Wendy Mass > Quotes

“Do you ever think if people heard our conversations they'd lock us up?"
All the time.”
― Wendy Mass, Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life

“A fight is going on inside me," said an old man to his son. "It is a terrible fight between two wolves. One wolf is evil. He is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other wolf is good. he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you."

The son thought about it for a minute and then asked, "Which wolf will win?"

The old man replied simply, "The one you feed.”
― Wendy Mass, Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about.”
― Wendy Mass, The Candymakers

“I am not plain, or average or - God forbid - vanilla. I am peanut butter rocky road with multicolored sprinkles, hot fudge and a cherry on top.”
― Wendy Mass, Every Soul a Star

“Maybe some things aren't meant to be known. maybe there just meant to be accepted.”
― Wendy Mass, Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life

“When people see you're happy doing what you're doing, it sort of takes the power away from them to tease you about it.”
― Wendy Mass, Every Soul a Star

“Life is short, have dessert first.”
― Wendy Mass, Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life

“If nothing ever changed, there would be no such things as butterflies.”
― Wendy Mass, The Candymakers

“The trick is that as long as you know who you are and what makes you happy, it doesn't matter how others see you.”
― Wendy Mass, Every Soul a Star

“Nothing nice you ever do for anyone is for no reason.”
― Wendy Mass, 11 Birthdays

“The people on the train with me don't know it, but in my head I'm dancing.”
― Wendy Mass, Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life

“They say the eyes are the window to the soul.”
― Wendy Mass, A Mango-Shaped Space

“A wise man once remarked that we can count how many seeds are in the apple, but not how many apples are in the seed.”
― Wendy Mass, Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life

“The sidelines may be safer but life is played on the field”
― Wendy Mass, 13 Gifts

“I'm going to tell you a secret. Our lives are shaped by the future, not by the past. Once you decide how you want your life to be, all you need to do is live into that future.”
― Wendy Mass, Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall

“Whereever you end up;" Jack whispered into my ear."I wish you clear skies. Always”
― Wendy Mass, Every Soul a Star

“I bet if you go through the rest of your life telling yourself, "I'm sparkling," you'll have a whole different energy and experience.”
― Wendy Mass, Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall

“Everyone thinks I named my cat Mango because of his orange eyes, but that's not the case. I named him Mango because the sounds of his purrs and his wheezes and his meows are all various shades of yellow-orange.”
― Wendy Mass

“You never know, life is short but it’s wide”
― Wendy Mass, Every Soul a Star

“When I was your age I knew nothing about the world or my place in it. I figured I'd be someone's wife, then someone's mother. It never occurred to me to be someone myself.”
― Wendy Mass, Every Soul a Star

“Whoa!" she says as I plow into her. " What are you DOING? Get off me!" I hang on tight. "Can't a girl just hug her big sister?" She stops fighting me. "Are you dying? Am I dying? Did Grandma die? I laugh. "No one died." "Then get off!”
― Wendy Mass, 11 Birthdays

“So we stand there, part of a crowd a thousand people strong, beaming up at the sky with wonder. I knew with a sudden certainty that wherever I am in the future - up in my treehouse, alone in the school cafeteria, or trying to figure out what my teachers are talking about, a part of me will always be right here, right now, wish that giant eye in the sky shining down on me, telling me it's going to be alright.”
― Wendy Mass, Every Soul a Star

“Life is short...eat desert first!”
― Wendy Mass, Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life

“The thing about leaving something behind for the last time is that you rarely realize you're doing it.”
― Wendy Mass, The Candymakers

“I made sure to pay attention to everything I was doing. To be fully in the moment. Because that's all life is, really, a string of moments that you knot together and carry with you. Hopefully most of those moments are wonderful, but of course they won't all be. The trick is to recognize an important one when it happens. Even if you share the moment with someone else, it is still yours. Your string is different from anyone else's. It is something no one can ever take away from you. It will protect you and guide you, because it IS you. What you hold here, in your hand, in this box, this is my string.

"Until recently, I thought it was death that gave meaning to life--that having an endpoint is what spurred us on to embrace life while we had it. But I was wrong. It isn't death that gives meaning to life. Life gives meaning to life. The answer to the meaning of life is hidden right there inside the question.

"What matters is holding tight to that string, and not letting anyone tell us our goals aren't big enough or our interests are silly. But the voices of others aren't the only ones we need to worry about. We tend to be our own worst critics. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: 'Most of the shadows in this life are caused by our standing in our own sunshine.' ... Wisdom is found in the least expected places. Always keep your eyes open. Don't block your own sunshine. Be filled with wonder.”
― Wendy Mass, Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life

“It's not an old book, or a treasure map. Nope. Staring up at me was a pile of rocks.”
― Wendy Mass, Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life

“Sometimes the best things look the strangest.”
― Wendy Mass, The Candymakers

“Why do you like books so much?” he asked. Miles answered without taking his face away from the window. “You never know what you’ll learn when you open one. And if it’s a story, you sort of fall into it. Then you live there for a while, instead of, you know, living here.”
― Wendy Mass, The Candymakers

“I've learned that everyone can do their part to repair the world”
― Wendy Mass, 13 Gifts

“Reach for the stars and even if you miss you will land among the stars”
― Wendy Mass, Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life