The Bad Seed Quotes
"You are the bright thing in my life. You were the thing I loved more than all others. I want you to remember that, no matter what happens. I want you to remember that always. And never change from what you are at this moment."
"The hallmark of the lady or gentleman is the quality of his penmanship."
"Rhoda is a conservative, thrifty child, and she's perhaps the neatest little girl I've ever encountered."
"In some ways, she was far more mature than average; in others she was hardly developed at all."
"I think the secret of Rhoda's temperament is the simple fact that she doesn't need others, the way most of us do. She is such a self-sufficient little girl!"
"The child lives in her own particular world, and I'm sure it isn't anything at all like the world you and I live in."
"Sometimes I wish she were more dependent on others. Sometimes I wish she were less practical and more affectionate."
"It seemed to her suddenly that violence was an inescapable factor of the heart, perhaps the most important factor of all."
"I've always had a feeling I was an adopted child, that the Bravos weren't my real parents."
"She's so cool, so impersonal about things that bother others."
"I don't know what you're talking about, Mother. I don't feel any way at all."
"She's done something naughty, something very naughty indeed to make her go to such trouble to please me."
"Why should I feel sorry? It was Claude Daigle that got drowned, not me."
"It isn't as though you'd been here a long time; this is Rhoda's first term with us, as you know."
"We come from a long-lived family, don't we, Edna?"
"I didn't have a chance to accomplish nothing."
"You had chances. You had plenty chances. You're lazy."
"That little Rhoda Penmark is a mean little girl."
"I'm telling you, you going to get yourself in a mess of trouble."
"It's not Mrs. Daigle's medal. It belongs to me more than it does to her."
"If I give you a basket of kisses, what will you give me?"
"It's hard to understand sometimes why there must be so much pain and cruelty in the world. But it's something we've all got to face."
"I'm going to look on the bright side until I know to the contrary."
"Giving him what he lacked, what he must have to be what he became, was my mother's greatest joy, her true reason for existence."
"I learned something of her serenity, perhaps because I, too, loved her so greatly."
"My emotions deep down are disturbed and powerful. They are stirred up now, and I must struggle to get them under control once more."
"I miss you so badly. I long for you so deeply at this moment."
"I'm saving these letters that I cannot send, my darling. When you are back with me, and my fears have all proved foolish, perhaps we can read them over together."
"It was the hardest thing I ever had to do, but I kept saying to myself, 'Somebody's got to do it, and I guess it's me.'"
"I want to take some cuttings from the flame-colored oleander for a friend in town who's always loved that color."
"How can we know that our own concepts of good and evil concern God in the slightest? How can we be so sure He'd even understand our tests and definitions?"
"Oh, well, you can tone it down in the writing."
"What I came here for was to have a little chat with Rhoda."
"She's behaving like a seasoned little trouper."
"You know something! You know something, and you won't tell me!"
"But I must decide soon. Something must be done soon."
"If you knew, I'm sure you'd forgive me in time."
"I'm not intoxicated in the slightest degree."