The legal system works really well, if you communicate a certain way. But if you don't, it all goes to Hell in a handbasket really quickly. Jodi Picoult More Quotes by Jodi Picoult More Quotes From Jodi Picoult But as he grew older, he learned that a word was a powerful thing. An insult didn't have to be shouted to bleed; a vow didn't have to be whispered to make you believe. Hold a thought in your head, and that was enough to change the actions of anyone and anything that crossed your path. Jodi Picoult powerful path believe Mistakes are something that happen by accident. You didn't walk out the door one morning and fall into some guy's bed. You thought about it, for a while. You made that choice. Jodi Picoult mistake morning fall Betrayal was a stone beneath a mattress of thr bed you shared, something you felt digging into you no matter how you shifted position. What was the point of being able to forgive, when deep down, you both had to admit you'd never forget? Jodi Picoult betrayal forgiving stones I can give or take elephants; I never can find the cheetah-but the zebras captivate me. They'd be one of the few things that would fit if we were lucky enough to live in a world that's black or white. Jodi Picoult zebras elephants white Here's my question: What age are you when you're in Heaven? Jodi Picoult age heaven Life isn't nearly as stable as we want it to be. Jodi Picoult my-sisters-keeper stable want Grief is a curious thing, when it happens unexpectedly. It is a Band-aid being ripped away, taking the top layer off a family. And the underbelly of a household is never pretty, ours no exception. Jodi Picoult bereavement band grief You saved me," I said. Nathaniel put his hands on either side of my face. "I had to," he said. "So you could save me back. Jodi Picoult faces sides hands Nathaniel closes his eyes and jumps, his arms glued to his sides like that fly's. He doesn't try to break his fall, just hits hard, because it hurts less than everything else. Jodi Picoult eye hurt fall When you can not find someone, it is because you've been misdirected to look elsewhere Jodi Picoult invisibility can-not looks eskimos maybe? believed stars were holes in the sky where people who died could peek through at you Jodi Picoult stars sky people Frankly, I wonder who Frank was, and why he has an adverb all to himself. Jodi Picoult adverbs frank wonder We're [parents]) always bluffing, pretending we know best, when most of the time we're just praying we won't screw up too badly. Jodi Picoult parenting inspirational funny When you are a kid you have your own language, and unlike French or Spanish or whatever you start learning in fourth grade, this one you are born with, and eventually lose...Kids think with their brains cracked wide open; becoming an adult...is only a slow sewing it shut. Jodi Picoult brain kids thinking I personally subscribe to the belief that normal is just a setting on the dryer. Jodi Picoult settings normal belief Everytime I look at a zebra, I can't figure out whether it's black with white stripes or white with black stripes, and that frustrates me. Jodi Picoult zebras black white Being a good mother, it seemed to me, meant you ran the risk of losing your child. Jodi Picoult risk mother children I wanted him to feel what I felt when I was with him: that incredible combination of comfort, decadence, and wonder; the knowledge that, with just a single taste of him, I was addicted. Jodi Picoult taste comfort wonder Words got in the way. The things we felt the hardest--like what it was like to have a boy touch you as if you were made of light, or what it meant to be the only person in the room who wasn't noticed--weren't sentences; they were knots in the wood of our bodies, places where our blood flowed backward. If you asked me, not that anyone ever did, the only words worth saying were I'm sorry. Jodi Picoult light sorry boys But love wasn't about sacrifice, and it wasn't about falling short of someone's expectations. By definition, love made you better than good enough; it redefined perfection to include your traits, instead of excluding them. All any of us wanted, really, was to know that we counted. That someone else's life would not have been as rich without us here. Jodi Picoult sacrifice expectations fall