Barbara Kingsolver - Tumblr Posts

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.

Barbara Kingsolver, The Bean Trees (via awellreadwoman)

… Nobody feels sorry for anybody anymore, nobody even pretends they do. Not even the President. It’s like it’s become unpatriotic.

The Bean Trees (via kireii-hime)

The sun came out even before the hail stopped. There was a rainbow over the mountains behind the city, and over that another rainbow with the colors upside down. Between the two rainbows the sky was brighter than everywhere else, like a white sheet lit from the back. In a few minutes it was hot. I had on a big red pullover sweater and was starting to sweat. Arizona didn’t do anything halfway. If Arizona was a movie you wouldn’t believe it. You’d say it was too corny for words.

Barbara Kingsolver, The Bean Trees (via burritosaur)

Mayans lived here in the so-called New World before the Europeans discovered it. We’re very old people. In those days we had astronomical observatories, and performed brain surgery. I thought of the color pictures in my grade-school history books: Columbus striding up the beach in his leotards and feathered hat, a gang of wild-haired red men in loin cloths scattering in front of him like rabbits. What a joke.

The Bean Trees, Barbara Kingsolver (via pragmatist-hope)

Lou Ann hid a smile with her hand. ‘What?’ ‘Nothing.’ I could see perfectly well she was still smiling. 'Come on, what is it?’ 'It’s been so long,’ she said. 'You talk just like me.’

The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver (via frazzlem0nster)

I never could figure out why men thought they could impress a woman by making the world out to be such a big dangerous deal. I mean, we’ve got to live in the exact same world every damn day of the week, don’t we?

Barbara Kingsolver, The Bean Trees (via meadow-queen-main)

“I can’t even begin to think about a world where people have to make choices like that.” “You live in that world,” he said quietly, and I knew this, but I didn’t want to.

The Bean Trees (via persephones-fruit)

I remembered how he and I had once jumped almost naked into an icy stream together, how long ago that seemed, and how innocent, and now I was madly in love with him, among other people. I couldn’t stop laughing. I had never felt so happy.

The Bean Trees (via persephones-fruit)

“This is how Americans think. You believe that if something terrible happens to someone, they must have deserved it.” “I guess you’re right,” I said. “I guess it makes us feel safe.”

The Bean Trees (via persephones-fruit)

Whatever you want the most, it’s going to be the worst thing for you.

Bobby bingo in the Bean Trees by Barbara Kingslover (via inbagle)

I couldn’t stop thinking about the x-rays, and how Turtle’s body was carrying around secret scars that would always be there.

Kingsolver, Barbara, The Bean Trees; pg 127 (via tremendouslyfreedreamer)

I had decided early on that if I couldn’t dress elegant, I’d dress memorable.

Barbara Kingsolver, The Bean Trees (via awellreadwoman)

“So one time when I was working in this motel one of the toilets leaked and I had to replace the flapper ball. Here’s what it said on the package; I kept it till I knew it by heart: ‘Please Note. Parts are included for all installations, but no installation requires all of the parts.’ That’s kind of my philosophy about men. I don’t think there’s an installation out there that could use all of my parts.”

The Bean Trees – Barbara Kingsolver (pg. 118)

“I went on foot because I still had feet to carry me. Plain and simple, that was the source of our exodus: I had to keep moving. I didn’t set out to leave my husband. Anyone can see I should have, long before, but I never did know how. For women like me, it seems, it’s not ours to take charge of beginnings and endings. Not the marriage proposal, the summit conquered, the first shot fired, nor the last one either–the treaty at Appomattox, the knife in the heart. Let men write those stories. I can’t. I only know the middle ground where we live our lives. We whistle while Rome burns, or we scrub the floor, depending. Don’t dare presume there’s shame in the lot of a woman who carries on.”

— Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible

“Don’t try to make life a mathematics problem with yourself in the center and everything coming out equal. When you are good, bad things can still happen. And if you are bad, you can still be lucky.”

— Barbara Kingsolver, from The Poisonwood Bible (1998)