Mary Lou Quotes & Sayings

I caught the preacher making love to Sister Mary Lou. God's gonna getcha for that. — Tammy Wynette

In the dressing room, I always put on my right shoe first. Same thing for my right wristband. — Mary Lou Retton

I usually don't mind giving autographs, but when hundreds of folks with paper and pen start coming at you, it's time to seek shelter. — Mary Lou Retton

A simple cup of tea is far from a simple matter. — Mary Lou Heiss

During the years I was with Andy Kirk we starved almost. I remember not eating for practically a month several times. But we were very, very happy because the music was so interesting, and you forgot to eat, anyway. — Mary Lou Williams

Just like that. Gone forever. They will not grow old together. They will never live on a beach by the sea, their hair turned white, dancing in a living room to Billie Holiday or Nat Cole. They will not enter a New York club at midnight and show the poor hip-hop fools how to dance. They will not chuckle together over the endless folly of the world, its vanities and stupid ambitions. They will not hug each other in any chilly New York dawn.
Oh, Mary Lou.
My baby.
My love. — Pete Hamill

Erase the word "failure" from your vocabulary. No case is ever truly closed, and no challenge is ever over. — Mary Lou Retton

Each one of us has a fire in our heart for something. It's our goal in life to find it and keep it lit. — Mary Lou Retton

For athletes, the Olympics are the ultimate test of their worth. — Mary Lou Retton

Heat is required to forge anything. Every
great accomplishment is the story of a flaming
heart. — Mary Lou Retton

Faith is a gateway to happiness that remains permanently accessible to each of us, wherever we are, no matter our circumstances. — Mary Lou Retton

As much time as you put into it, that's what your achievements are going to be when you come out of it. — Mary Lou Retton

I wonder what an agent would do if he had to travel with the band he's booking. — Mary Lou Williams

Rather then focusing on the obstacle in your path, focus on the bridge over the obstacle. — Mary Lou Retton

There isn't anyone you couldn't love once you've heard their story. — Mary Lou Kownacki

The thing in jazz that will get Bix Beiderbecke out of his bed at two o'clock in the morning, pick that cornet up and practice into the pillow for another two or three hours, or that would make Louis Armstrong travel around the world for fifty plus years non stop, just get up out of his sick bed, crawl up on the bandstand and play, the thing that would make Duke Ellington, the thing that would make Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Mary Lou Williams, the thing that would make all of these people give their lives for this, and they did give their lives, is that it gives us a glimpse into what America is going to be when it becomes itself. And this music tells you that it will become itself. And when you get a taste of that, there's just nothing else you're going to taste that's as sweet. — Wynton Marsalis

Quite a few musicians came to our house. And my ma took me to hear many more, hoping to encourage in me a love of music. But she wouldn't consent to my having music lessons, for she feared I might end up as she had done - unable to play except from paper. — Mary Lou Williams

He specializes in virgins! The brush of his fingertips turns virgins into slobbering mush.
Mary Lou Molnar — Janet Evanovich

On the way home Mary Lou said, "Some things are so sad you can't say them." But I pretended not to hear. — Joyce Carol Oates

In the beginning, there was no retirement. There were no old people. In the Stone Age, everyone was fully employed until age 20, by which time nearly everyone was dead, usually of unnatural causes. Any early man who lived long enough to develop crow's-feet was either worshiped or eaten as a sign of respect. — Mary-Lou Weisman

Be cocky. Walk into the Georgia Dome like you own it. — Mary Lou Retton

All too often, when people don't know where they are, have jet lag, don't speak the language, and can't figure out the money or maintain intestinal regularity, they get hostile. — Mary-Lou Weisman

Henri J.M. Nouwen wrote about 'wounded healers.' I've come to see that there's no other kind. We are all wounded, and we are all called to take part in what God is doing to bring healing to those around us. — Mary Lou Redding

My first assistant-coaching job in football was at William & Mary in 1961. The pay wasn't much, so to get $300 more per year, I agreed to coach the golf team. I didn't even know how to keep score, and really, my main job was not to wreck the van on the way to tournaments. — Lou Holtz

