Great Big Beautiful Life
by Emily Henry
30 popular highlights from this book
Key Insights & Memorable Quotes
Below are the most popular and impactful highlights and quotes from Great Big Beautiful Life:
“Love isn’t something you can cup in your hands, and I have to believe that means it’s something that can’t ever be lost.”
“I think you live in a world that’s more interesting than the one most people live in,” he says, and just as my heart starts to sink with disappointment, with a kind of loneliness, he adds, “and I wish I could live in it too.” I feel myself beaming. “I’ll take you sometime.” “I’d like that,” he says.”
“It’s yours,” he offers. I laugh. “Oh? I can have the world?” “Mine,” he says, “yeah. You can have mine.”
“When I let myself dream,” he murmurs against my ear, “or it all comes crashing down—it’s Alice, Alice on my mind. Alice all the time.”
“I welcome her to this great big beautiful life.”
“There’s an old saying about stories, and how there are always three versions of them: yours, mine, and the truth.”
“She chokes up again, but she forces herself onward. “Your dad understood you.” Her voice squeaks, and her shoulders lift in a slight shrug. “He understood the things you love. He understood your sense of humor. He had access to pieces of you I couldn’t get to, and I was okay with that, mostly. But when he died—god, Alice, I haven’t been able to figure out how to be what you need. He always knew the right thing to say to you. He always knew how to cheer you up, or how to talk you down. “And I want to be a good parent to you, but I can’t be him.” “I don’t need you to be him,” I promise tearily. “You deserve to have him,” she says. “You don’t know how many times I’ve wished it had been me instead.” “Mom.” My heart cracks, shatters. I wrap my arms around her again. “Don’t say that.”
“Unfortunately, I’m still—at my core—me.”
“The world Freddy Ives lived in was built around him. There wasn't room for her.'I swallow a knot. 'What do you think he should have done?'She turns the full force of those shining blue eyes on me. 'For the one you love? Anything. You unmake the world and build a new one. You do anything to give them what they need.”
“With writing, you could always add more. More, more, more until you got to the heart of a thing, and after that, you could chip away the excess.”
“Your heart’s broken without her, Peggy,” he said, “and mine can’t be whole until yours is.”
“I feel like you’re mine. Like you’re mine in a way no one else ever has been.”
“It’s important that I play this cool. Fact: I have never played it cool in my life.”
“I find myself thinking that maybe every bit of heartbreak in life can be rearranged and used for something beautiful, that it doesn't really matter whether I chose this path or I was born onto it, so long as I stop and appreciate the path itself.”
“There are all kinds of reasons for a woman to want to disappear. Always have been.”
“I’d bet you’re the kind of person,” she says, “who tries to find beauty in everything.” “Don’t you?”
“You’re a human,” I say. “The machine can try to compress you into something two dimensional, digestible, but that’s not you. And we’re not here to service the machine.”
“What a child would deserve and what the world was were two very different things.”
“Hayden’s soft steps resume beside me, muffled and hollow sounding. “Did your dad…Is he gone?” “Died a few years ago,” I confirm. “My parents were pretty old when they had us, so it wasn’t totally unexpected, but it still sucked. Sucks.” “I’m sorry,” he says. I force a slight smile in his direction. “Thanks.” “I always feel stupid saying that,” he murmurs. “I know,” I agree, “but there’s nothing else to say. And honestly, I would say seventy percent of my friends have pretty horrible relationships with their dads, so even if I didn’t get mine as long as I wish I could have, I still feel lucky.” “You’re not obligated to,” he says quietly. “You can feel cheated, Alice.” I feel a surprising prickle at the back of my nose and a tender ache in my heart. Not just because I’m thinking about my dad, but because what Cillian said wings through my mind again: An unpleasant sort. I could never blame Cillian for having that impression, but it bothers me to think of people out there meeting Hayden Anderson and coming away with this partial view of him. He can be unpleasant. He can also be kind, and even funny. He can be clueless that you are standing right next to him, but he also might notice you being harassed from the other side of the parking lot and intercede on your behalf. “I know I can,” I finally admit. “But I’d rather think of it like this. Like it only hurts this much because he was so great.” And so much reminds me of him that in a way it’s like he’s still here. Especially here, in the Georgian summer, interviewing a woman we’d both always been fascinated by. Hayden nods to himself, but neither of us says anything for a while. We just hike along the path in companionable silence, our arms grazing every several steps, our skin slightly sticky.”
“But I think deciding that we're all just on a track, that we never really had any say over our own decisions — it feels like the kind of thing someone with a log of regrets would need to be true.”
“I'm not trying to shut you up, Alice," he says. "It's just that somehow, almost everything you say makes me want to kiss you.”
“And just as fast, I feel a breeze ripple over my back, and it's hard not to believe or maybe just hope-that maybe I didn't need to record it.That maybe he's here, his atoms redistributed, the ashes we sprinkled in the river near our house now mixed with the sand all around me, his love permanent and intractable as ever.Love isn't something you can cup in your hands, and I have to believe that means it's something that can't ever be lost.”
“Not only does he pause, he actually turns toward me and makes eye contact. Huge progress for us. Friendship bracelets incoming, surely.”
“May the best writer win, and may it be enough to make up for the orgasms we forsake.”
“The rest of the time, I think, what if the polar ice caps keep melting? What if medical care keeps getting more expensive, and social security runs out, and housing prices keep rising while minimum wage doesn’t, and what if they resent me for bringing them into all of this?”
“Under his breath, nearly a whisper, he says, “I think if I get this job, you’re going to break my fucking heart.”
“His eyes track the rise and fall of my breath. “We’re still competing for the same job.” “So I’m competition again?” I tease. His hand flexes at my waist, and I’m pulled snug against him, where I can feel every hard line of him. “You were always competition.” “I’m going to kiss you, Hayden,” I say, almost a warning.”
“My nervous energy bubbles over into laughter. His smile widens. It feels like Pop Rocks are sizzling through my veins. Oh boy, I’m in trouble.”
“Another sliver of smile. “But the thing is, none of those kids knew what was going on at home. What Audrey was dealing with. Just like I didn’t know what they were dealing with. Most people aren’t mean for no reason, you know? Stuff’s going on with them too.” “Alice,” he says, softly chiding. “Some people are just assholes.” “I know,” I say. “Some. Not most.” This time, his amusement takes the form of a quiet huff. “What?” I say. “I just…” I can see the wheels turning as he considers his next words. “You might be the least cynical person I’ve ever met. I’m not sure I’ve ever known anyone like you.” I narrow my eyes. “You mean I’m naive.” “No, Alice,” he replies. “If that’s what I meant, then that’s what I would’ve said.”
“Just because something doesn’t make money or win awards doesn’t mean it doesn’t have value.”
