Judy Blume Quotes & Sayings

You're an asshole, you know that? Stick your finger up your butt and take a whiff. That's you. A piece of shit! — Judy Blume

We watched as the last — Judy Blume

Librarians save lives: by handing the right book, at the right time, to a kid in need — Judy Blume

Are you there God? It's me, Margaret. — Judy Blume

Let children read whatever they want and then talk about it with them. If parents and kids can talk together, we won't have as much censorship because we won't have as much fear. — Judy Blume

Understand that you're sensitive." Miri was proud for coming up with such a good word. "Is that like saying I'm dramatic, or crazy?" Miri was careful now. "Sensitive is better than dramatic, and it's definitely not as bad as crazy. — Judy Blume

I love to watch to him while he sleeps. Besides everything else he is really my best friend now. It's a different kind of friendship ... It makes me wish I could share every day with him. — Judy Blume

I didn't know anything about writers. It never occurred to me they were regular people and that I could grow up to become one, even though I loved to make up stories inside my head. — Judy Blume

Berman's foot measure. Then he turned it around and I put my right foot in. That's another reason why my mother thinks Mr. Berman is good at selling — Judy Blume

This two-way hatred. I don't understand it. I wonder how much of it is caused by fear? — Judy Blume

A person can have a happy and fulfilling life without children. — Judy Blume

Precious Child ... nothing matters but the moment. There might be no tomorrow and even if there is, nobody gives a damn. — Judy Blume

I hate first drafts, and it never gets easier. People always wonder what kind of superhero power they'd like to have. I wanted the ability for someone to just open up my brain and take out the entire first draft and lay it down in front of me so I can just focus on the second, third and fourth drafts. — Judy Blume

But you have to be sure you can handle the situation before you jump into it. — Judy Blume

A lot of people worry much too much about what their children are reading ... If a child picks up a book and reads something she has a question about, if she can go to her parents, great. Or else they will read right over it. It won't mean a thing. They are very good, I think, at monitoring what makes them feel uncomfortable. If something makes them feel uncomfortable they will put it down. — Judy Blume

attempting to block progress. — Judy Blume

She wondered if all the firsts in her life would go by so quickly, and be forgotten just as quickly. — Judy Blume

I'm a people person. I never get tired of watching people, especially young people. — Judy Blume

My characters live inside my head for a long time before I actually start a book. They become so real to me, I talk about them at the dinner table as if they are real. Some people consider this weird. But my family understands. — Judy Blume

When Miri asked if she believed in God, what was she supposed to say? 'Of course I believe in God,' she'd told her.
'But how could God let such a terrible thing happen?'
'It's not God's job to decide what happens,' she'd said. 'It's his job to help you through it. — Judy Blume

You've got to enjoy whatever you can and forget about the rest. — Judy Blume

Believe in yourself and you can achieve greatness in your life. — Judy Blume

How we handle our fears will determine where we go with the rest of our lives. — Judy Blume

Sometimes I'll say, "I wrote that book," and the person will look at you as if you're really strange. One time that happened to my daughter on a plane. She was sitting next to a girl who was reading one of my books and my daughter said, "My mother wrote that book." And the girl started to quiz my daughter, asking her all sorts of questions, like what are the names of Judy's children and where did she grow up. My daughter thought it was so funny. — Judy Blume

In this age of censorship, I mourn the loss of books that will never be written, I mourn the voices that will be silenced-writers' voices, teachers' voices, students' voices-and all because of fear. — Judy Blume

I loved to read, and I think any child who loves to read will read anything, including the back of the cereal box, which I did every morning. — Judy Blume

But you don't want your fears to limit your possibilities. — Judy Blume

If you aren't any religion, how will you know if you should join the Y or the Jewish Community Center? — Judy Blume

Little kids are amazing. They seem able to adjust to anything. — Judy Blume

Are you there God? It's me, Margaret. I just told my mother I want a bra. Please help me grow God. You know where. — Judy Blume

I use a computer, but before I begin each new book I keep a notebook. I write down everything that comes to mind during that period before I actually begin. It might take months or weeks. That notebook is my security blanket so that I never have to face a blank screen (or blank page). But I print out often and my best ideas usually come with a pencil in my hand. — Judy Blume

Some people never get over their first loves. They spend their whole lives trying to recapture the thrill. Sometimes, after fifty years they get back together. They meet at some reunion or other and realize they were meant to be together. — Judy Blume

You think everything can be magically cured with vitamins?" "Everything but us. — Judy Blume

