Phyllis Reynolds Naylor > Quotes

“You don't have to be part of a couple to be happy, you know.”
― Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Alice Alone

“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.”
― Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Alice in Rapture, Sort Of

“When you’ve found the right one - when you see him, when you’re with him - you’ll feel like you’re coming home.”
― Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Now I'll Tell You Everything

“Why is life so complicated....?' I asked.
'To keep us from being bored,' he said.”
― Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Dangerously Alice

“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.”
― Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, All But Alice

“Saying hello to something new means saying good-bye to something old and loved.”
― Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Incredibly Alice

“…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.”
― Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Shiloh

“Well, the man who first translated the bible into English was burned at the stake, and they've been at it ever since. Must be all that adultery, murder and incest. But not to worry. It's back on the shelves.”
― Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

“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.”
― Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Alice on Her Way

“If Jesus ever comes back to earth again, I’m thinking, he’ll come as a dog, because there isn’t anything as humble or patient or loving or loyal as the dog I have in my arms right now.”
― Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Shiloh

“Since no one really knows what or who God is, or whether God is at all, why can't God be hope?”
― Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Intensely Alice

“There were so many of these moments that could never be captured accurately, even in the camcorder, only in the heart.”
― Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Now I'll Tell You Everything

“The Three Cs, I told myself. When you're not Comfortable with it, it's not a Compliment, it's Creepy.”
― Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Alice in Charge

“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.”
― Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

“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.”
― Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Alice on the Outside

“how one lie leads to another and before you know it, your whole life can be a lie.”
― Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Shiloh

“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.”
― Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Now I'll Tell You Everything

“If it doesn't sweat, jiggle, or pant, it's not alive.”
― Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, The Grooming of Alice

“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.”
― Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Now I'll Tell You Everything

“Just that what happens today or next week or next year isn't necessarily the way things are always going to be. As soon as you settle into a routine, life throws you a curveball. Sometimes you hit it, sometimes you don't.”
― Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

“Sometimes the bad guys don't win.”
― Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Almost Alice

“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.”
― Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, The Grooming of Alice

“I hate that phrase: move on. Like no matter what happened or what you did, you just “move on,” and that’s supposed to make everything all right.”
― Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Incredibly Alice

“Everything can change in an instant. Everything. And then there is only before and after.”
― Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.

“Sexually active? Sexually active? Patrick and I hadn't even learned the fine points of kissing yet!
I marched on down. 'For your information,' I said from the doorway, as both Dad and Lester jerked to attention, 'I am about as sexually active as a bag of spinach, and if you want to keep me on the porch and not out in the park somewhere behind the bushes, you'll keep the stupid porch light off when I come home with a boy.”
― Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Alice on the Outside

“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.”
― Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Now I'll Tell You Everything

“Happiness is wanting what you have.”
― Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Achingly Alice

“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.”
― Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, The Grooming of Alice

“No one looks up. No one pauses. No one even questions. Easy as falling off a log.”
― Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Shiloh

“Sometimes I wish I could just press a button and be through school and starting my real life,' I told him.
'This is your real life, Al,' he said, 'Don't start living in the future. That's like gulping down a piece of fudge cake and then asking yourself, 'Where'd it go?' You're missing the moment.”
― Phyllis Reynolds Naylor