Martha N. Beck · 336 pages
Rating: (8.7K votes)
“Angels come in many shapes and sizes, and most of them are not invisible.”
― Martha N. Beck, quote from Expecting Adam: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic
“Most people go through their whole lives," John went on, "and never have one miracle happen to them. You've had dozens and dozens, and you still want more! It's like God gives you a brownie, I mean a really good brownie, but you can't be content with it. You want the whole pan of brownies. Nobody gets that.”
― Martha N. Beck, quote from Expecting Adam: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic
“The end goal of all of this striving is to live joyfully, and that there are often more direct ways of achieving this than conforming to rigid standards set by social custom.”
― Martha N. Beck, quote from Expecting Adam: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic
“And thus I learned that at Harvard, while knowing a great deal is the norm and knowing everything is the goal, appearing to know everything is an acceptable substitute. I pondered this great truth during the two-hour seminar. I was so buoyed up by it that I didn't pay enough attention to snorkeling up little bits of food in order to keep my nausea under control. I sailed right on into my next class, another seminar, confident that I could get through it without losing my lunch.”
― Martha N. Beck, quote from Expecting Adam: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic
“Occasionally, especially at celebratory times, the whole gang of us would launch into a spontaneous mental game. For example, my mother used to send me to the back porch (a room containing no furniture but a simply incredible mass of Stuff) to get flour for holiday cakes or pies. I often returned to the kitchen, cringing with disgust, to announce that the flour was full of worms. No matter how sick this made me, I knew it wuoldn't bother my mother. She always just sifted the worms out, saying that even if she missed a few and they got into the food, they would simply be an excellent source of protein. Just as we were all beginning to feel thoroughly downtrodden, my father would save the day. "Everyone come up with a literary reference about worms!" he would shout.”
― Martha N. Beck, quote from Expecting Adam: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic
“It was the first time I had spoken to them directly. In doing so, I felt myself cross a fine but very distinct line, the line between speculating about the existence of a metaphysical plane of some sort and climbing aboard for the ride. I knew I had let go of my sanity. It was terrifying. I only did it because my fear of what was happening to my body had become greater than my fear of holding on to rational beliefs.”
― Martha N. Beck, quote from Expecting Adam: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic
“Adam has angels like a dog has fleas. He came here with them, and the more time you spend around him, the more likely you are to get them yourself.”
― Martha N. Beck, quote from Expecting Adam: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic
“I also thought about that seminar classmate on Adam's ninth birthday. Adam had insisted on going to a pizza-and-games arcade for his party. The only person he'd invited besides his sisters was someone I'll call Lonnie, whom Adam claimed to be his girlfriend. Although I had often heard Adam sing about Lonnie, I had never met her, or seen Adam interact with any girl. I was afraid that he would start humping her leg the second she came in range. These were fears I'd sustained since before he was born; I though all people with Down syndrome were grossly overaffectionate. I was grossly wrong.”
― Martha N. Beck, quote from Expecting Adam: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic
“This is it, I thought. This is the part of us that makes our brief, improbable little lives worth living: the ability to reach through our own isolation and find strength, and comfort, and warmth for and in each other. This is what human beings do. This is what we live for, the way horses live to run.”
― Martha N. Beck, quote from Expecting Adam: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic
Martha N. Beck
Born place: in Provo, UT, The United States
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“Gregory: Go to hell.
Dane: I'd be glad to leave you in it.”
― Anne Osterlund, quote from Academy 7
“She hesitated for a moment longer, then tentatively placed her fingers in his. Her hand was hot and dry and so fragile-seeming that James cradled it gingerly. The next moment, she squeezed so hard his eyes widened.
Fragile lady be damned. He squeezed back spitefully. "Vicious minx.”
― Y.S. Lee, quote from A Spy in the House
“Liking is more important than loving. It lasts. I want what is between us to last, Luke. I don't want us just to love each other and marry and get tired of each other and then want to marry some one else."
"Oh! my dear Love, I know. You want reality. So do I. What's between us will last for ever because it's founded on reality.”
― Agatha Christie, quote from Murder Is Easy
“That's a poweful ability you've got there. Seriously, I was Contemplating killing Cody so we could be a couple.'
She snorted, but she never stopped smiling. 'We'd never make it romantically. You're too demanding in bed. "Harder, Rome. Now, Rome. Tie me up, Rome."'
'Bitch,' I muttered good-naturedley. It was nice to have my friend back. 'You know you wouldn't be able to get enough of me.'
'I like where this conversation is headed,' a male voice said from the doorway.
I looked past Sherridan and spotted Rome in the doorway.
'Hey, baby,' he said.
'Cat Man.' A more welcome sight I'd never beheld. My heart even picked up speed, my monitor announcing it for all the world to hear..
He stalked to me and unceremoniously shoved me aside on the bed where he plopped down and cuddled me close. 'Mad?'
As if. 'I'm grateful. I was walking toward Sherridan with every intention of making out with her, so you did me a favor. She would have fallen in love with me, and then where would we have been?'
'Now I'm mad at /myself/ for stopping you,' he grumbled, and we all laughed. Men!”
― Gena Showalter, quote from Twice as Hot
“You know your problem?” I snap at Shark. “You use too many metaphors. Ants, fish, and rabbits, all in the same breath. That’s an abuse of the language.” Shark smiles. “I never”
― Darren Shan, quote from Wolf Island
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