Sadness is more or less like a head cold - with patience, it passes. Depression is like cancer.
There were two things about Mama. One is she always expected the best out of me. And the other is that then no matter what I did, whatever I came home with, she acted like it was the moon I had just hung up in the sky and plugged in all the stars. Like I was that good.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the unconditional support and belief a mother has in her child, celebrating their accomplishments regardless of their size.
In this quote, Barbara Kingsolver conveys the profound influence a mother can have on her child's self-worth and confidence. By expecting the best from her child and celebrating even their smallest achievements as monumental, she fosters a nurturing environment where the child feels valued and capable. This unconditional love and acceptance can empower individuals to reach their full potential, knowing that they have someone who believes in them wholeheartedly.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about personal growth at an event, one might say, 'Like Barbara Kingsolver notes about her mother, we must expect the best from our loved ones.'
More from Barbara Kingsolver
All quotes βChildren can be your heartache. But that doesn't matter, you have to go on and have them . . . it works out.
I'm of a fearsome mind to throw my arms around every living librarian who crosses my path, on behalf of the souls they never knew they saved.
I did it to win love, and to prove myself capable. Not to move mountains. In my opinions, mountains don't move. They only look changed when you look down on them from great height.
Memory is a complicated thing, a relative to truth, but not its twin.
Empathy is really the opposite of spiritual meanness. It's the capacity to understand that every war is both won and lost. And that someone else's pain is as meaningful as your own.
Similar quotes
Let your children be as so many flowers, borrowed from God. If the flowers die or wither, thank God for a summer loan of them.
I have not been a good father, but no father has loved his children more. Like my father, I decided the best thing I could do for my kids was work and provide. Fortunately, I've been able to do that. Unfortunately, my work was on the road, and that's meant a life of one-nighters.
Picture the moment when your mom and dad first saw you as something other than a pretty, tiny version of them. You as them, but improved. Better educated. Innocent. Then picture when you stopped being their dream.
Sadie," he said forlornly, "when you become a parent, you may understand this. One of my hardest jobs as a father, one of my greatest duties, was to realize that my own dreams, my own goals and wishes, are secondary to my children's.
~My instinct is to protect my children from pain. But adversity is often the thing that gives us character and backbone. It's always been a struggle for me to back off and let my children go through difficult experiences.~
My mother never watched me train in Romania. She wasn't allowed, it just wasn't done back then. My training was paid for by the government. My parents were not at the Olympics with me, either. I never expected them to be.