Beard In Hiding by Penny Reid (Notes)
▪ “The finest of pleasures are always the unexpected ones.” -Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus
▪ “Someday, you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.” - C.S. Lewis
▪ the only kind of loneliness worse than being alone was being with someone who felt more for me than I did for her.
▪ You don’t think hoity toity women objectify handsome strangers? Especially ones who look”—she waved her hand toward my body—“like they’d know what to do in most situations. I bet you know how to change a tire, bake a pie, wash a dish, and how a sink is plumbed.”
▪ I can make myself more than unforgettable. I’ll make myself essential—a drug, a craving.
▪ “Midlife is the time to let go of an overdominant ego and to contemplate the deeper significance of human existence.” - Carl Gustav Jung
▪ I am not young enough to know everything.” - Oscar Wilde
▪ There is a time in our lives, usually in mid-life, when a woman has to make a decision - possibly the most important psychic decision of her future life - and that is, whether to be bitter or not.”
Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype
▪ When I was your age, television was called books.”
William Goldman, The Princess Bride
▪ I wasn’t usually the curious sort, more interested in the doing of things rather than the pondering of things. If a task required more than a half-hour of thought, I was of the mind that it should be delegated. Let an expert handle the details and just give me the summary.
▪ “Midlife: when the Universe grabs your shoulders and tells you “I’m not f-ing around, use the gifts you were given.”
Dr. Brené Brown
▪ I spent the first half of my life worried about other people and look where it got me. Maybe I don’t want to think about other people anymore—except my kids, of course. But everyone else? No, thank you. They can take their opinions and jump in a lake. Maybe it’s time for me to just take what I want.”
▪ “Another belief of mine: that everyone else my age is an adult, whereas I am merely in disguise.”
Margaret Atwood, Cat's Eye
▪ I’d meant what I’d said. I wanted to be wooed. I wanted someone to work for me.
▪ no man was responsible for my happiness or satisfaction, I had complete control over both, and that was that.
▪ Waitstaff were some of the hardest working folks and certainly didn’t deserve all the petty complaints they received
▪ I thought you were supposed to present everything about yourself in the most flattering light possible.”
“That is correct, but I shouldn’t sound like I’m bragging. So, I tell a version of the truth that doesn’t make me look bad, but also doesn’t make me look unapproachable. This is especially true for women. There’s a reason why lady doctors have trouble making a love connection. Men are intimidated by success.”
▪ “Grown-ups don't look like grown-ups on the inside either. Outside, they're big and thoughtless and they always know what they're doing. Inside, they look just like they always have. Like they did when they were your age. Truth is, there aren't any grown-ups. Not one, in the whole wide world.”
Neil Gaiman, The Ocean at the End of the Lane
▪ “Might makes right, Diane.”
▪ It’s not about right and wrong, it’s about reality. We live in a world full of not-right people, and if your boss isn’t cutting on you with knives, they’re probably cutting on you with words or neglect. If you know anyone long enough—boss, friend, lover, child, parent—they’re either going to do one or the other.”
▪ I spent the first half of my life worried about other people and look where it got me. Maybe I don’t want to think about other people anymore—except my kids, of course. But everyone else? No, thank you. They can take their opinions and jump in a lake. Maybe it’s time for me to just take what I want.”
▪ “Another belief of mine: that everyone else my age is an adult, whereas I am merely in disguise.”
Margaret Atwood, Cat's Eye
▪ I’d meant what I’d said. I wanted to be wooed. I wanted someone to work for me.
▪ no man was responsible for my happiness or satisfaction, I had complete control over both, and that was that.
▪ Waitstaff were some of the hardest working folks and certainly didn’t deserve all the petty complaints they received
▪ I thought you were supposed to present everything about yourself in the most flattering light possible.”
