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She Knew What It Was To Wait For Someone Who Would Never Come Home. She Knew That Grief, Like A Scar, Faded But Never Really Went Away.
-Libba Bray
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She Knew What It

Libba Bray
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She Knew What It Was To Wait For Someone Who Would Never Come Home. She Knew That Grief, Like A Scar, Faded But Never Really Went Away.

Understanding the Quote: "she knew what it was to wait for someone who would never..."

This quote by Libba Bray reflects deeply on the theme of grief. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Grief, Home, Waiting, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Libba Bray interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Libba Bray

Libba Bray is celebrated for insightful thoughts on grief and home. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Topic
Grief
Home
Waiting
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Eye
Thinking
Beauty, Grace, And Charm My Foot. It's A School For Sadists With Good Tea-serving Skills.
School
Skills
Feet
She Bestowed The Blessing Of A Wild Girl's Lips.
Girl
Blessing
Lips
I Changed The World; The World Changed Me. Everything You Do Comes Back To You. When You Affect A Situation, You Are Also Affected.
World
Changed
Situation
You're Special. I'm Special. The Whole World's Special, So Don't You Forget It. The Universe Wants Us All To Be Happy, Full Of Smiles And All That Stuff, All That Stuff That's Happy And Smiley. So Get Happy, Happy, Happy Right Now! Get Happy, Happy, Happy Right Now! Get Happy, Happy, Happy Right Now!
Special
World
Want
When She Can't Bring Me To Heal With Scolding, She Bends Me To Shape With Guilt.
Family
Home
Guilt
Ain't That A Sight? With All The Things We Know And Learn, We Still Ain't Touched The Big Mysteries -- Where We Come From, Where We Go Next, Why We Even Her. And When Something Truly Miraculous Happens, We Run And Hide In Our Caves. We Deny.
Running
Sight
Where We Come
There’s A Moment Of Profound Sadness That Can Be Dispelled Only By Summoning My Anger.
Sadness
Profound
Moments
Free The Snow Globes!
Snow
Globes
Going Bovine
The World Is Only As Fair As You Can Make It. Takes A Lot Of Fight. A Lot Of Fight. But If You Stay In Here, In Your Little Cave, That's One Less Fighter On The Side Of Fair.
Fighting
Caves
World
We Are English, And I Expect You To Behave As Such. No More Crying.
Cry
Behave
There Is A Dualism Inherent In Democracy--opposing Forces Pushing Against Each Other, Always. Culture Clashes. Different Belief Systems. All Coming Together To Create This Country. But This Balance Takes A Great Deal Of Energy.
Country
Together
Democracy
I Stare At The Pile Of Discarded Remnants And Think Of My Mother. Did She Touch That Pillar There? Does Her Scent Still Linger In A Fragment Of Glass Or A Splinter Of Wood? A Terrible Emptiness Settles Into My Chest. No Matter How Much I Go About Living, There Are Always Small Reminders That Make The Loss Fresh Again.
Mother
Loss
Thinking
She Was Tired Of Being Told How It Was By This Generation, Who’d Botched Things So Badly. They’d Sold Their Children A Pack Of Lies: God And Country. Love Your Parents. All Is Fair. And Then They’d Sent Those Boys, Her Brother, Off To Fight A Great Monster Of A War That Maimed And Killed And Destroyed Whatever Was Inside Them. Still They Lied, Expecting Her To Mouth The Words And Play Along. Well, She Wouldn’t. She Knew Now That The World Was A Long Way From Fair. She Knew The Monsters Were Real.
Life
Country
Brother
You Are Working Up To Mr. Fantastic Fiction Levels Of Zombie Expert, Which Is Like Playing Guitar Hero On Some Level That Actually Melts The Guitar Controller, Burning Your Fingers With Searing Hot Plastic Till You Scream In Pain. Only With Words. And Zombies.
Pain
Hero
Guitar
I Invited Myself. Thought This Table Needed Some Class.
Class
Tables
Needed
So, Now I've Been To See A Drug Counselor Who Told Me I Need To Lay Off The Drugs And Talk About My Feelings, And A Shrink Who Heard What I Had To Say And Immediately Put Me On Drugs.