He explained how ridiculous the clowning was, and there and then I decided to settle down and play seriously. — Mary Lou Williams

At five that night, I went back to the market and bought three sixteen-ounce Rainier Ales. I bounced back to my house, Mary Lou Retton-like, sipped the first ale, took the Valium, smoked a joint, drank the second ale, took another Valium, listened to "Into the Mystic" ten times, drank the third Ale, too the Valium and the Halcion, and discovered two unhappy thoughts. One was it was only seven o'clock. The second was that I was wide awake. — Anne Lamott

I'm very determined and stubborn. There's a desire in me that makes me want to do more and more, and to do it right. Each one of us has a fire in our heart for something. It's our goal in life to find it and to keep it lit. — Mary Lou Retton

Working hard becomes a habit, a serious kind of fun. You get self-satisfaction from pushing your self to the limit, knowing that all the effort is going to pay off. — Mary Lou Retton

Pay-per-view would deprive many kids of the delight of seeing the Olympics. — Mary Lou Retton

As a kid, I was a pretty good little sprinter. — Mary Lou Retton

Training for the Olympics was much easier than balancing my life now! When practice was over, there was time for me. But with four kids and a career, I have no downtime. When I'm not on the road, I finish my workday at 2:30 p.m. Then I pick the kids up from school and they get 100 percent Mommy, not part Mommy and part Mary Lou Retton. — Mary Lou Retton

O how terrible it must be for a young man
seated before a family and the family thinking
We never saw him before! He wants our Mary Lou!
After tea and homemade cookies they ask What do you do for a living — Gregory Corso

The mature, forty-five-year-old woman, quite experienced in matters of life and death, knows that it was 'for the best,' but Daddy's girl, who hung onto his belt and danced fox trots on the tops of his shoes, cannot accept that Daddy is not here anymore. — Mary-Lou Weisman

It is not possible to rent a beach house within five hours' drive of one's hometown without being visited by people. This is especially true if I have actually invited them. One of my problems is that I like to be nicer than I actually am. — Mary-Lou Weisman

Many athletes competing in Atlanta wouldn't be here if it weren't for corporate support. — Mary Lou Retton

I cant justify taking money away from hungry kids and needy schools to pay for the Games when corporations are willing to write the checks. — Mary Lou Retton

Perhaps for totemic reasons, people like to possess a piece of the country they are visiting. Women like to wear it. Men like to eat it. — Mary-Lou Weisman

Lou Grant was pretty much always Lou Grant. — Mary Tyler Moore

My mother knew when to listen and when to pray and when to help. I wonder hoy many people knew the compassion Mary Finlayson held for them and how hard, in the privacy of her God Box, she prayed for them and their struggles. — Mary Lou Quinlan

I love her attitude, but as much as I'd like to bring my medals to a speech or appearance, I never do. — Mary Lou Retton

There are so many negatives in our society. To be on the cover of a magazine these days, you have to have been through drug rehab three times. What message is this giving to young people? But there are positives in our society. And I try to surround myself with good-natured, positive people. — Mary Lou Retton

Each of us has a fire in our hearts for something. It's our goal in life to find it and keep it. — Mary Lou Retton

Mary Lou suddenly realizes that Mack calls the temperature number because he is afraid to talk on the telephone, and by listening to a recording, he doesn't have to reply. It's his way of pretending that he's involved. He wants it to snow so he won't have to go outside. He is afraid of what might happen. But it occurs to her that what he must really be afraid of is women. Then Mary Lou feels so sick and heavy with her power over him that she wants to cry. She sees the way her husband is standing there in a frozen pose. Mack looks as though he could stand there all night with the telephone receiver against his ear. — Bobbie Ann Mason

