Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Quotes

I used to think that when I grew up there wouldn't be so many rules. Back in elementary school there were rules about what entrance you used in the morning, what door you used going home, when you could talk in the library, how many paper towels you could use in the rest room, and how many drinks of water you could get during recess. And there was always somebody watching to make sure. What I'm finding out about growing older is that there are just as many rules about lots of things, but there's nobody watching.

We all have our own battles to fight, and sometimes we have to go it alone. I'm stronger than you think, you'd be surprised.

Once I have the idea for a story. I start collecting all kinds of helpful information and storing it in three-ring notebooks. For example, I may see a picture of a man in a magazine and say, 'That's exactly what the father in my book looks like!'...I save everything that will help--maps, articles, hand-jotted notes, bits of dialogue from conversations that I overhear.

I also know that you can lie not only by what you say but what you don't say.

It's all right to have secrets, ... as long as you don't have any secrets from yourself.

The first draft is just a skeleton-just bare bones. It's like the very first rehearsal of a play, where the director moves the actors around mechanically to get a feel of the action.

Writing, for me, is the best occupation I can think of, and there is nothing in the world I would rather do.

Happiness is wanting what you have.

An idea in the head is like a rock in the shoe; I just can't wait to get it out.

Since no one really knows what or who God is, or whether God is at all, why can't God be hope?

It's what they say to do when you're depressed, you know. Walk in someone else's shoes for a while, and your own won't feel so tight.

Anyone of any age, any race, any background, any education - if they write an interesting enough book - can become a published author. What it takes is imagination, the ability to put words on a paper in an interesting, perhaps even unique way, the fortitude to rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, and polish, edit, polish, edit until the story sort of sings. I think everyone has a story inside him, but only a few have the persistence and, of course, the interest, to write it down and see it through.

We all have found ourselves in awkward, embarrassing situations, often brought on by ourselves - thinking we are saying something clever, for example, when it turns out to sound really mean or stupid. Those are the kind of embarrassing situations that we could have avoided. "Welcome to the human race," is about the only comfort we can give ourselves.

…and I’m thinking how nothing is as simple as you guess-not right or wrong, not Judd Travers, not even me or this dog I got here. But the good part is I saved Shiloh and opened my eyes some. Now that ain’t bad for eleven.

People can't help the way they feel, only what they do about it. They can no longer not be attracted to someone other than their spouse than they can say they are not hungry or not thirsty or not frightened or embarrassed. It's when you act on that attraction when you know it would be bad for your marriage that is the problem. In a good marriage, the couple are each as committed to the marriage as they are to each other.

Why is life so complicated....?' I asked. 'To keep us from being bored,' he said.

Saying hello to something new means saying good-bye to something old and loved.

The Three Cs, I told myself. When you're not Comfortable with it, it's not a Compliment, it's Creepy.

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

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

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

I can never understand why people who have not seen me for a while ask if I am still writing. They might as well ask me if I am still breathing.

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

One way to tell if you're really comfortable with a person is if you can be quiet together sometimes and not feel awkward. If you don't feel obligated to say something brilliant or funny or surprising or cool. You can just be together. You can just be.