Drug
Feelings
Needs
You Want To Know What Pain Is? Try Running Out Of Advil When You've Got A Category Five Period. I've Had Cramps That Would Make Grown Men Beg For A Bullet Between The Eyes." - Jennifer, "beauty Queens
Running
Queens
Pain
Why Does Anyone Do Anything? Belief. A Belief That They Are Right And Just In Their Actions. Abraham Was Willing To Sacrifice His Son, Isaac, Because He Believed That God Had Commanded It. To Kill Your Son Is Unthinkable. A Crime. But If You Are Acting In The Belief That Your God, Your Supreme Deity Whom You Must Obey, Has Demanded It Of You, Is It Still A Crime?
Son
Sacrifice
Acting
Come Awake, Tom. Fathers Can Willfully Hurt Their Children. They Can Be Addicts Too Weak To Give Up Their Vices, No Matter The Pain It Causes. Mothers Can Turn You Invisible With Neglect. They Can Erase You With A Denial, A Refusal To See. Friends Can Deceive You. People Lie. It Is A Cold, Hard World. I Do Not Blame Nell Hawkins For Retreating From It Into A Madness Of Her Own Choosing.
Mother
Hurt
Pain
Goodbye," I Whisper At Last, When It No Longer Matters And There Is No One To Hear It But The Window.
Goodbye
Matter
Lasts
Gonzo Narrows His Eyes. 'how Often Do You Clean That Thing?' 'every Night,' The Waitress Answers. Her Smile Is Strained. 'that's It? Do You Know How Long It Takes For Listeria To Grow Under Those Hot Lamps, Even With Ice?' Here We Go. 'it Can Happen In Just Five Hours. Five Hours And You've Got The Salad Bar Of Death!' The Waitress Looks Confused. 'from Listerine?
Confused
Eye
Night
Because You Don't Notice The Light Without A Bit Of Shadow. Everything Has Both Dark And Light. You Have To Play With It Till You Get It Exactly Right.
Dark
Play
Light
The Rules Of Magic, My Dear, Are Best Not Discusses. For Once We Understand The Illusion, We No Longer Believe It.
Believe
Magic
Illusion
We've Left The Moment. It's Gone. We're Somewhere Else Now, And That's Okay. We've Still Got That Moment With Us Somewhere, Deep In Our Memory, Seeping Into Our Dna. And When Our Cells Get Scattered , Whenever That Happens, This Moment Will Still Exist In Them. Those Cells Might Be The Biulding Block Of Something New. A Planet Or Star Or A Sunflower, A Baby. Maybe Even A Cockroach. Who Knows? Whatever It Is, It'll Be A Part Of Us, This Thing Right Here And Now, And We'll Be A Part Of It.
Baby
Stars
Memories
Thou Shalt Not Steal. I Seem To Recall That Being One Of God’s I’d Rather You Didn’t Lest I Have To Smite You Into Ash Commandments.
Ashes
Stealing
Recalls
My Dad Was A Presbyterian Minister. Yes, I Am One Of Those Dreaded P.k.s - Preachers Kids. Be Afraid.
Dad
Kids
Ministers
...i Took Advanced Powerpoint Last Semester. You Guys Are Always Misunderestimating Me. I'm Totally Ready To Handle The Big Stuff.
Guy
Stuff
Lasts
They Misspelled 'party.' How Evil Genius Can They Be?
Party
Evil
Genius
To Live Is To Love, To Love Is To Live.
Love Is
...because Really, Sometimes The Irony Gods Just Get Drunk.
Drunk
Irony
Sometimes
I've Never Done Acid, Finding It Hard To Go Willingly To A Place That Could Be Frightening, Hellish, And Totally Beyond My Control. A Place Much Like High School.
School
Done
Acid
I Know Because I Read...your Mind Is Not A Cage. It's A Garden. And It Requires Cultivating.
Garden
Mind
Cages
Please Do Not Strain Yourself, Miss Doyle. I Won't Have My Girls Going Cross-eyed In The Name Of Art.
Girl
Art
Names
I Feel Like I Swallowed A Magritte. Like On The Inside, I'm Made Of Clouds And Floating Eyes, Green Apples, And Slowly Rising Men In Bowler Hats.
Eye
Men
Clouds
With Each Shimmy, The Bugle Beads On Their Scandalously Revealing Costumes Swung And Shook. It Was The Sort Of Display Evie Knew Her Mother Would Have Found Appalling—an Example Of The Moral Decay Of The Young Generation. It Was Sexual And Dangerous And Thrilling, And Evie Wanted More Of It.
