Barbara Kingsolver: Likeness

“I’ve seen how you can’t learn anything when you’re trying to look like the smartest person in the room.”

“But I've swallowed my pride before, that's for sure. I'm practically lined with my mistakes on the inside like a bad-wallpapered bathroom.”

“Memories do not always soften with time; some grow edges like knives.”

“Last time I talked to her she didn't sound like herself. She's depressed. It's awful what happens when people run out of money. They start thinking they're no good.”

“I've about decided that's the main thing that separates happy people from the other people: the feeling that you're a practical item, with a use, like a sweater or a socket wrench.”

“… I stir in bed and the memories rise out of me like a buzz of flies from a carcass. I crave to be rid of them…”

“Sadness is more or less like a head cold - with patience, it passes. Depression is like cancer.”

“That was when we smelled the rain. It was so strong it seemed like more than just a smell. When we stretched out our hands we could practically feel it rising up from the ground. I don’t know how a person could ever describe that scent.”

“He was getting that look he gets, oh boy, like Here comes Moses tromping down off of Mount Syanide with ten fresh ways to wreck your life.”

“Friends, there is nothing like your own family to make you appreciate strangers!”

“The arrogance of the able-bodied is staggering. Yes, maybe we'd like to be able to get places quickly, and carry things in both hands, but only because we have to keep up with the rest of you. We would rather be just like, and have that be all right.”

“We're animals. We're born like every other mammal and we live our whole lives around disguised animal thoughts.”