Chaim Potok Quotes

People say things like "it wasn't supposed to go this way" and "this isn't what I wanted." They're just making noise. There's no such thing as "supposed to," and what you want doesn't matter. All that matters is what happened.

I think probably everyone can relate to wanting to believe that your parents are one thing, and having to come to the realization that they might not be.

There's no limit to what you can dream. You expect the unexpected, you believe in magic, in fairy tales, and in possibilities. Then you grow older and that innocence is shattered and somewhere along the way the reality of life gets in the way and you're hit by the realization that you can't be all you wanted to be, you just might have to settle for a little bit less.

When I was 25, I believed I could change the world. At 41, I have come to the realization that I cannot change my wife, my church, or my kids, to say nothing of the world. Try as I might, I have not been able to manufacture outcomes the way I thought I could, either in my own life or other people's.

Learning To believe you are magnificent. And gradually to discover that you are not magnificent. Enough labor for one human life.

When I was a young student, I thought grow-ups would come and make things work. Now I realize that grown-ups are just kids with wrinkles.

Yes, what is it like? Certainly not like she dreamed. But maybe that's okay. We want what we want. At home, she works herself into a frenzy worrying about what she isn't--and perhaps loses track of just where she is.

People thought becoming an adult meant that all your acts had consequences; in fact it was just the opposite.

As I continue to mature and navigate the world, there are so many myths that are dispelled for me.

When we refuse to accept our limitations, Nature, who is a stern realist, pays us out.

As a child I assumed that when I reached adulthood, I would have grown-up thoughts.

It took me a long time to understand not to get caught up in other people's expectations. It really comes down to creative fulfillment. It took me a while to realize I don't want to just be on a show to be on a show.

I learned: the first lesson of my life: nobody can face the world with his eyes open all the time.

I will follow my instincts, be myself for good or ill, and see what will be the upshot.

Welcome to adulthood." Cob said. "Every child finds a day when the realize that adults can be weak and wrong just like everyone else. After that day, you are an adult. Like it or not.

The process of growing up was nothing more than figuring out what doors hadn't yet been slammed in your face.

The great challenge of adulthood is holding on to your idealism after you lose your innocence.

The world doesn't owe you anything. It was here first.

You know what girls are like. They turn twenty or twenty-one and all of a sudden they start having these concrete ideas. They get super realistic. And when that happens, everything that seemed so sweet and lovable about them begins to look ordinary and depressing.

At Ucross I learned that I am capable of focusing deeply for long periods of time. I love to write. I don't think I would have said that before this trip.

You can pout about the way the world is as long as you want, but that's not going to change it. You've got to figure it out.

...as it turned out, growing up was just as she'd feared. One day when your alarm clock rang, you got up and realized you had someone else's thoughts in your head... or may be just your old ones, minus the hope.

where the world ends is where you must begin

We’d met at a carefree time, a moment full of promise, in its place now were the harsh lessons of the real world.

Anyway, now she thinks of Estha and Rahel as Them, because, separately, the two of them are no longer what They were or ever thought They would be. Ever. Their lives have a size and a shape now. Estha has his and Rahel hers. Edges, Borders, Boundaries, Brinks and Limits have appeared like a team of trolls on their separate horizons. Short creatures with long shadows, patrolling the Blurry End. Gentle half-moons have gathered under their eyes and they are as old as Ammu was when she died.