Christopher Paul Curtis Quotes & Sayings

When I left her office, I felt like she'd gut-punched me, brushed me off, slapped me back and forth, gave me a cool compress to put on my cheeks, cold-cocked me with a stiff uppercut to the jaw, picked me up, brushed me off again, then kicked me in the seat of my pants as she handed me a piece of cake and showed me the door.
Being a reporter isn't as easy as it looks. — Christopher Paul Curtis

Things aren't ever what they seem to be when you first look at them. What's important is that you keep your mind wide open and try to understand what's going on from a lot of different angles. — Christopher Paul Curtis

It's 1936, in Flint, Michigan. Times are hard. Ten-year-old Bud is a motherless boy on the run, and his momma never told him who his father was. But she left a clue: posters of Herman — Christopher Paul Curtis

Wow. Who would want a fish for a pet when they could have a turtle?! — Christopher Paul Curtis

That was Bud Caldwell's Rules and Things to Have a Funner LIfe and Make a Better Liar Out of Yourself Number 83 ... If a Adult Tells You Not to Worry, and You Weren't Worried Before, You Better Hurry Up and Start 'Cause You're Already Running Late. — Christopher Paul Curtis

And public transportation applied economic pressure. Freedom Riders - African Americans and whites - took bus trips throughout the South to test federal laws that banned segregation in interstate transportation. Black students had enrolled in segregated schools such as Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas, and the University of Alabama. Picketing, protest marches, and demonstrations made headlines. Civil rights workers carried out programs for voter education and registration. The goal was — Christopher Paul Curtis

Besides the soothing effect it has, I think my favorite part of writing is being able to use my imagination and creativity to make new ideas and people and situations come to life. — Christopher Paul Curtis

She always blamed him for bringing her all the way from Alabama to Michigan, a state she called — Christopher Paul Curtis

Byron says he won't go there. He give Kenny and Joey a story about "Wool Pooh," the supposed evil twin of Winnie-the-Pooh. They believe him, but Kenny still wants to go. — Christopher Paul Curtis

But I was kind of surprised that God would send a saver to me in such raggedy clothes. — Christopher Paul Curtis

You can tell you're reading a really good book when you forget all about everything else and know you'll die if you get to at least the end of the chapter — Christopher Paul Curtis

His chin looked as though a farsighted person had attempted to sew two thickly cut pieces of bacon together in a dark room. — Christopher Paul Curtis

There's one good thing about getting in trouble: It seems like you do it in steps. It seems like you don't just end up in trouble but that you kind of ease yourself into it. It also seems like the worse the trouble is that you get into, the more steps it takes to get there. Sort of like you're getting a bunch of little warnings on the way; sort of like if you really wanted to you could turn around. — Christopher Paul Curtis

First is the worst, second is the same, last is the best in any old game. — Christopher Paul Curtis

I often tell young people that as a writer you are very powerful, that you can make absolutely anything happen. — Christopher Paul Curtis

Rules and Things Number 63: Never, Ever Say Something Bad About Someone You Don't Know
Especially When You're Around a Bunch of Strangers. You Never Can Tell Who Might Be Kin to That Person or Who Might Be a Lip-Flapping, Big-Mouth Spy. — Christopher Paul Curtis

Jimmie says our socks and clothes are very religious because they are so holey — Christopher Paul Curtis

Having a little pee in your pants had to be better than being dinner for some redneck. — Christopher Paul Curtis

But you just gotta understand that that's the way it is and keep on steppin'. — Christopher Paul Curtis

The next thing about the air in the library is that no other place smells anything like it. If you close your eyes and try to pick out what it is that you're sniffing you're only going to get confused, because all the smells have blended together and turned themselves into a different one. As soon as I got into the library I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I got a whiff of the leather on all the old books, a smell that got real strong if you picked one of them up and stuck your nose real close to it when you turned the pages. Then there was the smell of the cloth that covered the brand-new books, the books that made a splitting sound when you opened them. Then I could sniff the paper, that soft, powdery, drowsy smell that comes off the pages in little puffs when you're reading something or looking at some pictures, a kind of hypnotizing smell. — Christopher Paul Curtis

As the writer you are the puppet-master and can control everything. Believe me, that is a whole lot of fun because it ain't something that's going to be happening very often in real life! — Christopher Paul Curtis

People use tricks to get you to think the way they do or take away something you have that they want. One way they do that is to interrupt your normal way of thinking and take you by the hand and guide you down the path they want you to take. Father says they make you take a teeny-weeny step in their direction, and then they start to nudge you a little further down the path and before you know it, you're running full speed with them in a direction that you probably wouldn't have gone alone. — Christopher Paul Curtis

Ten-year-old Bud is a motherless boy on the run, and his momma never told him who his father was. But she left a clue: posters of Herman E. Calloway and his famous band, the Dusky Devastators of the Depression!!!!!! Bud's got an idea that those posters will lead him to his father. Once he decides to hit the road and find this mystery man, nothing can stop him - not hunger, not cops, not vampires, not even Herman E. Calloway himself. — Christopher Paul Curtis

Once Zoopy started woofing you never knew when he'd stop. Agent One screamed, "It's alive! I thought it was a car! — Christopher Paul Curtis

It's great to create a story and then to submit it to your editor and see what her reaction is to it. It's great to have your editor tell what her suggestions and ideas for the story are. It's great to explain to your editor why her ideas and suggestions are bizarre and to ask her why is she trying to ruin my story. — Christopher Paul Curtis

