We all have favorite lines–phrases–that haunt us or echo in our mind.
I’m recounting some of mine today and why I like them.
Haunting
“She shivered on the birthing bed and sobbed. She couldn’t believe her life was ending so soon.”
I read this line in a Slovenian family history someone brought to a party. It came with the photograph of the young woman who died of puerperal fever.
I’ve never forgotten it and it haunts me with the sadness of a 21 year-old new mother who didn’t get to raise her child.
Ironic
“You can’t exactly dislike a child you’ve given birth to.”
This favorite line comes from Mary Ellis’ The Woods and the Trees, where a mother voices exasperation with her grown son.
He’s embarassed her and, unbeknownst to him, made a fool of himself before his birth father.
It makes me laugh every time.
I always love my children, of course.
Creative language use
“I came home and there were shards of Lego all over my floor!”
Shards, right? (Wikipedia)
My ten year-old son uttered this terrific line after returning from school to find someone had been playing in his room.
Isn’t the word shard perfect for describing Lego pieces scattered and awaiting bare feet?
Haunting
“Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story.”
I read this line last night in Tim O’Brien‘s The Things They Carried.
It echoes with my own experience–as long as someone remembers you, you’re never really lost.
Prize winners
“Max stepped into his private boat and waved goodbye and sailed back over a year and in and out of weeks and through a day and into the night of his very own room where he found his supper waiting for him-and it was still hot. “
What book does this very long line come from?
Will it help if I tell you I submitted it to World Magazine‘s “best last lines contest,” and won a prize?
(You can see my name and read the other submissions here!)
This is my favorite line from Maurice Sendak‘s Where the Wild Things Are.
Song
“You’re rich in love And You’re slow to anger Your name is great And Your heart is kind.”
This is my favorite line in a recent hymn, Bless the Lord Oh My Soul.
Who can say why I tear up at those last four words about God: “Your heart is kind.”
I just like it.
The best
“I love you.”
Does this favorite line ever get old?
I’ve been blessed to hear it, and say it, often in my life.
What are some of your favorite lines?
Tweetables
These are a few of my favorite lines! Click to Tweet
Sendak, O’Brien, Lego and God is kind: favorite lines. Click to Tweet
Poignant, funny, haunting and kind: favorite lines. Click to Tweet
Thoughts? Reactions? Lurker?