Ann M. Martin > Quotes

“I wonder how you say goodbye to someone forever?”
― Ann M. Martin

“I think reading is a gift. It was a gift that was given to me as a child by many people, and now as an adult and a writer, I'm trying to give a little of it back to others. It's one of the greatest pleasures I know.”
― Ann M. Martin

“For now, I just want things all safe and familiar. My life may not be perfect, but it is what I have known.”
― Ann M. Martin, A Corner of the Universe

“I love to read, and I don't believe that you have to finish one book before you start another.
--Mallory Pike”
― Ann M. Martin, Hello, Mallory

“I've discovered that in order to make big changes in the world, we have to begin at home -- within ourselves”
― Ann M. Martin, Dawn Saves the Planet

“You got to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, and latch on to the affirmative. Don't mess with Mr. In Between.”
― Ann M. Martin

“Because, you see, you only need one friend for a party. One is enough. Two is enough. Anything is enough.'
~pg 107; Adam on friendship”
― Ann M. Martin, A Corner of the Universe

“Fight your battles with words, not fists”
― Ann M. Martin

“It was the kind of terrified look that reminds you that no matter how rational or grown up a person might seem, some part of him is absolutely sure - knows - that an evil other-world exists just outside of our regular, everyday world. And that although we don't expect that world to collide with our calm, predictable one...well, really, at any moment that is exactly what might happen.”
― Ann M. Martin, A Corner of the Universe

“I pick at what's left of the popcorn and think about the summer, the summer that was both awful and wonderful. I thank Adam, as I have thanked him almost every night since August, for showing me that it's possible to lift the corners of our universe. Adam told me about lifting the corners the second time I met him, but I had no idea what he meant. Now I think I do. It's all about changing what's handed to you, about poking around a little, lifting the corners, seeing what's underneath, poking that. Somethings things work out, sometimes they don't, but at least you're exploring. And life is always more interesting that way.”
― Ann M. Martin, A Corner of the Universe

“I believe you are one of the people that can lift the corners of the universe.”
― Ann M. Martin

“A Positive Attitude makes a Powerful Mind."

--Mrs. Pike from The Babysitters' Club book Hello, Mallory”
― Ann M. Martin

“I want her back" I said "I want HIM back"~Charlie”
― Ann M. Martin, Everything for a Dog

“Some days,' I say, 'I feel like I don't belong anywhere in that world. That world out there. 'I point to Grant. 'People walk down our street and people drive down it and people ride their bicycles down it and all of them, even the ones I know, could be from another planet. And I'm a visiting alien.'
And aliens don't belong anywhere,' Adam finishes for me, 'except in their own little corners of the universe.'
Right,' I say.
~pgs 57-58 Hattie and Adam on alienation”
― Ann M. Martin

“Sheep are in.”
― Ann M. Martin, Kristy's Great Idea

“The long-ago days - the days of Mother and Bone and the shed - have become fuzzy and have blended with images of Moon, of my travels, of other people and houses, of hiding places; a tangle of memories leading to Susan. I burrow into her side and listen to her heartbeat. With my eyes closed, I might be in the straw-filled wheelbarrow again, nestled against Mother, listening to the first heartbeat I knew. I open my eyes and tilt my head back to look at Susan's lined face. She smiles at me, and we sit pressed into each other, two old ladies.”
― Ann M. Martin, A Dog's Life: Autobiography of a Stray

“I hoped that Mary Anne, Claudia, Stacey, and I - the Baby Sitters Club - would stay together for a long time.”
― Ann M. Martin, Kristy's Great Idea

“I really loved this book. I did for a school book report last year and I really got into it I just couldnt take my eyes of! You really absolutley need to read this book!”
― Ann M. Martin, A Dog's Life: Autobiography of a Stray

“Olivia was moody. Moody wasn't a word with which she was very familiar, but if it meant that her moods swung back and forth for no reason at all, and that she felt crabby and wanted to be alone more often than she felt content and friendly, and that she was often tempted to slam her bedroom door - preferably in someone's face - well, then, moody described perfectly the way she'd been feeling lately.”
― Ann M. Martin, Coming Apart

