“Helen and Buster got down and started praying with Mom, but I just stood there looking at them. The way I saw it, I was the one who'd saved us all, not Mom and not some guardian angel.” — Jeannette Walls Copy Share Image
“Dad was on the porch, pacing back and forth in that uneven stride he had on account of having a gimp leg. When he saw, he let out a yelp of delight and started hobbling down the steps towards us.… — Jeannette Walls Copy Share Image
You should never hate anyone, even your worst enemies. Everyone has something good about them. You have to find the redeeming quality and love… — Jeannette Walls Copy Share Image
“You should never hate anyone, not even your worst enemies. Everyone has something good about them. You had to find the redeeming quality and… — Jeannette Walls Copy Share Image
With a complicated childhood, you can either focus on the positive or the negative, and I chose to focus on the positive. — Jeannette Walls Copy Share Image
She never felt sorry for herself, and that was something I decided I admired most in people. — Jeannette Walls Copy Share Image
“If you want to live in the farmland, haul your sorry hide off to Pennsylvania.” — Jeannette Walls Copy Share Image
“I WAS SITTING IN a taxi, wondering if I had overdressed for the evening, when I looked out the window and saw Mom rooting through a Dumpster. It was just after dark. A blustery March wind whipped the steam coming out of the manholes, and people hurried along the sidewalks with their collars turned up. I was stuck in traffic… — Jeannette Walls Copy Share
I had the big shoulders; I had the big hair. I loved the '80s. It was all about power women. — Jeannette Walls Copy Share Image
Things usually work out in the end." "What if they don't?" "That just means you haven't come to the end yet. — Jeannette Walls Copy Share Image
“That was the way man was meant to live, he’d say, in harmony with the wild, like the Indians, not this lords-of-the-earth crap, trying… — Jeannette Walls Copy Share Image
Sometimes you need a little crisis to get your adrenaline flowing and help you realize your potential. — Jeannette Walls Copy Share Image
“Don’t be afraid of your dark places,” Mom told her. “If you can shine a light on them, you’ll find treasure there.” — Jeannette Walls Copy Share Image
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… — Jeannette Walls Copy Share
