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The Glass Castle: A Memoir

Book by Jeannette Walls · 44 quotes · People, Ifs, Said

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The Glass Castle: A Memoir Quotes

“I wondered if the fire had been out to get me. I wondered if all fire was related, like Dad said all humans were related, if the fire that had burned me that day while I cooked hot dogs was somehow connected o the fire I had flushed down the toilet and the fire burning at the hotel. I didn't have the answers to those questions, but what I did know was that I lived in a world that at any moment could erupt into fire. It was the sort of knowledge that kept you on your toes.”

IfsKnowsWorldHumansSaidMomentsAnswersFireDogDadHotConnectedBurningRelatedHotelBurnedToesToiletsHot DogFire Burning
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“One time I saw a tiny Joshua tree sapling growing not too far from the old tree. I wanted to dig it up and replant it near our house. I told Mom that I would protect it from the wind and water it every day so that it could grow nice and tall and straight. Mom frowned at me. "You'd be destroying what makes it special," she said. "It's the Joshua tree's struggle that gives it its beauty.”

GivingSaidWantedHouseGrowsWaterStruggleSawsNiceGrowingTreeSpecialWindMomProtectTinyTallDestroyingOne TimeOld TreesSaplings
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“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.”

PeopleChildrenSaidSoulBodyKidsYoungSufferingToo MuchCryMomBehaviorNegativeYour BodyWorriedYour SoulCriedIgnoredReinforcementFussingPositive ReinforcementNegative Behavior
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“Those shining stars, he liked to point out, were one of the special treats for people like us who lived out in the wilderness. Rich city folks, he'd say, lived in fancy apartments, but their air was so polluted they couldn't even see the stars. We'd have to be out of our minds to want to trade places with any of them.”

PeopleWantMindStarsCitiesRichAirSpecialTreatsTradeShiningFolksFancyWildernessApartmentShining Star
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“But the positive thoughts would give way to negative thoughts, and the negative thoughts seemed to swoop into her mind the way a big flock of black crows takes over the landscape, sitting thick in the trees and on the fence rails and lawns, staring at you in ominous silence.”

WayGivingMindBigsBlackSilenceTreeSittingNegativeLandscapeStaringThickPositive ThoughtsFenceCrowFlocksLawnsRailNegative ThoughtsOminousStaring At You
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