“Don't take life too seriously. Punch it in the face when it needs a good hit. Laugh at it.”
― Colleen Hoover, Slammed

“There are three questions every woman should be able to answer yes to before they commit to a man. If you answer no to any of the three questions, run like hell."
[...]
"Does he treat you with respect at all times? That's the first question. The second question is, if he is the exact same person twenty years from now that he is today, would you still want to marry him? And finally, does he inspire to be a better person? You find someone you can answer yes to all three, then you've found a good man.”
― Colleen Hoover, Slammed

“I got schooled this year
by
a
boy.

A boy that I'm seriously, deeply, madly, incredibly, and undeniably in love with.
And he taught me the most important thing of all...

To put the emphasis
On life .”
― Colleen Hoover, Slammed

“Question everything. Your love, your religion, your passion. If you don't have questions, you'll never find answers.”
― Colleen Hoover, Slammed

“So you keep your ocean, I'll take the Lake.”
― Colleen Hoover, Slammed

“Push your boundaries, that's what they're there for.”
― Colleen Hoover, Slammed

“Imperfections define perfection”
― Colleen Hoover, Slammed

“Sometimes life gets in your way.
it gets all up in your damn way.
But it doesn't get all up in your damn way
because it wants you to just give up and let it take control.
Life doesn't get all up in your damn way because it just wants you to hand it all over and be carried along.

Life wants you to fight it
Learn how to make it your own.
it wants you to grab and axe and hack through the wood.
It wants you to get a sledgehammer and break through concrete.
It wants you to grab a torch and burn through the metal and steel until you can reach through and grab it.

Life wants you to grab all the organized, the alphabetized, the chronological, the sequenced. It wants you to mix it all together,
stir it up,
blend it.”
― Colleen Hoover, Slammed

“To my babies,

Merry Christmas. I'm sorry if these letters have caught you both by surprise. There is just so much more I have to say. I know you thought I was done giving advice, but I couldn't leave without reiterating a few things in writing. You may not relate to these things now, but someday you will. I wasn't able to be around forever, but I hope that my words can be.

-Don't stop making basagna. Basagna is good. Wait until a day when there is no bad news, and bake a damn basagna.

-Find a balance between head and heart. Hopefully you've found that Lake, and you can help Kel sort it out when he gets to that point.

-Push your boundaries, that's what they're there for.

-I'm stealing this snippet from your favorite band, Lake. "Always remember there is nothing worth sharing, like the love that let us share our name."

-Don't take life too seriously. Punch it in the face when it needs a good hit. Laugh at it.

-And Laugh a lot. Never go a day without laughing at least once.

-Never judge others. You both know good and well how unexpected events can change who a person is. Always keep that in mind. You never know what someone else is experiencing within their own life.

-Question everything. Your love, your religion, your passions. If you don't have questions, you'll never find answers.

-Be accepting. Of everything. People's differences, their similarities, their choices, their personalities. Sometimes it takes a variety to make a good collection. The same goes for people.

-Choose your battles, but don't choose very many.

-Keep an open mind; it's the only way new things can get in.

-And last but not least, not the tiniest bit least. Never regret.

Thank you both for giving me the best years of my life.

Especially the last one.

Love,

Mom”
― Colleen Hoover, Slammed

“Choose your battles, but don't choose very many.”
― Colleen Hoover, Slammed

“According to the thesaurus... and according to me... there are over thirty different meanings and substitutions for
the word
mean.
(I quickly yell the following words; the entire class flinches- including Will)
Jackass, jerk, cruel, dickhead, unkind, harsh, wicked,
hateful, heartless, vicious, virulent, unrelenting, tyrannical, malevolent, atrocious, bastard, barbarous, bitter, brutal, callous, degenerate, brutish, depraved, evil, fierce, hard, implacable, rancorous, pernicious, inhumane, monstrous, merciless, inexorable.
And my personal favorite—asshole.”
― Colleen Hoover, Slammed

“Find a balance between head and heart.”
― Colleen Hoover, Slammed

“If I live the life I'm given, I won't be scared to die.”
― Colleen Hoover, Slammed

“Never judge others. You both know good and well how unexpected events can change who a person is. Always keep that in mind. You never know what someone else is experiencing within their own life.”
― Colleen Hoover, Slammed

“Life happens. Shit happens. And it happens a lot. To a lot of people.”
― Colleen Hoover, Slammed

“BLUE SWEATER

Bom Bom...
Bom Bom...
Bom Bom...

Do you hear that?
That's the sound of my heart beating...

Bom Bom...
Bom Bom...
Bom Bom...

Do you hear that? That's the sound of your heart beating.

