Ellen Potter > Quotes

“All great adventures have moments that are really crap.”
― Ellen Potter, The Kneebone Boy

“Look, when do the really interesting things happen? Not when you've brushed your teeth and put on your pyjamas and are cozy in bed. They happen when you are cold and uncomfortable and hungry and don't have a roof over your head for the night.”
― Ellen Potter, The Kneebone Boy

“...when you start to feel like you are better than someone else, you should probably stick your head in a toilet because at that moment your thoughts are crap.”
― Ellen Potter

“It's alarming how quickly people adjust to adventures when they are in one. You really have to work at being astonished by life.”
― Ellen Potter, The Kneebone Boy

“They [the Hardscrabbles]never enjoyed it when adults playfully lied to them. The adults always think they're being amusing and imaginative, just like children. But kids never lie playfully. They lie as if their lives depended on it.”
― Ellen Potter, The Kneebone Boy

“Memory, in my opinion, is a complete noodle. It hangs on the silliest things but forgets the stuff that really matters.”
― Ellen Potter, The Kneebone Boy

“People should have all their big adventures while they're still under the age of fourteen. If you don't, you start to lose your passion for big adventures. It just begins to fade away bit by bit and then you forget you ever wanted adventures in the first place.”
― Ellen Potter, The Kneebone Boy

“It was the right and responsible thing to do, so they put it off until later.”
― Ellen Potter, The Kneebone Boy

“Jeremy used to hate it when she was younger because someone in her class told her redheads were freaks of nature.But our mother told her that redheads were genetically more courageous than other people and that she should always where her hair long,like a wariors badge of honor.”
― Ellen Potter, Slob

“Rubbish," Max said. "Anyone can put on clumpy boots and pierce themselves silly. A truly dangerous person would be someone you'd never even look at twice.”
― Ellen Potter, The Kneebone Boy

“Give that man a Pixy Stix," Haddie said.
"A what?" Lucia asked.
"Hold on." She left then returned a moment later with a handful of colorful straws, one of which she threw at Max like a dart. He caught it in midair. That impressed Haddie and she tossed him another, just to see if he could do it again. He fumbled that one.”
― Ellen Potter, The Kneebone Boy

“Then Lucia said, "So what do we do now?"

"Nothing," Otto said. "Things will go on as just they always have.”
― Ellen Potter, The Kneebone Boy

“Then she probably would have waved back," Max said. "And it might be a he."
"Ha! Not likely," Lucia said. "Didn't you notice them?"
"Them what?" Max asked.
"Her... you know. She has breasts, Max! What do you think that is on her chest?"
"I think it's a pair of crossed arms," Max said.”
― Ellen Potter, The Kneebone Boy

“Mind your fingers though. She bites.”
― Ellen Potter, The Humming Room: A Novel Inspired by the Secret Garden

“Careful, she bites.”
― Ellen Potter, The Humming Room: A Novel Inspired by the Secret Garden

“Hocus Pocus let's try to focus”
― Ellen Potter, The Humming Room: A Novel Inspired by the Secret Garden

“It seems like there’s something mysterious about what lives and what dies.” He saw that Roo’s face had gone grim, and he added, “But each time I find an animal that needs help, I help it as though I’m sure it will live.”
― Ellen Potter, The Humming Room