Quotes from Jodi Picoult

If I tell you another seven hundred times, maybe one of these days you might turn your clothes right side out when you put them in the hamper, eh?

How could she trust this man, so imprecise with his words, to take care of the burial? To say there had been a loss was ludicrous; one lost a shoe or a pair of keys. You did not suffer the death of a child and say there was a loss. There was a catastrophe. A devastation. A hell.

You lie to convince people you are not a monster . . . not that you are one.

Taking credit for what a child did well also meant accepting responsibility for what they did wrong.

You might tell yourself that candor is the foundation of a relationship, but even that would be untrue. You are far more likely to lie to yourself, or your loved one, if you think it will keep the pain at bay.

But I wouldn't get him close, and I would never show him my heart.

Because when you get right down to it, the only person you should trust is the one you'd lay down your life for.

Loves a tidal wave...because it sucks you under and you drown.

Ein Schatz wird erst dadurch zu einem Schatz, dass du ihn so schwer findest, wenn du ihn am dringendsten brauchst.

Children are supposed to go to school, play on swing sets, skin their knees.

Our eyes meet in the mirror but neither of us speaks; we are afraid that whatever words we pick won't be able to bear the weight of what's happened.

I am angry at myself, at the world, but because it is easier, I lash out at him.

She had given me my first crayons and coloring book, and had held me when I messed up, assuring me that the lines were for people with no imagination

the smile of a child is a tattoo: indelible art.

She threw words at me like handfuls of mud, and now that they've dried, I can brush them off.

So you tell me... did this execution really make you feel safer? Did it bring us all closer together? Or did it drive us further apart?

If you knew what those [pork rinds] did to your body, you wouldn't eat them.' 'If you knew when the last time I ate was, you wouldn't bother me.

What do parents look like? You know how the tightrope guy at the circus wants everyone to believe his act is an art, but deep down you can see that he's really just hoping he makes it all the way across? Like that.

It is amazing, I realize, how quickly lies compound. They cover like a coat of paint, one on top of the other, until you cannot remember what color you started with.

Your child is hurt. How quickly can you make it better? What if you can't?

Just because you can't see something, doesn't mean I don't. I can't explain it, I can't understand it, and I can't deny it. So I sure as hell am not gonna fight it.

She'd take these random occurrences and elevate them to oracles; she'd pretend that they were enough to justify her actions. Or lack therof.

But I love you, Trixie said. There was no easy switch that she could flip to stem the flow of feelings, no way to drain the memories that pooled like acid in her stomach because her heart no longer knew what to do with them. She couldn't blame Jason; she didn't like herself like this, either. But she couldn't go back to being the girl she'd been before she met him; that girl was gone. So where did that leave her?

She didn't like herself like this, either. But she couldn't go back to being the girl she'd been before she met him; that girl was gone. So where did that leave her?