Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

“If it doesn't sweat, jiggle, or pant, it's not alive.”

“If you are embarrassed about your sex, it must mean that you feel there is something demeaning or disgusting about being female. You are all wondrously made, girls. Remember that: wondrously made, and you should carry your sex proudly, a badge of honor.”

“The world is full of unrequited love,' I said finally.'You and Patrick having problems?' Dad said, reaching around to get the butter out of the fridge.'No, I was just wondering what you would say if I was a lesbian.''Come again?' said Lester. 'I'm having a hard time following this conversation.”

“For your information, Lester, there are at least five wonderful parts of the female body that can be viewed by the owner only with a hand mirror.'And as they stared after me, I went regally back down the hallway and up the stairs to Dad's room.”

“When you’ve found the right one - when you see him, when you’re with him - you’ll feel like you’re coming home.”

“You don't have to be part of a couple to be happy, you know.”

“I know, but if I feel this bad for Gramps, how am I going to feel when it’s Dad?” Tyler told me. “You’ll feel even worse, of course, but you’ll carry on, because happiness has a way of creeping in again. It really does,” I said.”

“Do we have a hand mirror?' I asked from the kitchen doorway.'Never use one,' said Lester, examining the date on a carton of sour cream.'Naturally, you're a male. What you see is what you've got,' I said resentfully.'Huh?' said Lester.”

“That's the unforgivable sin, you know.""What is?""Refusing to forgive someone.""Refusing to forgive someone is the unforgivable sin?" I asked incredulously.”

“Happiness is wanting what you have.”

“There were so many of these moments that could never be captured accurately, even in the camcorder, only in the heart.”

“His face looked almost as gray as his suit, and the pouches beneath his eyes looked like little bags for holding all the sadness that his head couldn't hold.”

“But how did you know that it was Stacy?”“There wasn’t a green light flashing, that’s for sure,” he said. “Mostly, I felt I’d met a person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. That I didn’t need to look any further.””“But how can you be sure?” I persisted.“You can’t. There’s not just one person in the world who’s your type. There’s a whole group with the same likes and dislikes. But you want to spend your whole life looking for all of them? You just feel that everything’s right. You’re at peace with yourself.”

“For your information, Lester, there are at least five wonderful parts of the female body that can be viewed by the owner only with a hand mirror.”

“I sure wasn't going to ask Aunt Sally, because if she told me once that getting your period was like a moth becoming a butterfly, she'd probably say that sexual intercourse was like a deer getting antlers or something.”