Katherine Applegate > Quotes

“Facts are so much better than stories. You can’t see a story. You can’t hold it in your hand and measure it. You can’t hold a manatee in your hand either. But still. Stories are lies, when you get right down to it. And I don’t like being lied to. I’ve never been much into make-believe stuff. When I was a kid, I didn’t dress up like Batman or talk to stuffed animals or worry about monsters under my bed.”
― Katherine Applegate, Crenshaw

“She said she sometimes wondered if maybe bats are better human beings than human beings are.”
― Katherine Applegate, Crenshaw

“Elephant toddlers are a handful. You think humans are bad? Try putting a two-hundred-pound baby elephant in time-out.”
― Katherine Applegate, The One and Only Bob

“Not so long ago, I was just a silly pup. The runt of my litter. Self-involved, naive, impatient to see the world. Well, I'd certainly gotten my wish. I'd seen far too much of the world. I'd seen enough pain and danger and death to last several lifetimes. I was no longer Byx, the innocent daydreamer, curious and carefree. The pup who could gaze for hours at a swarm of rainbow-winged butterbats dancing on the wind. The old Byx didn't gallop into battle to kill eshwins, yelling in triumph like a fool as they fell. Perhaps Tobble was right that better times awaited us. Perhaps the old Byx was hiding somewhere deep in my heart. Perhaps. But for now I had to go wash the blood from my fur.”
― Katherine Applegate, The Only

“We are not our best selves without courage,”
― Katherine Applegate, The One and Only Ruby

“The goal is to get as high as you can.”
― Katherine Applegate, The One and Only Bob

“We'd won. I wondered if defeat could feel any worse than victory.”
― Katherine Applegate, The Only

“I guess becoming homeless doesn’t happen all at once. My mom told me once that money problems sort of sneak up on you. She said it’s like catching a cold. At first you just have a tickle in your throat, and then you have a headache, and then maybe you’re coughing a little. The next thing you know, you have a pile of Kleenexes around your bed and you’re hacking your lungs up.”
― Katherine Applegate, Crenshaw

“I was an Andalite, all alone, far, far from home. Far from my own people. Except that sometimes your own people are not just the ones who look like you. Sometimes the people who are your own can be very different from you.”
― Katherine Applegate, The Decision

“If I never talked about it, I felt like it couldn’t ever happen again.”
― Katherine Applegate, Crenshaw

“Humans have very odd tastes. They think their music is beautiful. They are wrong. It is awful. All of it. And they completely ignore their greatest accomplishments: the cinnamon bun, the Snickers bar, the hot pepper, and the refreshing beverage called vinegar.”
― Katherine Applegate, The Alien

“How to Say Goodbye (to an otter):
Be proud. After long months, know you've done your best, that 'teaching' and 'loving' are different words for the same thing.”
― Katherine Applegate, Odder

“Memories are precious,” Stella adds. “They help tell us who we are.”
― Katherine Applegate, The One and Only Ivan

“Dogs ain't perfect. But I'll tell you one thing where we rule: tolerance.
For us, a dog is a dog is a dog. I see a Great Dane, I say howdy. I run into a puggle, it's Glad to meet ya, how's it goin', smelled any good pee lately?
Go to a dog park and you'll see. We are equal opportunity playful. You sniff my rear, I sniff yours.
You don't see that with humans, obviously. Constantly seeing differences where none exist. All those things like skin color? Dogs could care less. You think I won't hang with a dalmatian 'cause he's spotted? Or a sharpei 'cause she's wrinkled?
I'm not saying I love every dog I meet. (Snickers comes to mind.)
But I'll always give a dog the benefit of the doubt. Life is short. Play is good. And there are plenty of tennis balls to go around.”
― Katherine Applegate, The One and Only Bob

“Nature knows more than we do…And she probably always will.”
― Katherine Applegate (Author), Willodeen

“You are Bob, untamed and undaunted.”
― Katherine Applegate, The One and Only Bob

“I might fail Khara. I might disappoint myself and my loyal friends. So much could go wrong, so quickly, on this mission of mine. But I promised myself I would cherish the gift of that sunrise no matter what happened. How the earth can surprise us if we let it!”
― Katherine Applegate, The Only

“She got up and went to her tiny kitchen. On the way she turned on her radio. "You want something to eat?" she called over her shoulder.

"What do you have?"

"Um..." She opened her refrigerator. "Milk, yogurt, and wilted lettuce." She checked her cupboard. "Cheerios. Instant grits. Sorry-- I figured that since this is technically the South, I should try grits. Ah-hah! Pop-Tarts."

"Pop-Tarts! All right," he said enthusiastically. He came to join her as she loaded the toaster. "Life. It just doesn't get any better than this. You and Pop-Tarts.”
― Katherine Applegate, Beach Blondes: June Dreams / July's Promise / August Magic

“ Marco said. ”
― Katherine Applegate, The Encounter

“Dogs are experts at odor. Students of stink. We analyze the air the way humans read poetry, searching for invisible truths.”
― Katherine Applegate, The One and Only Bob

“Humans do many things poorly.

Making music is not one of them.”
― Katherine Applegate, The One and Only Family

“Way I’ve always figured it, end of the day, you gotta be your own best friend. Look out for numero uno.”
― Katherine Applegate, The One and Only Bob

“I look at our faces
and see all the colors of the earth---
brown and pink and yellow and white and black---
and yet we all are sitting at the same desks,
wanting to learn the same things.”
― Katherine Applegate, Home of the Brave

“I’m picky. Not so much about looks, although even there I’m kind of picky. It’s more that I can’t pretend some guy is interesting when he’s not. If he’s immature, I’ll probably tell him so. Within five minutes of knowing him. And if he looks ridiculous dressed up like some wannabe, I’ll probably say that, too, or more likely just steer clear of him.”
― Katherine Applegate

“Anger is precious. A silverback uses anger to maintain order and warn his troop of danger.”
― Katherine Applegate, The One and Only Ivan

“I really do try to listen to the grown-ups, but every now and then my ears misbehave.”
― Katherine Applegate, The One and Only Ruby

“Lucky for me, I also have two uncles. My uncle Ivan is a gorilla. My uncle Bob is a dog. Families can be complicated.”
― Katherine Applegate, The One and Only Ruby

“Sometimes nothing is the worst sound in the world. Ruby lets out a little elephant cry, and then I realize maybe that’s the worst sound in the world.”
― Katherine Applegate, The One and Only Bob

“Humans love it when we get silly. I think they’re so weighed down by people problems that sometimes they need to be reminded what happy looks like.”
― Katherine Applegate, The One and Only Bob

“His mop moves across the empty food court like a giant brush, painting a picture no one will ever see.”
― Katherine Applegate