Quotes from Judith Viorst

Some days are like that. Even in Australia.

I had it together on Sunday. By Monday at noon it had cracked. On Tuesday debris Was descending on me. And by Wednesday no part was intact. On Thursday I picked up some pieces. On Friday I picked up the rest. By Saturday, late, It was almost set straight. And on Sunday the world was impressed With how well I had got it together.

Superstition is foolish, childish, primitive and irrational, but how much does it cost you to knock on wood?

It is true love because when he is late for dinner and I know he must be either having an affair or lying dead in the middle of the street, I always hope he's dead.

If his mother was drowning and I was drowning and he had to choose one of us to save, He says he'd save me.

We each are artists of the self, creating a collage -- a new and original work of art -- out of scraps and fragments of identifications. The people with whom we identify are, positively or negatively, always important to us. Our feelings toward them are, in some way, always intense.

There comes a time when we aren't allowed not to know.

we should never grow so old, or change so much, that we cannot find room in our hearts for the wisdom of children's books.

Strength is the capacity to break a chocolate bar into four pieces, and then eat just one of the pieces.

I didn't really notice that he had a funny nose. And he certainly looked better all dressed up in fancy clothes. He's not nearly as attractive as he seemed the other night. So I think I'll just pretend that this glass slipper feels too tight.

It is the image in the mind that binds us to our lost treasures, but it is the loss that shapes the image. —Colette

In fact, I would like to propose that central to understanding our lives is understanding how we deal with loss. I would like to propose in this book that the people we are and the lives that we lead are determined, for better and worse, by our loss experiences.

Infantile love follows the principle 'I love because I am loved.' "Mature love follows the principle 'I am loved because I love.' "Immature love says 'I love you because I need you.' "Mature love says 'I need you because I love you.

It's only when you love him that you hate him.

It was a terrible horrible no good very bad day

I hope the next time you get a double-decker strawberry ice-cream cone the ice cream part falls off the cone and lands in Australia.

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Um modo de não sentir falta, está claro, consiste em ficar em casa, não sair, embora nem sempre precise admitir que não sai. Pois, embora alguns jovens se agarrem abertamente à família, há aqueles que, com uma grande demonstração de independência, descobrem um modo de jamais sair de casa.

Responsável significa, naturalmente, amarrar o próprio sapato. Mas significa também não ter permissão para culpar uma infância terrível — ou uma paixão, uma tentação, uma ignorância ou uma inocência — por atos que são nossos, por ações que realmente praticamos. Pois se, na realidade, as praticamos, somos responsáveis.

Chega um tempo em que não nos é permitido não saber.

There is no ache more Deadly than the striving to be oneself. —Yevgeniy Vinokurov

It doesn't even matter if they out-and-out abhor me, Because when I am done with them, they'll totally adore me.

My favorite was 'The Secret Garden'. I loved it, and I think it's had a big influence on all of my characters. 'The Secret Garden' is about transgressions and imperfect people.

If his mother was drowning and I was drowning and he had to choose one of us to save, He says he'd save me.