“That is correct, but I shouldn’t sound like I’m bragging. So, I tell a version of the truth that doesn’t make me look bad, but also doesn’t make me look unapproachable. This is especially true for women. There’s a reason why lady doctors have trouble making a love connection. Men are intimidated by success.”
▪ “Grown-ups don't look like grown-ups on the inside either. Outside, they're big and thoughtless and they always know what they're doing. Inside, they look just like they always have. Like they did when they were your age. Truth is, there aren't any grown-ups. Not one, in the whole wide world.”
Neil Gaiman, The Ocean at the End of the Lane
▪ “Might makes right, Diane.”
▪ It’s not about right and wrong, it’s about reality. We live in a world full of not-right people, and if your boss isn’t cutting on you with knives, they’re probably cutting on you with words or neglect. If you know anyone long enough—boss, friend, lover, child, parent—they’re either going to do one or the other.”
▪ “It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.”
Oriah, Mountain Dreamer
▪ Raise your voice until you are heard. Look however you want, be whoever you want, and demand people pay attention to you. Stop taking what you’re given, and demand the space in life you want.”
K.F. Breene, Magical Midlife Madness
▪ When we find ourselves in a midlife depression, suddenly hate our spouse, our jobs, our lives – we can be sure that the unlived life is seeking our attention.”
Robert A Johnson
▪ Mrs. Miniver suddenly understood why she was enjoying the forties so much better than she had enjoyed the thirties: it was the difference between August and October, between the heaviness of late summer and the sparkle of early autumn, between the ending of an old phase and the beginning of a fresh one.”
Jan Struther, Mrs. Miniver
▪ Life and truth don’t wait until you’re ready.
▪ “I am incapable of conceiving infinity, and yet I do not accept finity. I want this adventure that is the context of my life to go on without end.”
Simone de Beauvoir, La Vieillesse
▪ You don’t think staying committed in a marriage is noble?”
I could see he wanted to lighten the mood, but I wanted him to know where I stood. I told the truth, “No. Not always. Not if one party is shouldering all the burden, not if both people aren’t striving to be worthy of that commitment, and especially not when one of those people is a sociopath. Staying in a marriage like that isn’t noble, it’s spiritual suicide. And I don’t think Saint Peter would take kindly to me knocking on the pearly gates without my spirit.”
▪ Aging is not 'lost youth' but a new stage of opportunity and strength.”
Betty Friedan
▪ In business, I could read people like a book. But when my feelings were involved, I’d always let hopes cloud my judgement.
▪ Folks enjoy making claims about knowing exactly what they’d do in every situation, but the truth is until it’s staring you in the face and it’s your situation, you don’t know a damn thing. It’s all a guess until it’s real and real decisions have to be made.”
Oriah, Mountain Dreamer
▪ Raise your voice until you are heard. Look however you want, be whoever you want, and demand people pay attention to you. Stop taking what you’re given, and demand the space in life you want.”
K.F. Breene, Magical Midlife Madness
▪ When we find ourselves in a midlife depression, suddenly hate our spouse, our jobs, our lives – we can be sure that the unlived life is seeking our attention.”
Robert A Johnson
▪ Mrs. Miniver suddenly understood why she was enjoying the forties so much better than she had enjoyed the thirties: it was the difference between August and October, between the heaviness of late summer and the sparkle of early autumn, between the ending of an old phase and the beginning of a fresh one.”
Jan Struther, Mrs. Miniver
▪ Life and truth don’t wait until you’re ready.
▪ “I am incapable of conceiving infinity, and yet I do not accept finity. I want this adventure that is the context of my life to go on without end.”
Simone de Beauvoir, La Vieillesse
▪ You don’t think staying committed in a marriage is noble?”
I could see he wanted to lighten the mood, but I wanted him to know where I stood. I told the truth, “No. Not always. Not if one party is shouldering all the burden, not if both people aren’t striving to be worthy of that commitment, and especially not when one of those people is a sociopath. Staying in a marriage like that isn’t noble, it’s spiritual suicide. And I don’t think Saint Peter would take kindly to me knocking on the pearly gates without my spirit.”
