1
Truth and integrity must be so rare these days that it confuses people when they hear it.Donna Lynn Hope
2
There is the purity of love, harmonious in every way, but not meant for a lifetime, and then there is the steady love of commitment - no less real but completely different. She had both.Donna Lynn Hope
3
Darling, if I take your breath away, I will give you mine.Donna Lynn Hope
4
Underneath the sky, so void of light, the rain soaked me through. I held on to the railing and felt calm, even content, and then he had to reach through the dark, raise my temperature and make my heart beat a little bit faster. Not very gallant I should say...especially so close to bedtime. Friend or not, should he rob me of sleep, I'll be sure to take his.Donna Lynn Hope
5
I think anyone who opened their heart enough to love without restraint and subsequently were devastated by loss knows that in that moment you are forever changed; a apart of you is no longer whole. Some will never again love with that level of abandon where life is perceived as innocent and the threat of loss seems implausible. Love and loss, therefore, are linked.Donna Lynn Hope
6
We love because we can lose. If there was no threat of separation, no death to shake us to our core, we probably wouldn't love much at all.Donna Lynn Hope
7
Connecting with someone is not necessarily a bond with a significant other, or even a friend, but can be the indefinable - perhaps the rarest and most precious thing in life to find at all.Donna Lynn Hope
8
I thought I would prefer apathy over this, " I confided to her. "Why?" she asked. "Are you saying you would rather be cold than comforted? He's looking at you and offering his hand in friendship and you're rudely looking away pretending not to notice. At least with him you wouldn't be so alone." I felt my eyes turn into colorless pools as I glared at her for stating the obvious. "Being numb to someone is better than feeling something, " I explained. "Safer you mean, " she interrupted. I sighed and continued, "When someone who was once significant in your life comes back after an extended absence, emotions you had finally freed yourself from are reawakened, and if that's not enough to contend with, dormant memories are summoned whether you want them to be or not." "And what is it that you want?" she posed triumphantly. I swallowed my anger and thought with defeat, "Nothing anyone can give me.Donna Lynn Hope
9
Even "meant to be" takes work.Donna Lynn Hope
10
People change us. It is a rare, if not an impossible occurrence, that we come out of relationships unscathed. In our dealings with people we take something with us and we leave something behind. Some people are haunted more than others, either by the sweet perfume of another or the stink of regret.Donna Lynn Hope
11
There was once a spirited feral mustang broken in by her stern rider. It was a harmonious relationship for the most part but, like any relationship, she tested the boundaries he placed on her and threw him... Would the rider, having suffered his own wound, retaliate, discipline or forgive?Donna Lynn Hope
12
I'd rather be befriended as an aimless lost soul than be befriended for adornment, gain or goal.Donna Lynn Hope
13
Am I a friend or a prospect? Imagine how much kinder life would be if people put as much effort into befriending others instead of trying to sell them something.Donna Lynn Hope
14
It's way too easy to see the real face of a person. They're amiable and full of pretense when they want something from you, but the minute you don't give in, back away or put yourself first (like they do) is the minute they show you who they really are.Donna Lynn Hope
15
No, we aren't civilized, even in our business suits and high heels. People are as mean as ever, and as predictable. Underneath it all, we are not so different from what lurks in the wild, perhaps we're worse.Donna Lynn Hope
16
Where are the memories that held us together? Where are the dreams that were yet to come? I'm afraid to be happy. I shouldn't be happy. If I'm happy without you does that mean I've told you goodbye?Donna Lynn Hope
17
One of the disadvantages to having a choice is the inevitability to hang oneself on freedoms rope.Donna Lynn Hope
18
The most beautiful women I have known had one thing in common apart from beauty: humility. It's a shame that those with less to boast about do it the most.Donna Lynn Hope
19
I wonder if pain comes from surrendering or resisting?Donna Lynn Hope
20
Bravery is the ability to endure, even unto death, all types of terrible, terrifying and painful situations and we live in a time when people do all that they can to avoid hardship and pain, never realizing that strength and courage is found in both.Donna Lynn Hope
21
The empath helps others by absorbing some of their pain, but who helps the empath?Donna Lynn Hope
22
I think part of your attraction to him is the draw of the unknown, of being different, even special. He is so out of the ordinary that you feel pulled to that because you yourself are not so ordinary. You're alone. And sometimes the pain of so much loss is written across your face. You wear it like an adornment and that causes other people to wonder about you; they can't relate to you and what you've been through, but you can relate to him in his dark state.Donna Lynn Hope
23
Affliction equips the suffering to empathize with others in anguish and not only does it strengthen them, it enables them to be consoling comforters in a world full of hurt.Donna Lynn Hope
24
How much pain a person detains may be proportionate to the pain they spare others when they'd rather hurt than hurt another.Donna Lynn Hope
