Novel Quotes

I have not had very much going on the last couple weeks in school. It has been the calm before the storm that will ensue with finals quickly approaching. With all my extra free time I flew through four wonderful books. I have always held the greatest respect for my books. I think it is a mortal sin to fold the corner of a page or scribble in it. But my sister recently recommended that I highlight or underline my favorite lines. She says once you do that, the book truly becomes yours. Reading always gives me so much I want to write about but since I know I am not going to have the time, I thought I would share some of my favorite quotes from these books.

“I don't want to be married just to be married. I can't think of anything lonelier than spending the rest of my life with someone I can't talk to, or worse, someone I can't be silent with.” -Mary Ann Shaffer, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

“Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad books.” - Mary Ann Shaffer, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society  

“Naturally curly hair is a curse, and don't ever let anyone tell you different.” -Mary Ann Shaffer, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

“I am old enough to know only too well my good and bad qualities, which were often one in the same.” -Lisa See, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan   

“Read a thousand books, and your words will flow like a river.” -Lisa See, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan  

“When I knew I couldn't suffer another moment of pain, and tears fell on my bloody bindings, my mother spoke softly into my ear, encouraging me to go one more hour, one more day, one more week, reminding me of the rewards I would have if I carried on a little longer. In this way, she taught me how to endure--not just the physical trials of footbinding and childbearing but the more tortuous pain of the heart, mind, and soul. She was also pointing out my defects and teaching me how to use them to my benefit. In our country, we call this type of mother love teng ai. My son has told me that in men's writing it is composed of two characters. The first means pain; the second means love. That is a mother's love.” -Lisa See, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

"And when I went to sit down on the edge of the bed, that's when it started pouring out of me, all the water, pouring stead and hard, slippery down my legs, and for a second, I worried that I was having a fish, not a baby."-Sheri Reynolds, The Rapture of Canaan

“There's only so much room in one heart. You can fill it up with love or you can fill it with resentment. But every bit of resentment you hold takes space away from the love. And the resentment don't do no good noway, but look what love can do.” -Sheri Reynolds, The Rapture of Canaan