Beverly Cleary Quotes

I was a real rebel. I got expelled.

I was the one that was always dancing and got along with everybody, but I also spoke my mind. If I didn't agree with something the teacher would say, I'd tell her, so I would get in trouble for things like that. I've always been a good/bad boy.

I was quietly rebellious. My parents thought I was very good but secretly I did things like saying I was staying in one place and going somewhere else instead. My older sister was openly rebellious and would tell my parents where to go, but I never did that.

One time, my mom told us, 'No TV.' It was 3 P.M., and I was sneaking it in. She put her hand on the back of the TV to see if it was warm, and it was. So she pulled the cord out of the wall, opened the second-floor window, and just threw it out the window.

I just don't want people to think I'm too sweet of a boy; and little miss angel boy, because I'm going to get caught doing somebody horrible.

I have trouble with direction, because I have trouble with authority. I was not a good Marine.

I've always liked getting away with just a little bit of what you're not supposed to. Like my first book, Billy's Booger, got me in trouble with the principal's office.

Some people hide more than others, and it does intrigue me.

I so never went through a bad-girl period.

I like stirring things up. I'm on the side of the kids more than I am on the adults. And occasionally I find some adults that have that same mischievous streak, so I don't get in too much trouble.

I love being as bad as possible! You've got to love a bad girl. Look at 'Gone With the Wind,' Scarlett O'Hara - total bad girl, but you love her.

Disobedience is essentially a prideful power struggle against someone in authority over us. It can be a parent, a priesthood leader, a teacher, or ultimately God. A proud person hates the fact that someone is above him. He thinks this lowers his position.

I was a total bad girl growing up.

I like the term 'misunderstood.' But I am a bit of a bad boy.

Yes, I'm still going to misbehave!

I don't say we all ought to misbehave, but we ought to look as if we could.

I'm just a troublemaker.

I've always tended to play people who relish playing against the rules.

I look like a sweet, corn-fed kid. My roles are my rebellion.

I wasn't a very well-behaved girl. I was often in detention for impertinence.

I wouldn't say I'm a rebel, but I do like pushing the limits sometimes.

Occasionally words must serve to veil the facts. But let this happen in such a way that no one become aware of it; or, if it should be noticed, excuses must be at hand to be produced immediately.

The best way of keeping a secret is to pretend there isn't one.

People are much less interested in what you are trying to show them than what you are trying to hide.

All I could think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorms room. Or maybe they'd realized I got my Essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.