--- title: "4 Mom and dad Quotes By Jeannette Walls" description: "4 Mom and dad quotes by Jeannette Walls. Plus more from Jeannette Walls and more Mom and dad sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de1/jeannette-walls-1378_conformist_mom-and-dad-liked-to-make-a-big-point-ab_272948.png" --- > [“Mom and Dad liked to make a big point about never surrendering to fear or to prejudice or to the narrow-minded conformist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-walls/mom-and-dad-liked-to-make-a-big-point-about-never-surrendering-to/) [Jeannette Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeannette-walls/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de1/jeannette-walls-1378_conformist_mom-and-dad-liked-to-make-a-big-point-ab_272948.png) > [“I never believed in Santa Claus. None of us kids did. Mom and Dad refused to let us. They couldn't afford expensive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-walls/i-never-believed-in-santa-claus-none-of-us-kids-did-mom-and-dad/) [Jeannette Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeannette-walls/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92f/jeannette-walls-1378_christmas_i-never-believed-in-santa-claus-none-of_608642.png) > [“Mom and Dad rented a great big U-Haul truck. Mom explained that since only she and Dad could fit in the front…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-walls/mom-and-dad-rented-a-great-big-u-haul-truck-mom-explained-that-since/) [Jeannette Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeannette-walls/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/803/jeannette-walls-1378_mom-and-dad_mom-and-dad-rented-a-great-big-u-haul-tr_1295918.jpg) > [“Dad’s favorite subject was history, but he taught it with a decidedly west-of-the-Pecos point of view. As the proud son of an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-walls/dad-s-favorite-subject-was-history-but-he-taught-it-with-a-decidedly/) [Jeannette Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeannette-walls/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf4/jeannette-walls-1378_american-war_dad-s-favorite-subject-was-history-but-h_1806239.jpg) ## Other authors on Mom and dad - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b001/author-stephen-chbosky-387.jpg) Stephen Chbosky 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mom-and-dad/stephen-chbosky/) ## More by Jeannette Walls > [You should never hate anyone, even your worst enemies. Everyone has something good about them. You have to find the redeeming quality and love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-walls/you-should-never-hate-anyone-even-your-worst-enemies-everyone-has/) [Jeannette Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeannette-walls/) > [“You should never hate anyone, not even your worst enemies. Everyone has something good about them. You had to find the redeeming quality and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-walls/you-should-never-hate-anyone-not-even-your-worst-enemies-everyone-has/) [Jeannette Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeannette-walls/) > [With a complicated childhood, you can either focus on the positive or the negative, and I chose to focus on the positive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-walls/with-a-complicated-childhood-you-can-either-focus-on-the-positive-or/) [Jeannette Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeannette-walls/) > [She never felt sorry for herself, and that was something I decided I admired most in people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-walls/she-never-felt-sorry-for-herself-and-that-was-something-i-decided-i/) [Jeannette Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeannette-walls/) > [“If you want to live in the farmland, haul your sorry hide off to Pennsylvania.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-walls/if-you-want-to-live-in-the-farmland-haul-your-sorry-hide-off-to/) [Jeannette Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeannette-walls/) > [“I WAS SITTING IN a taxi, wondering if I had overdressed for the evening, when I looked out the window and saw Mom rooting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-walls/i-was-sitting-in-a-taxi-wondering-if-i-had-overdressed-for-the/) [Jeannette Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeannette-walls/) > [I had the big shoulders; I had the big hair. I loved the '80s. It was all about power women.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-walls/i-had-the-big-shoulders-i-had-the-big-hair-i-loved-the-80s-it-was-all/) [Jeannette Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeannette-walls/) > [Things usually work out in the end." "What if they don't?" "That just means you haven't come to the end yet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-walls/things-usually-work-out-in-the-end-what-if-they-don-t-that-just-means/) [Jeannette Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeannette-walls/) > [“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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-walls/that-was-the-way-man-was-meant-to-live-he-d-say-in-harmony-with-the/) [Jeannette Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeannette-walls/) > [Sometimes you need a little crisis to get your adrenaline flowing and help you realize your potential.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-walls/sometimes-you-need-a-little-crisis-to-get-your-adrenaline-flowing-and/) [Jeannette Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeannette-walls/) > [“Don’t be afraid of your dark places,” Mom told her. “If you can shine a light on them, you’ll find treasure there.