The Secret Life of Bees
"People who think dying is the worst thing don't know a thing about life." (2)
"I was always having to choose between decent hair and a good night's sleep." (3)
"'You put his brain in a bird, the bird would fly backward,' she liked to say. I often wondered what that bird would do with Rosaleen's brain. I decided half the time it would drop shit on your head and the other half it would sit on abandoned nests with its wings spread wide." (12)
"Some things were not possible in this world. Children did not have two parents who refused to love them. One, maybe, but for pity's sake, not two." (41)
"If you think the country is quiet, you've never lived in it. Tree frogs alone make you wish for earplugs." (51)
"Rosaleen had been beaten up, gone without food, slept on the hard ground, and who could say how long before she'd be back in jail or even killed? She deserved her snuff." (63)
"I couldn't help but envy the way a good storm got everyone's attention." (75)
"The world will give you that once in a while, a brief time-out; the boxing bell rings and you go to your corner, where somebody dabs mercy on your beat-up life." (82)
"I have noticed that if you look carefully at people's eyes the first five seconds they look at you, the truth of their feelings will shine through for just an instant before it flickers away." (105)
"Stories have to be told or they die, and when they die, we can't remember who we are or why we're here." (107)
"'You can teach me how to drive,' I said.
'Not in this car.'
'Why not?'
'Because you look like the kind of girl who'll wreck something for sure.'
I turned to face him, ready to defend myself, and saw he was grinning. And there was the one-side dimple again.
'For sure,' he said. 'Wreck something for sure.'" (118)
"I laid my head on his shoulder and wondered how he could stand me. In one short morning I had exhibited insane laughter, hidden lust, pissy behavior, self-pity, and hysterical crying. If I'd been trying to show him my worst sides, I could not have done a better job than this." (128, 129)
"I stretched out my arms like I was pushing back invisible walls of air and, looking down, caught sight of my shadow on the floor, this skinny girl with wild hair curling up in the humidity, with her arms flung out and her palms erect like she was trying to stop traffic in both directions. I wanted to bend down and kiss her, for how small and determined she looked." (131)
"That's what I told myself five hundred times: impossibility. I can tell you this much: the world is a great big log thrown on the fires of love." (133)
"Quietness has a strange, spongy hum that can nearly break your eardrums." (134)
"'Did you know that there are thirty-two names for love in one of the Eskimo languages?' August said. "And we just have this one. We are so limited, you have to use the same word for loving Rosaleen as you do for loving a Coke with peanuts. Isn't that a shame we don't have more ways to say it?'" (140)
"You see, everyone needs a God who looks like them, Lily." (141)
"Really, her spirit is everywhere, Lily, just everywhere. Inside rocks and trees and even people, but sometimes it will get concentrated in certain places and just beam out at you in a special way." (141)
"...maybe the teachers at my school didn't know either, the way they talked about everything being nothing but carbon and oxygen and mineral, the dullest stuff you can imagine. I started thinking about the world loaded with disguised Marys sitting around all over the place and hidden red hearts tucked about that people could rub and touch, only we didn't recognize them." (142)
"I swear, if you listen to my chest with a stethoscope, what you'd hear is that story going on and on in my Big Mama's voice." (142)
"August set down the jar she was working on, and there was a mix of sorrow and amusement and longing across her face, and I thought, She is missing her mother." (143)
"...women made the best beekeepers, 'cause they have a special ability built into them to love creatures that sting." (143)
"She smiled at me. 'I loved him enough,' she said. 'I just loved my freedom more.'" (146)
"The hardest thing on earth is choosing what matters." (147)
"Bees have a secret life we don't know anything about. I loved the idea of bees having a secret life, just like the one I was living." (148)
"I love you, I love you, I said in my head. I LOVE YOU. I tried to say it thirty-two ways." (149)
"It felt like the queen's attendants were out here in a frenzy of love, caressing me in a thousand places. Look who's here, it's Lily. She is so weary and lost. Come on, bee sisters. I was the stamen in the middle of a twirling flower. The center of all their comforting." (151)
"...smile crinkles in his face that signaled a good person." (157)
"It is always a relief to empty your bladder. Better than sex, that's what Rosaleen said. As good as it felt, though, I sincerely hoped she was wrong." (163)
that's the first half of the book, the bits and pieces i've underlined in my first fifty times though. :-)
"I was always having to choose between decent hair and a good night's sleep." (3)
"'You put his brain in a bird, the bird would fly backward,' she liked to say. I often wondered what that bird would do with Rosaleen's brain. I decided half the time it would drop shit on your head and the other half it would sit on abandoned nests with its wings spread wide." (12)
"Some things were not possible in this world. Children did not have two parents who refused to love them. One, maybe, but for pity's sake, not two." (41)
"If you think the country is quiet, you've never lived in it. Tree frogs alone make you wish for earplugs." (51)
"Rosaleen had been beaten up, gone without food, slept on the hard ground, and who could say how long before she'd be back in jail or even killed? She deserved her snuff." (63)
"I couldn't help but envy the way a good storm got everyone's attention." (75)
"The world will give you that once in a while, a brief time-out; the boxing bell rings and you go to your corner, where somebody dabs mercy on your beat-up life." (82)
"I have noticed that if you look carefully at people's eyes the first five seconds they look at you, the truth of their feelings will shine through for just an instant before it flickers away." (105)
"Stories have to be told or they die, and when they die, we can't remember who we are or why we're here." (107)
"'You can teach me how to drive,' I said.
