“Gotta realize that all you are is all you got.”

“To look in the mirror and like what you see even if it's not your idea of beauty”

“To look in the mirror and like what you see, even when it doesn't look like your idea of beauty.”

“Don't go getting full of yourself becuase once you do, somebody's going to come and let the wind out of your sails”

“Because Christmas did something to the world at large and to individuals in particular. It crystallized all your hopes and fears. It made you yearn and wish and dream. And no matter how hard you tried—it made you realize all the things you were missing in life.”

“Every time you get the world by the tail, she thought, you gotta remember there's teeth on the other end.”

“Being a mother is like trying to hold a wolf by the ears,” Gram said. “If you have three or four –or more – chickabiddies, you’re dancing on a hot griddle all the time. You don’t have time to think about anything else. And if you’ve only got one or two, it’s almost harder. You have room left over – empty spaces that you think you’ve got to fill up.”