Normal, in our house, is like a blanket too short for a bed--sometimes it covers you just fine, and other times it leaves you cold and shaking; and worst of all, you never know which of the two it's going to be.
Jodi PicoultRead
...as it turned out, growing up was just as she'd feared. One day when your alarm clock rang, you got up and realized you had someone else's thoughts in your head... or may be just your old ones, minus the hope.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Growing up often leads to a loss of individuality and hope, as we adopt external thoughts and beliefs.
This quote by Jodi Picoult reflects the often daunting reality of adulthood where the innocence and hope of youth can be overshadowed by societal expectations and the thoughts imposed by others. It suggests that as individuals mature, they may start to lose their own dreams and aspirations, becoming shaped instead by the influences around them, which can lead to a sense of disillusionment.
Themes
Growing UpDisillusionmentHopeIndividualitySelf-Awareness
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a discussion about the pressures of adulthood during a career development seminar.
More from Jodi Picoult
All quotes βWhether it was power they sought, or revenge, or love-well, those were all just different forms of hunger. The bigger the hole inside you, the more desperate you became to fill it.
Jodi PicoultRead
she told me she'd be a phoenix." The image of the mythical creature rising from the ashes glitters in my mind. "They don't really exist." "She said that depends on whether or not there's someone who can see them.
Jodi PicoultRead
for 100,000 (dollars), you [can] flatten a house with a wrecking ball. Imagine how much less it [takes] to destroy something than it [does] to build it in the first place.
Jodi PicoultRead
But if you seek forgiveness, doesn't that automatically mean you cannot be a monster? By definition, doesn't that desperation make you human again?
Jodi PicoultRead
when you [lose someone], it feels like the hole in your gum when a tooth falls out. You can chew, you can eat, you have plenty of other teeth, but your tongue keeps going back to that empty place, where all nerves are still a little raw
Jodi PicoultRead
Similar quotes
Don't feel badly when you take off work to go for a run, to go for a walk; don't feel badly to take time to play with your children, to be part of their lives. Work is important, but you can't work at your best unless you're a whole person.
Margaret TrudeauRead
What matters is not the duration of your life, but the donation of it.
Rick WarrenRead
For the first time since her return, she felt pain, a violent pain, but it made her feel alive, because it was worth feeling.
Ayn RandRead
The riders in a race do not stop when they reach the goal. There is a little finishing canter before coming to a standstill. There is time to hear the kind voices of friends and say to oneself, The work is done.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Read
When a woman conceives her true self, a miracle occurs and life around her begins again.
Marianne WilliamsonRead
So that's what I'm here to become. And suddenly, this word fills me with a brand of sadness I haven't felt since childhood. The kind of sadness you feel at the end of summer. When the fireflies are gone, the ponds have dried up and the plants are wilted, weary from being so green.
Augusten BurroughsRead