Top 100 Marieke Nijkamp Quotes (2024 Update)
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51. “I want to be safe. And here isn’t safe anymore.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

52. “Thorn’s glances were as sharp as his words.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

53. “This morning, I wished I could escape to anywhere, be anything. Now all my dreams are out of reach, and.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

54. “I was Catholic. I can feel guilty about anything without so much as trying...”

— Marieke Nijkamp

55. “Cities always got under her skin when she came in from the wild. But where she raised her hackles, Vax thrived. His shoulders dropped and his awareness sharpened. He walked with the gait of someone who expected trouble and would in fact welcome it.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

56. “Dad would call it my Sisyphus toll. Push a boulder up a hill, pretending it’s okay, and come nightfall it – and I – come crashing down. But he forgets the view each time I make it to the top.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

57. “Sometimes it felt as if he and I walked the same road, but each of us was going in a different direction.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

58. “If she dies, I will never be able to tell her that she is the one who keeps me standing. That her lips taste like a promise. That she makes me want to be a better version of myself. If she dies, I will believe every ugly word Dad ever said about me.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

59. “Vex shook her head when the man picked up his bow and, whistling a jaunty tune, started making his way down.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

60. “I’m not saying anyone did this. But people are capable of all kinds of things. And I can keep trusting people and getting hurt, or I can try to be more sensible about it.” I scowl and look away from them, but despite my determination, the words taste like bile in my mouth. It’s so much easier not to get attached to people, but I don’t think I can live like that.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

61. “The word pain does too much work, you know? It’s like sorry, which really shouldn’t have to carry both “I sympathize” and “this is all my fault.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

62. “To full-blood elves, they might appear too young to be this weathered and weary, but to any perceptive observer, it was clear they came by their caution honestly, and they moved with a grace brought on by years of traveling together.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

63. “We’ll build a bridge. A bridge between us.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

64. “Grandfather always said that stories are the heartbeat of the world, especially in Alaska. Stories shape us. They give meaning to the harshest winters and the longest summers.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

65. “A stillness came from the forest that she could find nowhere else.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

66. “You can do far more than you ever imagined. If you don’t believe that, at least believe me.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

67. “None of my doctors told me about how pain wears you down until you sometimes don’t know where physical pain stops and mental pain begins. They didn’t tell me about the anger and the fear and the helplessness. Finn told me and then, when I finally let him, held me while I let it all sink in.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

68. “We also talked about the intensity of high school, because, let’s be honest, whether you have good experiences or bad or – for most of us – a combination thereof, high school is a lot. It’s like getting a bag full of puzzle pieces, but no one knows what the puzzle should look like or if the set is even complete.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

69. “But as much as the town believed in her, they still didn’t value her enough to save her. And I lost myself to the world outside the town’s borders. I forgot about her too.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

70. “Before the accident – BTA – I didn’t know anger and pain could feel the same. I didn’t think physical pain and emotional pain could simply be extensions of each other. Now, I could hardly separate the two. And I wanted to crash my fist into a kitchen cabinet or my knee into a chair. Find a more harmful way to stim. Either make the pain worse or make it go away.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

71. “And at some point, you discover if you’re going to be afraid anyway, you may as well do the things that scare you.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

72. “Relief and sorrow follow each other rapidly, because with the names of those who live comes the void of those who have not. Death brings life; life brings death.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

73. “Here, everything is possible. And that is the biggest lie of all. I don’t just want to make the game good for them; I want to stay here and never go back.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

74. “This is what our world is now: the dead, the lost, the wounded. Could I have done anything about it? Could I have prevented this by speaking up?”

— Marieke Nijkamp

75. “Here’s the thing. I never quite know if I’m responding the “right” way to anything happening around me. Should I be more scared? Should I be angrier? Should fear immobilize me? What happens around me and how my brain responds to it are two entirely different things, and I can’t tell all the time how they’re connecting.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

76. “At least history suits me. You already know if those stories will end happily.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

77. “Whatever happens, I want her to know that. I want her to know I loved her, I love her, and I wish I would have told her a thousand times over. I wish I’d told her how I felt before today came crashing down around us.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

78. “This is how I shape our future.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

79. “If you’re afraid, think about tomorrow, because tomorrow will be a new day. Tomorrow, there’ll be new chances, I’ll be home.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

80. “You’re brave.” Lorna said. “I’m not,” I assured her, trying not to bristle. I hate being called brave. It’s almost as bad as inspiring.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

81. “This is where we leave Opportunity behind.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

82. “The bear grunted and nudged her with his head and she scratched his neck and breathed in the familiar scent of fur and mind and safety.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

83. “We fly to an otherworldly place, one that does not play by the same rules. The evergreens wear an armor of snow. The air shimmers with cold.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

84. “I steel myself before I allow them to pull me up. I don’t like when people touch me. I don’t like it when I’m observing a conversation and it suddenly turns to me. And I don’t like the sharp stab of pain when I rest my weight on my leg again.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

85. “Intent only takes us so far. It’s a shield people hide behind, but not a weapon.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

86. “Turyn looked at Vax as though he spoke a different language and with something that almost resembled pity.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

87. “You have to ask yourself how you can become the best you can be.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

88. “Hers is a story that deserves to be told. Hers is a story that deserves to be heard. It’s the story of a girl who believed in heroes and wanted to be one herself. Who saw stories in the world around her, and who regaled an entire Alaskan town with them. And hers is a story of how they started to believe her.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

89. “Today, all jokes fall flat, though we keep trying.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

90. “The fact that the dwarf didn’t have weapons visible on him didn’t make him any less dangerous. He was all sharp edges. Sharp words, sharp smiles, sharp knives. He exuded power.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

91. “Living with an obnoxious, stubborn body means I learned how to fall. I learned how to break my fall. I learned how to fall and protect myself. I learned how to fall and keep breathing. I learned how to fall in such a way that I didn’t break further. But getting back up again is never easy.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

92. “We’ll go farther than anyone in Lost ever has. Adventurers, looking for stories and stars.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

93. “Opportunity High will be rough for him, at least the first couple of months. But tell him it’s okay to be scared. We all are. It’s part of growing up.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

94. “Finn radiates pain. He’s so tense, it hurts to look at him. I wonder if he realizes it. In my experience, most people – most neurotypical people – don’t. Even if they’ll talk about nonverbal language and how important it is, they don’t realize how unconscious most reactions are and how much they’re sharing. But I do. You teach yourself how to read body language when winning a game – or navigating life – depends on it.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

95. “A current passes through the crowd with the news of each survivor. Relief and sorrow follow each other rapidly, because with the names of those who live comes the void of those who have not. Death brings life; life brings death. There are no words in that fleeting moment between hope and the knowledge. There is no way to express how a heart can burst and break at the same time, how the sun can cut through the darkness but will cast shadows everywhere.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

96. “Finn never told me how reassuring physical pain can be. It sends a thrill through me. A restless trembling that leaves me breathless – a hunger.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

97. “I would give up every single star in the night sky to have another day with her.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

98. “His presence steadies me like it always does.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

99. “What would I say? I lost the place where I didn’t have to think about who I need to be, a place where rules were clear and I excelled at them. I lost nearly everything I care about by simply trying to stay afloat, and this weekend, I’ll lose the rest. “Thanks.”

— Marieke Nijkamp

100. “I taught myself to be as fluent as possible in nonverbal languages because it’s the only way to understand what people aren’t saying, to carve out your space and claim it. It’s the only way I can feel like I know what’s going on.”

— Marieke Nijkamp