If it weren't for me inviting Meena Harper over for dinner that night, the two of you would never have met, and this whole horrible mess would never have happened ... "
She paused dramatically, as if waiting for someone to jump in and say, Oh no, Mary Lou. None of this was you fault.
"But," Mary Lou went on, a little less self-confidently, "if I hadnt then you, Lucien, would just have gone on through eternity never knowing what true love is. And then how would you have felt?"
"Considerably better than I've felt over the course of the past six months, I imagine," he replied. — Meg Cabot

she rose from her seat and crossed the room to a filing cabinet. Dangling from the waist band of her stretch pants hung a bra. One end was caught by the hooks in the knit material, while the other end tapped right above her calf. The bra looked like Old Glory. It flashed red, white, and blue. I didn't know whether to laugh or salute it. "Mary Lou, you have a bra hanging off your butt." I don't believe I've ever had to make that statement before in my life. — Dolores Wilson

That's one of the things I like about Mary Lou. She's willing to believe the worst about anyone. — Janet Evanovich

Companies that support sports developmental programs in our communities should also be applauded. — Mary Lou Retton

If I had a bad performance in a particular leotard, I threw it in the trash. — Mary Lou Retton

Having traveled initially to get away, ultimately we travel to come home. — Mary-Lou Weisman

I like added pressure. It makes me work harder. — Mary Lou Retton

When Seymour saw me seated at the piano at that first rehearsal, he shouted: 'What's that kid doing here? Call your piano player and let's get started.' — Mary Lou Williams

Having a home away from the media glare is important to world-class athletes. — Mary Lou Retton

In L.A., we had a game room with a new sensation called Pac-Man. — Mary Lou Retton

Within a few hours I had them off, was about ready to play the shows. That night I opened, and during the week Harris was over to the house to talk my mother into letting me leave home. — Mary Lou Williams

(on making the transition from the comedy "Mary Tyler Moore" (1970) to its dramatic spin-off series "Lou Grant" (1977) We were really worried about changing over from a three-camera half-hour comedy to a one-camera full-hour drama. The audience wasn't ready for the switch - even CBS billed us in their promos as a comedy. In fact, the whole thing was impossible. But we didn't know that. — Ed Asner

Because the pure girls get rescued."
Mary Lou felt something she didn't let herself feel often. She was well and truly pissed off. "Why do girls have to be all pure and innocent and good? Why don't guys have to be? — Libba Bray

That's because the International Olympic Committee has a policy of never replacing medals. — Mary Lou Retton

You ask any person in the U.S. and they know who Mary Lou Retton is. — Nastia Liukin

It's going to be really weird when I'm 80 years old, in a walker, and people are still calling me America's sweetheart. We need a new one. — Mary Lou Retton

Even though it may seem counterintuitive, a comfort zone is a dangerous place to be. — Mary Lou Retton

Children possess a remarkable amount of passion. They throw themselves completely, heart and soul, into everything. — Mary Lou Retton

Emmy Lou Harris introduced me to the work of the Vietnam Veterans of America foundation and the Campaign for a Land Mine Free World. — Mary Chapin Carpenter

For six years, I kept my five Olympic medals wrapped in a plastic bread bag beneath my bed. — Mary Lou Retton

Seek not outside yourself, Heaven is within. — Mary Lou Cook

Mary Lou: Are you a seeker? A seeker after truth?

a beat.

Newt: I'm more of a chaser, really. — J.K. Rowling

Having read literally thousands of them, I was sure I knew every which way of killing someone. I never thought a time would come when I would make use of it. — Mary Lou Kirwin

She inhaled a worry. She exhaled a prayer. — Mary Lou Quinlan

What is the fire that burns in your heart? If you are lucky enough to discover it, than by all means fan the flames and let the fire be the guiding light for a life worth living. — Mary Lou Retton

Many people forget that Jazz, no matter what form it takes, must come from the heart as well as the mind. — Mary Lou Williams

That's something Mary Lou Williams used to tell me: If you're not feeling right about what you're doing and you play a minor tune it all comes back, falls into place. I don't know if that's true, but I do it. — Marian McPartland

'Jazz Artist of the Century' would have to be a distinctive soloist and ensemble player, a composer, an arranger, a bandleader, and a driver; would have to span all the genres and periods of jazz; would have to have run her own label; [would] possess a deep spirituality, with grace and a sense of humor; and would have to have succeeded against all odds. Who else? Mary Lou Williams. — Dave Douglas

