“I had not said anything about what had happened the day before—about being scared down to my very bones when I thought they had left me. I don't know what came over me. Ever since my mother left us that April day, I suspected that everyone was going to leave, one by one.”

“It is a relief to discover that although there might be axe murderers and kidnappers in the world, most people seem a lot like us: sometimes afraid and sometimes brave, sometimes cruel and sometimes kind.”

“I love the way that each book—any book—is its own journey. You open it, and off you go….”

“The sea, the sea, the sea. It rolled and rolled and called to me. Come in, it said, come in.”

“What's important is the ambition that results from our weakness.”

“Mrs. Mudkin closed her eyes. "We should pray.""I ain't praying," Crazy Cora said. Mrs. Mudkin said, "Lord, please bless---""I ain't praying.""--this land and the people who--""I ain't praying.""--have toiled on this earth--""Stop that praying.""I can pray if I want to.""Then be quiet about it.”

“I don't want tobecause boysdon't write poetry.Girls do.”

“So much dependsupona blue carsplattered with mudspeeding down the road.”

“I tried.Can't do it.Brain's empty.”

“Being a mother is like trying to hold a wolf by the ears,” Gram said. “If you have three or four –or more – chickabiddies, you’re dancing on a hot griddle all the time. You don’t have time to think about anything else. And if you’ve only got one or two, it’s almost harder. You have room left over – empty spaces that you think you’ve got to fill up.”

“You can't keep the birds of sadness from flying over your head, but you can keep them from nesting in your hair.”