It was the first day of October. I was wearing my blue sweater, you know the one I bought at Dillard’s? The one with a double knitted hem and holes in the ends of the sleeves that I could poke my thumbs through when it was cold but I didn't feel like wearing gloves? It was the same sweater you said made my eyes look like reflections of the stars on the ocean.
You promised to love me forever that night...
and boy
did you
ever!

It was the first day of December this time. I was wearing my blue sweater, you know the one I bought at Dillard’s? The one with a double knitted hem and holes in the ends of the sleeves that I could poke my thumbs through when it was cold but I didn't feel like wearing gloves? It was the same sweater you said made my eyes look like reflections of the stars on the ocean.
I told you I was three weeks late
You said it was fate.
You promised to love me forever that night...
and boy
did you
ever!

It was the first day of May. I was wearing my blue sweater, although this time the double stitched hem was worn
and the strength of each thread tested as they were pulled tight against my growing belly. You know the one. The same one I bought at Dillard’s? The one with holes in the ends of the
sleeves that I could poke my thumbs through when it was cold but I didn't feel like wearing gloves? It was the same sweater you said made my eyes look like reflections of the stars on the
ocean.

The SAME sweater you RIPPED off of my body as you shoved me to the
floor,
calling me a whore ,
telling me
you didn't love me
anymore.

Bom Bom...
Bom Bom...
Bom Bom...

Do you hear that? That's the sound of my heart beating.

Bom Bom...
Bom Bom...
Bom Bom...

Do you hear that? That's the sound of your heart
beating.

(There is a long silence as she clasps her hands to her stomach, tears streaming down her face)

Do you hear that? Of course you don't. That's the silence
of my womb.

Because you
RIPPED
OFF
MY
SWEATER!”
― Colleen Hoover, Slammed

“Life wants you to fight it.
Learn how to make it your own. ”
― Colleen Hoover, Slammed

“This thing about you that you think is your flaw - it's the reason I'm falling in love with you.”
― Colleen hoover, Slammed

“And life definitely doesn't want me

To just let it tell me

that the girl I met,

The beautiful, amazing, strong, resilient girl

That I fell so hard for

Should only come in third


Life knows.

Life is trying to tell ne

That the girl I love

The girl I fell

So hard for?

There's room for her in first.

I'm putting her first.”
― Colleen Hoover, Slammed

“Understanding a situation doesn't always make it easier”
― Colleen Hoover, Slammed

“God Layken. How do you do it? she says. She blows her nose and grabs another tissue out of the box. How do I do what? I sniff as I continue to wipe the tears from my eyes. How do you not fall in love with him? The tears begin flowing just as quickly as they had ceased. I grab yet another tissue. I don't not fall in love with him. I don't not fall in love with him a lot!”
― Colleen Hoover, Slammed

“I've never regretted it. Questioned it? Sure. But never regretted."

"Is there a difference?" I ask.

"Absolutely. Regret is counterproductive. It's looking back on a past that you can't change. Questioning things as they occur can prevent regret in the future. I questioned a lot about my relationship with your father. People make spontaneous decisions based off of their hearts all the time. There's so much more to relationships than just love.”
― Colleen Hoover, Slammed

“Always remember there is nothing worth sharing, like the love that let us share our name.”
― Colleen Hoover, Slammed

“respect the hand that I was dealt. And to be grateful I was even dealt a hand.”
― Colleen Hoover, Slammed

“Does he treat you with respect at all times? That's the first question. The second question is, if he is the exact same person twenty years from now that he is today, would you still want to marry him? And finally, does he inspire to be a better person? You find someone you can answer yes to all three, then you've found a good man.”
― Colleen Hoover, Slammed

“It's not just lies they're referring to. It's life. You can't run to another town, another place, another state. Whatever it is you're running from-it goes with you. It stays with you until you find out how to confront it.”
― Colleen Hoover, Slammed

“whatever it is you're running from-it goes with you. it stays with you until you find out how to confront it.”
― Colleen Hoover, Slammed

“Keep an open mind; it's the only way new things can get in.”
― Colleen Hoover, Slammed

“For once in my life, I was here and nowhere else.”
― Colleen Hoover, Slammed

“My name is Olivia King

I am five years old.

My mother bought me a balloon. I remember the day she walked through the front door with it. The curly hot pink ribbon trickling down her arm, wrapped around her wrist. She was smiling at me as she untied the ribbon and wrapped it around my hand.

“Here Livie, I bought this for you.”

She called me Livie.

I was so happy. I’d never had a balloon before. I mean, I always saw balloons wrapped around other kids wrists in the
parking lot of Wal-Mart, but I never dreamed I would have my
very own.

My very own pink balloon.”
― Colleen Hoover, Slammed