Robin Talley Quotes

#1. First, though, she had to go back out there and smile at everyone. Fake her way through the rest of the night and another three days. Pretend to still be normal.

When she was pretty sure she never had been.

Robin Talley

#2. Between the atheism and the lesbian thing, Lily was a terrible Catholic. Even before she'd added murder to her list of sins.

Robin Talley

#3. Lie #4

I'm not lonely.

Robin Talley

#4. If I wanted to have an interesting life - which I did - then there was no point sitting around debating everything in my head on a constant loop. If I wanted my life to change, then Had to do something. Or at least try.

Robin Talley

#5. I was really good at sitting around and debating things in my head.

Robin Talley

#6. Lie #2

I'm sure I'm doing the right thing.

Robin Talley

#7. Lie #6

I'm not strong enough for this.

Robin Talley

#8. It could be our own private universe.

Robin Talley

#9. Frankly, it's self-evident. As people of faith, it's our duty to love everyone, the way God loves everyone. There's no reason why any one group is less deserving of love - either the love of a church community, to the love of a family - than any other.

Robin Talley

#10. I have lots of friends who are straight, privileged white guys, and I'm totally okay with them. I think they should have equal rights, just like he rest of us." Christa laughed again. Her eyes crinkled up, as though she actually thought I was funny. "As long as they don't flaunt it, right?

Robin Talley

#11. Lie #3

I don't care what they think of me.

Robin Talley

#12. Other people will try to decide things for you, she says. They'll try to tell you who you are. Remember, no matter what they say, you're the only who really decides.

Robin Talley

#13. Girls like me smiled politely and always did the right thing. Girls like me definitely didn't sneak away at night to do things that would crush their fathers. And if they did, girls like me knew how to keep it to themselves.

Robin Talley

#14. One girl said that she'd never support giving immigrants jobs because her dad lost his job a few years ago, and the reason he couldn't find a new one was because the government was letting immigrants have all the jobs.

Robin Talley

#15. What if this - this rule that says what I did in the back room that day is a terrible sin - what if that's just a rule some old white man made up, too?

Robin Talley

#16. That was when I forgot how to breathe altogether.

Robin Talley

#17. Lie #1

There's no need to be afraid.

Robin Talley

#18. I didn't ever want this to end.

Robin Talley

#19. Sarah's right. We punish ourselves so much in our own imaginations. We convince ourselves everything we do, everything we think, is wrong.

For eighteen years I've believed what other people told me about what was right and what was wrong. From now. I'm deciding.

Robin Talley

#20. In that moment, it felt like we were the entire world. Just me and those gorgeous stars.

Robin Talley

#21. I'd never been great at meeting people. I wasn't shy or anything, It was only that sometimes, with new people, I didn't know how exactly to start a conversation. I liked to listen first. You could learn a lot about someone that way.

Robin Talley

#22. Lie #5

This can't last forever.

Robin Talley

#23. Lie #7

They won't really hurt me.

Robin Talley

#24. My life was bigger than any one person.

Robin Talley

#25. Last year I told Lori I thought I might be bi. Ever since, whenever she saw me looking at another girl, she asked if I liked her. Lori didn't get that sometimes it was fun just to notice people without having to think about whether you liked them or not.

Robin Talley

#26. But maybe no one knew that much. Maybe everyone was making it up as they went along, the same as me.

Robin Talley

#27. That lovely face sets off a fire inside me that isn't ever supposed to burn.

Robin Talley