Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

by Fannie Flagg

You know, a heart can be broken, but it keeps on beating, just the same.

“Oh Mrs. Threadgoode, I’m too young to be old and too old to be young.

and as far as your weight goes, you don’t want to be skinny. Why, just take a look at all these old people out here, most of them are just skin and bones. Or just go to the Baptist hospital and visit the cancer ward. Those people would love to have a few extra pounds. Those poor souls are struggling to keep weight on. So, stop worrying about your weight and be thankful you’re healthy!

But He only gives you what you can handle and no more…and I’ll tell you this: You cain’t dwell on sadness, oh, it’ll make you sick faster than anything in this world.”

But you know, everybody liked her. Boys and girls, colored and white alike, everybody wanted to be around Idgie. She had that big Threadgoode smile, and when she wanted to, oh, she could make you laugh! Like I said, she had Buddy’s charm…

“But there was something about Idgie that was like a wild animal. She wouldn’t let anybody get too close to her. When she thought that somebody liked her too much, she’d just take off in the woods. She broke hearts right and left.

It’s funny, most people can be around someone and then gradually begin to love them and never know exactly when it happened; but Ruth knew the very second it happened to her. When Idgie had grinned at her and tried to hand her that jar of honey, all these feelings that she had been trying to hold back came flooding through her, and it was at that second in time that she knew she loved Idgie with all her heart. That’s why she had been crying, that day. She had never felt that way before and she knew she probably would never feel that way again.

You never know what’s in a person’s heart until they’re tested, do you?”

“That’s right. And there’s something else I want you always to remember. There are magnificent beings on this earth, son, that are walking around posing as humans. And I don’t ever want you to forget that. You hear me?”

No matter what you look like, there’s somebody who’s gonna think you’re the handsomest man in the world.

“I just wonder how many people never get the one they want, and wind up with the one they’re supposed to be with.

‘Oh honey, it does no good to hate. It’ll do nothing but turn your heart into a bitter root. People cain’t help being what they are any more than a skunk can help being a skunk. Don’t you think if they had their choice they would rather be something else? Sure they would. People are just weak.’

“Yeah, but sometimes I just need to take off for a while. I feel like I need my freedom. You know.”

“If you cage a wild thing, you can be sure it will die, but if you let it run free, nine times out of ten it will run back home.”