Dreams

Dreams are our world turned upside down. Gravity, logic, time rendered meaningless. The world of dreams is not our world, although in the dead of night, it tempts and deceives, daring us to know the difference. This is what makes dreams so dangerous.

- Narrator in Everwood - Episode 2x22 - The Day Is Done

Hearts

A heart is a fragile thing. That's why we protect them so vigorously, give them away so rarely, and why it means so much when we do. Some hearts are more fragile than others, purer somehow. Like crystal in a world of glass. Even the way they shatter is beautiful.

- Narrator in Everwood - Episode 2x18 - Last Looks

Change

"The more things change, the more they stay the same." I'm not sure who the first person was who said that. Probably Shakespeare, maybe Sting. But at the moment, it's the sentence that best explains my tragic flaw. My inability to change.

I don't think I'm alone in this. The more I get to know other people, the more I realize it's kind of everyone's flaw. Staying exactly the same for as long as possible, standing perfectly still: it feels better somehow. And if you are suffering, at least the pain is familiar. Because if you took that leap of faith, went outside the box, did something unexpected, who knows what other pain might be waiting out there. Chances are it could be even worse. So you maintain the status quo, choose the road already traveled, and it doesn't seem that bad. Not as far as flaws go. You're not a drug addict. You're not killing anyone, except maybe yourself a little.

When we finally do change, I don't think it happens like an earthquake or an explosion where all of a sudden we're like this different person. I think it's smaller than that. The kind of thing most people wouldn't even notice unless they looked really really close. Which, thank God, they never do. But you notice it. Inside you, that change feels like a world of difference, and you hope that it is. That this is the person that you get to be forever. That you'll never have to change again.

- Ephram Brown in Everwood - Episode 2x04 - East Meets West

Valentine

Dear Valentine, come away with me. If I had a day with you, and you only, I would enjoy the simple things. The things that, in the end, when time steals the rest away, are the only things we'll remember. I would paddle you across a still lake in a rowboat, and read poetry to you until you fell asleep, and I would never ever think about the hours.

Dear Valentine, if I had one day with you, and you only, I would admire every line of your face, every strand of your hair, every graceful movement of your hands or your eyes or your body. If I had one perfect day.

Don't you see? My heart beats only for you.

--- --- ---

Dear Valentine, these are the things I remember of my love. A warm hand, your warm breath, your warm mouth, your arms around mine. I remember feeling safe, ceaseless, like one person, the two of us still, at rest, entwined. I remember how I felt the first time I kiss you. It felt like the high dive.

What do you remember? How will I ever know what was inside your heart? Where do they go? All the things we think and feel, but don't say?

--- --- ---

Dear Valentine, these are the things I never told you. These are the things I need you to know. That I loved you always, and my love was so big, it lives still after you're gone. I would like to tell you that I'd do it differently. That if I had one more day, I'd do everything right. But I know that isn't true. I'd make all the same mistakes. That is, except one. I wouldn't say goodbye.

--- --- ---

- Narrator in Everwood - Episode 1x16 - My Funny Valentine

Snow

The best thing about snow, other than snowballs, is that it has an equalizing effect. Snow can take any object or situation and make it pretty just the same. Couldn't care less what's underneath.

It's not just that snow makes the world pretty. Snow gives us all a second chance. Snow cleanses, hiding the sins of all without prejudice or favour or blame. Everything gets to be pure again, if only for a little while. Which might be all you need.

- Narrator in Everwood - Episode 1x10 - Is There A Doctor In The House

Time

When things are working right in the universe, a loss of innocence is usually followed, in time, by an increase in humanity. Time is funny like that. For everything it robs us of, it grants us something: sometimes it's a new friend; sometimes it's a better understanding of ourselves; sometimes it's just a perfect day.

- Narrator in Everwood - Episode 1x07 - We Hold These Truths

Mistakes

We all make mistakes. Too often people are judged by those mistakes. I think the true measure of a man lies in his willingness to right his wrongs.

- Alan Shore playing Cyrano for Denny Crane in Boston Legal - Episode 3x13 - Dumping Bella

The Girl in the Yellow Dress

When I was a sophomore in high school, I attended my very first dance. There was this girl standing across the dance floor wearing a yellow dress. She was so beautiful. I didn't have the courage to ask her to dance, perhaps for fear of the long lonely walk back across the gym floor after being refused. I finally willed myself to go ask, and then suddenly she was gone, in a fleeting second...she must have left. I began to imagine what she must've been like. Her laugh, certainly her kiss. I still know exactly what that feels like, though I've never felt it. She's been a figment for 29 years. An imagined standard by which all other women seem to have fallen terribly short. How could they not, after I'd individualized her with every quality I so longed for? I've never met the girl in the yellow dress. Seeing you [in a yellow dress], I guess, I just...

- Alan Shore in Boston Legal - Episode 3x13 - Dumping Bella

Best Friend

Denny Crane: What I give to you, what I share, I do with no one else. I like to think what you give to me, you do with nobody else. Now that may sound silly to you, but here's what I think is silly: the idea that jealousy or fidelity is reserved for romance.

Alan Shore: Gosh, what I get from you, Denny... People walk around today calling everyone their best friend. The term doesn't have any real meaning anymore. Mere acquaintances are lavished with hugs and kisses upon a second or at most third meeting. Birthday cards get passed around offices so everybody can scribble a snippet of sentimentality for a colleague they've barely met. And everyone just loves everyone. As a result, when you tell somebody you love them today, it isn't much heard. I love you, Denny. You are my best friend. I can't imagine going through life without you...as my best friend. [Pause] I'm not going to kiss you, however.

- Boston Legal - Episode 3x09 - On The Ledge

Our Deepest Fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It's not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

- Timo Cruz in Coach Carter, originally by Marianne Williamson