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Nicholas Charles Sparks is an American novelist, screenwriter, and film producer. He has published 24 novels, 16 of which are New York Times bestsellers, and two works of nonfiction, with over 130 million copies sold worldwide in more than 50 languages. Among his works are The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, and Message in a Bottle all of which, along with eight other books, have been adapted as fea…
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culture · American writer (born 1965) · novelist · taekwondo athlete · writer · athletics competitor · screenwriter · film producer · film screenwriter · also Nicholas Sparks, Nicholas Charles Sparks, Sparks
Born 31 December 1965 · Q219377
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I wish I had the talent to paint the way I feel about you, for my words always feel inadequate. I imagine using red for your passion and pale blue for your kindness; forest green to reflect the depth of your empathy and bright yellow for your unflagging optimism. And still I wonder: can even an artist's palette capture the full range of what you mean to me?
My plea to you is this: despite your sadness, do not forget how happy you have made me; do not forget that I loved a man who loved me in return, and this was the greatest gift I could ever hope to receive.
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“I wish I had the talent to paint the way I feel about you, for my words always feel inadequate. I imagine using red for your passion and pale blue for your kindness; forest green to reflect the depth of your empathy and bright yellow for your unflagging optimism. And still I wonder: can even an artist's palette capture the full range of what you mean to me?”
“My plea to you is this: despite your sadness, do not forget how happy you have made me; do not forget that I loved a man who loved me in return, and this was the greatest gift I could ever hope to receive.”
“It was the way you looked at me while I looked at the art that changed me. It is you, in other words, who changed.”
“You are a smart man, Ira, but sometimes I think you do not understand women very well.”
“Well, then I'd say it takes two to tango. My guess is that both of you are right and both of you are wrong. That's the way most arguments go, anyway. People are who they are and no one is perfect, but marriage is about becoming a team. You're going to spend the rest of your life learning about each other, and every now and then, things blow up. But the beauty of marriage is that if you picked the right person and you both love each other, you'll alway figure out a way to get through it.”
“...What's going on with you two, all this stress you're both under...that's called life. And life has a tendency to throw curveballs when you least expect them. Every couple has ups and downs, every couple argues, and that's the thing--you're a couple, and couples can't function without trust. You have to trust him, and he's got to trust you.”
“Like I said, you're in this together. Men have certain needs, women have different needs; that's the way it was hundreds of years ago, and that's the way it's going to be hundreds of years from now. If you both realize that, and you both work on meeting each other's needs, you'll have a good marriage. And part of that, for both of you, is trust. In the end, it's that simple.”
“Kids are people, too, and once they start getting older, they make their own decisions. There's only so much you can do.”
“...once she becomes a teenager...well, sometimes there's nothing you can do. With or without you, in the end, children grow up to become the people they were meant to be.”
“...having children changes your life like nothing else. It'll be the hardest and best thing you've ever done.”
“...when you're struggling with something, look at all the people around you and realize that every single person you see is struggling with something, and to them, it's just as hard as what you're going through.”
“...I learned that it's possible to go on, no matter how impossible it seems, and that in time, the grief...lessens. It may not ever go away completely, but after a while it's not overwhelming.”
“Traveling has less to do with seeing things than experiencing them....”
“...people are pretty much the same. Especially through adolescence and early adulthood. For the most part, people go through the same experiences and think the same thing, but somehow on one ever escapes the belief that his experience is unique in every conceivable way.”
“In other words, when the going get tough, the tough get going.”
“...I said everything that matters... Don't take my advice. Or anyone's advice. Trust yourself. For good or for bad, happy or unhappy, it's your life, and what you do with it has always been entirely up to you.”
“You have to understand that I'm not the girl I used to be. I'm a wife and a mother now, and like everyone else I'm not perfect. I struggle with the choices I've made and I make mistakes, and half the time I wonder who I really am or what I'm doing or whether my life means anything at all. I'm not special at all, Dawson, and you need to know that. You have to understand that I'm just...ordinary.”
