I Never Promised You a Rose Garden Dreams, Hopes, and Plans Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #1

Somewhere in that precocity and bitterness and somewhere in the illness, whose limits she could not yet define, lay a hidden strength. It was there and working; it had sounded in the glimmer of relief when the fact of the sickness was made plain […]. (3.54)

Dr. Fried shows she has hope that Deborah will get better before Deborah herself shows that hope. Dr. Fried recognizes the glimmer of the "maybe" before Deborah latches onto it—and that may be what Deborah needs to help get her out of her illness.

Quote #2

Esther extracted every particle of hope, going over and over the words, magnifying each positive sign, turning the remarks this way and that for the facets of brightest reflection. (4.5)

Esther's trying to find hope in a letter she's received from the hospital, after Deborah has been there for a month. She sincerely wants Deborah to get better, but she's also looking to spin the information for her family to make the situation appear better than it is.

Quote #3

"She got well and went out and she's working, and we got frightened because we might someday…have to be 'well' and be in the world." (9.82)

Carla tells Deborah why even hearing stories about Doris Rivera, a patient who left D ward for the real world, scares the patients. It gives them hope, but it challenges them to change. And change is hard work.