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"I was such a smart kid, I should have figured out that the only way to really get my parents' attention was to disappoint them or fail. But by the time I finally realized that, succeeding was already a habit too ingrained to break."
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"Although he never speaks of how or what or why, I know that his childhood was difficult, that his parents broke his heart. Books and excess poundage are his insulation against pain."
Author Name
Personal Development
"I do not remember asking adults about anything, except as a last resort."
Author Name
Personal Development
"Schizoid behavior is a pretty common thing in children. It's accepted, because all we adults have this unspoken agreement that children are lunatics."
Author Name
Personal Development
"A child is child."
Author Name
Personal Development
"It is good for children to find themselves facing the elements of a fairy tale - they are well-equipped to deal with these."
Author Name
Personal Development
"Granny," said Esk, in the exasperated and remarkably adult voice children use to berate their wayward elders. "I don't think you quite understand. I don't want to hit the ground. It's never done anything to me."
Author Name
Personal Development
"Leading up to Christmas, there was talk of Santa. But I'd never even heard of Santa. Bunty, one of the workers who I grew to love, tried to explain, 'He brings little angels like you, presents."
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Personal Development
"A child's best friend is often the one telling bedtime stories."
Author Name
Personal Development
"The happiness of childhood, the calming of a child's fears and the healthy development of its self-confidence depend directly upon love."
Author Name
Personal Development
"Kids. You gotta love them. I adore children. A little salt, a squeeze of lemon--perfect."
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Personal Development
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"Macy: "In Truth, I said, "there are no rules other than you have to tell the truth.Wes: "How do you win? he askedMacy: "That, I said, "is such a boy question."
Truth
"Fine," he repeated, and I wondered why it was I kept coming back to this, again and again, a word that you said when someone asked how you were but didn't really care to know the truth."
Honesty
"Family," she announced. "They're the people in your life you don't get to pick. The ones that are given to you,as opposed to those you get to choose.""You're bound to them by blood," she continued, her voice flat. "Which, you know, gives you that much more in common. Diseases, genetics, hair, and eye color. It's like they're part of your blueprint. If something's wrong with you, you can usually trace it back to them."I nodded and kept writing."But," she said, "even though you're stuck with them, at the same time, they're also stuck with you. So that's why they always get the front rows at christenings and funerals. Because they're the ones that are there, you know, from the beginning to the end. Like it or not."
Family
"Maybe if I'd agreed to do the debutante thing like she wanted. Or taken up pageants instead of riding jump bikes with a bunch of grungy boys. I'd always tell her, why can't I do both? Who says you have to be either smart or pretty, or into girly stuff or sports? Life shouldn't be about the either/or. We're capable of more than that, you know?"
Empowerment
"I'd made my choice, though, and I couldn't take it back."
Decision
"I was such a smart kid, I should have figured out that the only way to really get my parents' attention was to disappoint them or fail. But by the time I finally realized that, succeeding was already a habit too ingrained to break."
Childhood
"Sometimes, you have to manufacture your own history. Give fate a push, so to speak."
Destiny
"Restoring order of my personal universe suddenly seemed imperative, as I refolded my T-shirts, stuffed the toes of my shoes with tissue paper, and arranged all the bills in my secret stash box facing the same way, instead of tossed in sloppy and wild, as if by my evil twin. All week, I kept making lists and crossing things off them, ending each day with a sense of great accomplishment eclipsed only by complete and total exhaustion."
Order
"The fate of your heart is your choice and no one else gets a vote."
Emotion
"Grief can be a burden, but also an anchor. You get used to the weight, how it holds you in place."
Emotion
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