Gretta Abbate > Gretta's Quotes

“It was Cathy who taught me the true meaning of the word “risk.” Whenever I see that word written or hear it spoken, I see her face. I see her faith. I see her love and her youth when she took on this challenge. She perceived a need and didn’t wait for everything to fall into place before doing something about it. She did not wait until someone wrote the manual on How to be a Mother to a 19-Year-Old African Orphan When You’re Only 23.”
― Maria Nhambu, America's Daughter

“Life is complicated. If life was simple, wouldn’t that make us simpletons?”
― C. Toni Graham

“You get what you tolerate.”
― Susan Scott, Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time

“Her house is the nest where she hides the joy, laughter, sorrows, and regrets of her life.”
― Lisa See, The Island of Sea Women

“The village is perched on a precipitous hillside, and the houses are built in tiers, one up behind the other, the floor of one level with the roof of the next. The whole village looks as if it were just about to slide into the depths of the valley below.”
― Mary Stewart, My Brother Michael

“At times he entertained the dream. Two men can defy the world.”
― E.M. Forster, Maurice

“All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast. ”
― John Gunther

“Sometimes I had the feeling that all of us in his family were like pets to him. The dog you take for a walk, the cat you play with and that curls up in your lap, purring, to be stroked - you can be fond of them, you can even need them to a certain extent, and nonetheless the whole thing - buying pet food, cleaning up the cat box, and trips to the vet - is really too much. Your life is elsewhere. ”
― Bernhard Schlink, The Reader

“My toe as a lethal weapon!”
― Azar Nafisi, Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books