As a kid, Vix had had some warped idea that grownup meant having a job and living on your own. It meant no one could tell you what to eat, or what to wear, or how to behave. It meant that it was okay to have sex with guys. What a joke! — Judy Blume

dope-pushers hang around there. But taking dope is even dumber than smoking, so nobody's going to hook me! We live on — Judy Blume

What's the point of thinking about how it's going to end when it's just the beginning? — Judy Blume

Never give up! And remember, determination is as important as talent. — Judy Blume

I made promises to you that I'm not sure I can keep. — Judy Blume

McCarthy in his typical wild swinging fashion, with no regard for facts but with a hold on his audience that is frightening, — Judy Blume

Concentrate on how good if feels to be alive. No matter what. Just to see the color of the sky, just to smell the air, and feel the wind in your face — Judy Blume

I was sick all the time, one exotic illness after another, which lasted throughout my twenties. My worst decade. But from the day the first book was accepted, I never got sick again. Writing changed my life. — Judy Blume

The best books come from someplace inside. You don't write because you want to, but because you have to. — Judy Blume

I wanted them," Fudge whined.
"I know you did. But we can't buy everything you want." [Mom told him]
"Why"
"We don't have the money to buy ... " I could tell Mom was having a hard time explaining this. She thought for a minute before she finished. " ... just for the sake of buying. Money doesn't grow on trees."
"I know it doesn't grow on trees," Fudge said. "You get it at the ATM."
"You can't just go to the ATM whenever you want money," Mom told him.
"Yes you can," Fudge said. "You put in your card and money comes out. It works every time."
"No. You have to deposit money into your account first," Mom said. "You work hard and try to save part of your salary every week. The cash machine is just a way to get some of your money out your account. It doesn't spit out money because you want it. It's not that easy."
"I know, Mom," Fudge said. "Sometimes you have to stand on line."
Mom sighed and looked at me. "Got any ideas Peter? — Judy Blume

I still get angry when older people assume that everyone in my generation, screws around. They're probably the same ones who think all kids use dope. It's true that we are more open than our parents but that just means we accept sex and talk about it. It doesn't mean we are all jumping into bed together. — Judy Blume

Having the freedom to read and the freedom to choose is one of the best gifts my parents ever gave me. — Judy Blume

I stop and think before I start a new book and ask myself do I really want to spend the next year or two or three with these characters because if I don't, then I shouldn't be writing about them. — Judy Blume

I wanted to write honest books for kids because I didn't have those when I was a kid. — Judy Blume

Snoring keeps the monsters away. — Judy Blume

topped with whipped cream, chopped nuts — Judy Blume

[I]t's not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers. — Judy Blume

When I was growing up, I dreamed about becoming a cowgirl, a detective, a spy, a great actress, or a ballerina. Not a dentist, like my father, or a homemaker, like my mother - and certainly not a writer, although I always loved to read. — Judy Blume

We are friends for life. When we're together the years fall away. Isn't that what matters? To have someone who can remember with you? To have someone who remembers how far you've come? — Judy Blume

Not everything has to have a point. Some things just are. — Judy Blume

hi I hope u want to be my friends — Judy Blume

I'm lucky that so many children visit my website. At least I get to talk with them that way. — Judy Blume

Even now she can't decide. She thinks about flipping a coin. Heads she goes, tails she stays. But isn't indecisiveness an early sign of mental illness? — Judy Blume

My mother named me Deenie because right before I was born she saw a movie about a beautiful girl named Wilmadeene, who everybody called Deenie for short. — Judy Blume

You've never been in love," she said. "You don't understand."
"If being in love means giving up your freedom, not to mention your opportunities," Caitlin said, "Then I haven't missed anything. — Judy Blume

The child from nine to 12 interests me very much. And so, those were the years that I like to write about, when I'm writing. — Judy Blume

Another thing all writers have in common is we're all observers. We pay attention to detail. — Judy Blume

I'm a rewriter. That's the part I like best ... once I have a pile of paper to work with, it's like having the pieces of a puzzle. I just have to put the pieces together to make a picture. — Judy Blume

You can't deny they ever happened. You can't deny you ever loved them, love them still, even if loving them causes you pain — Judy Blume

Each of us must confront our own fears, must come face to face with them. How we handle our fears will determine where we go with the rest of our lives. To experience adventure or to be limited by the fear of it. — Judy Blume

He couldn't help himself. He loved us, Francie, more than anything, — Judy Blume

That's not a bad word ... hate and war are bad words, but fuck isn't. — Judy Blume

Suddenly question number four popped into my mind. Have you thought about how this relationship will end? — Judy Blume

You weren't always born to the right parents. And parents didn't necessarily get the kids they were meant to raise. — Judy Blume

