This year marks the 20th anniversary of the release of worldwide bestselling romance writer Nicholas Sparks‘ first novel, The Notebook.
Famous for his beautiful yet heartbreaking stories, some of Sparks most famous novels include Dear John, The Last Song, The Lucky One, The Best of Me, The Longest Ride and A Walk To Remember. Most of his novels have been turned into worldwide sensation films.
Upon reflecting over the past 20 years, Sparks told us how he loves the impact that The Notebook has had on both his life and other peoples. He said:
“I love looking back at this and reflecting on how this book has changed the lives of so many, especially my own. I hope it had an impact on you as a reader, too.” — Nicholas Sparks
To celebrate his 20 years of success, we’re sharing 20 of Sparks quotes from his stories.
1. “I am nothing special, of this I am sure. I am a common man with common thoughts and I’ve led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten, but I’ve loved another with all my heart and soul, and to me, this has always been enough..”
– The Notebook
2. “I finally understood what true love meant…love meant that you care for another person’s happiness more than your own, no matter how painful the choices you face might be.”
– Dear John
3. “Sometimes you have to be apart from people you love, but that doesn’t make you love them any less. Sometimes you love them more.”
– The Last Song
4. “We fell in love, despite our differences, and once we did, something rare and beautiful was created. For me, love like that has only happened once, and that’s why every minute we spent together has been seared in my memory. I’ll never forget a single moment of it.”
― The Notebook
5. “When you’re struggling with something, look at all the people around you and realise that every single person you see is struggling with something, and to them, it’s just as hard as what you’re going through.”
― Dear John
6. “Life, he realised, was much like a song. In the beginning there is mystery, in the end there is confirmation, but it’s in the middle where all the emotion resides to make the whole thing worthwhile.”
― The Last Song
7. “The saddest people I’ve ever met in life are the ones who don’t care deeply about anything at all. Passion and satisfaction go hand in hand, and without them, any happiness is only temporary, because there’s nothing to make it last.”
― Dear John
8. “People come, people go – they’ll drift in and out of your life, almost like characters in a favourite book. When you finally close the cover, the characters have told their story and you start up again with another book, complete with new characters and adventures. Then you find yourself focusing on the new ones, not the ones from the past.”
― The Rescue
9. “And I learned what is obvious to a child. That life is simply a collection of little lives, each lived one day at a time. That each day should be spent finding beauty in flowers and poetry and talking to animals. That a day spent with dreaming and sunsets and refreshing breezes cannot be bettered. But most of all, I learned that life is about sitting on benches next to ancient creeks with my hand on her knee and sometimes, on good days, for falling in love.”
― The Notebook
10. “Someday you’ll find someone special again. People who’ve been in love once usually do. It’s in their nature.”
― Message in a Bottle
11. “He stared at her, knowing with certainty that he was falling in love. He pulled her close and kissed her beneath a blanket of stars, wondering how on earth he’d been lucky enough to find her.”
― The Last Song
12. “Summer romances begin for all kinds of reasons. But when all is said and done, they have one thing in common: They are shooting stars-a spectacular moment of light in the heavens, a fleeting glimpse of eternity. And in a flash, they’re gone.”
– The Notebook
13. “I don’t think that we’re meant to understand it all the time. I think that sometimes we just have to have faith.”
― A Walk to Remember
14. “People want pretty much the same things: They wanted to be happy. Most young people seemed to think that those things lay somewhere in the future, while most older people believed they lay in the past.”
― Nights in Rodanthe
15. “There are moments when I wish I could roll back the clock and take all the sadness away, but I have the feeling that if I did, the joy would be gone as well.”
― A Walk to Remember
16. “It is the possibility that keeps me going, and though you may call me a dreamer or a fool or any other thing, I believe that anything is possible.”
― The Notebook
17. “He often felt that too many people lived their lives acting and pretending, wearing masks and losing themselves in the process.”
― The Choice
18. “Never forget that anticipation is an important part of life. Work’s important, family’s important, but without excitement, you have nothing. You’re cheating yourself if you refuse to enjoy what’s coming.”
― Three Weeks With My Brother
19. “But even though she was attractive, there was something else about her that caught his eye. She was intelligent, he could sense that right away, and confident, too, as if she were able to move through life on her own terms. To him, these were the things that really mattered. Without them, beauty was nothing.”
― Message in a Bottle
20. “Love is fragile. And we’re not always its best caretakers. We just muddle through and do the best we can. And hope this fragile thing survives against all odds.”
― The Last Song
Page By Paige 