Texas Quotes

“Smiling amiably, the San Angelo man said: “If you do have to explain it, why not use the old joke? Man asked a rancher in the Fort Stockton area: ‘Caleb, your six boys are all good Democrats, I hope?’ and Caleb said: ‘Yep, all but Elmer. He learned to read.”
― James A. Michener, Texas

“In peace sons bury their fathers; in war fathers bury their sons.”
― James A. Michener, Texas

“killed.’ ”
― James A. Michener, Texas

“Garcilaço had stumbled upon one of the greatest treasures a boy can find: a man of dignity whom he would like to emulate.”
― James A. Michener, Texas

“And he chose his subjects with great care: the South Pacific (Tales of the South Pacific, Return to Paradise), Judaism (The Source), South Africa (The Covenant), the West Indies (Caribbean), the American West (Centennial), the Chesapeake Bay (Chesapeake), Texas, Alaska, Spain (Iberia), Mexico, Poland, the Far East.”
― James A. Michener, Texas

“The world is a muddy place, and if good men don't try to clean it up, bad men will make it a swamp.”
― James A. Michener, Texas

“pusillanimous.”
― James A. Michener, Texas

“honor included not only physical and moral courage but also a daring commitment to central beliefs,”
― James A. Michener, Texas

“I doubt, dearest child, that you could ever marry a Frenchman. They’re not dependable. I’ve never believed that they’re serious Catholics.” He”
― James A. Michener, Texas

“And here …” Now the orange became Tejas: “In the middle of this mess, Tejas, Spanish to the core, God’s bastion, just as in Europe.” He patted the orange, reveling in its security, and said: “God arranges these things according to His grand design. Believe me, Trinidad, Tejas is not where it is by accident. And you’re not in Tejas by accident. Your destiny is to rear Spanish sons who will build there cities much finer than New Orleans.”
― James A. Michener, Texas

“I’ve always thought that God placed Spain where He did to keep things organized.” Don Ramón arranged dishes and rolls to represent Europe. “Lesser nations all around her. Portugal here, and what a sorry land that is. France up here, a bunch of troublemakers. England over here, accch!” The harsh guttural showed what he thought of England. “And down here the despicable Moors, enemies of God and man.” In the center of this maelstrom of failed nations and infidels he placed a bright orange: “Spain: God’s bastion of reason, and stability, and all the things that represent goodness in this life.”
― James A. Michener, Texas

“seem to understand. With three walled”
― James A. Michener, Texas

“One of the beauties of practical law is that it enables men and women to do the things they want to, even if the printed law says otherwise.” “What do you mean?” “It’s the law’s responsibility to find a way.” “How?” “To prove that things aren’t always quite what they seem.”
― James A. Michener, Texas

“became”
― James A. Michener, Texas

“she”
― James A. Michener, Texas

“his or her corner of Spain, that fortunate land which God had created to prove that life on earth could be almost as favorable as life in heaven:”
― James A. Michener, Texas

“sere, populated by rattlesnakes and coyotes. It was his first glimpse”
― James A. Michener, Texas

“Her behavior was not exceptional in these years, for the dairies of various German girls would reveal instances in which young women attended Sangerfests year after year, always knowing which of the young men there they would ultimately marry, but never would the two young people speak. They would look, and remember, and fifty years later they would confess: 'I knew I loved him' or perhaps 'I loved her from that first moment.' Germans could bide their time. p490”
― James A. Michener, Texas

“At age sixty-five, Cabeza de Vaca, the first white man to have journeyed into Texas and across its vast plains, died. Texas, a state which would always honor the brave, had its first true hero.”
― James A. Michener, Texas

“But you know, lad, men are often imprisoned by chains of their own forging.”
― James A. Michener, Texas

“When good Texans die they go to Colorado.”
― James A. Michener, Texas

“Garcilaco had stumbled upon one of the greatest treasures a boy can find: a man of dignity whom he would like to emulate. p21”
― James A. Michener, Texas

“these good people who were keeping alive the traditions of the homeland which had treated them so badly but which still commanded their memories.”
― James A. Michener, Texas

“But the new priest in town, this Father Ybarra, who had come north to see if the missions should be closed down, absolutely forbade her to step foot inside Santa Teresa: “This place is not for women. If God had intended you to enter these precincts, he would have made women friars.”
― James A. Michener, Texas