Catherine Steadman > Quotes

“... She told me not to let it make me angry, not to let it break my heart, but to remember that we all lose the things we love the most and how we have to remember that we were lucky to have them at all in the first place.”
― Catherine Steadman, Something in the Water

“always read outside your comfort zone. That’s where stories come from. That’s where ideas come from.”
― Catherine Steadman, Something in the Water

“It's impossible to know if we were a good thing that broke somehow or a bad thing that eventually became exposed. But either way, if I could just go back now to the way we were, I would. I would, without a moment's hesitation. If I could just lie in his arms one last time, I could live with an illusion the rest of my life. If I could, I would.”
― Catherine Steadman, Something in the Water

“Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.”
― Catherine Steadman, Something in the Water

“Sometimes you're the lamp post, and sometimes you're the dog.”
― Catherine Steadman, Something in the Water

“I guess that’s the way life works, isn’t it—nothing, and then everything at once.”
― Catherine Steadman, Something in the Water

“Have you ever wondered how long it takes to dig a grave? Wonder no longer. It takes an age. However long you think it takes, double that.”
― Catherine Steadman, Something in the Water

“I’m no damsel in distress, trust me, I’ve survived a lot more than most, but you can’t underestimate the overwhelming power of someone swooping in to save you after a lifetime of having to save yourself.”
― Catherine Steadman, The Family Game

“Five A.M. is already the sort of hour that prompts you to question your life choices.”
― Catherine Steadman, Something in the Water

“But you don't sign up for certain things without knowing the rules, Erin. And if you've signed up for the game, then you can't complain when you lose. You got to lose with dignity is all; a good sportsman always lets people lose with dignity.”
― Catherine Steadman, Something in the Water

“But that's life, isn't it? Sometimes you're the dog; sometimes you're the lamppost.”
― Catherine Steadman, Something in the Water

“A game is only a game if you do not fully understand it.”
― Catherine Steadman, The Family Game

“I’m beginning to realize that being rich doesn’t really mean having money to buy nice things; it means having money to avoid the rules.”
― Catherine Steadman, Something in the Water

“Damaged people are dangerous. They know they can survive.”
― Catherine Steadman, The Family Game

“Sometimes the most terrifying thing is our own imagination.”
― Catherine Steadman, Mr. Nobody

“I notice my sudden jump in logic. From making a mistake to actively committing a crime. Just like that. I wonder if that's how it starts with a lot of criminals...”
― Catherine Steadman, Something in the Water

“If a victory is told in detail, one can no longer distinguish it from a defeat. —JEAN-PAUL SARTRE, Le Diable et le Bon Dieu”
― Catherine Steadman, Something in the Water

“Beginnings are always hard, almost as hard as endings, I remind myself.”
― Catherine Steadman, The Family Game

“The horizon is always approximately three miles away from you when viewed at sea level.”
― Catherine Steadman, Something in the Water

“But in the words of Murakami, the master of the hard slog: “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.”
― Catherine Steadman, Something in the Water

“As every writer knows, even if a story is pure fiction, there are truths hidden in there, about the writer, about the time it was written - that are incontrovertible.”
― Catherine Steadman, The Family Game

“Then, as she twisted to the right, she revealed her talking partner. I literally broke step, my body deciding before my brain that my presence would not be needed in their interaction. Carol was gorgeous. A tall, confident, amazon of a woman. The lines of her gold lamay dress skimming every curve of her body. She was clearly not wearing underwear. She looked like a glossy magazine perfume ad. And this man was her magazine equal. He was perfect. Tall. Substantial. He looked muscular without giving the impression that he worked out. Maybe he was a rower. Or it could be tennis. Maybe he chopped down trees. Yes, he'd be very good at chopping trees down. I remember feeling an unnaturally strong desire to watch him do that.”
― Catherine Steadman, Something in the Water

“I’m almost certain we left no trace, but that’s the thing about slipups, isn’t it, you don’t know you’ve made one?”
― Catherine Steadman, Something in the Water

“But it’s hard not to think the worst when you’re trying not to think the worst.”
― Catherine Steadman, The Disappearing Act

“Scary, in a way. How quickly what is good can become not good enough through comparison.”
― Catherine Steadman, Something in the Water

“Have you ever asked yourself what kind of story the story of your life is? I always thought mine would be a coming-of-age story. A small-town girl making it in the big city, like Melanie Griffith in Working Girl or Dolly Parton in 9 to 5. Sure, I’d struggle for everything I achieved, but in the end my plucky can-do attitude would ensure I’d triumph over whatever obstacles stood in my way. Like Legally Blonde or Pretty Woman or Pride and Prejudice, the story of my life would be an uplifting comedy, in turns fun and moving and aspirational. I’d be strong and spirited and a riot to be around. I’d be beautiful and smart and kids would love me. That’s what I thought. But now—looking down at the gun in my hands, feeling the heft of it, its cold reality in my palm—I’m not so sure I got the genre right. In fact I’m not even sure I’m the main character anymore.”
― Catherine Steadman, The Disappearing Act

“And who, in love, doesn’t hope for a lassoed moon? After all, that’s what love is, isn’t it?”
― Catherine Steadman, The Family Game

“For our situation now, I have adapted. I’ve become a far different person. I see her all around me reflected in the glass. Solid. Implacable. Or at least she is visibly. Inside is different. Inside there is only breath and silence. Because I’m scared. Plain and simple, sharks-in-the-water scared.”
― Catherine Steadman, Something in the Water

“After so many years alone, after pushing relationships away, perhaps I've paid in full for my mistakes and I can put them to bed. Maybe I'm finally allowed a little happiness.”
― Catherine Steadman, The Family Game

“How quickly what is good can become not good enough through comparison. Maybe best never to see it.”
― Catherine Steadman, Something in the Water