Handicapped Child Quotes

“But Luce takes the attitude, when you start fretting the day-by- day you lose track of the long view. And the long view is, they need to learn to speak for themselves and do the best they can. For now, if they bag their own lunch and it's pickles and prunes and they say the words, all you do is put both thumbs up and say, Good job.”
― Charles Frazier, Nightwoods

“...as a pianist, I can’t say I was always a big fan of contemporary music. The challenge of late Beethoven, or Mozart, or Schubert seemed to me to be somehow greater or more worthwhile than that of learning difficult, ill-placed notes. To me, the kind of transcendence in the older pieces really was more interesting. That’s not to say I didn’t love the contemporary pieces I did play. I became very attached to the ones I learned, and I played them with pleasure and absolute commitment. It may be terrible to say this, but playing some of that music is like having a handicapped child. You love it all the more for the problems that it gives you.”
― Leon Fleisher, My Nine Lives: A Memoir of Many Careers in Music

“It's a funny things about human nature. Nobody ever wonders why they've got a healthy brother or a perfect kiddie. Anything goes wrong, though, we soon start why, oh why...”
― Laurie Graham, The Future Homemakers of America

“Like an old sneaker, Riverbend was chewed up, worn out, and falling apart at the seams. The town didn’t even smell right.”
― Laura Hesse, One Frosty Christmas

“The idea that Mr. Frost didn’t want saving didn’t even occur to her.”
― Laura Hesse

“She stopped outside her parents’ bedroom door. She heard her mother’s light whistling snores and her father working out a deal in his sleep, mumbling numbers that made no sense to Hannah. She snuck down the stairs like a burglar…”
― Laura Hesse

“The stars of morning twinkled brightly overhead, the moon having already surrendered its light. The backyard was a crystal palace bejeweled with ice that sparkled under the starlight.”
― Laura Hesse

“It’s hard keeping a secret… even when it’s your own.”
― Laura Hesse

“Hannah remained silent as they pulled out of the hospital’s parking lot. With a sinking feeling, Hannah realized she was going to have to endure the laughter and joy of Christmas all day. She knew she had to try and be pleasant for her parent’s and her friends’ sake, but in her mind there was a dark hole where she disappeared like Alice in Wonderland. She’d found that hole during rehab and went there whenever she needed to escape the pain.”
― Laura Hesse

“These children need the confidence of working with real china and glass,” Miss Prince explained to Almena and Bill. “At home they are waited on and wailed over so much that it’s a wonder they ever do anything for themselves. Here in school it’s routine. Anyone can try anything. If he fails, so what? He can try again.”
― Regina J. Woody, Almena's Dogs