Quotes from Lisa Wingate

Forgiveness given is forgiveness gained.

The thing about mistakes is, they become valuable when you learn from them. I

That's what I'd say in my essay about To Kill a Mockingbird, I decided. I'd make sure the English teacher knew that the story of Jem and Scout and Atticus Finch wasn't just words someone made up in a book. There were people who lived it—people of all different

Take a breath, look around, a voice seemed to be whispering. None of this is here by accident, and neither are you.

Usually, the foreman found some reason to hold back some of Rusty's check, because Rusty'd showed up a few minutes late, or broke some tool, or something. He knew Rusty couldn't say anything about it, any more than all the illegals who worked down there could. Some folks just have to keep their heads down and take it, even if it's not fair, because they don't have anywhere else to go.

There is no faster way to change your circumstance than to open a great book.

One thing that discovering my own history had taught me is that we must learn not to whip ourselves for the failures of others. When a mother cannot love and protect her children, it is not the children who are defective.

Everything has to do with rockets. Launching a rocket is similar to any endeavor in life. You formulate your best plans prior to, but you must be aware that, at any moment, the unexpected may come along. Events can deviate from plan. If you wait until you can foresee everything, you'll never launch. The best you can do is to aim high and plan for contingencies.

My first inclination is to gush about the book hoard. The library is an amalgamation of the generations of residents in this house. The dust of their reading lives has been left behind like sedimentary layers of sandstone, year upon year, decade upon decade. New books and old ones that probably haven't been touched in a century.

Maybe these are woodpile relatives? People my grandmother doesn't want to acknowledge as part of the family tree? Every clan must have a few of those.

A woman's past need not predict her future. She can dance to new music if she chooses. Her own music. To hear the tune, she must only stop talking. To herself, I mean.

People don't come into our lives by accident.