Jacqueline Kelly > Quotes

“Ahhh. Bed, book, kitten, sandwich. All one needed in life, really.”
― Jacqueline Kelly, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

“One day I would have all the books in the world, shelves and shelves of them. I would live my life in a tower of books. I would read all day long and eat peaches. And if any young knights in armor dared to come calling on their white chargers and plead with me to let down my hair, I would pelt them with peach pits until they went home.”
― Jacqueline Kelly, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

“It's amazing what you can see when you just sit quietly and look.”
― Jacqueline Kelly, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

“Es asombroso lo que uno puede ver cuando se sienta a mirar.”
― Jacqueline Kelly, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

“It was too bad, but sometimes a little knowledge could ruin your whole day, or at least take off some of the shine.”
― Jacqueline Kelly, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

“It is better to travel with hope in one's heart than to arrive in safety. . . . We should celebrate today's failure because it is a clear sign that our voyage of discovery is not yet over. The day the experiment succeeds is the day the experiment ends. And I inevitably find that the sadness of ending outweighs the celebration of success.”
― Jacqueline Kelly, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

“It means that we should celebrate today's failure because it is a clear sign that our voyage of discovery is not yet over.”
― Jacqueline Kelly, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

“But my mother's life was a never-ending round of maintenance. Not one single thing did she ever achieve but that it had to be done all over again, one day or one week or one season later. Oh, the monotony.”
― Jacqueline Kelly, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

“When two people love each other, they do not comply and does not dominate, only complement each other.”
― Jacqueline Kelly, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

“We had been so close to missing each other, he and I. He had turned out to be the greatest gift of all.”
― Jacqueline Kelly, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

“Lula," I said, "do you ever think about getting married?"
I guess I do. Doesn't everybody?"
You have to let your husband kiss you once you're married. And you have to kiss him back."
No," she said.
Yes." I nodded, as if I knew everything there was to know about husbands and wives kissing. "That's what they do together."
Do you have to?"
Oh, absolutely. It's the law."
I never heard of that law," she said dubiously.
It's true, it's Texas law," I said.”
― Jacqueline Kelly, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

“I don't have that many days left," he said as we sat together in the library. "Why would I want to spend them on matters of drainage and overdue accounts? I must husband my hours and spend every one of them wisely. I regret that I didn't come to this realization until I reached fifty years of age. Calpurnia, you would do well to adopt such an attitude at an earlier age. Spend each of your allotted hours with care.”
― Jacqueline Kelly, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

“By 1899, we had learned to tame the darkness but not the Texas heat.”
― Jacqueline Kelly, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

“My grandfather had given me Mr. Darwin's book to read. He had given me the possibility of a different kind of life. but none of it mattered. Instead there was The Science of Housewifery for me. I was blind; I was pathetic. The century was about to change, but my own little life would not change with it.”
― Jacqueline Kelly, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

“That night, when SanJuanna had cleared the main course and brought dessert in, my mother called for quiet and said,
"Boys, I have an announcement to make. Your sister made the apple pies tonight. I'm sure we will all enjoy them very much."
"Can I learn how, ma'am?" said Jim Bowie.
"No, J.B. Boys don't bake pies," Mother said.
"Why not?" he said.
"They have wives who make pies for them."
"But I don't have a wife."
"Darling, I'm sure you will have a very nice one someday when you're older, and she'll make you many pies. Calpurnia, would you care to serve?"
Was there any way I could have a wife, too? I wondered as I cut through the browned C and promptly shattered the entire crust.”
― Jacqueline Kelly, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

“I had never classified myself with other girls. I was not of their species; I was different. I had never thought my future would be like theirs.”
― Jacqueline Kelly, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

“I had never seen a real live dead person.”
― jacqueline kelly

“Algún día iba a tener todos los libros del mundo, estantes y estantes llenos. Viviría en una torre hecha de libros; me pasaría el día leyendo y comiendo melocotones. Y si algún caballero con armadura se atrevía a acercarse en su blanco corcel y a rogarme que le lanzara mi trenza, lo acribillaría con huesos de melocotón hasta que se marchara.”
― Jacqueline Kelly, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

“I would read all day long and eat peaches. And if any young knights in armor dared to come calling on their white chargers and plead with me to let down my hair, I would pelt them with peach pits until they went home.”
― Jacqueline Kelly, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

“They all knew this, but this didn't stop them from good-naturedly crowding around the front door every time it opened, every single time, despite the fact that they were never -EVER- let into the house. I loved this particularly fine thing about dogs: Despite a lifetime of denied entrance, hope never died in their hearts.”
― Jacqueline Kelly, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

“What could I say? (...) That I wanted to scream at the unfairness of it all? (...) Encouraging me the way he had, knowing that there was no new century for me, no new life for this girl.”
― Jacqueline Kelly, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

“And then it came to me, like the first shocking glimpse of the sun's disk rising over the horizon, what it was I did want to do. It was so obvious that I wondered why I hadn't seen it before. I only had to say it aloud. Did I have the courage to do that? To reveal it in the open air? (...) 'I think,' I said, then stopped. 'I think maybe I want to go to the university.”
― Jacqueline Kelly, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

“It was the first morning of the first day of the new century. Snow blanketed the ground. Anything was possible.”
― Jacqueline Kelly, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

“es más importante viajar con esperanza en el corazón que llegar sano y salvo.”
― Jacqueline Kelly, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

“Artinya, kita harus merayakan kegagalan kita hari ini, karena ini adalah pertanda nyata bahwa petualangan kita di dunia penemuan belum berakhir. Dan, mau tidak mau, aku harus mengakui bahwa kesedihan dalam mengakhiri sebuah eksperimen lebih besar daripada perayaan keberhasilannya.”
― Jacqueline Kelly, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

“La sensación de injusticia me abrumó. Entonces me vino a la cabeza la pregunta que —nada más ocurrírseme— comprendí que había querido plantear toda mi vida. —¿Y eso qué tiene de justo?”
― Jacqueline Kelly, The Curious World of Calpurnia Tate

“Bed, book, kitten, sandwich. All one needed in life, really.”
― Jacqueline Kelly, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

“I put on my thickest red flannel nightie and dove into bed. Mercifully, SanJuanna had taken the chill off the sheets with a warming pan. I intended to lie there for a while and take stock of my life. That's what you do at the end of the century, don't you? I think I actually fell asleep right away and only dreamed I was taking stock.”
― Jacqueline Kelly, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

“On inspection it turned out to be a tiny toad, a quarter of an inch long, hopping mightily after an escaping millipede, itself no bigger than a thread, both going for all they were worth until they disappeared in the grass. Then a wolf spider, stratling in size and hairiness, streaked over the gravel, either chasing something smaller or being chased by something bigger, I couldn't tell which. I reckoned there must be a million minor dramas playing out around the place without ceasing. Oh, but they were hardly minor to the chaser and the chasee who were dealing in the coin of life and death. I was a mere bystander, an idler. They were playing for keeps.”
― Jacqueline Kelly

“Yo pregunté con impaciencia:
—¿Qué es esta cosa?
Él levantó la vista, más bien sorprendido. ¿Por qué? ¿Se suponía que debía quedarme ahí en plan decorativo? ¿Por qué no aprovechar la ocasión para aprender algo nuevo? El abuelo me decía siempre que la vida está llena de ocasiones para aprender y que uno debía tratar de captar todo lo que pudiera de un experto en un campo concreto, daba igual cual fuese.”
― Jacqueline Kelly, The Curious World of Calpurnia Tate