'Not in this car.'
'Why not?'
'Because you look like the kind of girl who'll wreck something for sure.'
I turned to face him, ready to defend myself, and saw he was grinning. And there was the one-side dimple again.
'For sure,' he said. 'Wreck something for sure.'" (118)
"I laid my head on his shoulder and wondered how he could stand me. In one short morning I had exhibited insane laughter, hidden lust, pissy behavior, self-pity, and hysterical crying. If I'd been trying to show him my worst sides, I could not have done a better job than this." (128, 129)
"I stretched out my arms like I was pushing back invisible walls of air and, looking down, caught sight of my shadow on the floor, this skinny girl with wild hair curling up in the humidity, with her arms flung out and her palms erect like she was trying to stop traffic in both directions. I wanted to bend down and kiss her, for how small and determined she looked." (131)
"That's what I told myself five hundred times: impossibility. I can tell you this much: the world is a great big log thrown on the fires of love." (133)
"Quietness has a strange, spongy hum that can nearly break your eardrums." (134)
"'Did you know that there are thirty-two names for love in one of the Eskimo languages?' August said. "And we just have this one. We are so limited, you have to use the same word for loving Rosaleen as you do for loving a Coke with peanuts. Isn't that a shame we don't have more ways to say it?'" (140)
"You see, everyone needs a God who looks like them, Lily." (141)
"Really, her spirit is everywhere, Lily, just everywhere. Inside rocks and trees and even people, but sometimes it will get concentrated in certain places and just beam out at you in a special way." (141)
"...maybe the teachers at my school didn't know either, the way they talked about everything being nothing but carbon and oxygen and mineral, the dullest stuff you can imagine. I started thinking about the world loaded with disguised Marys sitting around all over the place and hidden red hearts tucked about that people could rub and touch, only we didn't recognize them." (142)
"I swear, if you listen to my chest with a stethoscope, what you'd hear is that story going on and on in my Big Mama's voice." (142)
"August set down the jar she was working on, and there was a mix of sorrow and amusement and longing across her face, and I thought, She is missing her mother." (143)
"...women made the best beekeepers, 'cause they have a special ability built into them to love creatures that sting." (143)
"She smiled at me. 'I loved him enough,' she said. 'I just loved my freedom more.'" (146)
"The hardest thing on earth is choosing what matters." (147)
"Bees have a secret life we don't know anything about. I loved the idea of bees having a secret life, just like the one I was living." (148)
"I love you, I love you, I said in my head. I LOVE YOU. I tried to say it thirty-two ways." (149)
"It felt like the queen's attendants were out here in a frenzy of love, caressing me in a thousand places. Look who's here, it's Lily. She is so weary and lost. Come on, bee sisters. I was the stamen in the middle of a twirling flower. The center of all their comforting." (151)
"...smile crinkles in his face that signaled a good person." (157)
"It is always a relief to empty your bladder. Better than sex, that's what Rosaleen said. As good as it felt, though, I sincerely hoped she was wrong." (163)
that's the first half of the book, the bits and pieces i've underlined in my first fifty times though. :-)