“Some day I'll fool you, Mama. I'll do what I think is right for me and it might not be right in… — Betty Smith Fool Copy Share Image
“the fabric of family, the limits of love, the loss of innocence and the birth of knowledge.” — Betty Smith Family Copy Share Image
A child forgets a time of hunger but never forgets the aching want of other things. — Betty Smith Children Copy Share Image
“And if twenty cents can make us feel rich, it’s a cheap price to pay.” — Betty Smith Cents Copy Share Image
There had to be dark and muddy waters so that the sun could have something to background it's flashing glory. — Betty Smith Backgrounds Copy Share Image
Is it not so that a son what is bad to his mother is bad to his wife? — Betty Smith Bad mother Copy Share Image
No. I don't want to need anybody. I want someone to need me ... I want someone to need me. — Betty Smith Need Copy Share Image
They learned no compassion from their own anguish. thus their suffering was wasted. — Betty Smith Anguish Copy Share Image
It doesn't take long to write things of which you know nothing. When you write of actual things, it takes longer, because… — Betty Smith Firsts Copy Share Image
“Sometimes when you had nothing at all and it was raining and you were alone in the flat, it was wonderful to… — Betty Smith Copy Share Image
“Neeley came home and he and Francie were sent out for the weekend meat. This was an important ritual and called for… — Betty Smith Ritual Called Copy Share Image
It is a good thing to learn the truth one's self. To first believe with all your heart, and then not to… — Betty Smith Believe Copy Share Image
“A free country? they asked. You should live so long. What's free about it, they reasoned, when the law forces you to… — Betty Smith Children Copy Share Image
“Pipe dreams, he thought to himself, even while he was telling her about his dream winnings. But oh, how wonderful, he thought,… — Betty Smith Dream Copy Share Image
Sometimes I think it's better to suffer bitter unhappiness and to fight and to scream out, and even to suffer that terrible… — Betty Smith Bitter Copy Share Image
“Francie thought that all the books in the world were in that library and she had a plan about reading all the… — Betty Smith Book Copy Share Image
“I don’t know,” Miss Lizzie said. “Sometimes I think it’s better to suffer bitter unhappiness and to fight and to scream out,… — Betty Smith Copy Share Image
“It was the best advice Francie ever got. Truth and fancy were so mixed up in her mind -- as they are… — Betty Smith Psychology Copy Share Image
“Now his children are getting old too, like him, and they have children and nobody wants the old man any more and… — Betty Smith Children Copy Share Image
“Remember Joanna. Remember Joanna. Francie could never forget her. From that time on, remembering the stoning women, she hated women. She feared… — Betty Smith Time Copy Share Image
“If he went around looking into people’s windows like you say, He’d see how things were here; He’d see that it was… — Betty Smith Looking Copy Share Image
“MOST CHILDREN BROUGHT UP IN BROOKLYN BEFORE THE FIRST World War remember Thanksgiving Day there with a peculiar tenderness. It was the… — Betty Smith Children Copy Share Image
A person who pulls himself up from a low environment via the bootstrap route has two choices. Having risen above his environment,… — Betty Smith Behinds Copy Share Image
“I need someone,” thought Francie desperately. “I need someone. I need to hold somebody close. And I need more than this holding.… — Betty Smith Need Copy Share Image
“If she never had any lovers, she kicks herself around when the change comes, thinking of all the fun she could have… — Betty Smith Change Copy Share Image
“Several times that day, the name or thought of Papa had come up. And each time, Francie had felt a flash of… — Betty Smith Forgetting Copy Share Image
“But he refused to answer when addressed in English and forbade the speaking of English in his home. His daughters understood very… — Betty Smith Known People Copy Share Image
“Growing up spoiled a lot of things. It spoiled the nice game they had when there was nothing to eat in the… — Betty Smith Big things Copy Share Image
“A person who pulls himself up from a low environment via the bootstrap route has two choices. Having risen above his environment,… — Betty Smith Compassion Copy Share Image
“Hildy O’Dair is old for her age,” she thought. “It’s like powder was sprinkled on her yellow hair. But she’s not much… — Betty Smith Best friend Copy Share Image
“She wasn’t satisfied with the play she saw the following Saturday, either. All right. The long-lost lover came home just in time… — Betty Smith Landlord Copy Share Image
“Sissy told them they were way behind the times; that midwives were things of the past. Besides, she informed them proudly, she… — Betty Smith Judaism Copy Share Image
“Now the Irish women always look so ashamed. They know they can never make a Jesus. It will be just another Mick.” — Betty Smith Ashamed Copy Share Image
Bad quarrels come when two people are wrong. Worse quarrels come when two people are right. — Betty Smith People Copy Share Image
“Why, Mrs McGarrity's all right. Mr McGarrity's all right, too. Only I guess they aren't all right to each other.” — Betty Smith Right Copy Share Image
Look at everything as though you are seeing it for the first time. — Betty Smith First time Copy Share Image
