Quotes by Jodi Picoult

Words got in the way. The things we felt the hardest--like what it was like to have a boy touch you as if you were made of light, or what it meant to be the only person in the room who wasnt noticed--werent sentences; they were knots in the wood of our bodies, places where our blood flowed backward. If you asked me, not that anyone ever did, the only words worth saying were Im sorry.

Being a good mother, it seemed to me, meant you ran the risk of losing your child.

It never failed to amaze me how the most ordinary day could be catapulted into the extraordinary in the blink of an eye.

What would you do if you only had one day left in this world? Spend it with the people you love? Travel to the far corners of the earth to see as many wonders as possible? Eat nothing but chocolate? Would you apologize for all your mistakes? Would you stand up to those youd never had the courage to face? Would you tell your secret crush that you loved him or her? Why is it that we wait till the last minute to do the things we should be doing all along?

A lie, as you probably know, has a taste all its own. Blocky and bitter and never quite right, like when you pop a piece of fancy chocolate into your mouth expecting toffee filling and you get lemon zest instead.

But memory is like plaster: peel it back and you just might find a completely different picture.

When you think youre right, youre most likely wrong.

When it rains, her father said it pours.

Things that look impossible suddenly seem a lot better, once you get God on board.

Since when does anyone get the option to do the easiest?

No, honestly, my mouth shouldnt be able to function unless my brains engaged.

I always wondered why God was supposed to be a father, she whispers. Fathers always want you to measure up to something. Mothers are the ones who love you unconditionally, dont you think?

A sacrament--like marriage--means living a life better than your natural instincts, so that youre modeling God. And God never gives up.

Dr. Keller begins pacing. I dont think weve been hearing Faith just right. Her guard...the words..they sound alike.What do you mean?Your daughter, Dr. Keller says flatly. I think shes seeing God.

Dylan Jerome, the lawyer admits, wanted to sue God for not caring enough about him.

well, sometimes to get what you want the most, you have to do what you want the least.

Cara: I used to believe everything my brother told me, because he was older and I figured he knew more about the world. But as it turns out, being a grown-up doesnt mean youre fearless. It just means you fear different things.

Into the silence rips a sound that makes me let go of Maxs hand and cover my ears. It is like the strafe of a bullet, nails on a chalkboard, promises being broken. Its a note I have never heard - this chord of pure pain - and it takes a moment to realize it is coming from me.

There are two ways to be happy: improve your reality, or lower your expectations.

There were two ways to be happy: improve your reality, or lower your expectations