Quotes by Betty Smith

From that time on, the world was hers for the reading. She would never be lonely again, never miss the lack of intimate friends. Books became her friends and there was one for every mood. There was poetry for quiet companionship. There was adventure when she tired of quiet hours. There would be love stories when she came into adolescence and when she wanted to feel a closeness to someone she could read a biography. On that day when she first knew she could read, she made a vow to read one book a day as long as she lived.

The something which had been a future was now a present and would become a past.

I will not speak falsely and say to you: Do not grieve for me when I go. I have loved my children and tried to be a good mother and it is right that my children grieve for me. But let your grief be gentle and brief. And let resignation creep into it. Know that I shall be happy. I shall see face to face the great saints I have loved all my life.

The sad thing was in the knowing that all their nerve would get them nowhere in the world and that they were lost as all the people in Brooklyn seem lost when the day is nearly over and even though the sun is still bright, it is thin and doesn’t give you warmth when it shines on you.

Oh, and you must not forget the Kris Kringle. The child must believe in him until she reaches the age of six. I KNOW there is not Santa Claus.Yet you must teach the child that these things are so.Why? When I, myself, do not believe?Because...the child must have a valuable things which is called imagination. The child must have a secret world in which [to] live things that never were. It is necessary that she BELIEVE. She must start out believing in things not of this world. Then when the world becomes too ugly for living in, the child can reach back and live in her imagination.

They learned no compassion from their own anguish. Thus their suffering was wasted.

It is good thing to learn the truth ones self. To first believe with all your heart, and then not to believe, is good too. It fattens the emotions and makes them to stretch. When as a woman life and people disappoint her, she will have had practice in disappointment and it will not come so hard. In teaching your child do not forget that suffering is good too. It makes a person rich in character.

The child will grow up and find out things for herself. She will know that I lied. She will be disappointed.That is what is called learning the truth. It is a good thing to learn the truth ones self. To first believe with all your heart, and then not to believe, is good too. It fattens the emotions and makes them to stretch. When as a woman life and people disappoint her, she will have had practice in disappointment and it will not come so hard. In teaching your child, do not forget that suffering is good too. It makes a person rich in character.

Sometimes when you had nothing at all and it was raining and you were alone in the flat, it was wonderful to know that you could have something even though it was only a cup of black and bitter coffee.

Look at everything as though you were seeing it either first time or last time.

Look at everything always as though you were seeing it either for the first or last time: Thus is your time on earth filled with glory.

It was one of the links between the ground-down poor and the wasteful rich. The girl felt that even if she had less than anybody in Williamsburg, somehow she had more. She was richer because she had something to waste.

This is the book, then , and the book of Shakespeare. And every day you must read a page of each to your child--even though you yourself do not understand what is written down and cannot sound the words properly. You must do this that the child will grow up knowing of what is great---knowing that these tenements of Williamsburg are not the whole world.Katie: The Protestant Bible and Shakespeare.

Yes, when I get big and have my own home, no plush chairs and lace curtains for me. And no rubber plants. Ill have a desk like this in my parlor and white walls and a clean green blotter every Sunday night and a row of shining yellow pencils always sharpened for writing and a golden-brown bowl with a flower or some leaves or berries always in it and books...books..books.

Look at everything as though you were seeing it for the first time or the last time. Then your time on earth will be filled with glory.

Look at everything as though you were seeing it either for the first or last time. Then your time on earth will be filled with glory.

“In the future, when something comes up, you tell exactly how it happened but write down for yourself the way you think it should have happened. Tell the truth and write the story. Then you wont get mixed up. It was the best advice Francie every got.”

“I know thats what people say-- youll get over it. Id say it, too. But I know its not true. Oh, youll be happy again, never fear. But you wont forget. Every time you fall in love it will be because something in the man reminds you of him.”