Quotes from Mother of Pearl

Melinda Haynes ·  465 pages

Rating: (18.1K votes)


“And I said, ‘I’m thinkin’ I’ve wasted too much time thinkin’, is what I’m thinkin'.”
― Melinda Haynes, quote from Mother of Pearl


“And though he has watched a decent age pass by, a man will sometimes still desire the world.”
― Melinda Haynes, quote from Mother of Pearl


“The Negro on saxophone blew out a language older than English and the glasses on the tables trembled”
― Melinda Haynes, quote from Mother of Pearl


“Sometimes partial kindness kills a person as bad as partial knowin.' Judy said this while she hugged the dress. "But then sometimes partial kindness and partial knowin' is the two best things in the world.”
― Melinda Haynes, quote from Mother of Pearl


“The water rippled when he leaned in; he studied what he saw. Against a background of blue sky, there was his face, broad of forehead and overly long, and he was surprised at the new look of age on him. To everybody else, I must look ten years beyond twenty-seven, he thought, and it made him glad. Even had begun to fear gaps and what they might mean. Wide-spanning spaces between age and its weight of language and ability had begun to feel like easy reasons for saying good-bye. He saw inside the calm reflection a gull flying low over his head, braced by clouds drifting east toward Runnelstown.
Turning back, he walked north around moss-based trees and finally found her digging wild onions growing thick next to fern. With her back to him she said, "Tired does one of two things-either builds the soul or breaks the heart. Can't decide which it is right now. All I know is I'm tired.”
― Melinda Haynes, quote from Mother of Pearl



“All he thinks while he studies pearlescent pigeons is this: I wish I knew how… I wish I knew… I ain’t ever gonna, but I wish I knew how it felt – (-to be free).”
― Melinda Haynes, quote from Mother of Pearl


“Running to catch up, feeling like he was in a constant state of chasing a shadow, he felt a drop of rain hit him square on the back of the neck. The weight of it so heavy it felt like a rock.”
― Melinda Haynes, quote from Mother of Pearl


“Thinking those old sticks looked authoritative, somehow. Like something belonging to an ancient queen come ashore by mistake in a common land full of limits.”
― Melinda Haynes, quote from Mother of Pearl


About the author

Melinda Haynes
Born place: in Hattiesburg, Mississippi., The United States
Born date December 3, 1955
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