25
You can't be in my world... You live in this one.Donna Lynn Hope
26
Some families are an odd melting pot of strangers with the occasional offering of obligation.Donna Lynn Hope
27
You don't build a family by tearing down another one.Donna Lynn Hope
28
I can't help it. You bring it out in me, " he accused. "No, " I said. "You're choosing to let me get to you. Don't. It's all in the mind.Donna Lynn Hope
29
Power, a paycheck and control do sick things to those who have the illusion of possessing it.Donna Lynn Hope
30
I have a deep appreciation for anything that challenges my morality. I tend to wonder which thing or person might overpower my beliefs and would I avoid it altogether in order to say, "It didn't conquer me, " or would I accept the challenge head-on in an attempt to prevail? Which requires greater courage?Donna Lynn Hope
31
We deny more than we confess. We hide more than we reveal. We assume because it makes us feel exposed if we have to ask. It's easier to say "I feel nothing" than to admit "I feel something." It takes no courage to say, "I hate you" but it takes a great deal of moxie to declare its opposite. Masks are elaborate and everyone has one. It takes a while to get to know people. This doesn't make them special, it makes them like everyone else. Sometimes our hearts scream yes while our heads say run; and only one can be obeyed.Donna Lynn Hope
32
Have you seen what wolves do to their prey? But they do mate for life.Donna Lynn Hope
33
If its danger you seek, come on over. I covet tranquility but beget the tempest storm.Donna Lynn Hope
34
Some people confuse intensity for passion and challenge for attraction.Donna Lynn Hope
35
Grab tightly to the reigns of passion and ride into glory for without it life would be stagnant and you would be a spirit without cause.Donna Lynn Hope
36
I love men. I also hate men; I wouldn't want to be in a world without them but I have to say, it's not a compliment to know a man wants to sleep with you. It's only a compliment when he will go to great lengths for you.Donna Lynn Hope
37
You're flattered because he wants to sleep with you? Who doesn't he want to sleep with?Donna Lynn Hope
38
Joy — in the fall, winter, and always in the mountains where people are few, wildlife is abundant and there is peace in the quiet.Donna Lynn Hope
39
People like us are dead to society unless we’re pretentious, tell people what they want to hear, take off our clothes, or pretend to be like them.Donna Lynn Hope
40
Society nowadays tells people that their happiness is all that matters but happiness is never found if it costs someone else’s theirs. That is not what happiness is, nor would such a person deserve it, because happiness is forged by the setting aside of self and in doing for others to make them happy first and foremost, so if you have to hurt another human being to “find your happiness, ” then you have no clue what the word actually means or what it’s willing to do, and in being so self-centered and entitled, it’s veritably tragic that the only care and concern you have is for yourself.Donna Lynn Hope
41
One woman's definition of success may not be another's. Is success, as the world defines it, an accomplishment in a society this sick?Donna Lynn Hope
42
He studied the woman before him, not as lovely as she once was, ordinary in appearance, scarred by living, abandoned by many, breathtakingly to be near and altogether unforgettable. "I have no friends, " she spoke forth hauntingly. "I am alone." He couldn't believe it. But then he could for the rare creature near enough to touch was out of their league. She wasn't envied for the shallowness of appearance or the superficiality of status or possessions; she was envied for being uncommon and for possessing indomitable strength, something only a lifetime of suffering could shape.Donna Lynn Hope
43
For those who have learned what suffering is early on, you have prepared ahead of the pack so that you can take care of the pack.Donna Lynn Hope
44
Her scar tissue, which she seems to amass both physically and mentally, may not be pretty, but they have become tougher than if she had never been wounded at all.Donna Lynn Hope
45
Only strong women, and they seem to be rare, can handle a frank and direct woman who doesn't sweet-talk or need others to nerve her. You can identify the easily intimidated because they need a gaggle of like-minded clones to back them up when they feign offense, which is merely a guise for their insecurity.Donna Lynn Hope
46
In a fit of anger he had said to her, "You'll always be miserable, " to which she thoughtfully replied, "Is that so? It's impossible to be miserable when you've known tragedy and hardship. Both strengthen and refine a person to the point where they may have moments of grief and sadness, but misery is known only to those who have a sense of entitlement...you know, people like you.Donna Lynn Hope
47
I don't admire the person who hides from the world and claims enlightenment. To be purified you have to be tested and there is no better test of strength than dealing with other people.Donna Lynn Hope
48
We start our sometimes tedious, sometimes exciting, often times sad and stressful march to the grave the moment we're born, so it might as well be a march worth remembering.Donna Lynn Hope
49
What have I to prove, and to whom, and why? I'm keen enough to want nothing more than to live a simple, humble, unfettered life.Donna Lynn Hope
50
Powerful words that penetrate the psyche are not forgotten while silence is.Donna Lynn Hope
51
It's hard to part the curtains when the dark holds such familiarity.Donna Lynn Hope
