“My father died of neither hot nor cold. My father was as leathern as a saint. He required no trees. As unrefreshed as a Muslim courtyard. He required no fountain. No music. Whenever he saw a baby he said “poor baby.” His questions were the basic questions, as prosaic as footsteps. What is heaven like? Will I be young? Will I be with Mama? Will I go to sleep? (I don’t know, Papa; how can I know?) Absurdly, I gave answers.”

— Richard Rodríguez

Brown : The Last Discovery of America (2003)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "My father died of neither hot nor cold. My father was as leathern as a saint. He required no trees. As unrefreshed as a…" by Richard Rodríguez?

Richard Rodríguez 127

American journalist and essayist 1944

Related quotes

“I remember a very important lesson that my father gave me when I was twelve or thirteen. He said, "You know, today I welded a perfect seam and I signed my name to it." And I said, "But, Daddy, no one's going to see it!" And he said, "Yeah, but I know it's there."”

Toni Morrison (1931–2019) American writer

So when I was working in kitchens, I did good work.
As quoted in the New York Times Magazine (11 September 1994).

“For eight years I was sleeping with the president, and if that doesn’t give you special access, I don’t know what does!
So yes, I gave Ronnie my best advice — whenever he asked for it, and sometimes when he didn’t. But that doesn’t mean he always took it.”

Nancy Reagan book My Turn

Source: My Turn (1989), Ch. 4 : First Lady, Dragon Lady
Context: I was not the power behind the throne.
Did I ever give Ronnie advice? You bet I did. I’m the one who knows him best, and I was the only person in the White House who had absolutely no agenda of her own — except helping him.
And so I make no apologies for telling him what I thought. Just because you’re married doesn’t mean you have no right to express your opinions. For eight years I was sleeping with the president, and if that doesn’t give you special access, I don’t know what does!
So yes, I gave Ronnie my best advice — whenever he asked for it, and sometimes when he didn’t. But that doesn’t mean he always took it. Ronald Reagan has a mind of his own.

“My dad knew I was going to be a comedian. When I was a baby, he said, 'Is this a joke?”

Ken Dodd (1927–2018) English comedian, singer-songwriter and actor

Source: Ken Dodd: 17 of his funniest one-liners, BBC News, 12 March 2018, 12 March 2018 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-43370741,

“All of these politicians that I’m running against now, they’re trying to disassociate. I mean, you looked at Bush, it took him five days to answer the question on Iraq. He couldn’t answer the question. He didn’t know. I said, “Is he intelligent?” Then I looked at Rubio. He was unable to answer the question, is Iraq a good thing or bad thing? He didn’t know. He couldn’t answer the question. How are these people gonna lead us? How are we gonna — how are we gonna go back and make it great again? We can’t. They don’t have a clue. They can’t lead us. They can’t. They can’t even answer simple questions. It was terrible.”

Donald J. Trump (1946) 45th President of the United States of America

2010s, 2015, Presidential Bid Announcement (June 16, 2015)

“I have a few childhood nicknames. One is "Babygirl". My father gave that to me when I was born. He said, "I have a beautiful baby girl" and that one stuck with me. A lot of people still call me "Babygirl".”

Aaliyah (1979–2001) American singer, actress and model

MTV Stripped interview (2001)

“I had a teacher who used to reflect back my questions that way. I thought it was the Socratic method, and it impressed me immensely, until I found out he used it whenever he didn’t know the answer.”

Lois McMaster Bujold Vorkosigan Saga

Source: Vorkosigan Saga, Shards of Honor (1986), Chapter 4 (p. 60)

“When I was little I bragged about my firefighting father: my father would go to heaven, because if he went to hell he would put out all the fires”

Jodi Picoult My Sister's Keeper

Source: My Sister's Keeper

“How, then, shall I respond to him who asks, “What was God doing before he made heaven and earth?” I do not answer, as a certain one is reported to have done facetiously (shrugging off the force of the question). “He was preparing hell,” he said, “for those who pry too deep.” It is one thing to see the answer; it is another to laugh at the questioner--and for myself I do not answer these things thus. More willingly would I have answered, “I do not know what I do not know,” than cause one who asked a deep question to be ridiculed--and by such tactics gain praise for a worthless answer.”
Ecce respondeo dicenti, 'quid faciebat deus antequam faceret caelum et terram?' respondeo non illud quod quidam respondisse perhibetur, ioculariter eludens quaestionis violentiam: 'alta,' inquit, 'scrutantibus gehennas parabat.' aliud est videre, aliud ridere: haec non respondeo. libentius enim responderim, 'nescio quod nescio' quam illud unde inridetur qui alta interrogavit et laudatur qui falsa respondit.

Aurelius Augustinus book Confessions

Ecce respondeo dicenti, 'quid faciebat deus antequam faceret caelum et terram?' respondeo non illud quod quidam respondisse perhibetur, ioculariter eludens quaestionis violentiam: 'alta,' inquit, 'scrutantibus gehennas parabat.'
aliud est videre, aliud ridere: haec non respondeo. libentius enim responderim, 'nescio quod nescio' quam illud unde inridetur qui alta interrogavit et laudatur qui falsa respondit.
Book XI, Chapter XII; translation by E.B. Pusey
Confessions (c. 397)

“When talking about what his Father was doing at the age of 23
I said to him last year, or the year before, ‘Yeah, well…something…something.’ You know, I’d done my degree and I was like ‘You know, well, I’ve got a degree…you know, I’m this age.’ and he, he, laughed and he was just like ‘What was I doing when I was 23?’ and I said, ‘Dunno’ and he was like, ‘What was I doing?…Oh yeah, Sgt. Pepper.’ and I was just instantly just like oh.”

Dhani Harrison (1978) English musician

Dhani Harrison " Jeff Lynne & Dhani Harrison interview Part three https://youtube.com/watch?v=B48tHi-l4PQ" at Youtube.com, 2002: Interview with Jeff Lynne & Dhani Harrison about George Harrison and his Brainwashed album.2002

“Father says it will come in time. “Time heals,” he says.
I don’t tell him that I don’t know what time is.”

Mary E. Pearson book The Adoration of Jenna Fox

Source: The Adoration of Jenna Fox

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Richard Rodríguez 127

Related quotes

Related topics