Jeannette Walls

Anyone who thinks he's too small to make a difference has never been bit by a mosquito", I'd tell people.

We laughed about all the kids who believed in the Santa myth and got nothing for Christmas but a bunch of cheap plastic toys. "Years from now, when all the junk they got is broken and long forgotten," Dad said, "you'll still have your stars.

Those shining stars, he liked to point out, were one of the special treats for people like us who lived out in the wilderness. Rich city folks, he'd say, lived in fancy apartments, but their air was so polluted they couldn't even see the stars. We'd have to be out of our minds to want to trade places with any of them.

Life's too short to care about what other people think. Besides, they should accept us for who we are

You're not supposed to laugh at your own father. Ever.

Horses were never wrong. They always did what they did for a reason, and it was up to you to figure it out.

It's really not that hard to put food on the table if that's what you decide to do.

You can't cling to the side your whole life, that one lesson every parent needs to teach a child is "If you don't want to sink, you better figure out how to swim

If you want to be treated like a mother, act like one.

It's the Joshua tree's struggle that gives it its beauty.

You should never hate anyone, even your worst enemies. Everyone has something good about them,_ [Jeannette's mom] said. __ou have to find the redeeming quality and love the person for that.___h yeah?_ I said. __ow about Hitler? What was his redeeming quality?___itler loved dogs,_ Mom said without hesitation.

Since Mom wasn't exactly the most useful person in the world, one lesson I learned at an early age was how to get things done, and this was a source of both amazement and concern for Mom, who considered my behavior unladylike but also counted on me. "I never knew a girl to have such gumption," she'd say. "But I'm not too sure it's a good thing.