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The Measure Of A Man Comes Down To Moments, Spread Out Like Dots Of Pain On The Canvas On Life. Everything You Were, Everything You'll Someday Be, Resides In The Small, Seemingly Ordinary Choices Of Everyday Life.....each Decision Seems As Insignificant As A Left Turn On An Unfamiliar Road When You Have No Destination In Mind. But The Decisions Accumulate Until You Realize One Day That They've Made You The Man That You Are.

-Kristin Hannah

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The Measure Of A

Kristin Hannah

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The Measure Of A Man Comes Down To Moments, Spread Out Like Dots Of Pain On The Canvas On Life. Everything You Were, Everything You'll Someday Be, Resides In The Small, Seemingly Ordinary Choices Of Everyday Life.....each Decision Seems As Insignificant As A Left Turn On An Unfamiliar Road When You Have No Destination In Mind. But The Decisions Accumulate Until You Realize One Day That They've Made You The Man That You Are.

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Lately He'd Been Seen Going Out Less And Less, Becoming That Strangest Of Animals In A Small Town: A Loner.

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She'd Been Criticized For Holding The Reins Of Parenthood Too Tightly, Of Controlling Her Children Too Completely, But She Didn't Know How To Let Go. From The Moment She'd First Decided To Become A Mother, It Had Been An Epic Battle.

Liam Learned That It Was Possible To Appear To Move Forward When You Were Really Standing Still.

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It Had Been Years Since She Question His Fidelity, But He'd Stepped On To The Old Fame Track Again, And That Was Where The Road Had Taken Them Before. Infidelity Could Be Forgiven, But Forgetting It Was Impossible. Strangely, That Wasn't What Bothered Her The Most. What Bothered Her Was That She Didn't Really Care.

The Heat Made People Crazy. They Woke From Their Damp Bedsheets And Went In Search Of A Glass Of Water, Surprised To Find That When Their Vision Cleared, They Were Holding Instead The Gun They Kept Hidden In The Bookcase.

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I Always Thought It Was What I Wanted: To Be Loved And Admired. Now I Think Perhaps I'd Like To Be Known.

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Alice Started To Cry. It Came With No Sound, No Shuddering, No Childlike Hysterics, Just A Soul-deep Release That Turned Into Moisture And Dripped Down Her Puffy Pink Cheeks. She Touched Her Tears, Frowning. Then She Looked Up At Julia And Whimpered Two Words Before She Fell Asleep. ‘real Hurts.’

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Black And White

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The Measure Of A Man Comes Down To Moments, Spread Out Like Dots Of Pain On The Canvas On Life. Everything You Were, Everything You'll Someday Be, Resides In The Small, Seemingly Ordinary Choices Of Everyday Life.....each Decision Seems As Insignificant As A Left Turn On An Unfamiliar Road When You Have No Destination In Mind. But The Decisions Accumulate Until You Realize One Day That They've Made You The Man That You Are.

When You Get . . . To The End, You See That Love And Family Are All There Is. Nothing Else Matters.

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I Know About Forgiving People And Loving Them Anyway, Even After They Hurt You.

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Sometimes Being A Good Friend Means Saying Nothing.

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She Is Like A Child Picking At A Scab, Unable To Stop Herself Even Though She Knows It Will Hurt.

Sometimes You Simply Made The Wrong Choice And You Had To Live With It. You Could Only Change The Future.

I Prefer To Scare Myself In The Ordinary Ways, Daddy. Like Letting My Children Cross The Country For College. Why Bungee Jump When You Can Put A Kindergartener On A School Bus? Now, That's Real Terror.

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Thoughts - Even Fears - Were Airy Things, Formless Until You Made Them Solid With Your Voice And Once Given That Weight, They Could Crush You.

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Sitting Around And Waiting For Your Muse Is Not The Best Choice.

Some Stories Don't Have Happy Endings. Even Love Stories. Maybe Especially Love Stories.

The Hallmark Of My Books Is The Relationships That Define Women's Lives.

....both Had Learned That Everything Could Change In An Instant, And That The Heartfelt Vows Of People In Love Were Fragile Words That, Once Shattered, Could Cut So Deeply You'd Bleed Forever.

Fifteen Minutes Later, Betsy Came Thundering Down The Stairs. "i'm Going To The Mall With Sierra To See A Movie." Michael Leaned Forward, Switched Off The Television. "can You Please Rephrase That In The Form Of A Question?" "sure. Can I Have Some Money?

I Guess No One Stays Friends For More Than Thirty Years Without Broken Hearts Along The Way.

Marriages Go Through Hard Times. Sometimes You Have To Get In There And Fight For Your Love. That's The Only Way For It To Get Better.

I Am Such A Pacific Northwest Girl.

Pacific Northwest

Nothing Was Easier To Shatter Than The Fragile Shield Of An Idealist.

If She Wasn't Careful, She'd Slide Without A Ripple Into The Gently Flowing Stream Of Her Old Life, Pulled Back Under The Current Without A Wimper Of Protest. Another Housewife Lost In The Flow.

That Was The Thing About Best Friends. Like Sisters And Mothers, They Could Piss You Off And Make You Cry And Break Your Heart, But In The End, When The Chips Were Down, They Were There, Making You Laugh Even In Your Darkest Hours.

Stacey: "i'm Surprised You Haven't Thrown Me Out." Comfort: "at Your Current Weight, I'd Need Some Sort Of Catapult.

In The Sea Of Grief, There Were Islands Of Grace, Moments In Time When One Could Remember What Was Left Rather Than All That Had Been Lost.

Their Friendship Was More Important Than Any Relationship. Guys Would Come And Go; Girlfriends Were Forever.

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