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-walls/don-t-be-afraid-of-your-dark-places-mom-told-her-if-you-can-shine-a/) [Jeannette Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeannette-walls/) > [I hate Erma," I told Mom... "You have to show compassion for her..." She added that you should never hate anyone, even your worst…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-walls/i-hate-erma-i-told-mom-you-have-to-show-compassion-for-her-she-added/) [Jeannette Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeannette-walls/) > [“Sad state to spend your life in. Being afraid of your own self." Rex Walls”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-walls/sad-state-to-spend-your-life-in-being-afraid-of-your-own-self-rex/) [Jeannette Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeannette-walls/) > [I was so worried that people wouldn't like me or my story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-walls/i-was-so-worried-that-people-wouldn-t-like-me-or-my-story/) [Jeannette Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeannette-walls/) > [“the surest way to feel rich was to invest in quality nonessentials.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-walls/the-surest-way-to-feel-rich-was-to-invest-in-quality-nonessentials/) [Jeannette Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeannette-walls/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mom-and-dad/jeannette-walls/#itemlist", "name": "4 Mom and dad Quotes By Jeannette Walls", "numberOfItems": 4, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Mom and Dad liked to make a big point about never surrendering to fear or to prejudice or to the narrow-minded conformist sticks-in-the-mud who tried to tell everyone else what was proper.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jeannette Walls" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-walls/mom-and-dad-liked-to-make-a-big-point-about-never-surrendering-to/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de1/jeannette-walls-1378_conformist_mom-and-dad-liked-to-make-a-big-point-ab_272948.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de1/jeannette-walls-1378_conformist_mom-and-dad-liked-to-make-a-big-point-ab_272948.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de1/jeannette-walls-1378_conformist_mom-and-dad-liked-to-make-a-big-point-ab_272948.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Mom and Dad liked to make a big point about never surrendering to fear or to prejudice or to the…” — Jeannette Walls", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I never believed in Santa Claus. None of us kids did. Mom and Dad refused to let us. They couldn't afford expensive presents and they didn't want us to think we weren't as good as other kids who, on Christmas morning, found all sorts of fancy toys under the tree that were supposedly left by Santa Claus. Dad had lost his job at the gypsum, and when Christmas came that year, we had no money at all. On Christmas Eve, Dad took each one of us kids out into the desert night one by one. \"Pick out your favorite star\", Dad said. \"I like that one!\" I said. Dad grinned, \"that's Venus\", he said. He explained to me that planets glowed because reflected light was constant and stars twinkled because their light pulsed. \"I like it anyway\" I said. \"What the hell,\" Dad said. \"It's Christmas. You can have a planet if you want.\" And he gave me Venus. Venus didn't have any moons or satellites or even a magnetic field, but it did have an atmosphere sort of similar to Earth's, except it was super hot-about 500 degrees or more. \"So,\" Dad said, \"when the sun starts to burn out and Earth turns cold, everyone might want to move to Venus to get warm. And they'll have to get permission from your descendants first. 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Mom told us the trip would be about fourteen hours if we took the highway, but we should tack on another couple of hours because we might make some scenic detours.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jeannette Walls" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-walls/mom-and-dad-rented-a-great-big-u-haul-truck-mom-explained-that-since/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/803/jeannette-walls-1378_mom-and-dad_mom-and-dad-rented-a-great-big-u-haul-tr_1295918.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/803/jeannette-walls-1378_mom-and-dad_mom-and-dad-rented-a-great-big-u-haul-tr_1295918.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/803/jeannette-walls-1378_mom-and-dad_mom-and-dad-rented-a-great-big-u-haul-tr_1295918.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Mom and Dad rented a great big U-Haul truck. 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He sided with the Mexicans in the Mexican-American war and thought the United States had stolen all the land north of the Rio Grande, but he also thought the southern states should have had as much right to leave the union as the colonies had to leave the British Empire. “Only difference between a traitor and a patriot is your perspective,” he said. * * * I loved my lessons, particularly science and geometry, loved learning that there were these invisible rules that explained the mysteries of the world we lived in. Smart as that made me feel, Mom and Dad kept saying that even though I was getting a better education at home than any of the kids in Toyah, I’d need to go to finishing school when I was thirteen, both to acquire social graces and to earn a diploma. Because in this world, Dad said, it’s not enough to have a fine education. You need a piece of paper to prove you got it. 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