“Isn’t it odd,” Maryam said. “Just like that, a completely unknown person is a part of their family forever. Well, of course that’s true of a birth child, too, but … I don’t know, this seems more astonishing.” “To me, both are astonishing,” Dave said. “I remember before Bitsy was born, I used to worry she might not be compatible with the two of us. I told Connie, ‘Look at how long we took deciding whom we’d marry, but this baby’s waltzing in out of nowhere, not so much as a background check or a personality quiz. What if it turns out we don’t have any shared interests?’ ”
― Anne Tyler, quote from Digging to America
“You belong,” he told her. “You belong just as much as I do, or, who, or Bitsy or … It’s just like Christmas. We all think the others belong more.”
― Anne Tyler, quote from Digging to America
“The excuses she’d been about to offer—New York, Farah’s visit—suddenly seemed transparent. Instead, she told the truth. “I’m afraid it might be awkward, though.” “Awkward! Nonsense. We’re all grownups.” This argument came as a disappointment; Maryam wasn’t sure why. What had she wanted Bitsy to say? A pinch of injury tightened her chest. She said, “I know your father feels I didn’t handle things very well.” “Now, is that in any way relevant to this discussion? We’re talking about a simple little, normal little family get-together,” Bitsy said. “Shoot, we should just shanghai you.” Shanghai. As a verb, it was unfamiliar. Maybe it meant something like “lynch.” Maryam said, “Yes, perhaps you should,” in a tone that must have sounded more bitter than she had intended, because Bitsy said, “Well, forgive me, Maryam. I’m a meddlesome person; I realize that.” Which she was, in fact. But Maryam said, “Oh, no, Bitsy, you’re very kind. You were very sweet to call.” And then, trying to match Bitsy’s energy, “But you haven’t told me what I can do for you! Please, give me a task.” “Not a thing, thanks,” Bitsy said. “I’m getting stronger every day.”
― Anne Tyler, quote from Digging to America
“They knew all about Jin-Ho because Jin-Ho’s mother had telephoned two weeks after the babies’ arrival. “I hope you don’t mind my tracking you down,” she’d said. “You’re the only Yazdans in the book and I just couldn’t resist calling you to find out how things were going.” Jin-Ho, it seemed, was doing marvelously.”
― Anne Tyler, quote from Digging to America
“When Bitsy looked back on Jin-Ho’s arrival, it didn’t seem like a first meeting. It seemed that Jin-Ho had been traveling toward them all along and Bitsy’s barrenness had been part of the plan, foreordained so that they could have their true daughter.”
― Anne Tyler, quote from Digging to America
Anne Tyler
Born place: in Minneapolis, Minnesota, The United States
Born date October 25, 1941
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“Adults constantly raise the bar on smart children, precisely because they're able to handle it. The children get overwhelmed by the tasks in front of them and gradually lose the sort of openness and sense of accomplishment they innately have. When they're treated like that, children start to crawl inside a shell and keep everything inside. It takes a lot of time and effort to get them to open up again. Kids' hearts are malleable, but once they gel it's hard to get them back the way they were.”
― Haruki Murakami, quote from Kafka on the Shore
“You know, a heart can be broken, but it keeps on beating, just the same.”
― Fannie Flagg, quote from Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
“..we were always taught, instead of waiting to be swept off our feet, to 'expect little, forgive much'.”
― Helen Fielding, quote from Bridget Jones's Diary
“And I can't be running back and fourth forever between grief and high delight.”
― J.D. Salinger, quote from Franny and Zooey
“Pride is holding your head up high when everyone around you has theirs bowed. Courage is what makes you do it.”
― Bryce Courtenay, quote from The Power of One
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Eats, Shoots & Leave...BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.
We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.
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