52
The people you think are the happiest are usually the saddest; that's because they see more and feel deeper than others do. They are the sensitive and they see beyond the veil of what's tangible and what's not. They wear no masks and can see through the masks of others. The sensitive to life are few in number, which is why they feel so alone...because they are all alone.Donna Lynn Hope
53
I smile when I want to cry. I laugh when I want to die.Donna Lynn Hope
54
Regret is her companion and the one who whispers to her often. She has even let hope die and that brings about despair.Donna Lynn Hope
55
The only time she has anything resembling a life is when she sleeps because when she sleeps she can dream.Donna Lynn Hope
56
Strangers were a fairytale full of possibilities not yet corrupted by reality while caregivers were the reality — and everything that couldn't be counted upon.Donna Lynn Hope
57
A relationship, of any kind, requires two. Some people want it all and expect it all, always looking outward, so often saying what they deserve, even more saying what they want, and all thinking another should provide it for them, but do they ever bother to be the person they think someone else would love to have? Perhaps, in order to get that better love, extend it first.Donna Lynn Hope
58
If there had once been a chance and there had once been love, then it will still be there in spite of time and obstacles. If you can get past that, you can get past a lot.Donna Lynn Hope
59
While it is good to apologize and ask forgiveness from God, it’s just as important (perhaps more so) to extend it towards the person you wronged. Becoming a better person or trying to make amends with the universe only works when you start with the one you owe it to.Donna Lynn Hope
60
Don't focus on her hiss. Remember her purr.Donna Lynn Hope
61
When he called she tried not to break down, but voice so often betrays emotion and her's wept, "He looked happy, even if I had to see his sweet little face from far away. I want him to be happy..even if his happiness is not with me."" That's love, " he said." Love, " she repeated. "We love because we can lose." There is pain when we have to step away and some may say "You don't care, " but little do they know, we cared enough to do so..Donna Lynn Hope
62
Sometimes, oftentimes, people hold on to someone they love for self — because it's what they want; in rare cases, a person, who sincerely knows the meaning of love, which is sacrifice, loves enough to say goodbye and to walk away. They do it because they love someone enough to allow them to move on without them or to not be torn in multiple directions, which causes confusion, or because they feel that is their only choice. Loving like that is doing for another and denying self. It is sacrifice. It takes tremendous strength and the cost is loss and heart-ache but it's a price the rare are willing to pay because they truly love that much.Donna Lynn Hope
63
While struggling with all the loss in her life, she mournfully thought, "If only I could forget..." But that would be too easy, wouldn't it? However, she did with most; she never got too close and she never stayed too long, but there she was...struggling with all the loss in her life.Donna Lynn Hope
64
I always welcomed the comforting cloak of night except for the times when I lost something in it.Donna Lynn Hope
65
He passed through her with his soul caressing hers goodbye. And in that final hour he was with her one last time.Donna Lynn Hope
66
I saw her tonight. I didn’t mean to and I wasn’t prepared for it. I came across her sweet smiling face and I had no choice but to be confronted with all the emotions and memories I associated with her. It brought me back to this past summer when she passed from this world into the next and how I watched the minutes in the day pass and felt the sorrow of the approaching sunset knowing that darkness would soon follow. There is something profound about the first night after someone you love dies. Seeing her again and mourning the loss of her anew reminded me that we keep too much to ourselves and we let people go without them ever knowing how much they touched us, intrigued us, taught us, or moved us. I’m a firm believer in actions doing the telling, but people need to hear it as well. .Donna Lynn Hope
67
He wept bitter tears over the death of his enemy. It was his enemy, after all, who knew him best and kept him up at night.Donna Lynn Hope
68
It is easy, and therefore uninspiring, to love within the norms of acceptance and society. Other than ones own heart, there is no great risk involved; it's all very status quo. The same is tired, but what's outside-the-norm is captivating and gets under people’s skin, pushing their buttons, making them think and revealing their depth as a person, or their lack thereof. It's love against obstacles that inspires the most — a love that faces and ultimately endures through challenges, hardship and ridicule that is courageous and triumphant. .Donna Lynn Hope
69
You're sad but you hold everything back...Donna Lynn Hope
70
If they were there for you when you had nothing, they are the ones worth having now. If they only notice you because of what you have gained, are they worth having at all?Donna Lynn Hope
71
I’d love to have the kind of friend who would visit me before visiting a man. Otherwise I know where I’m ranked, which is below him.Donna Lynn Hope
72
Who knows you more...your friend or your enemy? It's your enemy that pursues with passion while your friend engages at leisure.Donna Lynn Hope
73
