If we didn't read people who were bastards, we'd never read anything. Even the best of us are at least part-time bastards. - Mary Karr
But it's a neurological fact that the scared self holds on while the reasoned one lets go. - Mary Karr
Mother’s particular devils had remained mysterious to me for decades. So had her past. Few born liars ever intentionally embark in truth’s direction, even those who believe that such a journey might axiomatically set them free. - Mary Karr
Faith is not a feeling, she says. It's a set of actions. By taking the actions, you demonstrate more faith than somebody who actually has experienced the rewards of prayer and so feels hope. - Mary Karr
it was dawning on me how uphill a poet's path was, and I confessed to her that if I had to be the choice between being happy or being a poet, I'd choose to be happy. - Mary Karr
Few born liars ever intentionally embark in truth’s direction, even those who believe that such a journey might axiomatically set them free. - Mary Karr
When you've been hurt enough as a kid (maybe at any age), it's like you have a trick knee. Most of your life, you can function like an adult, but add in the right portions of sleeplessness and stress and grief, and the hurt, defeated self can bloom into place. - Mary Karr
Memoir is not an act of history but an act of memory, which is innately corrupt. - Mary Karr
Having devoted the first half of my life to the dark, I feel obliged to rever any pinpoint of light now. - Mary Karr