the key to happiness was achievable dreams, and hers were nothing out of the ordinary."
"If hers are stars in the nighttime sky, mine are the haunted empty spaces in between."
"Our story has three parts: a beginning, a middle, and an end. And although this is the way all stories unfold, I still can’t believe that ours didn’t go on forever."
"He neither heaped scorn on her nor praised her, but he made sure that I included her in my prayers, no matter where she was or what she’d done."
"Growing up, I’d never considered entering the military. Despite the fact that eastern North Carolina is one of the most militarily dense areas of the country—there are seven bases within a few hours’ driving time from Wilmington—I used to think that military life was for losers."
"We do what we do for one another. For friendship. Not for country, not for patriotism, not because we’re programmed killing machines, but because of the guy next to you. You fight for your friend, to keep him alive, and he fights for you, and everything about the army is built on this simple premise."
"You didn’t have to talk to be proud of you. He might be the kind of father who shows it in other ways."
"I knew by the way he phrased his response that he didn’t want to hear about the dangerous things I did. The fact that I was in peril frightened him."
"Unlike my buddies, I shied away from any prospect of female companionship. Sounds weird, right? Prime of life, testosterone-filled job—what could be more natural than searching for a little release with the help of a female? It wasn’t for me."
"People have told me I’ll regret it when I’m older, but at the time I got them, I really didn’t care. I still don’t."
"Passion and satisfaction go hand in hand, and without them, any happiness is only temporary, because there’s nothing to make it last."
"Passion is passion. It’s the excitement between the tedious spaces, and it doesn’t matter where it’s directed."
"The saddest people I’ve ever met in life are the ones who don’t care deeply about anything at all."
"Pick classes based on the teacher whenever you can, not the subject. Good teachers are priceless. They inspire you, they entertain you, and you end up learning a ton even when you don’t know it."
"I was a sucker when it came to strays. My parents got to the point where they wouldn’t even argue with me about it."
"I just accept the fact that I don’t have to do what everyone else does. I can do what’s right for me."
"When you’re struggling with something, look at all the people around you and realize that every single person you see is struggling with something, and to them, it’s just as hard as what you’re going through."
"It’s kind of like you, I guess. In the past couple of years, I’ve grown up."
"It’s so beautiful out here. I mean, I love the mountains, but this is wonderful in its own way. It’s . . . peaceful."
"Time is relative. I know I’m not the first to realize it and far from the most famous, but it had to do with the drag of hours while I waited for Savannah."
"You have no idea how much the last few days have meant to me. Meeting you has been the best thing that’s ever happened to me."
"I love you," I whispered. "I had always imagined the words would be hard to say, but they weren’t."
"I knew that I could live to be a hundred and visit every country in the world, but nothing would ever compare to that single moment when I first kissed the girl of my dreams and knew that my love would last forever."
"I found myself smiling for no good reason, something even my father noticed when he got home from work."
"By the weekend, my appearance at the beach house was becoming a regular occurrence."
"When the sun began its rise from the sea on Sunday morning, I sat up beside Savannah. Her face was lit with the glow of dawn, and her hair fanned out over the blanket."
"It was one of those perfect evenings with just enough breeze to keep us from being either hot or cold, and we talked and kissed for hours before falling asleep in each other’s arms."
"Instead, I took her to a sunny restaurant near the water, and we held hands across the table as we watched the sailboats rocking gently in their slips."
"I wanted to believe her. I wanted it more than anything, but I wondered if it was really that simple."
"He put a hand on my back. He said nothing, but he didn’t have to. I knew he understood that I was hurting, and he stood without moving, as if trying to absorb my pain in the hope of taking it from me and making it his own."
"I liked to think that what we had was deeper than that, and over time, that belief made my love for her grow even stronger."
"When I think of you, I can't help smiling, knowing that you’ve completed me somehow."
"I have to say that your last letter worried me. I want to hear about it, I need to hear about it, but I find myself holding my breath and getting scared for you whenever you tell me what your life is really like."
"Christmas that year was a dismal affair, but it’s always dismal when you’re far from home."
"Isn’t that the way it always is when you really want something? It reminded me of being a kid and the lengthening days as I waited for summer vacation."
"In the dark, I whispered to her how much I loved her."
"As tender and exciting as it had been, I couldn’t help wondering whether there had been a trace of desperation in our actions, as if we were both clinging to the hope that this would sustain our relationship through whatever the future would bring."
"Though I knew she loved and cared for me, I suddenly understood that even love and caring weren’t always enough."
"When she was there, I felt as if I wanted to be alone with my dad, but when she wasn’t, I wanted her by my side."
"Time alone. If our relationship was a battery, my time overseas was continually draining it, and we both needed time to recharge."
"I knew the underlying issue was the fact that I was supposed to be home for good and wasn’t."
"Fewer tears had been shed because the intensity of the feeling between us had waned."
"Despite our troubles, I never doubted that we would make it."
"In our time together, you claimed a special place in my heart, one I’ll carry with me forever and that no one can ever replace."
"Wars always come back to the quest for power among the competing interests."
"I owned neither a house nor a car, and aside from my dad, I was completely alone in the world."
"Those memories were mine and mine alone, for I’d learned that some things are best kept secret."
"For a second it was as if nothing between us had changed at all. I wanted to hold her forever, but when she pulled back, the illusion was shattered, and we were strangers once more."
"I don’t know," I said. "I just needed to come."
"It’s a small town." I shrugged. "I asked someone."
"But it is beautiful here, even if it’s a lot of work. On nights like this, I like to sit on the porch and just listen to the world."
"Sometimes it feels like we’re just spinning our wheels."
"The first time you got on a horse, you were more scared than a lot of the kids."
"Those were some of the best days of my life. I won’t ever forget them."
"Don’t get me wrong," she went on. "I still remember everything my folks taught me."
"But don’t think for a second it earns enough to pay the bills."
"Two young people starting out in the world, working together and repairing their home."
"I’m okay," he said. "I’m feeling better now."
"Hey, Alan? It’s okay. He’s not a doctor. He’s a friend. Go say hello."
"I'm just trying to make it through the day with enough energy to face tomorrow."
"I wake up every day nervous and tense and angry and frustrated and terrified that I’m going to lose the man I married."
"I understand that. It’s just that I’m not sure what to do with all this. The past. Us. You being married."
"I don’t know if I really want to know. All I know is that when you showed up yesterday, I felt... okay. Not great, not good, but not bad, either."
"Love meant that you care for another person’s happiness more than your own, no matter how painful the choices you face might be."
"That’s my life right now, but the hard part is that from here on in, I know it’s only going to get worse."
"I sold the collection because I finally understood what true love really meant."