Jeannette Walls Quotes - Page 3

I hate Erma," I told Mom... "You have to show compassion for her..." She added that you should never hate anyone, even your worst enemies. "Everyone has something good about them," she said. "You have to find the redeeming quality and love the person for that." "Oh yeah?" I said. "How about Hitler? What was his redeeming quality?" "Hitler loved dogs," Mom said without hesitation.

If you don't want to sink, you better figure out how to swim

If you want to be treated like a mother, act like one.

We're stronger than we realize.

Don't be afraid of your dark places. ... If you can shine a light on them, you'll find treasure there.

You didn't need a college degree to become one of the people who knew what was really going on. If you paid attention, you could pick things up on your own.

Whoever coined the phrase 'a man's got to play the hand that was dealt him' was most certainly one piss-poor bluffer.

That was the thing to remember about all monsters, They love to frighten people, but the minute you stare them down, they turn tail and run.

One of the most challenging aspects of writing a memoir is finding your own voice, and you should be very careful about being influenced by someone else's voice.

Unlike diamonds, watches were practical. They were for people on the run, people with appointments to keep and schedules to meet.

Fussing over children who cry only encourages them. That's positive reinforcement for negative behavior.

Books are my very favorite gift to give. If you give a book to someone and they really respond to it, you feel you've actually changed their life in some way.

People are like animals. Some are happiest penned in, some need to roam free. You go to recognize what's in her nature and accept it.

My life is not just about the past.

She never felt sorry for herself, and that was something I decided I admired most in people.

All seasons have something to offer

I sit down at my desk pretty early in the morning and write all day until about 4 or 5 p.m.

She wore tight corsets to give her a teeny waist - I helped her lace them up - but they had the effect of causing her to faint. Mom called it the vapors and said it was a sign of her high breeding and delicate nature. I thought it was a sign that the corset made it hard to breathe.

Look at the way you live. You've sold out. Next thing I know you'll become a Republican." She shook her head. "Where are the values I raised you with?

Since Mom wasn't exactly the most useful person in the world, one lesson I learned at an early age was how to get things done, and this was a source of both amazement and concern for Mom, who considered my behavior unladylike but also counted on me. "I never knew a girl to have such gumption," she'd say. "But I'm not too sure it's a good thing.

Mom always said people worried too much about their children. Suffering when you're young is good for you, she said. It immunized your body and your soul, and that was why she ignored us kids when we cried. Fussing over children who cry only encouraged them, she told us. That's positive reinforcement for negative behavior.

Don't you make fun of me or my children! Some babies are premature. Mine were all postmature. That's why they're so smart. Their brains had longer to develop.

But I also hoped that [she] had chosen California because she thought that was her true home, the place where she really belonged, where it was always warm and you could dance in the rain, pick grapes right off the vines, and sleep outside at night under the stars.

I believe that everyone has some huge talent in them; the really lucky ones discover what it is.

I'm a fairly fast, but sloppy writer, so I'm a big fan of re-writing, and re-writing again.