“...people who are grieving have to want to move on--that first step, that motivating spark, has to come from within them. And when it does, it opens the door to the unexpected.”
“Love doesn't mean anything if you're not willing to make a commitment, and you have to think not only about what you want, but about what he wants. Not just now, but in the future.”
“I just tell people what they already know but are afraid to admit to themselves.”
“I'm not sure anyone's life turns out exactly the way they imagine. All we can do is to try to make the best of it. Even when it seems impossible.”
“Maybe I don't want to be defined by what I do. Maybe I'd like to be defined by what I am.”
“Long-term relationships--the ones that matter--are all about weathering the peaks and valleys.”
“Dying is a strange business, and I'm not going to bore you with the details. I might have weeks or I might have months and though it's a cliche, it's true that so many of the things I once believed to be important no longer are. ...I find myself reflecting on the essential moments of my life.”
“...even then I knew that I was fortunate. Because you were the first guy who wasn't constantly trying to impress me. You accepted who you were, but more than that, you accepted me for me.”
“As your father used to say, we shared the longest ride together, this thing called life, and mine has been filled with joy because of you.”
“'If there is a heaven, we will find each other again, for there is no heaven without you.'”
“Marriage is about compromise, it's about doing something for the other person, even when you don't want to.”
“I can't make this decision for you, Allie, this one's all yours. I want you to know, though, that I love you. And I always will. I know that doesn't help, but it's all I can do.”
“Oh, Garrett, who do you think it was that brought the bottle to her?”
“I can no more give Jamie away than I can give away my heart. But what I can do is let another share in the joy that she has always given me.”
“Mitch...was the kind of man who added something to everything he touched and everyone he came in contact with. I was envious of his view on life. He saw it all as a big game, where the only way to win was to be good to other people, to be able to look at yourself in the mirror and like what you see.”
“Why? Do you want to rescue me, too, Taylor? … That's what you're trying to do, isn't it? … I appreciate what you're trying to do, but it's not what I need right now. I need to handle this my own way.”
“Loving someone and having them love you back is the most precious thing in the world. It's what made it possible for me to go on...”
“I don't want to be a grown-up. … Because grown-ups always say that things are complicated.”
“If it's over--if it's really over--then don't let it screw up the rest of your life.”
“...The greater the love, the greater the tragedy when it's over. Those two elements always go together. … The best we can hope for in life is that it doesn't happen for a long, long time.”
“When I sleep, I dream of you, and when I wake, I long to hold you in my arms. If anything, our time apart has only made me more certain that I want to spend my nights by your side, and my days with your heart.”
“You know me better than anyone, and you're my best friend. I don't think there's anything you could say to me that would lead me to believe that you're doing it just to hurt me. If there's one thing I've come to know about you, it's that you're not even capable of something like that. Why do you think I like spending time with you so much? Because you're a good guy. A nice guy.”
“My mom used to tell me that whatever you do, marry someone who loves you more than you love him.”
“...she would fall in love with me again, just like she had a long time ago. And that's the most wonderful feeling in the world. How many people are ever given that chance? To have someone you love fall in love with you over and over?”
“Writing is easy. It's just the typing that's hard.”
“Relationships are the most important thing in life, and friends are part of that.”
“Dreams are funny like that. You want something so desperately, you somehow get it, then just as suddenly it's over. Like running races--all that training for a couple of minutes on the track. The secret, I've learned, is to appreciate the process.”
“...you have to give them both credit for being good parents simply because of the way their kids turned out. We're happily married, successful, ethical, and we remained close as siblings. If your kids can say the same thing later in life, won't you think you did a good job as a parent?”
“Work, spirituality, family, friendships, health--you can't ignore any of them or it'll get you in the end.”
“I tell Ryan that God gave him a brother like Miles so that Ryan could learn that anything is possible and that he can be good at anything. And I tell Miles that God gave him Ryan so that Miles could learn patience and persistence and how to overcome challeges.”
