Quotes from Catherine Ryan Hyde

the best way to judge what a man will do is by looking at what he's done in the past.

Without hesitation. Without creating a gap that doubt can wedge its way into, to create an even greater hesitation.

All men should strive to learn before they die What they are running from, and to, and why. —Thurber

what's worse, if you're expected not to show your feelings, or if you're expected to show them so they can be disregarded?

Gandhi once said his commitment was to truth, not consistency.

Here's the problem with unforgivable. The more I research the bodymind, the more I get that the only workable path to workable health is to forgive the unforgivable in spite of its unforgivability. Otherwise we just destroy our own cells with the byproducts of all that hate.

Everybody is careful these days to maintain just the right attitude toward the war effort.

anybody can think the world is beautiful when it's all going their way. That's just like untested faith.

We take things on a little at a time because all at once they'd kill us.

World is full of people so troubled they don't even understand themselves.

He listened to the occasional creak of Flora's squeaky board, and noticed it sounded lonely. Or maybe that was just him.

It made me wonder if always telling the truth was a thing only for people who are about to die. And who know it. That would explain why it's not such a common thing.

Things change so fast. Life turns on a dime.

Part of the joy is feeling like you can make your way in a world that isn't always easy. Anyway,

I'm never going to be a hunter, I know that now. I don't know why it should be so different. Like Will said, I eat meat. But if I had to look into its big, wet-looking dark eye and then shoot it first, I'd live the rest of my life on peanut butter, pasta, and fish.

I know a man," he said, "A man who taught me that the reason people aren't happy is because they have these ideas about what the world should be. And the world is never just what they think it ought to be. If the world has to be a certain way for you to be happy, then you'll never be happy. Heck, I'm only twelve and even I know that.

People remember what they want to remember and forget what they want to forget. If you told him something was important to you and he forgot to do it, he blew you off.

I ate my chocolate ice cream, wondering why anyone would get vanilla when they could get chocolate.

Good to get the truth out into the air," Ham said. "Everything grows best in oxygen and sunlight except secrets and guilt and regrets. They like the dank spaces. Drag them out into the light and they fail to thrive.

Nothing's a onetime thing," Fern said. "Not in relationships. Everything is the tip of the iceberg. Everything points to something much bigger floating down where you can't see. If you see something rear its head once, expect to see it again. It's like if you see a cockroach in your kitchen. And you don't call the exterminator 'cause you figure it's just that one, and how long can it live? Yeah, good luck with that.

The wilderness just has this way of reminding you that you're powerless. And that what you want doesn't matter. We always think we're so smart and strong, but nature always gets the last laugh.

It's amazing how much time it takes to gather money, and how little time it takes for life to intervene.

But if two people meet and fall in love, and try to make a life together, and fail, does that mean they were wrong and there was no love? Or does it only mean that they didn't manage to carve out a space for each other?

Nature is not what you might call predictable. And it's not forgiving. It doesn't care about us. The lightning is gonna go where it wants to go whether you're about to get fried by it or not. The wilderness just has this way of reminding you that you're powerless. And that what you want doesn't matter. We always think we're so smart and strong, but nature always gets the last laugh.