The Best Compliments from Books

“To him she seemed so beautiful, so seductive, so different from ordinary people, that he could not understand why no one was as disturbed as he by the clicking of her heels on the paving stones, why no one else’s heart was wild with the breeze stirred by the sighs of her veils, why everyone did not go mad with the movements of her braid, the flight of her hands, the gold of her laughter.” 

“It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer.”

“I like myself better when I’m with you.”

“Every atom of your flesh is as dear to me as my own: in pain and sickness it would still be dear.”

“She is a friend of my mind. She gather me, man. The pieces I am, she gather them and give them back to me in all the right order.”

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.”

“My old grandmother always used to say, Summer friends will melt away like summer snows, but winter friends are friends forever.”

“Being in a relationship, that’s something you choose. Being friends, that’s just something you are. [But] I do pick you. We’ve been friends too long to pick, but if we could pick, I’d pick you.”

“You’re all the good things wrapped into one good thing.”

“Promise me you’ll always remember that you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”

“You are the friend to whom my soul is attached as to its better half. You are dearer to me than language has the power of telling.”

“I have a million things to talk to you about. All I want in this world is you. I want to see you and talk. I want the two of us to begin everything from the beginning.”

“No, I know,” Levi said. “But it’s not you. You don’t push through every moment. You pay attention. You take everything in. I like that about you — I like that better.”

Cath closed her eyes and felt tears catch on her cheeks.

“I like your glasses,” he said. “I like your Simon Snow T-shirts. I like that you don’t smile at everyone, because then, when you smile at me…Cather.” He kissed her mouth. “Look at me.”

She did.

“I choose you over everyone.”

“In case you ever foolishly forget: I am never not thinking of you.”

“Frog said, ‘I wrote “Dear Toad, I am glad that you are my best friend. Your best friend, Frog.”’ ‘Oh,’ said Toad, ‘that makes a very good letter.’ Then Frog and Toad went out onto the front porch to wait for the mail. They sat there, feeling happy together.”

“As I got to know you, I began to realize that beauty was the least of your qualities. I became fascinated by your goodness. I was drawn in by it. I didn’t understand what was happening to me. And it was only when I began to feel actual, physical pain every time you left the room that it finally dawned on me: I was in love, for the first time in my life.”

“She was like that, excited and delighted by little things, crossing her fingers before any remotely unpredictable event, like tasting a new flavor of ice cream, or dropping a letter in a mailbox.”

“I know you aren’t perfect. But it’s a person’s imperfections that make them perfect for someone else.”

“A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.”

“You have a beautiful laugh. Like the promise of tomorrow.”