“My point is simply that kids turn out okay as long as the parents are involved, no matter where they live. It's not like small towns have a monopoly on values. I mean, I'm sure if I did some digging, I'd find lots of kids that were in trouble here, too. Kids are kids, no matter where they live.”
“I think it happens to everyone as they grow up. You find out who you are and what you want, and then you realize that people you've known forever don't see things the way you do. And so you keep the wonderful memories, but find yourself moving on. It's perfectly normal.”
“I'm of the opinion that anyone--even strangers--can sense the urgency of a request, and most people will usually do the right thing. … But when that didn't work, I offered to pay them.”
“...but what I eventually came to understand was that if a woman truly loves you, you can't always expect her to tell the truth. You see, women are more attuned to feelings than men are, and if they're not being truthful, more often than not it's because they think the truth might hurt your feelings. But it doesn't mean they don't love you.”
“...The one thing you've got to remember is to see the big picture. When things get tough, remind yourself why you fell in love with her in the first place. She's a special woman, and you were lucky to find her, just as she was lucky to find you. She's got a heart of gold, and you can't fake something like that.”
Snopes rated the claim “In his novel "Counting Miracles," published Sept. 24, 2024, author Nicholas Sparks predicted the hurricane that devastated western North Carolina starting Sept. 27, 2024.” False.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
And Dreamland in 2022, each of which were optioned as films
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Divorced Cathy Cote, his wife of 25 years
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In 2012, he founded The Nicholas Sparks Foundation, a nonprofit that funds global education experiences for students, which has donated more than $15 million to charities, scholarship programs, and other projects.
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Founded The Nicholas Sparks Foundation, a nonprofit that funds global education experiences for students, which has donated more than $15 million to charities, scholarship programs, and other projects
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“...There is a greater purpose to all this. It is your destiny.”
Sparks donated nearly $900,000 for a new, all-weather tartan track to New Bern High School, where he has also volunteered to coach
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“W miłości nigdy nie jest za późno na drugą szansę.”
“One day, you're going to learn something that can't be explained with science. And when that happens, your life's going to change in ways you can't imagine.”
“(…) jednym z symptomów klinicznej depresji jest: nadmierna apatia, bez konkretnego powodu czy przyczyny.”
“Każdy z nas dźwiga jakiś garb, każdy zrobił kiedyś jakieś rzeczy, które chciałby cofnąć. Ale większość ludzi nie obnosi się z tym i nie robi wszystkiego, żeby z tego powodu spieprzyć swoje obecne życie.”
“(…) uderzyła ją prosta prawda: że czasem rzeczy najzwyklejsze – kiedy się je dzieli z właściwymi ludźmi – bywają niezwykłe.”
“And don't worry. From wherever I am, I'll watch out for you. I'll be your guardian angel, sweetheart. You can count on me to keep you safe.”
“Even now, not a day goes by when I don't wish I could turn back the clock and change what happened.”
“It was...the most difficult walk anyone ever had to make. In every way, a walk to remember.”
After the publication of The Notebook, Sparks wrote Message in a Bottle which, in 1999, became the first of his novels to be adapted for film in 1999
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Literary agent Theresa Park secured a $1 million advance for The Notebook from Time Warner Book Group, the book that became Sparks's breakthrough novel
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And a second unpublished novel called The Royal Murders in 1989
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Sparks graduated valedictorian of Bella Vista High School
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Born 1965-12-31.
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“That's what courage is. If she weren't scared, she wouldn't need courage in the first place.”
Well, then I'd say it takes two to tango. My guess is that both of you are right and both of you are wrong. That's the way most arguments go, anyway. People are who they are and no one is perfect, but marriage is about becoming a team. You're going to spend the rest of your life learning about each other, and every now and then, things blow up. But the beauty of marriage is that if you picked the right person and you both love each other, you'll alway figure out a way to get through it.
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