Jodi Picoult Quotes

A king, realizing his incompetence, can either delegate or abdicate his duties. A father can do neither. If only sons could see the paradox, they would understand the dilemma.

I don't think I made many sacrifices myself, but my parents have.

If you want to love a parent you have to understand the incredible investment he or she has in you. If you are a parent, and you want to be loved, you have to deserve it.

I wanted to make a point of basing myself at home, being close to my family. I'll never be able to repay Mum and Dad for what they did, but at least they know they'll never have to work another day. I'll do whatever it takes to look after them.

My father and mother had no sense of entitlement for their children.

Each and every one of us who is still lucky enough to have our parents has a duty to them. We do owe them.

My mother's no dummy. She taught the lesson about sacrificing for your kids, but also that if your kids hit it big, they better make it up to you for those years. She's gotten her sacrifices back with interest.

But when we have families, when we have children, this gives us a purpose for being, to protect our children, to avoid going to jail because if I'm in jail, who looks after my children, who's there for my wife?

Some children act as if they thought their parents had nothing to do, but to see them established in the world and then quit it.

Just because you like my stuff doesn't mean I owe you anything.

The debt of gratitude we owe our mother and father goes forward, not backward. What we owe our parents is the bill presented to us by our children.

My whole life has been nothing but trying to find a way to take care of my mom and take care of my family as quickly as possible.

My mom and my dad wanted my brother and I to have a better life, you know, better education, better jobs. It was probably harder, much, much harder, for my parents. When you're a kid, you can learn a language much more easily; I learned English in less than a year.

I work to take care of my family, not the other way around.

I have two kids, and anyone who has a kid in order to feel loved is going to be in trouble because kids are first and foremost all about themselves. They'll say they love you, but 10 seconds later they'll turn on you.

My dad wanted me to have a better life than he had ever had. He wanted us to succeed so badly. And I never wanted to let him down.

I'm always helping out girlfriends, and then I'm wondering, who's going to look after me?

My life is devoted to business and supporting my family.

It's interesting having a son. Someone told me that it's good when you have a son first because when you have a daughter first and then a son, you think your son's slow. A lot of parents freak out because they've seen a daughter progress so quickly, and they think their male child is, like, damaged. But boys are just naturally slow.

I didn't have any pressure to join my dad to help with the family business. I don't think he needs any sort of support at all. That said, whenever he needs my help, I will always be there for him.

It's not that parents expect a lot from their kids, except, maybe 5-10 minutes of time in a day spent on something as simple as small talk.

I come from a blue-collar family. My father worked at the American Can Company as a mechanic. He broke his back and was disabled, and the first memory I have of him is in the hospital. My mother was a working mother - she had two jobs. Everybody in the house had to help out.

During my elementary and middle school years, my mother made me and my siblings' lunches every single day - this was affordable for a Marine climbing the ranks and supporting a family of six.

I always had to be there for my family. I think that helped me a lot to adjust to the NBA.

The only thing that gives my mom pleasure in life is buying stuff off QVC, and I'm gonna pay those bills. I paid my mom's house off. My wife's family needs help? I'm gonna take care of that.