Patry Francis > Quotes

“You don’t do anything by yourself in this world, and if it’s worth anything, it’s not just for yourself, either. You’re either lifting up the people around you, or you’re pulling them down, whether you know it or not.”
― Patry Francis, All the Children Are Home

“I don’t care. Cause when you see a scrap of pretty in this world, you gotta stop and give it a little respect.”
― Patry Francis, All the Children Are Home

“Winning’s never about what anyone else does. It’s something that happens between you and yourself. You don’t look to the left or the right. You just jump in the water and swim with everything you have. You swim for your life, Ma, and when you reach the finish line and look up, whoever you thought you were competing against is gone. Poof.”
― Patry Francis, All the Children Are Home

“First of all, Ma never wanted to take credit for anything. She wanted the glory--and everything else--to go to us. And second--she's more a part of it than I like to admit. Yeah, I did the work, but every test I took, every paper I wrote, she was there with me. Her face when she opened the report card, or when I handed her a paper with the word 'Excellent' written across the top was my rocket fuel.... You know what it says in the Talmud? Every blade of grass has an angel that stands over it, whispering, Grow, Grow. That was Ma. That was the work of her life.”
― Patry Francis, All the Children Are Home

“...but the truth is, the more hours I spend in contemplation, the less I know about God-and the more I realize how arrogant it is for us poor humans to squeeze the Infinite into our limited definitions.”
― Patry Francis, The Orphans of Race Point

“There are people whose whole life is a punishment. Kids who literally don’t know the difference between right and wrong, people who ‘know not what they do,’ to quote the Master.”
― Patry Francis, The Liar's Diary

“But the face I would always remember best was the one that never made the pictures. The one behind the camera.”
― Patry Francis, All the Children Are Home

“Winning’s never about what anyone else does. It’s something that happens between you and yourself.”
― Patry Francis, All the Children Are Home

“Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly? —FRIDA KAHLO”
― Patry Francis, The Orphans of Race Point

“That night, Hallie was relieved when Linda Soares, the town librarian who'd spent years trying to impress Nick with her low-cut shirts and book recommendations, joined them for dinner.”
― Patry Francis, The Orphans of Race Point

“Men pursue younger women for sport all the time—whenever they start feeling a little insecure. But when a woman does it, it’s another thing altogether.”
― Patry Francis, The Liar's Diary

“For some reason, she thought of how the old people wept when they played fado music at the annual Portuguese Festival. Saudade , her great-aunt Del called it: homesick music. But according to her father, the emotion was about more than place. It was a profound longing for everything that was lost and would never be regained.”
― Patry Francis, The Orphans of Race Point

“There’s something about Cape kids. Maybe it’s the constant drumbeat of the ocean, like a clock reminding them how short the time is, or maybe it’s just the loneliness of the long winters . . . but they party more than anyone else.”
― Patry Francis, The Orphans of Race Point