Lila Quotes
"In the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to cleanse thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all."
"No eye pitied thee, to do any of these things unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, for that thy person was abhorred, in the day that thou wast born."
"And when I passed by thee, and saw thee weltering in thy blood, I said unto thee, Though thou art in thy blood, live; yea, I said unto thee, Though thou art in thy blood, live."
"And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."
"And God said, Let there be light: and there was light."
"And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness."
"And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night."
"And there was evening and there was morning, one day."
"Doll said, 'Men just don’t feel like they sposed to stay by you. They ain’t never your friends.'"
"Doll said, 'You got to look after your own self. When it comes down to it, you’re going to be doing that anyway.'"
"Seems like you could trust ’em, they act like you could trust ’em, but you can’t. Don’t matter what they say."
"I passed by thee, and saw thee weltering in thy blood."
"I said unto thee, Though thou art in thy blood, live; yea, I said unto thee, Though thou art in thy blood, live."
"Doll would be glad to see her no matter what. Ugly old Doll. Who had said to her, Live. Not once, but every time she washed and mended for her, mothered her as if she were a child someone could want."
"Thou wast cast out in the open field, for that thy person was abhorred, in the day that thou wast born."
"I don’t trust nobody. I can’t stay nowhere. I can’t get a minute of rest."
"Thinking about hell doesn’t help me live the way I should."
"Existence can be fierce, she did know that. A storm can blow up out of a quiet day."
"He saw that it was good, And the evening and the morning."
"The loneliness that settled over her at the thought that they were lost to her."
"If the wildness doesn’t carry us both away. And if it does."
"I guess you don’t know me very well, either."
"Any judgment of the kind is a great presumption. And presumption is a very grave sin."
"She was just as lonely as she had ever been."
"But I’m afraid it would be too hard. It’s against my religion to say it would be too hard."
"Every courtesy owed to him was owed to her also, now that she was his wife, and he wanted to be sure they, and she, understood this."
"She had never been at home in all the years of her life."
"The shade of the cottonwoods and the shimmer of their leaves and the trill of the cicadas were comfort for her."
"He stepped into the ditch and touched it, and fireflies rose out of it in a cloud of light."
"When he finally took to stealing, it was a big dog that caught him at it."
"Poor was nothing, tired and hungry were nothing."
"The quiet of the world was terrible to her, like mockery."
"He was kind to her in every way he could think of, always trying to find out what she liked."
"She said, 'You ought to marry me.' Did she think he would laugh?"
"You never do know what you’re taking in your hand."
"The earth goes around the sun. It spins and it tips."
"The world has been here so long, seems like everything means something."
"There is no speech nor language; their voice is not heard."
"I’m going to be a little bit more careful about what I say, that’s one thing."
"Every Sunday after that one she went to church, her hand at the crook of the Reverend’s arm."
"She heard herself say, 'There was a woman who took care of me. She wanted me to marry an old man.'"
"‘The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork.'"
"Winter nights Doll would pull her against her, into her own shape, and she would pull the quilt up over her, and her arm would be around her, and Lila would only feel warmer for the cold that was everywhere else in the world."
"Maybe it would have the look that boy had, as if the life in him had decided to cut its losses when it had just begun to make him a man’s body."
"Then I’ll steal you, and I’ll take you away where nobody knows us, and I’ll make up all the difference between what you are and what you could have been by loving you so much."
"He laughed and rubbed his eyes. 'I never had such a scare. Or felt so relieved.'"
"She said, 'Far as I know.' He nodded. 'Me, too. Far as I know.'"
"I don’t know who my folks were, I don’t know my own last name."
"It makes me uncomfortable, you can see that. But I feel as though I need to know—how things stand."
"I thought I might as well get some use out of that money. Took me all summer to save it up."
"My child is going to have a big old preacher for its papa, and live in a good, warm house, and eat ham and eggs three times a week."
"He said, 'I think you’re being kind. I’m going to let you do it, though. I’m pretty sure I’d miss them.'"
"He said, 'I have to believe I wouldn’t die of it. For the child’s sake. And for yours, if you ever wanted to come back.'"
"I had to wipe tears from my eyes. He told her it was a man’s name, so it was pronounced differently, and this made her a good deal less interested in it."
"She wished she could have done the same for that boy at the shack, done right by him, filthy thing that he was, all trembling at the thought of what he was."
"She said, 'You don’t know nothing about me,' because that was what he was trying not to think. 'I got feelings I don’t know the names for. Probly ain’t any names. Probly nobody else ever had ’em.'"
"I’ve made a solemn promise! I gave you my word. I’ve never been more serious."
"The very worst part was that he would still know even if he wasn’t watching."
"The life she’d decided she would never have was there the whole time, trapped and furious, and in that minute she knew that if a man she ought to hate said one kind word to her, there was no telling what she might do."
"It was so easy to forget that most of the world was cornfields."
"Life is hard in the spring, and still it all felt like something she had almost died for the want of."
"Our experience is fragmentary. Its parts don’t add up. They don’t even belong in the same calculation."
"Life on earth is difficult and grave, and marvelous."
"The only true knowledge of God is born of obedience."
"Blessing or happiness can have very different meanings from one time to another."
"Joy can be joy and sorrow can be sorrow, with neither of them casting either light or shadow on the other."
"Nothing makes sense until we understand that experience does not accumulate like money, or memory, or like years and frailties."
"It’s all a prayer. You don’t think to say, Let tomorrow be like today, because usually it is."