“Adam,' I say, 'had good times and he had bad times.' I pause here and glance at Nana, see that she is crying silently, the way I cried at the duck pond in the park. I was going to say something more about the bad times- how Adam's bad times were different from most people's, and that I'll never really understand them. But now that I see Nana's tears, see her start to reach for Papa's hand, then pull back and fold her hands in her lap again- now that I see Nana, I change my mind.
I think we should remember that Adam was one of those people who could lift the corners of our universe,' I say. I clear my throat. 'Thank you.'
As I slide into our pew I realize I feel older. I think of Janet and Nancy and find that nonw I can brush them away. And I understand that Adam and I are not as alike as I had thought. I remembered the tortured look on Adam's face the night of the Ferris wheel and the look of happiness, happiness, and realize that Adam's decision to take his life was not made easily. It took a certain kind of courage. Just not the kind of courage I chose.
I settle between Mom and Dad, and they take my hands and smmile at me. No tears. I squeeze their hands.
~pgs 177-178; Hattie on life”
― Ann M. Martin, A Corner of the Universe

“Ermaline has entered the room noiselessly and is whispering to Nana. When she leaves, Nana and Papa start talking about friends of Mom's who are in the middle of a scandalous divorce. Mom and Dad keep glancing at Adam, and Nana keeps asking Mom and Dad questions, pulling their attention back to the conversation. I have seen this before. It's Nana's highly effective and very annoying way of not mentioning the elephant in the living room. But why does she have to think of Adam as an elephant? Why can't he just be their son?
~pgs 40-42; Hattie on adults”
― Ann M. Martin, A Corner of the Universe

“A watched pot never boils,”
― Ann M. Martin, Rain Reign

“Mom says,'What are you going to do when it's time to go to college?' I choose not to think about that yet. That is years away. For now, I just watn things all safe and familiar. My life may not be perfect, but it is what I have known.
~pg 16; Hattie on change”
― Ann M. Martin, A Corner of the Universe

“At the beginning of my illness, hospital visits couldn’t be avoided. I needed tests, I had to have my diet and insulin regulated, and once I fainted at school and went into insulin shock and the ambulance came and took me to St. Luke’s. If one of my friends got that sick, I would have called her in the hospital and sent her cards and visited her when she went home. But not Laine. She seemed almost afraid of me (although she tried to cover up by acting cool and snooty). And my other friends did what Laine did, because she was the leader. Their leader. My leader. And we were her followers. The school year grew worse and worse. I fainted twice more at school, each time causing a big scene and getting lots of attention, and every week, it seemed, I missed at least one morning while Mom and Dad took me to some doctor or clinic or other. Laine called me a baby, a liar, a hypochondriac, and a bunch of other things that indicated she thought my parents and I were making a big deal over nothing. But if she really thought it was nothing, why wouldn’t she come over to my apartment anymore? Why wouldn’t she share sandwiches or go to the movies with me? And why did she move her desk away from mine in school? I was confused and unhappy and sick, and I didn’t have any friends left, thanks to Laine. I hated Laine.”
― Ann M. Martin, The Truth About Stacey

“Rain and I have routines. We like routines.”
― Ann M. Martin, Rain Reign

“Janine bit her lip. She was still holding Mimi’s hand, patting it gently. “I don’t think we’re supposed to move her,” she said, “but we should keep her warm. Let’s cover her with her bathrobe and try to put her slippers on. Then I’ll stay in here, and you go wait outside so you can show the paramedics where to come.” “Okay,” I replied. I got Mimi’s robe and fuzzy slippers out of her closet. Janine put the slippers on while I covered Mimi. Then I ran outside and stood impatiently on our front stoop.”
― Ann M. Martin, Claudia and Mean Janine

“There are people you’ve known a long time and you know you’re never really going to like. And there are people that you meet and grow to like. Then there are people you meet and you like instantly.”
― Ann M. Martin, Claudia and the Sad Good-bye

“Pop once said it’s a good thing we don’t know what’s around the corner. I didn’t understand what he meant then, but I do now. It’s better to wish than to know.”
― Ann M. Martin, Better to Wish

“There's no use asking Mom and Dad to talk to Nana about her punishment. They won't stand up to her. They never do. This is why I decide I am not going to speak to Nana or Papa or my parents. What Leila and I did was wrong. But now I have been put in the middle of something else entirely. Something about Adam and the adults and things that happened before I was born, maybe even before Adam and Uncle Hayden and Mom were born.
~pgs 144-145; Hattie on adulthood”
― Ann M. Martin, A Corner of the Universe

“...when you take fright and add to it ignorance, you get hatred. That's a very unattractive equation.”
― Ann M. Martin, Here Today