The big steel wheels creaked a couple times, then started moving. — Christopher Paul Curtis

Having someone who likes you so much that they think everything you say is the truth has got to be a liar's paradise — Christopher Paul Curtis

Now, your mother and I made a deal when we first got married that if either one of us ever watched the 'wunnerful, wunnerful' Lawrence Welk Show or listened to country music the other one got to get a free divorce. — Christopher Paul Curtis

The floor went completely black when Mr. Amos pulled the door shut. I couldn't see it now, but I'd rememorized the exact shape the stain was in. The padlock snapped shut with the loudest click I'd ever heard. — Christopher Paul Curtis

Inside or the outside. I touched paper. I spread — Christopher Paul Curtis

Write for the love of writing and you can't go wrong. — Christopher Paul Curtis

I write because I love to. I'm very, very fortunate to have found something that I love doing that also earns my living. But to be honest, I'd write even if I weren't being paid to. — Christopher Paul Curtis

his sermons go on so long that some of the time you feel like begging, "Take me now, Jesus," 'bout halfway through 'em. — Christopher Paul Curtis

Dad was in the United Auto Workers at work so seniority was real important in our house. — Christopher Paul Curtis

Station and said, Yup, there's the gasoline filling station. — Christopher Paul Curtis

A bud is a flower-to-be. A flower in waiting. Waiting for just the right warmth and care to open up. It's a little fist of love waiting to unfold and be seen by the world. And that's you. — Christopher Paul Curtis

You know, there's something especially lonely about a gold medal hanging all by itself on a bedroom wall, something that says "fluke," or "beginner's luck," or "one in a million," but two gold medals, now that says something completely different. That says, "Oh, yeah, baby, this is the real deal! — Christopher Paul Curtis

Just like when there's a time that a smart person knows enough is enough, there's a time when you know you've got to fight. — Christopher Paul Curtis

I'm sure there's some philosophy that says one of the best ways to deal with any of your problems is to take a deep breath and step away from them for a while, writing does this for me. — Christopher Paul Curtis

Who his father was. But she left a clue: posters of Herman E. Calloway and his famous band, the Dusky Devastators of the Depression!!!!!! Bud's got an idea that those posters will lead him to his father. Once he decides to hit the road and find this mystery man, nothing can stop him - not hunger, not cops, not vampires, not even Herman E. Calloway himself. A crackerjack read-aloud. — Christopher Paul Curtis

cereal and went out into the — Christopher Paul Curtis

Byron had just turned thirteen so he was officially a teenage juvenile delinquent and — Christopher Paul Curtis

Hoping is such hard work. It tires you out and you never seem to get any kind of reward. Hoping feels like you're a balloon that has a pinhole that slowly leaks air. — Christopher Paul Curtis

There comes a time when you're losing a fight that it just doesn't make sense to keep on fighting. It's not that you're being a quitter, it's just that you've got the sense to know when enough is enough. — Christopher Paul Curtis

Probably the only thing that isn't great is the time when I know I'm very close to finishing the actual writing of the story and I'm overcome by this sense of loss. I think it's because I know I won't be "talking" to the main character anymore, it's sort of like what you feel when you know a friend is moving away and you probably won't be seeing her again. — Christopher Paul Curtis

And his momma never told him who his father was. But she left a clue: posters of Herman E. Calloway and his famous band, the Dusky Devastators of the Depression!!!!!! Bud's got — Christopher Paul Curtis

Tis not a tree in heaven higher than the tree of patience. — Christopher Paul Curtis

I'm the same age as my tongue and a little bit older than my teeth. — Christopher Paul Curtis

Road and find this mystery man, nothing can stop him - not hunger, not cops, not vampires, not even Herman E. Calloway himself. A crackerjack — Christopher Paul Curtis

There's a thin, blurry line between humor and tragedy. — Christopher Paul Curtis

In the right hands, words can move more bricks than the strongest team of mules. — Christopher Paul Curtis

We were all standing in line waiting for breakfast when one of the caseworkers came in and tap-tap-tap — Christopher Paul Curtis

Writing has always been a sanctuary or a refuge for me, any time I'm stressed or anxious or worried I find that a couple of hours expressing myself by writing always seems to have a calming effect on me. — Christopher Paul Curtis

No sir, I don't know why, but my eyes don't cry no more. — Christopher Paul Curtis

If you didn't have a real good imagination you'd probably think those noises were the sounds of some kid blowing a horn for the first time, but I knew better than that. I could tell those were the squeaks and squawks of one door closing and another one opening. — Christopher Paul Curtis

I might've said something welcoming to the boy, but I'd learnt from it happening to me personal that if you wet your pants in front of a bunch of strangers, you don't really want no one talking to you. You don't want no one asking why you're walking stiff legged or doing nothing that will draw attention to yourself. My keeping quiet waren't from being ignorant and unwlecoming, it was done so's not to shame him. 'Sides, after he got done walking all the way to the Settlement with that pee chaffing 'round his pants rubbing him raw, he waren't gonna want to talk atall! — Christopher Paul Curtis

I try to make the writing as regular and regimented as possible. I usually get up at around 5 a.m. and read what I wrote the day before. Some of the time, after I read, I think the writing's very good and some of the time I feel embarrassed by what I've written. You have to learn not to pay too much attention to these feelings. — Christopher Paul Curtis