Quote collection
56 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"It's not only children who grow. Parents do too. As much as we watch to see what our children do with their lives, they are watching us to see what we do with ours. I can't tell my children to reach for the sun. All I can do is reach for it, myself."
"She felt everything too deeply, it was like the world was too much for her."
"It's not only children who grow. Parents do too."
"A person who deserves my loyalty receives it."
"The big dramas that fascinate me are the quiet ones that happen behind closed doors in so-called ordinary families."
"At Home in the World is the story of a young woman, raised in some difficult circumstances, and how she survives. It tells a story of redemption, not victimhood."
"The painter who feels obligated to depict his subjects as uniformly beautiful or handsome and without flaws will fall short of making art."
"When I was 12 years old, I read Nancy Drew mysteries and biographies of Madame Curie and Florence Nightingale and books about girls who love horses or go to nursing school. I belonged to the Girl Scouts and got A's in school and rarely disobeyed my parents. I still kept a collection of Barbie dolls in my room, and I almost never spoke to boys."
"To share our stories is not only a worthwhile endeavor for the storyteller, but for those who hear our stories and feel less alone because of it."
"My job is writing. I get paid to do it. When was the last time you heard someone challenge a doctor for making money off of cancer?"
"If I told you about all the stories I don't tell, I would be violating the very boundaries I set for myself."
"It's sad but true that if you focus your attention on housework and meal preparation and diapers, raising children does start to look like drudgery pretty quickly. On the other hand, if you see yourself as nothing less than your child's nurturer, role model, teacher, spiritual guide, and mentor, your days take on a very different cast."
"The portrait of my parents is a complicated one, but lovingly drawn."
"Before I had children I always wondered whether their births would be, for me, like the ultimate in gym class failures. And I discovered instead... that I'd finally found my sport."
"Those who rhapsodize about the ease and joy of childhood have perhaps forgotten what it's like to be 12 years old."
"I'd known enough flush times and lean ones to understand that money came and went. And that one day I'd also lose my looks, my seemingly boundless energy and maybe the ability to catch the eye of an attractive man and the audacity to Rollerblade. My name would be forgotten. So would bad reviews, and good ones. But loving a child is something that lasts. Long after all the rest is gone, that's what endures."
"There is a theme that runs through my work, and that is: the toxic property of keeping secrets."
"Long after Salinger sent me away, I continued to believe his standards and expectations were the best ones."
"I believed my story would be helpful to young women my daughter's age, who are still in the process of forming themselves as women, and in need of encouragement to remain true to themselves."
"Although Salinger had long since cut me out of his life completely and made it plain that he had nothing but contempt for me, the thought of becoming the object of his wrath was more than I felt ready to take on."