Mother
Young Generation
Example
Eve Didn't Choose To Eat The Apple. She Was Tempted By The Serpent." "yes," I Argue, Thoughts Coming Out Half-formed. "but...she Didn't Have To Take A Bite. She Chose To.
Apples
Half
Arguing
People Tend To Think That Hate Is The Most Dangerous Emotion. But Love Is Equally Dangerous,” Will Said. “there Are Many Stories Of Spirits Haunting The Places And People Who Meant The Most To Them. In Fact, There Are More Of Those Than There Are Revenge Stories.
Revenge
Hate
Love Is
He Took Comfort In The Neon Signs, The Wild Strands Of Jazz Creeping Out Of Clubs Whenever Happy Swells Of People Pushed Through The Doors In Their Finery.
Doors
People
Comfort
True Affection And Love Have A Purity Which Shall Always Prevail Over Bigotry.
And Love
Affection
Purity
As A Kid, I Imagined Lots Of Different Scenarios For My Life. I Would Be An Astronaut. Maybe A Cartoonist. A Famous Explorer Or Rock Star. Never Once Did I See Myself Standing Under The Window Of A House Belonging To Some Druggie Named Carbine, Waiting For His Yard Gnome To Steal His Stash So I Could Get A Cab Back To A Cheap Motel Where My Friend, A Neurotic, Death-obsessed Dwarf, Was Waiting For Me So We Could Get On The Road To An Undefined Place And A Mysterious Dr. X, Who Would Cure Me Of Mad Cow Disease And Stop A Band Of Dark Energy From Destroying The Universe.
Stars
Kids
Dark
I Run After Her, Not Really Giving Chase. I’m Running Because I Can, Because I Must. Because I Want To See How Far I Can Go Before I Have To Stop.
Life
Running
Giving
But If We Are To Remain A Great Empire, We Must Have A Greater Understanding Of The Hearts And Minds Of Others.
Heart
Understanding
Mind
When I Dream, I Dream Of Him. For Several Nights Now He’s Come To Me, Waving From A Distant Shore As If He’s Been Waiting Patiently For Me To Arrive. He Doesn’t Utter A Word, But His Smile Says Everything: I’ve Missed You.
Good Night
Dream
Waiting
Dude, This Is A Stoner Conversation And We're Not Even High
Stoners
Conversation
The Night's Chilly Breath Tickles Up My Neck And Finds My Ear, Whispering Secrets Only The Wind Knows.
Night
Wind
Secret
There Is No Greater Power On This Earth Than Story.
Stories
Earth
Storytelling
She Never Utters A Sound Even When She's Crying, And That Makes Me A Little Sad. Doesn't Seem Right. When You Cry, People Should Hear You. The World Should Stop.
People
Sound
World
Centuries Of Fighting, And For What? I Say. "today It Ends. I Can't Live In Fear Any Longer. I've Cursed This Power. I've Both Enjoyed And Misused It. And I've Hidden It Away. Now I Must Try To Wield It Correctly, To Marry It To A Purpose And Hope That Is Enough.
Fighting
Trying
Purpose
Hot Off The Presses, Today’s Headlines: The Love Of Your Life Does Not Approve Of My Wanton Flapper Ways,” Evie Said In A Voice Of Affected Mystery. “really, Mabesie. You Might Want To Reconsider—he Is A Bit Of A Killjoy.
Voice
Hot
Doe
All Things Are Possible.
Wall
All Things
I'm Floating Inside My Skin. I Could Go On Floating Like This For Days. Right Now, The Real World With Its Heartbreak And Disappointments Is Just A Pulse Against The Protective Membrane We've Drunk Ourselves Into. It's Somewhere Outside Us, Waiting." A Great And Terrible Beauty, Page 141, By
Disappointment
Real
Drunk
Helloooo." Miss Ohio Rolled Her Eyes. "i'm From The Buckeye State. We Are Serious About Our Tailgating Parties. I Can Turn Anything Into A Grill.
Party
Eye
Ohio
If You Tell Them What They Want To Hear, They Don't Bother To Try To See.
Trying
Want
Bother
Evie Wanted To Cry. From Fear. From Exhaustion, Yes. But Mostly From The Cruel Uselessness, The Damned Stupid Arbitrariness Of It All.
Stupid
Cry
Wanted
I Shan't Ever Understand Your Willingness To Lie Down And Die," Felicity Bars. "if You Won't At Least Try To Fight, I Have No Sympathy For You.
