If you're so afraid of your imagination that you stifle it, how are you going to know God? How can you imagine heaven? Katherine Paterson More Quotes by Katherine Paterson More Quotes From Katherine Paterson I do know that I need solitude, not only to write but to nourish myself (being, like most writers, an introvert) so that I do keep trying to write. Katherine Paterson solitude writing trying It was up to him to pay back to the world in beauty and caring what Leslie had loaned him in vision and strength. Katherine Paterson vision caring world When people ask me what qualifies me to be a writer for children, I say I was once a child. But I was not only a child, I was, better still, a weird little kid, and though I would never choose to give my own children this particular preparation for life, there are few things, apparently, more helpful to a writer than having once been a weird little kid. Katherine Paterson kids children people Miss Edmunds was one of his secrets. He was in love with her. Not the kind of silly stuff Ellie and Brenda giggled about on the telephone. This was too real and too deep to talk about, even to think about very much. Katherine Paterson real silly thinking If you could hold your nose to avoid a stink, or close your eyes to cut out a sight, why not shut off your brain to avoid a thought? Katherine Paterson cutting eye sight You gotta know someone cares about you, or you just give up. Katherine Paterson just-give-up giving-up care Shh" he said. "Look." "Where?" "Can't you see'um?" he whispered. "All the Terabithians standing on tiptoe to see you." "Me?" "Shh, yes. There's a rumor going around that the beautiful girl arrving today might be the queen they've been waiting for. Katherine Paterson queens girl beautiful You have to believe it and you hate it. I don't have to and I think it's beautiful. Katherine Paterson hate beautiful believe It is not enough to simply teach children to read; we have to give them something worth reading. Something that will stretch their imaginations- something that will help them make sense of their own lives and encourage them to reach out toward people whose lives are quite different from their own. Katherine Paterson attitude happiness children It wasn't so much that he minded telling Leslie that he was afraid to go; it was that he minded being afraid. It was as though he had been made with a great piece missing - one of May Belle's puzzles with this huge gap where somebody's eye should have been. Lord, it would be better to be born without an arm than to go through life with no guts. Katherine Paterson eye should-have missing We're alike, Jess would tell himself, me and Miss Edmunds . . . We don't belong at Lark Creek, Julia and me. Katherine Paterson creeks larks missing One thing living in Japan did for me was to make me feel that what is left out of a work of art is as important as, if not more important than, what is put in. Katherine Paterson japan important art The last dregs of winter spoiling the taste of everything. Katherine Paterson lasts taste winter Many people are angry when they make a mistake, but very few people have the sense to be sorry. Katherine Paterson sorry mistake people Sometimes you need to give people something that's for them, not just something that makes you feel good giving it. Katherine Paterson feel-good giving people The difference between writing a story and simply relating past events is that a story, in order to be acceptable, must have shape and meaning. It is the old idea that art is the bringing of order out of chaos. Katherine Paterson writing past art Everything comes in useful once in a hundred years. Katherine Paterson hundred years What I have come to believe is that joy is the twin sister of gratitude. I am most joyful when I am most grateful. Katherine Paterson gratitude grateful believe a work that intends to be art must first be entertaining. Katherine Paterson book art firsts Once a book is published, it no longer belongs to me. My creative task is done. The work now belongs to the creative mind of my readers. I had my turn to make of it what I would, now it is their turn. Katherine Paterson creative mind book
