Velva Jean Learns to Fly Quotes

“When you're looking back, you can't look forward. And sometimes you run smack into something and hit your head.”
― Jennifer Niven, Velva Jean Learns to Fly

“I just sat there letting that music cover me like a big, cozy blanket.”
― Jennifer Niven, Velva Jean Learns to Fly

“Velva Jean, sometimes dreams change, either because they have to or because life has something else in mind for you.”
― Jennifer Niven, Velva Jean Learns to Fly

“If there was one thing I hated in this world, it was folks who told you that you couldn't do something.”
― Jennifer Niven, Velva Jean Learns to Fly

“When I thought about people, I always pictured them the way they looked when they didn’t know anyone was watching them. Johnny Clay had a grin that meant wickedness. Sweet Fern frowned in a way that meant she didn’t approve of things. Granny’s eyes always danced like she was thinking up mischief. Daddy Hoyt was peaceful. Ruby Poole sparkled like a firecracker. Linc looked serious as an undertaker. Beachard’s eyes were far away as the moon. Mama had been sunshine. Our daddy’s face was always changing, just like Harley Bright’s. But Duke wore a sad face, even when he smiled.”
― Jennifer Niven, Velva Jean Learns to Fly

“Written on the wall behind them was: 'Blues for the body, food for the soul.”
― Jennifer Niven, Velva Jean Learns to Fly

“Hope you're keeping the dust out of your eyes and your feet off the ground.”
― Jennifer Niven, Velva Jean Learns to Fly

“If there was one thing I'd learned, it was that you were responsible for your own ship. You had to look after the engine and make sure the plan was in order and ready to be flown. You were in charge of plotting your course. When you were in the pilot's seat, it was your hand on the throttle, no one else's. If your oil ran out or you lost an engine or the engine caught fire and you had to crash, you were the one saving yourself. No one else could do it for you.”
― Jennifer Niven, Velva Jean Learns to Fly

“It was funny what you could do in twenty-four hours. You could start the day in one place, married to a man you sometimes liked but most of the time didn't, and you could end the next day in another place, far away, a single woman chasing her dreams. I thought there was some kind of miracle in that.”
― Jennifer Niven, Velva Jean Learns to Fly

“I have songs to write and songs to sing and planes to fly and I want to see my old yellow truck again.”
― Jennifer Niven, Velva Jean Learns to Fly

“If there was one thing I'd learned, it was that you were responsible for your own ship. You had to look after the engine and make sure the plane was in order and ready to be flown. You were in charge of plotting your course. When you were in the pilot's seat, it was your hand on the throttle, no one else's. If your oil ran out or you lost your engine or the engine caught fire and you had to crash, you were the one saving yourself. No one else could do it for you.”
― Jennifer Niven, Velva Jean Learns to Fly

“You shouldn't spend all your time worrying about the love that leaves, because then you might overlook the love that was always there.”
― Jennifer Niven, Velva Jean Learns to Fly

“It was funny about writing. It was like flying or driving or playing an instrument. When you were doing it like you were supposed to be doing it, you knew it right inside of you. You could feel that this was the way it should be. But when you wrote a word that you didn't believe in, that didn't fit, it stuck out just like a bumpy landing or a bad turn or a false note.”
― Jennifer Niven, Velva Jean Learns to Fly