In real life, coincidences happen all the time. In novels, they are leapt upon with fury.
Harlan CobenRead
No, I don’t live in heartache. I don’t cry myself to sleep or any of that. I am, I tell myself, over it. But I do feel a void, icky as that sounds. And—like it or not—I still think about her every single day.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The speaker acknowledges moving on from heartbreak but still feels a persistent emptiness and continues to think about a past love.
In this quote, the speaker expresses a complex emotional state where, despite claiming to have moved on from the pain of a past relationship, there is an underlying feeling of emptiness and longing. This void serves as a reminder of the love that once was, indicating that healing is not a linear process and that remnants of past affections can linger, even when one outwardly appears to have recovered.
Themes
HeartacheEmptinessLoveMemoryMoving On
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a therapy session to discuss the complexities of healing from a relationship.
More from Harlan Coben
All quotes →The ugliest truth, in the end, was still better than the prettiest of lies.
Harlan CobenRead
When you like something and you're pretty good at it and you can make a living doing it, you don't ask why. You just count your blessings and go with it.
Harlan CobenRead
Life may not always fall into neat chapters, and you may not always get the satisfying ending you're looking for, but sometimes a good explanation is all the rewrite you need.
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The most annoying and full- of- crap thing a writer says is, I write only for myself, I don't care if anyone reads it. A writer without a reader doesn't exist.
Harlan CobenRead
There's always a price you pay when you lie. Once you introduce a lie into a relationship, even for the best of intentions, it is always there. Whenever you’re with that person again, that lie is in the room too. It sits on your shoulder. Good lie or bad lie, it's in the room with you forever now. It's your constant companion.
Harlan CobenRead
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