Betty Smith Quotes

At eighteen our convictions are hills from which we look; at forty-five they are caves in which we hide.

As you get older, you look at things differently.

It's only in hindsight that you realize what indeed your childhood was really like.

One of the great things about being an older person is that I am very aware of the scope of the work and the historical sense of it. It's bigger than me.

When I was younger, I took life much more seriously.

The ordinary experiences of aging alter and clarify your view of past, present, and future.

Fleas know not whether they are upon the body of a giant or upon one of ordinary size.

When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.

Time and reflection change the sight little by little 'till we come to understand.

Either the world is so tiny or we are enormous; in either case, we fill it completely.

I've learned a lot just being able to see things clearer.

My experience is what I agree to attend to.

When I was a child, I thought of my Delta town as the center of the universe, but now I realize how little I know about the universe. As a child, I thought I was immortal, but now I recognize how limited a time we all have. As a child, success meant scoring A on every exam, but now I take it to mean good health, close family and friends, achieve- ments in my work, and helping others.

Le veritable voyage de decouverte ne consiste pas a chercher de nouveaux paysages, mais a avoir de nouveaux yeux. (The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.)

It takes some little time to accept and realize the fact that while you have been growing old, your friends have not been standing still, in that matter.

Today I no longer need to change the world around me. I just need to change the way I see it.

It is only in the microscope that our life looks so big.

When I was fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have him around. When I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years. See what happens when you "know it all", at any stage of life? Farther down the track you may see clearly how certain personal opinions, held onto too tightly, could be fogging up the view, and providing incorrect insight. Prosperity is the best protector of principle.

It's a good thing I learned some humility and perspective as I got older.

We still talk in terms of conquest. We still haven't become mature enough to think of ourselves as only a tiny part of a vast and incredible universe.

As you get older you realize your parents don't look so dumb - and that you're not as smart as you thought you were.

The only thing that is different from one time to another is what is seen and what is seen depends upon how everybody is doing everything.

As a kid I had dreams about being successful, thinking it would be cool. Then, when I was in my 20s, I really thought I had it much more figured out than I do now.

The older I get, the more I feel.

Age does not bring wisdom... but it does give perspective... and the saddest sight of all is to see, far behind you, temptations you've resisted.