Lying
Fighting
Trying
People Have A Habit Of Inventing Fictions They Will Believe Wholeheartedly In Order To Ignore The Truth They Cannot Accept.
Believe
Order
People
How Do You Invent A Religion?” Evie Asked. Will Looked Over The Top Of His Spectacles. “you Say, ‘god Told Me The Following,’ And Then Wait For People To Sign Up.
People
Waiting
Following
The Desperation Meeting The Silence With Its Unmasked Wish.
Silence
Wish
Desperation
She Holds Up A Finger. "i'm Getting To It. Don't Rush A Girl In The Middle Of Her Exposition.
Girl
Middle
Fingers
Prohibition? I Drink To Its Health Whenever I Can.
Drink
Prohibition
I Can
No One Can Steal Our Dream.
Dream
Stealing
Our Dreams
Dead Bodies Are Such Trouble,” Evie Said With A Little Sigh, And Mabel Had To Turn Her Head Away So As Not To Laugh.
Laughing
Body
Littles
Evie Hadn’t Always Felt That Way. For A Year After James Had Died, She’d Cupped His Half-dollar Pendant Between Her Pressed Palms And Prayed Fervently For A Miracle, For A Telegram That Would Say Good News! It Was A Terrible Mistake, And Private James Xavier O’neill Has Been Found, Safe, In A Farmhouse In France. But No Such Telegram Ever Arrived, And Whatever Possible Faith Might Have Bloomed In Evie Withered And Died. Now She Saw It As Just Another Advertisement For A Life That Belonged To A Previous Generation And Held No Meaning For Hers.
Mistake
Years
Miracle
I Am A Jumble Of Passions, Misgivings, And Wants. It Seems That I Am Always In A State Of Wishing And Rarely In A State Of Contentment.
Passion
Wish
Contentment
That's What Living In Their World Is-a Big Lie. An Illusion Where Everyone Looks The Other Way And Pretends That Nothing Unpleasant Exists At All, No Goblins Of The Dark, No Ghosts Of The Soul.
Lying
Dark
Soul
Retribution Is A Dog Chasing Its Tail.
Dog
Tails
Retribution
A Pair Of Blue Noses On The Next Bench Glared Their Disapproval At Evie’s Knee-length Dress. Evie Decided To Give Them A Real Show. She Hiked Her Skirt And, Humming Jauntily, Rolled Down Her Stockings, Exposing Her Legs. It Had The Desired Effect On The Blue Noses, Who Moved Down The Platform, Clucking About The “disgrace Of The Young.” She Would Not Miss This Place.
Real
Blue
Giving
Around Us The Night Creatures Have Their Say. We Are Surrounded By A Symphony Of Crickets And Frogs. Neither Of Us Feels The Need To Speak, And I Suppose That Is One Of The Qualities I Find Comforting In Kartik. We Can Be Alone Together.
Night
Symphony
Comforting
This Is How The Fire Starts. This Is How We Burn.
Fire
We're All Damaged Somehow."-a Great And Terrible Beauty
Terrible
If There Was One Truth Evie Had Learned In Her Short Life, It Was That Forgiveness Was Easier To Seek Than Permission. She Didn’t Plan To Ask For Either One.
Short Life
Easier
Permission
They Have Money And Position And Ann Has None.it's Amazing How Often You Can Be Right As Long As You Have Those Two Things Working In Your Favor.
Two
Long
Favors
We All Walk In A Land Of Dreams. For What Are We But Atoms And Hope, A Handful Of Stardust And Sinew? We Are Weary Travelers Trying To Find Our Way Home On A Road That Never Ends. Am I A Part Of Your Dream? Or Are You But A Part Of Mine?
Dream
Home
Land
We Create The Illusions We Need To Go On. And One Day, When They No Longer Dazzle Or Comfort, We Tear Them Down, Brick By Glittering Brick, Until We Are Left With Nothing But The Bright Light Of Honesty. The Light Is Liberating. Necessary. Terrifying. We Stand Naked And Emptied Before It. And When It Is Too Much For Our Eyes To Take, We Build A New Illusion To Shield Us From Its Relentless Truth.
Honesty
Eye
Light
But Sons Are A Different Matter To A Man. More A Duty Than An Indulgence.
Son
Men
Different
Please, I'm A Transgender Former Boy-bander. You Think I Don't Know How To Defend Myself?
Boys
Thinking
Transgender
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