Enemies are the people who think about you more than your friends do.Donna Lynn Hope
74
Some men like shiny new toys. Others like the priceless antique.Donna Lynn Hope
75
I challenge a man to a duel before allowing him near me, and then I take an arrow, dip it in poison, and drive it straight through his heart... But that's on a good day...when I purr and feel delightfully amorous. No need to mention what I'd do on a bad one.Donna Lynn Hope
76
You may want the alpha, but the alpha has his pick.Donna Lynn Hope
77
When it comes to men, I appreciate them, don’t bash them and never love them.Donna Lynn Hope
78
Never go to another woman about your woman. Not unless you want an insidious form of advice.Donna Lynn Hope
79
I'm impressed when men go the distance to show they give a damn. That says nothing about the woman and everything about the man.Donna Lynn Hope
80
I'd rather know a man's sincerity than his love. Whereas I have never needed the latter, one can always count on the former.Donna Lynn Hope
81
She used to wander through the past as often as it beckoned her, bemoaning the loss of nostalgia. Then, for a while, she turned from it, blissfully free of its noxious clutch, and now it's back, taunting her with what she left behind, knowing she can never recapture what's gone.Donna Lynn Hope
82
He was on her mind but she doesn't let anyone stay for too long.Donna Lynn Hope
83
I didn't sleep well last night because one of my ghosts came back, haunting with his presence, and when I woke up, the others weren't here, haunting with their memory.Donna Lynn Hope
84
The air is cold and dusk has descended. In the distance lightning flickers and a far away rumble of thunder awakens my thoughts and makes me remember.Donna Lynn Hope
85
Of course she wants him to forget her. The last place she wants to reside is in his thoughts. What an unpleasant place to be.Donna Lynn Hope
86
Someone once said that love is the closest thing to magic that this world has, but magic enchants, deceives and casts a spell.Donna Lynn Hope
87
She’s a sickness in my head.” Then get well. What you feel is self-made and attended to over time. You want to let go but are unwilling to let go because you are getting something from it; An escape? An excuse? Bondage?You are idealizing another person, building up the idea of them, and making them a legend in your own mind. Is it really a sickness or something you can control? The question is: do you even want to? Each time a thought creeps into your mind, you choose whether to give it freedom to remain or to wander. You can rebuke it or replace it. After all, it’s your mind.Donna Lynn Hope
88
A gem, like you, is made beautiful by being polished. It's not an easy undertaking, but a stone that exists undisturbed among others just is...but the most beautiful stand out because they face being alone, endure hardships and learn from what challenges them. Suffering purifies and makes beautiful, but only if the gem can shine.Donna Lynn Hope
89
Life is for the loved, not the lonely." She lamented. "Although it's the lonely who try to make the world and its inhabitants less so.Donna Lynn Hope
90
She walked in somber seclusion, unable to connect with women despite her heart's desire to do so while being shadowed by men who hungered for the indefinable; and while she yearned for friendship, they yearned for something more and what she had been in search of remained removed from her, and the more she erected barriers, the more they crossed them and each time they did, she turned from them and hid.Donna Lynn Hope
91
There are those that wonder which is worse: Not being able to reach out or not having anyone to reach for. There are some that ponder which is the greater ache: Not being able to tell or not having anyone that cares enough to ask. Perhaps it’s not one person that is to blame, but both.Donna Lynn Hope
92
Dark hair on a white pillow, an ache inside, his face a reflection in her eye.Donna Lynn Hope
93
She doesn't give directions but there is a pot of gold at the end of her rainbow... Find it. If you can.Donna Lynn Hope
94
When other girls were dreaming about love, she dreamt of love too, but in an entirely different context - the ones they took for granted.Donna Lynn Hope
95
As long as you write, you'll never be lonely.Donna Lynn Hope
96
Leaving the familiar for unknown terrain is like a death - and feeling this level of finality should snap one back to life for life has greater meaning in the face of death.Donna Lynn Hope
97
I shall not be defined by what I have suffered but how I have endured them.Donna Lynn Hope
98
He had felt viable being near her or knowing she was listening to him or having the comfort of their casual meeting within a dream. With her, he simply and effortlessly felt better. They all felt better, unburdened, cared for, and heard. Being connected to her eased his suffering as he gave her his. It was only when she began to drown in the cumulation of commingled torments that to save whatever part of her was left, she disconnected, and when she did, his suffering returned and remained with him longer than she had. But instead of saving herself, it was the additional burden of her own anguish from letting them all go that took her breath and inevitably pulled her under.Donna Lynn Hope
99
People, most especially those who have known ease in this life, care more about being prospered than refined. It's always about what they can get from God, not what they can do for others, unless they can call attention to it for others to see.Donna Lynn Hope
100
Suffer" he commanded seductively. "With me...or because of me.Donna Lynn Hope