Louisiana's Way Home Quotes

“Perhaps what matters when all is said and done is not who puts us down but who picks us up.”
― Kate DiCamillo, Louisiana's Way Home

“The world was beautiful. It surprised me, how beautiful it kept on insisting on being. In spite of all the lies, it was beautiful.”
― Kate DiCamillo, Louisiana's Way Home

“What matters when all is said and done is not who puts us down, but who picks us up.”
― Kate DiCamillo, Louisiana's Way Home

“I don’t know, Louisiana. I can’t see into the future. I do think that, more often than not, love has a way of finding us.”
― Kate DiCamillo, Louisiana's Way Home

“He was the kind of person who, if you asked him for one of something, gave you two instead.”
― Kate DiCamillo, Louisiana's Way Home

“Because that is what it means to be alive, on this infinitesimally spinning planet. It means you have cares. Doesn't it?”
― Kate DiCamillo, Louisiana's Way Home

“Here is something I have learned: you should never expect help from someone who perpetually has their hair in curlers.”
― Kate DiCamillo, Louisiana's Way Home

“He looked at me, and, my goodness, his eyes were bright, and it occurred to me that they were probably so bright because he had never had to ask himself who he was or where he belonged or who he wanted to be.”
― Kate DiCamillo, Louisiana's Way Home

“What matters when all is said and done is not who puts us down but who picks up.”
― Kate DiCamillo, Louisiana's Way Home

“You have a gift, Louisiana, and the more of yourself you put into the song, the more powerful—the more truthful—the song becomes.”
― Kate DiCamillo, Louisiana's Way Home

“And perhaps what matters when all is said and done is not who puts us down but who picks us up.”
― Kate DiCamillo, Louisiana's Way Home

“It seems like a good thing to know the star that can keep you from being lost in this world.”
― Kate DiCamillo, Louisiana's Way Home

“Granny?”
― Kate DiCamillo, Louisiana's Way Home

“It is a long and tragic story full of dark alleys and twists and turns and many unexpected happenings,” I said. “And also curses. There are curses in the story.”
― Kate DiCamillo, Louisiana's Way Home

“If you have not left your home in the middle of the night without even giving it a backward glance; if you have not left your cat and your friends and also a one-eyed dog named Buddy without getting to tell any of them good-bye; if you have not stood on the side of the road in Georgia, somewhere just past the irrevocable state line, and waited for someone to come along and give you a ride, well, then you cannot understand the desperation that was in my heart that day.”
― Kate DiCamillo, Louisiana's Way Home

“Dang" said Burke when I was done. "That's a good song."
At least I knew that about myself. At least I knew I was somebody who could sing.
That was something Granny had given me.
She had given me a lot. I suppose.”
― Kate DiCamillo, Louisiana's Way Home

“It is a wondrous thing to be at the top of a tree. When you have two Oh Henry! bars to eat. And a bag of peanuts.”
― Kate DiCamillo, Louisiana's Way Home

“The world was beautiful.
It surprised me, how beautiful it kept on insisting on being. In spite of all the lies, it was beautiful.”
― Kate DiCamillo, Louisiana's Way Home

“Who was I without the Flying Elefantes?
Who was I without Granny?
And who was I without a curse upon my head?”
― Kate DiCamillo, Louisiana's Way Home

“Should you be driving?" said the woman.
"I should be driving," I told her. I gave her a very-serious grown-up-to-grown-up sort of look. "The situation is dire.”
― Kate DiCamillo, Louisiana's Way Home

“In my dream, you are standing in front of the vending machine from the Good Night, Sleep Tight, and you are smiling at me, using all of your teeth. You say, "Select anything you want', darling. Provisions have been made. Provisions have been made." I am so happy when you show up in my dream and say those words to me.”
― Kate DiCamillo, Louisiana's Way Home

“That is one of the things I have discovered in this world. It is pointless to make big plans because you never know when someone is going to wake you up in the middle of the night and say, “The day of reckoning has arrived.”
― Kate DiCamillo, Louisiana's Way Home

“But Clarence probably had cares. Because that is what it means to be alive on this infinitesimally spinning planet. It means you have cares. Doesn't it?”
― Kate DiCamillo, Louisiana's Way Home

“I can listen to you, Louisiana Elefante," said Reverend Obertask. "That is the only magic I have. Do you want to tell me the rest of your story?”
― Kate DiCamillo, Louisiana's Way Home

“I want you to know something, Louisiana. We all, at some point, have to decide who we want to be in this world. It is a decision we make for ourselves. You are being forced to make this decision at an early age, but that does not mean that you cannot do it well and wisely. I believe you can. I have great faith in you. You decide. You decide who you are, Louisiana. Do you understand?"
I told him that I did understand.
Even though I wasn't certain that I did.
"And another thing," he said. "You will never understand why your parents left you in that alley. It is impossible to understand. But it may be necessary for you to forgive them, for your own sake, without ever truly understanding what they did. OK?"
His face was so serious and sad that I said, "Yes, Reverend Obertask. I understand."
But I didn't understand. How could I forgive people who had never shown me any kindness? How could I forgive people who had left me behind without loving me at all?
And so it came to pass that I found myself sitting at the end of a long driveway in front of a pink house that smelled like cake, thinking about forgiveness and who I wanted to be in this world.”
― Kate DiCamillo, Louisiana's Way Home

“I ate all my ice cream. I scraped the bowl with my spoon, and then Grandfather Burke slid his bowl of ice cream over so that it was sitting right in front of me.
I looked down at Grandfather Burke's bowl.
The glass was twinkling in the light. It looked very pretty. It was dark outside, and there were lights on inside and the bowl was catching all the light, and everybody was around the table and the bowl was full of ice cream and chocolate sauce and peanuts, and I felt as if I was right on the verge of understanding something.
And then Grandfather Burke said, "That's for you, doodlebug."
I stared down at the beautiful bowl, and I started to cry.”
― Kate DiCamillo, Louisiana's Way Home

“I do think that, more often than not, love has a way of finding us.”
― Kate DiCamillo, Louisiana's Way Home

“I could see dust motes dancing around joyfully in the air.
What do dust motes have to be so happy about?”
― Kate DiCamillo, Louisiana's Way Home

“The world was so dark! I don't know that I had ever before encountered such darkness.”
― Kate DiCamillo, Louisiana's Way Home

“Something large and dark had entered Room 102 of the Good Night, Sleep Tight, and the large, dark thing was sitting right on top of my chest. I could not breathe.”
― Kate DiCamillo, Louisiana's Way Home