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Jeannette Walls

Jeannette Walls Quotes

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Famous Jeannette Walls Quotes

“Mom also hinted a couple of times that it was good I was going to college, since with one failed marriage behind me, I 'd have trouble landing a good husband and would need something to fall back on. "A package that's been opened once doesn't have the same appeal".”

NeedsFallBehindsTroubleCollegeMomCoupleHusbandAppealsPackagesLandingFall BackGoing To CollegeGood HusbandFailed Marriage
Book:Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel
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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
Book:The Glass Castle: A Memoir
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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
Book:The Glass Castle: A Memoir
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“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.”

WorldPersonsDoneAgeGirlSourceMomLessonsBehaviorConcernGood ThingsThings DoneAmazementGumption
Author:Jeannette Walls
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“The way Mom saw it, women should let menfolk do the work because it made them feel more manly. That notion only made sense if you had a strong man willing to step up and get things done, and between Dad's gimp, Buster's elaborate excuses, and Apache's tendency to disappear, it was often up to me to keep the place from falling apart. But even when everyone was pitching in, we never got out from under all the work. I loved that ranch, though sometimes it did seem that instead of us owning the place, the place owned us.”

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Author:Jeannette Walls
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“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.”

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Author:Jeannette Walls
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