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I wanted to let the world know that no one had a perfect life, that even the people who seemed to have it all had their secrets.

Jeannette Walls

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Jeannette Walls
Age: 64
Born: 1960
Born: April 21
Journalist
Writer
Phoenix
Arizona
Seemed
Secret
Perfect
Wanted
Even
Life
World
People
Secrets

More quotes by Jeannette Walls

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In my opinion, trying to guess what readers want is the wrong approach. You have to tell your story as best you can and as true to yourself as possible. You have to be honest and fair and vulnerable and foolish and brave, and not care what anyone thinks of it.
Jeannette Walls
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When I got a little older, I started writing for the high school newspaper, The Maroon Wave, and that's when I fell in love with journalism.
Jeannette Walls
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Confidence doesn't come from thinking you're perfect or flawless. That's arrogance. Confidence comes from appreciating the beauty of your texture.
Jeannette Walls
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She never felt sorry for herself, and that was something I decided I admired most in people.
Jeannette Walls
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I reached my full height at age 11, and I was clumsy as all get-out - all elbows and knees, couldn't get up a flight of stairs without falling down. I wanted to be a cute, petite blonde, but I'm a big ol' strapping thing, so I just accept it.
Jeannette Walls
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No child is born a delinquent. They only became that way if nobody loved them when they were kids. Unloved children grow up to be serial murderers or alcoholics.
Jeannette Walls
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I found out that people are incredibly compassionate and kind. It really changed my view of the world.
Jeannette Walls
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But no matter how much planning you do, one tiny miscalculation, one moment of distraction, can end it all in an instant.
Jeannette Walls
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No one expected you to amount to much, she told me. Lori was the smart one, Maureen the pretty one, and Brian the brave one. You never had much going for you except that you always worked hard.
Jeannette Walls
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We're stronger than we realize.
Jeannette Walls
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One benefit of Summer was that each day we had more light to read by.
Jeannette Walls
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I'm a big believer in luck - the harder you work, the luckier you become.
Jeannette Walls
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Living there [Horse Mesa] was like living in a natural cathedral. Waking up every morning, you walked outside and looked down at the blue lake, then up at the sandstone cliffs--those awe-inspiring layers of red and yellow rock shaped over the millennia, with dozens of black-streaked crevices that temporarily became waterfalls after rainstorms.
Jeannette Walls
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Mom also hinted a couple of times that it was good I was going to college, since with one failed marriage behind me, I 'd have trouble landing a good husband and would need something to fall back on. A package that's been opened once doesn't have the same appeal.
Jeannette Walls
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Look at the way you live. You've sold out. Next thing I know you'll become a Republican. She shook her head. Where are the values I raised you with?
Jeannette Walls
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It's the Joshua tree's struggle that gives it its beauty.
Jeannette Walls
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She wore tight corsets to give her a teeny waist - I helped her lace them up - but they had the effect of causing her to faint. Mom called it the vapors and said it was a sign of her high breeding and delicate nature. I thought it was a sign that the corset made it hard to breathe.
Jeannette Walls
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She had her addictions and one of them was reading.
Jeannette Walls
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Mom told us we would have to go shoplifting. Isn't that a sin? I asked Mom. Not exactly, Mom said. God doesn't mind you bending the rules a little if you have a good reason. It's sort of like justifiable homicide. This is justifiable pilfering.
Jeannette Walls
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Mom always said people worried too much about their children. Suffering when you're young is good for you, she said. It immunized your body and your soul, and that was why she ignored us kids when we cried. Fussing over children who cry only encouraged them, she told us. That's positive reinforcement for negative behavior.
Jeannette Walls