7 Quotes by Marina Budhos

If I say a word that is angry, he explained, then I should never be surprised by the harm. And if I say something good, then it is like watching my own garden grow, and that is the greatest pleasure ever.

When we came to America, though, we didn't know what the right thing was. Here we lived with no map. We became invisible, the people who swam in between other people's lives, bussing dishes, delivering groceries. What was wrong?We didn't know. The most important thing, Abba said, was not to stick out. Don't let them see you. But I think it hurt him, to hide so much.

Maybe that's what living in America does to you: it spreads you into far distances until you're just little bits rolling apart.

You gave up because everything stopped being easy. Just because you couldn’t conquer this thing like you always did.

Now I am your valedictorian. I want what you want. I want a future.

There are two kinds of people in the world, Nadira,” Auntie tells me. “Those that hear bad news and want to run away and those that dig their feet in and want to fight.

Maybe if I just stop wanting so much, they can’t hurt me.