Jessica Lawson Quotes & Sayings

The trouble with disagreeable people, Tibbs, is that the majority of them seem to be either one's direct relations or part of one's daily job. Present company excluded, of course" -Inspector Percival Pensive — Jessica Lawson

Could life change you and turn you cold without your permission? Or was it a matter of whether you let it? (pg. 168) — Jessica Lawson

There are certain people that are so much a part of you, that are so loved, that they shine up your insides just by being around. They fill in all your parts that feel empty. And when they leave the world, you don't know how to be without them. — Jessica Lawson

The horses came to an abrupt halt, jolting the children so that they were torn from their seats and flung together like trapped trout. — Jessica Lawson

Stressful situations cause alterations in behavior that reveal true character, Tibbs. If a person gradually begins acting like someone else altogether, you may very well find that they *are* someone else altogether" -Inspector Percival Pensive — Jessica Lawson

If only life were a book, and I could choose precisely what part I played. — Jessica Lawson

... whenever you were in a fix or at a crossroads in an investigation, there were always two choices: to do nothing and worry, or to take some sort of action and deal with its associated risks. — Jessica Lawson

A proper guardian wants only health and happiness for their child, even if that means they stray from the paths we try to set for them. A lesson learned too late for me, due to a mistake I don't intend to repeat. Some parents try to create small versions of themselves - a ploy at an extended life, I suppose. But a child is ultimately and always their own person with their own choices. (pg. 313) — Jessica Lawson

And she meant it. If there was one thing that kept Tabitha Crum going during the days and brought her comfort throughout nights, it was a flicker of hope that she kept burning despite her misfortunes. It was a small hope really.

It was the hope that life could and deserved to be better for her. It was a hope that one day, wherever that version of her life was, it would present itself in a way that allowed her to leap and cling and claim it so adamantly that it could never let her go or push her away. (pg. 23-24) — Jessica Lawson

Though the rain had pitter-pattered, then pelted the carriages during the drive had stopped, the ground was wet and boggy, sucking at feet as though hoping to keep anyone from ever leaving the estate. — Jessica Lawson

...don't let anyone tell you that you're a dirty thing. Or an unwanted thing. Or a useless thing, do you hear me? (pg. 150) — Jessica Lawson

In fact, if there was one thing Tabitha had learned from the weekend thus far, it was that people had all sorts of facades about them, covering tucked-away bits of badness and goodness. Fear and courage. Helplessness and hope. — Jessica Lawson

I heard that misery loves company, but I suspected it would get along with pie, too. — Jessica Lawson

A man needs but two things: a reliable moral compass to guide him and a strong dose of integrity to see him through all manner of troubles," Pensive said, raising his untensil with a wink. Tibbs stared doubtfully at the fork and said, "That not integrity. That's boiled potato with cream sauce." Pensive paused before answering, taking a delicate bite and dabbing his mouth with a napkin. "Nary a whit of difference, Tibbs, " he said decidedly. "Nary a whit. — Jessica Lawson

Tabitha stared at him. "Oliver, do you think your mother and father love you? Do they tell you that?"

He looked embarrassed. "Yes, of course."

Wiping a hand on the side of her apron, Tabitha tapped a finger to Oliver's temple so that her words would stick. "Then they are perfect parents, no matter their shortcomings in understanding. (pg. 222) — Jessica Lawson

Family, it seemed, was not always a matter of who one was born to or even who one's parents were. A person's *family*, Tabitha realized, was the thing that held them up, so that life could still be illuminated in the darkest of times. A family member could be a mouse. A family member could be an Inspector that nobody would ever meet outside that pages of a novel. Depending on the circumstance, a family member might even be discovered in a person you just met. — Jessica Lawson

It's dreadfully tiresome to keep one's true self hidden" -Hattie — Jessica Lawson

There are only three motives for all crimes. Tibbs: money, power, and love. Sometimes those things get muddled together, of course, and you could argue that hunger is a bloody good motivator as well, but one might lump that in with love of self or love of others or love of food, and---well, never mind all that. Pass the pickled radishes. - Inspector Percival Pensive, The Case of the Gilded Guardian — Jessica Lawson

It was an exact fit, and for the briefest of moments, she had the odd wish that she could be key-shaped and could find a space where she fit so perfectly. — Jessica Lawson

Then again, having people around was no guarantee that they'd make good company. — Jessica Lawson

Because spite could be a slow poison to the heart. If there was a lesson to be learned from Hattie, it was that forgiveness was a blessing. It would be a hard, stubborn thing to harbor ill feelings forever, even toward those who deserved it... — Jessica Lawson