Everything beautiful has a story it wants to tell. But not every story is beautiful.
-- Narrator (Taryn) (chapter 1)

Importance: Taryn is referencing the scarf with the marigolds on it which she got to see and hold for only one day—September 11, 2001—before it was lost in the chaos of the tragedy. The scarf has lingered in her mind as something of great beauty, but also mystery and trauma since it is associated with the day she lost her husband in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Furthermore, this quote can be seen as the author's reference to the novel itself since the novel is about how the marigolds scarf affected two different women a century apart in two different ways. The scarf truly has a history and a story to tell.

I was not afraid of fire. I was in dreadful awe of how everything you were sure of could be swept...
-- Narrator (Clara) (chapter 2)