▪ Aging is not 'lost youth' but a new stage of opportunity and strength.”
Betty Friedan
▪ In business, I could read people like a book. But when my feelings were involved, I’d always let hopes cloud my judgement.
▪ Folks enjoy making claims about knowing exactly what they’d do in every situation, but the truth is until it’s staring you in the face and it’s your situation, you don’t know a damn thing. It’s all a guess until it’s real and real decisions have to be made.”
▪ —they didn’t know. Until it’s you, you don’t know.
▪ Square jaws and thick hair and expressive eyes don’t make a man.
Thoughts and actions make a man, specifically the ability to take action and a willingness to think. And, I supposed, that’s what made a woman too.
▪ We'll never be as young as we are tonight.”
Chuck Palahniuk, Rant
▪ At an early age I learned that people make mistakes, and you have to decide if their mistakes are bigger than your love for them.”
Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give
▪ “The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status, or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we all believe that we are above-average drivers.”
Dave Barry, Dave Barry Turns Fifty
▪ “I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.”
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
▪ “I do not think, sir, you have any right to command me, merely because you are older than I, or because you have seen more of the world than I have; your claim to superiority depends on the use you have made of your time and experience.”
Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
▪ All grown-ups were once children... but only few of them remember it.”
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince
▪ That’s like telling the sun it shouldn’t rise, baby.” I scanned my hastily composed list. Satisfied, I passed the notepad to him. “It’s going to rise, no matter what you say or think or command it to do. The sun rises. Mothers worry.”
▪ “It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong.”
Voltaire, The Age of Louis XIV
▪ Square jaws and thick hair and expressive eyes don’t make a man.
Thoughts and actions make a man, specifically the ability to take action and a willingness to think. And, I supposed, that’s what made a woman too.
▪ We'll never be as young as we are tonight.”
Chuck Palahniuk, Rant
▪ At an early age I learned that people make mistakes, and you have to decide if their mistakes are bigger than your love for them.”
Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give
▪ “The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status, or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we all believe that we are above-average drivers.”
Dave Barry, Dave Barry Turns Fifty
▪ “I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.”
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
▪ “I do not think, sir, you have any right to command me, merely because you are older than I, or because you have seen more of the world than I have; your claim to superiority depends on the use you have made of your time and experience.”
Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
▪ All grown-ups were once children... but only few of them remember it.”
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince
▪ That’s like telling the sun it shouldn’t rise, baby.” I scanned my hastily composed list. Satisfied, I passed the notepad to him. “It’s going to rise, no matter what you say or think or command it to do. The sun rises. Mothers worry.”
▪ “It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong.”
Voltaire, The Age of Louis XIV
▪ People who long for their youth, for a simpler time, are really just longing for an existence of blissful ignorance, where other people’s struggles and suffering are conveniently kept quiet so as not to ruin their good time, or their ability to sleep at night. No such time has existed for me.”
▪ Subscribing to the rules imposed by a society that has always failed me has never seemed necessary. Law and order didn’t give a shit about me—not when I was a kid in those homes, not when I was a runaway, not in the Army, not when I got back from overseas. Never. They never have. Fuck society and fuck law and order.”
▪ Razor and Romeo don’t care about me. I never mistook their interest in and exploitation of my abilities as care, not once. But at least they’re honest.” I glanced at Isaac, smiling grimly. “At least they didn’t throw themselves parades, pontificating about their Christian values while turning a blind eye to anything that doesn’t directly affect them. They ain’t Christians, they’re the pharisees. This country is full of hypocrites. Razor and Romeo, they’re scum and they’re crazy, but they’ve never pretended to be anything other than just exactly that.”
▪ Adults trusting other adults was one thing. I believed in free will and self-determination. Folks made their bed; they needed to sleep in the consequences. But kids trusting the wrong adults didn’t deserve nasty consequences. They deserved protection and patience.
