Quotes from Gloria Whelan

People long to go backward in their imagination as well as forward. We don't wish simply to exist forever in some future; we wish to have existed in some distant past.

You have to give as good as you get.

We all have secrets in our hearts.

In the telling, it seemed I was back there once more.

In our search for a son, we lost a daughter.

Though I loved the lions, and thrilled when I heard their roars in the night

They were all brilliant. They wrote books and painted pictures, and if they ever stopped talking, which I was sure they would never do, they planned to change the world.

People long to go backward in their imagination as well as forward. We don't wish simply to exist forever in some future; we wish to have existed in some distant past.

But will you not have a house to care for? Meals to cook? Children whining for this or that? Will you have time for the work?" "I'll make time," I promised. "The house will not always be so clean, the cooking may be a little hasty, and the whining children will sit on my lap and I'll sing to them while I work.

It is hard to give up what you know for what you don't know.

I liked having some time to myself. Our family was such a close one, you could get smothered. Of course, we didn't always agree with one another. Sometimes I quarreled with my brother and sisters, but I couldn't remember hating anyone for more than five minutes.

I felt as if I had no control over what I said, as if loathsome, ugly words were waiting inside me like snakes and toads looking for a chance to sneak out before I could stop them.

I looked forward to making friends at school, but I had come late and friendships had already been formed. I couldn't find my way into their world. They seemed to have a secret code I couldn't decipher.

You're making yourself too important. Guilt comes from feeling we're at the center of the universe. We're not.

But what doesn't die is the love we give to others. There is no end to that.

I thought I understood what was best. I knew too little and believed too soon.

I couldn't live with myself if I thought nothing could get better.

I find having your own car is like a passport to the world.

Even our recreation was scheduled. There was no time to look for birds or wander into the nearby woods. We were put into teams and sent into violent pursuit of a helpless ball.

I have qualms and wonder what a qualm would look like if you painted it -- probably like a bowl of melting ice cream or a dish of Jell-o just before it sets.

If you love books, I will give you some to take with you, and one day I will introduce you to the writers of the books.

If I know my Rachel, she will do what she wants to do. And perhaps that is the best.

I hope the day will come when everyone can have books that tell the truth.

However far you go from here, you must carry me with you in your heart. If you are lonely, you must know that every hour I will be thinking of you. If you are among evil people, you must be like the lion, gathering your strength and awaiting your time. That time will come, and when it comes, you will come back to us.