Quotes About Understanding

Something in his manner makes me want to confide things to him I've never told anyone. Even painful things, shameful things. I didn't know how badly I wanted to share them.

Though I lived with this man for my entire life, I never really knew him. He was like a frozen bay himself, I think—an icy crust, layers deep, above roiling water.

I have been so alone on this journey, cut off from my past. However hard I try, I will always feel alien and strange. And now I've stumbled on a fellow outsider, one who speaks my language without saying a word.

I think of what Mamey told me long ago: there are many ways to love and be loved. Too bad it's taken most of a lifetime for me to understand what that means.

What she wants most—what she truly yearns for—is what any of us want: to be seen.

A store-bought trinket with no history, no story. I knew, deep down, when he gave it to me that he didn't understand anything about me.

That's the way things come clear. All of a sudden. And then you realize how obvious they've been all along. —MADELEINE L'ENGLE, The Arm of the Starfish

The older I get, the more I believe that the greatest kindness

Christina Baker Kline

We sit in silence, the air between bristling with words unsaid.

What she wants most-what she truly years for-is what any of us want: to be seen. And look. She is.

It's hard to say what's in my head. It's been a long time since anyone cared to ask.

I think you're used to being observed but not really ... seen.

The older I get, the more I believe that the greatest kindness is acceptance

Jeez Louise, this is why

What she wants most—what she truly yearns for—is what any of us want: to be seen. And look. She is.

And if I'm honest, there's something else. Gertrude has become a stand-in for anyone who ever pitied me, didn't try to understand me, abandoned me. She gives my bitterness a place to dwell.

Never bring up a point you don't have an answer for.

he doesn't approve but will deal with it later, "is that what they're doing? Asking for handouts?" "They just want to be treated fairly," a kid in the back says. "But what does that mean? And where does it end?" another kid asks. As others join the conversation, Megan turns in her seat and squints at Molly, as if noticing her for the first time. "An Indian, huh. That's cool," she whispers. "Like Molly Molasses, right?

Eighty-two years later, the sound of her crying still haunts me. If only I had paid closer attention to why she was crying instead of simply trying to quiet her. If only I had paid closer attention.

Christina Baker Kline

This isn't bickering. This is classic mother-daughter communications. I've been reading up on it.

When Miss Larsen talks to me, she bends down and looks me in the eye. When she asks questions, she waits for my answer. She smells of lemons and vanilla. And she treats me like I'm smart. After I take a test to determine my reading

one who speaks my language without saying a word.