Betty Smith Quotes

“What must I do, Mother, what must I do to make a different world for her? How do I start?” “The secret lies in the reading and the writing. You are able to read. Every day you must read one page from some good book to your child. Every day this must be until the child learns to read. Then she must read every day, I know this is the secret.”

″‘Nonsense,’ said Mama. ‘Old age isn’t such a tragedy. If he was the only old man in the world -- yes. But he has other old men to keep him company.‘”

“Old people are not unhappy. They don’t long for the things we want.”

“From that time on, the world was hers for the reading.”

“Francie decided to see these places some day. Some day she would go across Williamsburg Bridge, which was only a few blocks away and find her way uptown in New York to where these fine places were and take a good look at the outside.”

“She read everything she could find: trash, classics, time tables and the grocer’s price list.”

“Francie thought that all the books in the world were in that library and she had a plan about reading all the books in the world.”

“On that day when she first knew she could read, she made a vow to read one book a day as long as she lived.”

“She was reading a book a day in alphabetical order and not skipping the dry ones.”

“If there’s one thing certain, it’s that we all have to get old someday. So get used to the idea as quickly as you can.”

“She would never be lonely again, never miss the lack of intimate friends. Books became her friends and there was one for every mood. There was poetry for quiet companionship. There was adventure when she tired of quiet hours. There would be love stories when she came into adolescence and when she wanted to feel a closeness with someone she could read a biography. On that day when she first knew she could read.”

“Francie breathed the warm air, watched the dancing leaf shadows, ate the candy and took sips of the cooled water in-between reading the book.”

“She had been reading a book a day for a long time now and she was still in the B’s.”

“Gimme a penny sheeny pickle.”

“She didn’t know why, but after a day of the pickle, the bread and potatoes tasted good again. Yes, pickle day was something to look forward to.”

“For all of her enthusiasm, she had to admit that some of the B’s had been hard going. But Francie was a reader.”

“As she read, at peace with the world and happy as only a little girl could be with a fine book and a little bowl of candy . . . the afternoon passed.”

“The one tree in Francie’s yard was neither a pine nor a hemlock. It had pointed leaves which grew along green switches which radiated from the bough and made a tree which looked like a lot of opened green umbrellas. Some people called it the Tree of Heaven.”

“She planned to read all the books over again when she had finished with the Z’s.”

“Saturdays were different. She treated herself by reading a book not in the alphabetical sequence. On that day she asked the librarian to recommend a book.”

“I always wanted to be a real singer, the kind that comes out on the stage all dressed up. But I didn’t have no education and I didn’t know the first way about how to start in being a stage singer.”

“He don’t want to die. He wants to keep on living even though he’s so old and there’s nothing to be happy about anymore.”

“Some of the reading had been wonderful; the Louisa Alcott books for example.”

“She had given it up, consoling herself with the vow that when she grew up, she would work hard, save money and buy every single book that she liked.”

“My folks never knew how to read or write. I only got to the sixth grade myself -- had to leave school when the old man dies. You kids are lucky. I’m going to see to it that you get through school.”