▪ Wrinkles should merely indicate where the smiles have been.”
Mark Twain
▪ Nothing is quite the same as a hug from your child; it’s like being wrapped in contentment and happiness.
▪ We don't see people as they are. We see people as we are.”
Anaïs Nin, Little Birds
▪ Freedom at the direct expense of another person’s wellbeing was the worst kind of evil. It was selfishness masquerading as liberty, hypocrisy wearing the clothes of perseverance and grit. I wanted none of it.
▪ To be half a century plus is wonderfully exciting, because I haven't lost any of my past, and I am free to stand on the rock of all that the past has taught me as I look to the future.”
Madeleine L'Engle, A Circle of Quiet
▪ If you don’t want someone to get your goat, don’t let them know where it’s tied.
▪ Therefore, if at any time he grew tired of my company, I’d figure things out on my own. I would not stay where I wasn’t wanted, suffering with unrequited feelings. Fugitive or not, life was too short to waste time loving someone who doesn’t have common sense to see my beauty and strength enough to love me back and treat me well.
▪ Subscribing to the rules imposed by a society that has always failed me has never seemed necessary. Law and order didn’t give a shit about me—not when I was a kid in those homes, not when I was a runaway, not in the Army, not when I got back from overseas. Never. They never have. Fuck society and fuck law and order.”
▪ Razor and Romeo don’t care about me. I never mistook their interest in and exploitation of my abilities as care, not once. But at least they’re honest.” I glanced at Isaac, smiling grimly. “At least they didn’t throw themselves parades, pontificating about their Christian values while turning a blind eye to anything that doesn’t directly affect them. They ain’t Christians, they’re the pharisees. This country is full of hypocrites. Razor and Romeo, they’re scum and they’re crazy, but they’ve never pretended to be anything other than just exactly that.”
▪ Adults trusting other adults was one thing. I believed in free will and self-determination. Folks made their bed; they needed to sleep in the consequences. But kids trusting the wrong adults didn’t deserve nasty consequences. They deserved protection and patience.
▪ Wrinkles should merely indicate where the smiles have been.”
Mark Twain
▪ Nothing is quite the same as a hug from your child; it’s like being wrapped in contentment and happiness.
▪ We don't see people as they are. We see people as we are.”
Anaïs Nin, Little Birds
▪ Freedom at the direct expense of another person’s wellbeing was the worst kind of evil. It was selfishness masquerading as liberty, hypocrisy wearing the clothes of perseverance and grit. I wanted none of it.
▪ To be half a century plus is wonderfully exciting, because I haven't lost any of my past, and I am free to stand on the rock of all that the past has taught me as I look to the future.”
Madeleine L'Engle, A Circle of Quiet
▪ If you don’t want someone to get your goat, don’t let them know where it’s tied.
▪ Therefore, if at any time he grew tired of my company, I’d figure things out on my own. I would not stay where I wasn’t wanted, suffering with unrequited feelings. Fugitive or not, life was too short to waste time loving someone who doesn’t have common sense to see my beauty and strength enough to love me back and treat me well.
▪ “Life is so strange,” I said and thought in unison, though I hadn’t planned to speak at all.
Jason glanced at me and then back to the road. “How so?”
Since he asked . . . “Just when we think our path is set and we’re cruising along toward the inevitable tomorrow, the good Lord sees fit to throw a sexy, sweet motorcycle man in my path to shake everything up.”
▪ a beginning based on mutual love and trust seemed like the perfect foundation for a future.
Jason glanced at me and then back to the road. “How so?”
Since he asked . . . “Just when we think our path is set and we’re cruising along toward the inevitable tomorrow, the good Lord sees fit to throw a sexy, sweet motorcycle man in my path to shake everything up.”
▪ a beginning based on mutual love and trust seemed like the perfect foundation for a future.
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