“Who'd ever guess," said Francie, ¨looking at the outside of him, that he was so different inside?¨” — Betty Smith Copy Share Image
“You're not to cry for him,' ordered Mama. Her next words had no sense either. 'He's out of it now and maybe… — Betty Smith Copy Share Image
People always think that happiness is a faraway thing … something complicated and hard to get. Yet, what little things can make… — Betty Smith Copy Share Image
“He talked about democracy and good citizenship and about a good world where everyone did the best he could for the common… — Betty Smith Common good Copy Share Image
She was surprised at how tiny it seemed now. She supposed the school was just as big as it had ever been… — Betty Smith Copy Share Image
“Neeley, if you had to die, wouldn't it be wonderful to die now—while you believed that everything was perfect, the way this… — Betty Smith Copy Share Image
“Gradually then, because he could not share his inner self with her, he lost the power of being a husband to her,… — Betty Smith Inner self Copy Share Image
New York! I've always wanted to see it and now I've see it. It's true what they say-- it's the most wonderful… — Betty Smith Cities Copy Share Image
“Oh, I want to hold it all!" she cried. "I want to hold the way the night is—cold without wind. And the… — Betty Smith Copy Share Image
Those were the Rommely women: Mary, the mother, Evy, Sissy, and Katie, her daughters, and Francie, who would grow up to be… — Betty Smith Copy Share Image
It meant that she belonged some place. She was a Brooklyn girl with a Brooklyn name and a Brooklyn accent. She didn't… — Betty Smith Accents Copy Share Image
“She had born a child but two hours ago. She was so weak that she couldn't lift her head an inch from… — Betty Smith Children 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
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 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
“That’s not the point. It was a shrewd move. Teachers are educating future voters. This teacher, for instance, will always say a… — Betty Smith Education Copy Share Image
“That is what is called learning the truth. It is a good thing to learn the truth one's self. To first believe… — Betty Smith Copy Share Image
“No, I ain't big enough. I ain't big enough to do a thing like that. I gotta think of myself and my… — Betty Smith Copy Share Image
“She adapted herself to the split-second rhythm of the New Yorker going to and from work. Getting to the office was a… — Betty Smith Bad mood Copy Share Image
“If He’s so great, why didn’t He help Papa instead of punishing him like you said?” “I just said maybe.” “If God… — Betty Smith Copy Share Image
Serene was a word you could put to Brooklyn New York. Especially in the summer of 1912. Somber as a word was… — Betty Smith Copy Share Image
“The one tree in Francie’s yard was neither a pine nor a hemlock. It had pointed leaves which grew along green switches… — Betty Smith Poor people Copy Share Image
“From that time on, the world was hers for the reading. She would never be lonely again, never miss the lack of… — Betty Smith Books Copy Share Image
There's a tree that grows in Brooklyn. Some people call it the Tree of Heaven. No matter where its seed falls, it… — Betty Smith Beautiful Copy Share Image
“One day they’re babies in buggies and the next day they’re in here taking picks. Kids grow up quick in this neighborhood.” — Betty Smith Child Copy Share Image
But she needs me more than she needs him and I guess being needed is almost as good as being loved. Maybe… — Betty Smith Being loved Copy Share Image
I can never give a 'yes' or a 'no.' I don't believe everything in life can be settled by a monosyllable. — Betty Smith Copy Share Image
“Then I've been drunk, too," admitted Francie. "On beer?" "No. Last spring, in McCarren's Park, I saw a tulip for the first… — Betty Smith Drunk Copy Share Image
Well, there's a little bit of man in every woman and a little bit of woman in every man. — Betty Smith Copy Share Image
“When you get home, burn these in the stove. Apply the match to them yourself. And as the flames rise, keep saying:… — Betty Smith Copy Share Image
“But oh, how wonderful, he thought, if everything you talked about could come true!” — betty smith Copy Share Image
“A small child has little idea of the future. Next week is as far ahead as his future stretches and the year… — Betty Smith Children Copy Share Image
“But she didn't want to recall things. She wanted to live things — or as a compromise, relive rather than reminisce.” — Betty Smith Heart Copy Share Image
It's come at last", she thought, "the time when you can no longer stand between your children and heartache. — Betty Smith Children Copy Share Image
And that's where the whole trouble is. We're too much alike to understand each other because we don't even understand our own… — Betty Smith Self Copy Share Image
“All the things that happened there just couldn’t happen. It was all dream stuff. Or was it all real and true and… — Betty Smith Dreamer Copy Share Image
“Oh well, this is only temporary. Everything will be better someday. I'll make it better. After all, I'm young yet.” — Betty Smith Copy Share Image
Look at everything as though you were seeing it for the first time or the last time. Then your time on earth… — Betty Smith Copy Share Image
All of us are what we have to be and everyone lives the kind of life its in him to live. — Betty Smith Inspirational Copy Share Image
“The child will grow up and find out things for herself. She will know that I lied. She will be disappointed." "That… — Betty Smith Children Copy Share Image