It's not what you play, it's how you play it. — Mary Lou Williams

Optimism is a happiness magnet. If you stay positive, good things and good people will be drawn to you. — Mary Lou Retton

The endorsement game has been very good to me. — Mary Lou Retton

Anything you are shows up in your music - jazz is whatever you are, playing yourself, being yourself, letting your thoughts come through. — Mary Lou Williams

Former Olympians also get paid to make appearances. Many of them won their medals in an era when Olympic success didn't go hand-in-hand with financial success. — Mary Lou Retton

[Stephanie] 'You see, Mrs. Mayer was going on about George's lodge, and how he wanted to be buried with his ring, and so Grandma had to check the ring out, and in the process broke off one of George's fingers. Turns out the finger was wax. Somehow Kenny got into the mortuary this morning, left Spiro a note, and chopped off George's finger. And then while I was at the mall tonight with Mary Lou, Kenny threatened me in the shoe department. That must have been when he put the finger in my pocket.' [Morelli] 'Have you been drinking? — Janet Evanovich

You give up your childhood. You miss proms and games and high-school events, and people say it's awful ... I say it was a good trade. You miss something but I think I gained more than I lost. — Mary Lou Retton

Weren't you wearing a purity ring when we got here? Aren't you supposed to be saving yourself?" Shanti asked.
"Yeah," Mary Lou answered. "And then I thought, for what? You save leftovers. My sex is not a leftover, and it is not a Christmas present. — Libba Bray

I have been tied up with music for about as long as I can remember. By the time I was four I was picking out little tunes my mother played on the reed organ in the living-room. — Mary Lou Williams

Mary Lou Buckman and I sat in the first booth, and I, mindful of Wild Bill Hickok, sat facing the door. — Robert B. Parker

Many medal winners dream of competing in a sport other than the one they're famous for. — Mary Lou Retton

What's he doing?" Mary Lou asked. "What's he doing?"
"Getting a spoon. I was was right-he went out to buy ice cream."
The light blinked out, and Morelli disappeared. Mary Lou and I scuttled across Morelli's backyard and squinted into his window.
"Do you see him?" Mary Lou asked.
"No. He's disappeared."
"I didn't hear the front door open."
"No, and he's got the television on. He's just out of sight somewhere."
Mary Lou crept closer. "Too bad he's got the shades pulled on his front windows."
"I'll try to be more considerate next time," Morelli said, standing inches behind us.
Mary Lou and I yelped and instinctively sprang away, but Morelli had both of us by the back of our jackets. — Janet Evanovich

One way and another I was having a ball - playing gigs, jamming and listening to fine musicians. Then came a crisis at home. My stepfather fell sick, and it meant I had to support the family. — Mary Lou Williams

Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes and having fun — Mary Lou Cook

I have been in Paris for almost a week and I have not heard anyone say calories, or cholesterol, or even arterial plaque. The French do not season their food with regret. — Mary-Lou Weisman

Fragile egos are put on the line every day. — Mary Lou Retton

You've got to believe in yourself first. Take risks and don't be afraid to fall. — Mary Lou Retton

As simple as it sounds, we all must try to be the best person we can: by making the best choices, by making the most of the talents we've been given. — Mary Lou Retton

Getting to know athletes from all over the planet is a big part of the Olympic experience. — Mary Lou Retton

Unless you're Mary Lou Retton, in the right place at the right time with the right personality, you're not going to be on a Wheaties box and have all these endorsements. — Kerri Strug

Offers for me to play dances, society parties, even churches, were now coming in regularly. For most dates I was paid the sum of one dollar per hour, and they always tipped me at the end of the night. — Mary Lou Williams

There's nothing like cataloguing books for taking your mind off things. — Mary Lou Kirwin

If you work on your talent, the plans will fall in automatically. — Mary Lou Williams

There can be distractions, but if you're isolated from the heart of the Games, the Olympics become just another competition. — Mary Lou Retton