Censors never go after books unless kids already like them. I don't even think they know to go after books until they know that children are interested in reading this book, therefore there must be something in it that's wrong. — Judy Blume

There's a brown leather section, a green leather section, a red leather section and a tan leather section. Upstairs, there are four bedrooms, all in a row. And everywhere you look there are fireplaces. There's one in every bedroom, there's one in the living room, another in the dining room and still another in the library. There aren't any in the bathrooms or the kitchen. My mother and father call the — Judy Blume

Be careful,' Irene warned Miri. 'All boys want the same thing.'
So do girls, Miri thought. — Judy Blume

Why do they wait until sixth grade when you already know everything? — Judy Blume

Aunt Diana shoved the baby at the Great One. — Judy Blume

When I'm writing a book, you can't think about your audience. You're going to be in big trouble if you think about it. You're got to write from deep inside. — Judy Blume

Life is a series of unlikely events, isn't it? Hers certainly is. One unlikely event after another, adding up to a rich, complicated whole. And who knows what's still to come? — Judy Blume

I think the child I was until 12 was so much more interesting than the teenager I became. As a teenager, you get wrapped up in your friends and sexual stuff, and the imaginative life you had, it just goes. And mine was so rich and fun. Fortunately, I was able to tap back into that later on [through my books] to save my life. — Judy Blume

I've heard that some authors do dream their books and I would love that if it happened to me, but so far it hasn't. Sometimes I'll get a good idea during the night and if I don't write it down, I won't remember it the next morning. — Judy Blume

We must, we must, we must increase our bust. — Judy Blume

Eleanor Gordon was the most sophisticated in their crowd. She read The New Yorker. — Judy Blume

I like one hair, tuna fish, the smell of rain and things that are pink. I hate pimples, baked potatoes, when my mother's mad, and religious holidays. — Judy Blume

Nobody ever worries about me the way they worry about Fudge. If I decided not to eat they'd probably never even notice! — Judy Blume

Sex is a commitment ... Once you're there you can't go back to holding hands ... and when you give yourself both mentally and physically ... well, you're completely vulnerable. — Judy Blume

I have to go with what comes naturally to me. Fantasy isn't my thing. I did enjoy the Oz books when I was growing up and certainly my grandson and I read Harry Potter together. You write what you can as well as you can. — Judy Blume

a real sport." The waiter popped the cork and — Judy Blume

A person without curiosity may as well be dead. — Judy Blume

Victoria closes her eyes, breathing in the familiar scent, and for a moment it's as if they've never been apart. They're still Vixen and Cassandra, summer sisters forever. The rest is a mistake, a crazy joke. — Judy Blume

You have to admit it's embarrassing that she's pregnant at thirty-three. And he's eleven years older. I feel sorry for their baby. Think of it - when the baby is our age your mother will be almost fifty and my father will be sixty. They'll be more like grandparents than parents. — Judy Blume

When you ask, Did writing change my life? It totally changed my life. It gave me my life. — Judy Blume

Moms come up to me at book signings. — Judy Blume

It's not God's job to decide what happens," she'd said. "It's his job to help you get — Judy Blume

When I started to write, it was the '70s, and throughout that decade, we didn't have any problems with book challenges or censorship. — Judy Blume

Something awful happens to a person who grows up as a creative kid and suddenly finds no creative outlet as an adult. — Judy Blume

Keep busy, Sandy ... when you're busy you don't have time to brood ... "
"Life should be more than keeping busy."
"Maybe it should be, but for most of us, it's not. — Judy Blume

I'm really quite bad at coming up with plot ideas. I like to create characters and just see what will happen to them when I let them loose! — Judy Blume

I fell in love with books at the Elizabeth Public Library when I was four ... — Judy Blume

Trouble in our family is spelled with a capital C and has been as long as I can remember. The C stands for Charles. He's my older brother, two years and four months older to be exact. Ever since the phone call about him last night, I've felt incredibly tense. And now, at this very minute, my parents are driving up to Vermont, to Charles's boarding school, to find out if he's actually been kicked out or if he's just been suspended again. I — Judy Blume

It's all about your determination, I think, as much as anything. There are a lot of people with talent, but it's that determination. — Judy Blume

He even brags about his poops, — Judy Blume

My only advice is to stay aware, listen carefully, and yell for help if you need it. — Judy Blume

He's not like anything. He's a person who just happens to have been born with something he can't control. It could have happened to you. It could have happened to any of us. So the next time you see someone in a chair, someone spastic, just imagine if that were you! The same you who's standing here now, but your mind's been trapped inside a body you can't control! — Judy Blume

Love at thirteen is nothing like love at eighteen. — Judy Blume