Sign in with Facebook
Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life Quotes
Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
by
Deborah Ford1,103 ratings, 3.77 average rating, 85 reviews
Open Preview
Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life Quotes
Showing 1-30 of 103
“A Mother’s Advice
Manners matter, regardless of your position in society. There is no excuse in this world to practice bad manners, especially at the table. I found that out in high school. I was invited to my boyfriend’s house for dinner. His parents were somewhat formal, and I knew the dinner would be “fancy,” at least in my mind. My family wasn’t upper class (or even middle class), and my mother never had what would be called “social graces.”
Before I left, my mother gave me a piece of advice: hold your head high, be quiet, and take the lead from his mother. Even though I was scared to death, I did what my mother advised and got through the experience with flying colors.
To this day, my mother’s advice has gotten me through many difficult situations, especially ones that are totally new to me! With my mother’s simple advice, I know I could dine with the Queen of England, just by following her lead. Thanks, Mother!
-Deborah Ford”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
Manners matter, regardless of your position in society. There is no excuse in this world to practice bad manners, especially at the table. I found that out in high school. I was invited to my boyfriend’s house for dinner. His parents were somewhat formal, and I knew the dinner would be “fancy,” at least in my mind. My family wasn’t upper class (or even middle class), and my mother never had what would be called “social graces.”
Before I left, my mother gave me a piece of advice: hold your head high, be quiet, and take the lead from his mother. