Phyllis Reynolds Naylor quotes:

I sure wasn't going to ask Aunt Sally, because if she told me once that getting your period was like a moth becoming a butterfly, she'd probably say that sexual intercourse was like a deer getting antlers or something.

Do we have a hand mirror?' I asked from the kitchen doorway.'Never use one,' said Lester, examining the date on a carton of sour cream.'Naturally, you're a male. What you see is what you've got,' I said resentfully.'Huh?' said Lester.

The world is full of unrequited love,' I said finally.'You and Patrick having problems?' Dad said, reaching around to get the butter out of the fridge.'No, I was just wondering what you would say if I was a lesbian.''Come again?' said Lester. 'I'm having a hard time following this conversation.

The Three Cs, I told myself. When you're not Comfortable with it, it's not a Compliment, it's Creepy.

For your information, Lester, there are at least five wonderful parts of the female body that can be viewed by the owner only with a hand mirror.

For your information, Lester, there are at least five wonderful parts of the female body that can be viewed by the owner only with a hand mirror.'And as they stared after me, I went regally back down the hallway and up the stairs to Dad's room.

Happiness is wanting what you have.

One way to tell if you're really comfortable with a person is if you can be quiet together sometimes and not feel awkward. If you don't feel obligated to say something brilliant or funny or surprising or cool. You can just be together. You can just be.

That's the unforgivable sin, you know.""What is?""Refusing to forgive someone.""Refusing to forgive someone is the unforgivable sin?" I asked incredulously.

We all have our own battles to fight, and sometimes we have to go it alone. I'm stronger than you think, you'd be surprised.

Saying hello to something new means saying good-bye to something old and loved.

I also know that you can lie not only by what you say but what you don't say.

When you've found the right one - when you see him, when you're with him - you'll feel like you're coming home.

Why is life so complicated....?' I asked. 'To keep us from being bored,' he said.

You don't have to be part of a couple to be happy, you know.

Well, the man who first translated the bible into English was burned at the stake, and they've been at it ever since. Must be all that adultery, murder and incest. But not to worry. It's back on the shelves.

If it doesn't sweat, jiggle, or pant, it's not alive.

If you are embarrassed about your sex, it must mean that you feel there is something demeaning or disgusting about being female. You are all wondrously made, girls. Remember that: wondrously made, and you should carry your sex proudly, a badge of honor.

An idea in the head is like a rock in the shoe; I just can't wait to get it out.

I can never understand why people who have not seen me for a while ask if I am still writing. They might as well ask me if I am still breathing.

I used to think that when I grew up there wouldn't be so many rules. Back in elementary school there were rules about what entrance you used in the morning, what door you used going home, when you could talk in the library, how many paper towels you could use in the rest room, and how many drinks of water you could get during recess. And there was always somebody watching to make sure. What I'm finding out about growing older is that there are just as many rules about lots of things, but there's nobody watching.

It's all right to have secrets, ... as long as you don't have any secrets from yourself.

It's what they say to do when you're depressed, you know. Walk in someone else's shoes for a while, and your own won't feel so tight.

Once I have the idea for a story. I start collecting all kinds of helpful information and storing it in three-ring notebooks. For example, I may see a picture of a man in a magazine and say, 'That's exactly what the father in my book looks like!'...I save everything that will help--maps, articles, hand-jotted notes, bits of dialogue from conversations that I overhear.

Since no one really knows what or who God is, or whether God is at all, why can't God be hope?

The first draft is just a skeleton-just bare bones. It's like the very first rehearsal of a play, where the director moves the actors around mechanically to get a feel of the action.

There were so many of these moments that could never be captured accurately, even in the camcorder, only in the heart.

Writing, for me, is the best occupation I can think of, and there is nothing in the world I would rather do.