Top 90 Carley Fortune Quotes (2026 Update)
Page 2 of 2

51. “I like who I am with him. I laugh until tears stain my cheeks. I say what I think, and when he senses I’m holding something in, he tells me to spit it out. I don’t have to be a perfectly edited version of myself – it’s okay to have a few bumps. And I don’t have to try.”

— Carley Fortune

52. “I was wrong,” he began. “So wrong.” My eyes collided with his. “And you were wrong, too. Yesterday, when you said I didn’t want you.” He spoke softly, his blue eyes fixed on mine. “I did want you. I do want you. I’ve always wanted you.” I felt a sharp pressure in my lungs, like his words had sucked all the oxygen out of them. “I’m sorry for making you think otherwise, for confusing you.”

— Carley Fortune

53. “Everything that’s worth having is some trouble.”

— Carley Fortune

54. “Sometimes I think no one gets me the way you do.”

— Carley Fortune

55. “I waited until the sun had sunk low in the sky. I waited for Will Baxter for hours.”

— Carley Fortune

56. “Knowing one’s own mind is one of the secrets to a good life.”

— Carley Fortune

57. “Somehow I did fall asleep, and just before I drifted off, I heard Sam whisper, “I’d rather kiss you, too.”

— Carley Fortune

58. “My eyes caught on the small silver scar on his wrist. “Someone distracted me,” he said, tapping his knife on the mark. I lifted my gaze to his. “It was worth it.” “She must have been cute,” Bridget quipped from behind me. He smiled at me. “The most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen.”

— Carley Fortune

59. “I pride myself on being a solid friend, a helpful sister, the good daughter. But for the man I loved? I would have done anything.”

— Carley Fortune

60. “Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet? – L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables.”

— Carley Fortune

61. “Just see where the sun takes you. And don’t forget: Good things happen at the lake.”

— Carley Fortune

62. “My family was big into teasing,” he says. “It’s basically the Florek love language.” I mellow. “I don’t speak Florek, so you’ll need to translate.” “The one thing you really need to know is that we only make fun of people we like.” “What happens when you fall in love? Do you stage a roast? Gift wrap a rubber chicken?”

— Carley Fortune

63. “You drive me crazy, you know that? You always have. I never laughed with anyone like I laughed with you. I’ve never been friends with anyone like I was with you. I’ve tried to forget about you for more than ten years, but I don’t want to try anymore.”

— Carley Fortune

64. “I want cold February nights with him reading me books. I want July mornings in a blossoming garden. Felix will be my home, and I will be a place for him to return to. He’ll be my oasis, and I’ll be his. He’ll save his best words for me, and I’ll save mine for him.”

— Carley Fortune

65. “We stand staring at each other silently, and then he takes three giant strides toward me and wraps his arms around me so tight it’s like his large body is a cocoon around mine. He smells like sun and soap and something new that I don’t recognize. When he speaks, his voice is a deep rasp that I want to drown in.”

— Carley Fortune

66. “But there’s an unscripted kind of magic in shooting from my heart. I follow my instincts, not a meticulously planned brief. And, sure, some of the shots aren’t any good, and they’re far from flawless, but even the mediocre images are rich with emotion. Photos of Nan. The water. Charlie’s yellow boat flying across the bay. Memories of this second golden summer.”

— Carley Fortune

67. “When you aren’t staring at him, he’s staring at you. It’s like watching a tennis match.”

— Carley Fortune

68. “There’s no rush. And anyone who wants to rush isn’t worth rushing for. Does that make sense?”

— Carley Fortune

69. “It’s the kind of night where I can feel something lock into place. This is it, I think. This is everything I want.”

— Carley Fortune

70. “I also know I’ve gone more years without Sam than I spent with him.”

— Carley Fortune

71. “I think of all the times in my life when I’ve stayed quiet because it was more comfortable than speaking up.”

