Top 40 Jeannette Walls Quotes

Taking care of myself is central to my personality. I’m pathologically independent. There’s no doubt that’s one reason I never had children.

I never had any question that my parents loved me. I had a real sense of self confidence.

Donald Trump really understood how to float a story, how to float a rumor, how to manipulate the truth.

My father, Rex, was one of the most charismatic human beings I’ve ever known, and also one of the most brilliant.

Kids are smarter than you realize.

One of the most challenging aspects of writing a memoir is finding your own voice, and you should be very careful about being influenced by someone else’s voice.

I was going to some fabulous party, and my taxi got stuck in traffic, and I looked out the window, and I saw a homeless woman rooting through the garbage, and I realized it was my mother. And I was so mortified that I ducked down, and I hid.

I have a joyful life, and I attribute that to both of my parents.

And as soon as the Internet hit and people started having their own web sites, I realized that people who did what I did, our positions were being threatened because, as journalists, we were the conduits between the celebrities and the public.

My older sister achieved her dream of being an artist. She’s an illustrator living in Manhattan.

I believe that everyone has some huge talent in them; the really lucky ones discover what it is.

With a complicated childhood, you can either focus on the positive or the negative, and I chose to focus on the positive.

I liked movers and shakers more than celebrities. I wasn’t that interested in celebrities. I grew up without a TV.

I find books that have a moral and spiritual center, that speak to what is really important and lasting, hugely appealing.

I was never really a party person.

I was like, ‘I’ll take out garbage or do whatever it takes just to work at ‘New York Magazine.’ My god! I’d do anything!

I loved ‘Casablanca.’ You know, right vs. wrong. I think I like a movie where there is a victory, right over wrong, but there’s always some price to be paid.

I feel like ‘Alice Through the Looking Glass.’

I reached my full height at age 11, and I was clumsy as all get-out – all elbows and knees, couldn’t get up a flight of stairs without falling down. I wanted to be a cute, petite blonde, but I’m a big ol’ strapping thing, so I just accept it.

My life is not just about the past.

I was in control of what people thought of me, but I had no control over what they thought of my mother. When I asked my mother, ‘How do I tell people about you?’ her answer was, ‘Tell the truth’. But of course, the truth is never simple.

My advice to anyone is to figure out what you’re good at – what it is that you love doing the most in life – and figure out a way to make a living from it.

When I was first getting out of college, Mom said, ‘You ought to become a squatter.’ I’m like, ‘Forget it!’

I listen to music mostly in the evening. I’ve come to love what is called world music, like the Zimbabwean Oliver Mtukudzi and the Colombian singer Marta Gomez. I also love the Irish folk singer Mary Black. Other favorites include Chet Baker, Eva Cassidy, and Billie Holiday.

So many people ask, ‘How could you forgive your mother for the way you were raised?’ It’s really not forgiveness, in my opinion. It’s acceptance. She’s never going to be the sort of mother who wants to take care of me.

Everything in life is gray, you know.

I found out that people are incredibly compassionate and kind. It really changed my view of the world.

I love Woody Harrelson. He’s a fine actor.

I had the big shoulders; I had the big hair. I loved the ’80s. It was all about power women.

I still dream about ‘New York’ mag. It’s kind of weird. I dream I’m part-time, and they can’t find a full-time job for me. It’s usually that I can’t find a lead, and I call all my great sources and say, ‘Can you help me out?’

I didn’t want to be the daughter of the crazy people.

I sit down at my desk pretty early in the morning and write all day until about 4 or 5 p.m.

I was so worried that people wouldn’t like me or my story.

Books are my very favorite gift to give. If you give a book to someone and they really respond to it, you feel you’ve actually changed their life in some way.

Once I became the editor of the school newspaper, I had a key to the school, and I went to the school cafeteria and just took the food they threw away.

I always wanted to be a serious journalist.

When I got a little older, I started writing for the high school newspaper, ‘The Maroon Wave,’ and that’s when I fell in love with journalism.

Horses are a mirror of who you are. They’re emotionally dependent on you.

We all have our baggage, and I think the trick is not resisting it but accepting it, understanding that the worst experience has a valuable gift wrapped inside if you’re willing to receive it.

During recess at school, I’d slip back into the classroom and find something in some other kid’s lunch bag that wouldn’t be missed – a package of crackers, an apple – and I’d gulp it down so quickly I would barely be able to taste it.