How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Most folks think you start to be a real adult when you're fifteen or sixteen years old, but that's not true, it really starts when you're around six. It's at six that grown folks don't think you're a cute little kid anymore, they talk to you and expect that you understand everything they mean. (1.24-25)
Hey, we remember being six, and we think Bud is right on with this one. This is around the time you get into trouble a lot more for "knowing better." It must be even worse for Bud and Bugs, since life during the Depression is really, really tough—and it seems like these kids are supposed to know it.
Quote #2
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. (2.1)
Wow! How could a kid know that? Bud is special partly because he remembers some great advice his mother gave him when he was pretty young. This is one of many examples of adult wisdom being passed on to kids in the book, and it shows how big of an influence a good parent can be.
Quote #3
It seemed like he knew some of the same things I know, the things I think of all the time and try to remember so I don't make the same mistake more than seven or eight times. Shucks, I've got so many of them rememorized that I had to give them numbers, and it seemed like Todd knew Number 3 of Bud Caldwell's Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself. (2.14)
Are you taking notes? We are. What a fantastic idea to keep track of all the hard lessons you learn in life so that you don't forget them. We wish we would have started this when we were, oh, six years old. It might have kept us out of trouble. Maybe…
Quote #4
But now that I'm almost grown I see Momma wasn't talking about doors opening to let ghosts into your bedroom, she meant doors like the door at the Home closing leading to the door at the Amoses' opening and the door in the shed opening leading to me sleeping under a tree getting ready to open the next door. (5.53)
Bud has learned a great lesson here: he's learned to recognize opportunities when they are in front of him and not to fret too much when some opportunities disappear. It's another great piece of wisdom from Bud's mother. The helps Bud stay optimistic, and that's important, because without his optimistic outlook, he probably could never have made it to the Calloway's without this bit of advice.
Quote #5
It's funny how ideas are, in a lot of ways they're just like seeds. Both of them start real, real small and then woop, zoop, sloop…before you can say Jack Robinson they've gone and grown a lot bigger than you ever thought they could. (9.34)
In this part, Bud gets a good idea about how ideas grow. We really like his way of thinking about ideas as if they are seeds and trees. Just because you have an idea, and it grows, that doesn't make it reality, it just makes it a real idea. Think about that one.
Quote #6
The man said, "Where's home, Bud?" The another jolt of red pop must've pumped through my heart because my brain came up with a perfect lie. "I ran away from Grand Rapids, sir." See how perfect that lie was? Maybe this guy would feel sorry for me and put me on a bus to Grand Rapids and I wouldn't have to do any more doggone walking. (10.68-71)
Bud sees that one of his doors is slamming shut, but also that he's got an opportunity to open another one that may take him where he wants to go. Sure, he could be wrong, but Bud is smart enough to take the risk. He's got nothing to lose. Of course, it does pan out in the end, proving that Bud's mother's wisdom was right all along.
Quote #7
The man scratched under the back of his hat and said, "Grand Rapids!" he said that like it was the most unbelievable thing in the world, like you'd need to put six exclamation points after it. Something about the way he said it made me nervous but I answered him. "Yes, sir." That's the bad thing about lying, once you say one you've usually got to stick with it. (10.72-73)
Yessir, Bud is an expert when it comes to lying, and this bit is a great example of proper technique. Actually, it is even good wisdom for those of us that don't, um, lie all the time.
Quote #8
Rules and Things Number 29: When you wake up and don't know for sure where you're at and there's a bunch of people standing around you, it's best to pretend you're still asleep until you can figure out what's going on and what you should do. (11.73)
This is a brilliant, and funny, piece of wisdom from someone who's probably woken up in strange places many times since he was six. However, Bud learns a little too much while he's pretending to be asleep, so he suffers from extreme embarrassment when Mrs. Sleet looks at his legs. Hmm, so maybe not such good advice?
Quote #9
That was the exact same thought I'd had when I got whipped by Toddy boy! Only two folks with the same blood would think them just alike! (12.154)
Bud thinks that because he and Calloway thought the same things in the same situations, it proves that Calloway is his father. He's half-right here, since Calloway is his grandfather. What's most likely is that Calloway left some wisdom with Angela, who passed it on again to Bud.
Quote #10
I looked at the picture of Momma that Miss Thomas gave me. Momma was looking right at me with that same soft smile. I know it's stupid to smile back at a picture but I couldn't help myself. I know it's even stupider to talk to a picture, especially when it hadn't said anything to start a conversation, but I had to say, "Here we go again, Momma, only this time I can't wait!" (19.168)
No way: we don't think Bud is stupid at all. In fact, he may be the smartest little boy running around the streets of Michigan. And the bravest. But more on topic: maybe that picture of Bud's mother isn't saying anything to him, but we sure think his mother's wisdom has continued to "speak" to him all through the book.