The Tea Rose Quotes

“We're not punished for our sins, lad. We're punished by them.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, The Tea Rose

“She was his soulmate, as much a part of him as the very flesh and bone that made him. She was with him, in him, in everything he did. She was everything he wanted from his life, the very measure of his dreams.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, The Tea Rose

“Men are the weak ones, luv. Didn't you know? Oh, you make a lot of noise, but its the women who are strong. Where it counts. In 'ere,”
― Jennifer Donnelly, The Tea Rose

“It is hope, not despair, that undoes us all.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, The Tea Rose

“I've always admired your rather formidable will, your refusal to back away from difficulties, but sometimes strength isn't about perseverance. Sometimes it's about knowing when to quit.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, The Tea Rose

“Funny, 'ow you can 'old a jewel in your 'and, and toss it away, and not even know what you 'ad until it's gone.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, The Tea Rose

“It's only the body that's gone. Only the body. There's a part that doesn't go in the ground, a part that stays inside you forever.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, The Tea Rose

“There is a ghost here. A lonely, heartbroken spirit. The ghost of everything that could've been and never was.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, The Tea Rose

“They sat quietly together for a few minutes, Joe holding Fiona's hand, Fiona sniffling. No flowery words, no platitudes passed between them. Joe would have done anything to ease her suffering, but he knew nothing he might do, or say, could. Her grief would run its course, like a fever, and release her when it was spent. He would not shush her or tell her it was God's will and that her da was better off. That was rubbish and they both knew it. When something hurt as bad as this, you had to let it hurt. There were no shortcuts.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, The Tea Rose

“It was an amazing feeling, to succeed at something. It was a new feeling for her -- part happiness, part pride -- and she relished it.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, The Tea Rose

“He had known the rarest of things -love, real love - he'd held it in his hand and he'd thrown it away. What was left for him? A lifetime of second-bests”
― Jennifer Donnelly, The Tea Rose

“It was a trick. It was this place, all the memories. His longing heart and the darkness conspiring. But his eyes told him it was no trick. He jumped down off the steps and walked toward her. Hoping. Fearing. He'd done this before. So many times. Caught sight of a slender black-haired woman and impulsively called to her, only to have her turn and gaze at him with eyes that were questioning, coldly polite, and never, ever hers.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, The Tea Rose

“The day you stop dreaming you might as well take yourself down to the undertaker’s, for you’re as good as dead.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, The Tea Rose

“She wanted to scream her grief to the skies and wail like an animal, but she couldn't.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, The Tea Rose

“God didn't have to punish him; he'd created his own hell. By himself and for himself.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, The Tea Rose

“He was beyond damaged. He was broken. Smashed to bloody pieces. He was alone in the world without the one person who could make him whole. And he always would be.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, The Tea Rose

“Will gritted his teeth as Will Junior and Nellie continued their debate. He loved his son, but he found him--and many members of his generation--ruthless in their pursuit of money and standing and harsh toward the less fortunate. He had reminded him on many occasions that both the McClanes and their mother's family--the Van der leydens--had at one time been immigrants. As had members of all the city's wealthy families. But Will's lectures made no difference to his son. He was an American. And those getting off the boat at Castle Garden were not. Italian, Irish, Chinese, Polish--nationality made no difference. They were lazy, stupid, and dirty. Their numbers spelled ruin for the country.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, The Tea Rose

“Her grief would run its course, like a fever, and release her when it was spent. He would not shush her or tell her it was God's will and that her da was better off. That was rubbish and they both knew it. When something hurt as bad as this, you had to let it hurt. There were no shortcuts.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, The Tea Rose

“We are not punished for our sins, lad. We're punished by them.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, The Tea Rose

“on a boat, the better.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, The Tea Rose

“Paddy'nin ve Charlie'nin ücretleri hane gelirinin aslan payını teşkil ediyordu; kirayı onlar ödüyor, giysileri onlar satın alıyor ve yemeğin büyük bir kısmını onlar karşılıyordu.

Kate'in ve Fiona'nın kazançları kömüre ve ayakkabı boyası, kahve ve benzeri ev ihtiyaçlarına gidiyordu. Eğer Paddy veya Charlie hastalanır ve işe gidemezlerse herkes zarara uğrardı.

Bu, Doğu Londra'nın her sokağının evinde aynıydı.

Erkekler et yerken, kadınlar ne bulurlarsa onu yerlerdi.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, The Tea Rose

“They gave their hearts to their businesses, not their wives; that’s why they were all so damned rich.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, The Tea Rose

“People said time healed anything. Maybe those people had never loved anyone.”
― Jennifer Donnelly, The Tea Rose

“Am I going to be here when I'm seventy? he wondered. Creaking around, gumming my dinner, haunting the place like some ghostly old fart?”
― Jennifer Donnelly, The Tea Rose