— Carley Fortune

72. “He will be my home, and I will be a place for him to return to. He’ll be my oasis, and I’ll be his. He’ll save his best words for me, and I’ll save mine for him.”

— Carley Fortune

73. “She’s gossamer. She’s wind and air and cloud. The embodiment of happiness. So beautiful, my best friend.”

— Carley Fortune

74. “So other than the fact that he’s nice, what do you like about him?” It wasn’t a snarky question. He seemed genuinely curious. I twisted the embroidered bracelet around my wrist. “He likes me back,” I said truthfully, and Sam didn’t ask any more questions after that.”

— Carley Fortune

75. “I’ve spent years imagining how different everything would have been if I’d just made one different choice.”

— Carley Fortune

76. “I’ve spent twelve years thinking about what I would say if I ever saw you again.” I grimace at my own honesty. I pause, counting four breaths in and out. “I’ve missed you so much.” My voice trembles, but I keep going. “I want to make it better. I want to fix things. But I don’t know what to say to do that right now. Please just give me a little more time.”

— Carley Fortune

77. “I am here now, and everything is okay.”

— Carley Fortune

78. “I’ve never wanted anything for myself the way I want you. I’m completely in love with you.”

— Carley Fortune

79. “You feel things deeply. You always have.” I wipe my cheek. “I hate that about me.” Her laugh is kind. “It’s one of your best qualities. In the long run, it will be more difficult to keep pushing your feelings aside than it will be to stare at yourself in the mirror and accept who you are and what you want.”

— Carley Fortune

80. “But I take strange comfort in these waves of heartache. They’re like annotations in a book, a note in the margin that reads, This is important.”

— Carley Fortune

81. “You painted a fern on a wall for me.”

— Carley Fortune

82. “Are you a fan of talking on the phone?” “I’m a fan of listening to your voice.”

— Carley Fortune

83. “Twice, Will has crashed into my world like a meteorite, and both times, I’ve been left hollowed out. Cratered.”

— Carley Fortune

84. “One great thing about meeting someone you’ll likely never see again is that you can tell them anything about yourself without any consequences.” I shook my head. “Everything has a consequence.” I learned that when I was seventeen.”

— Carley Fortune

85. “I fell in love with you when I was thirteen, and I never stopped. You’re it for me.” Sam closes his eyes for three long seconds, and when he opens them, they are glittering pools under a starry sky.”

— Carley Fortune

86. “I saw a man who couldn’t keep his eyes off you. A man who hasn’t looked so happy in a very long time. I saw a man who finally found the kind of person he always wanted for himself. A best friend. A smart-ass. A brilliant, talented, caring woman, who deserves so much more than me.”

— Carley Fortune

87. “I decided it wasn’t fair of me to ask for their vulnerability without confronting my own. It’s one of the most terrifying things we all do – allow people to see us without all our protective layers.”

— Carley Fortune

88. “Yeah. I like how the space is so overwhelming, it makes you feel insignificant and alive at the same time. It basically forces you to take a deep breath. It’s the same way I feel when I look at the mountains out West.” I thought it was the loveliest thing I’d ever heard.”

— Carley Fortune

89. “Fingers laced, we climb up to our bedroom in the home we’ve built together. A house full of books. A field full of flowers. Our own special island.”

— Carley Fortune

90. “No, it’s because when you speak, he listens. When you smile, he smiles. When you need something, he offers help. When you give him something, he thanks you. You’re peas and carrots – I think you’ve found yourself a lifelong friend.”

— Carley Fortune

91. “A house full of books. A field full of flowers. Our own special island.”

— Carley Fortune

92. “Charlie looks at you like he’d follow you anywhere.”

— Carley Fortune

93. “I’m lucky to have so much past, so many memories. It’s a gift to age.”

— Carley Fortune

94. “Felix, I brought you here to tell you that you are in every one of my dreams. I came here to ask whether I’m in any of yours, too.”

— Carley Fortune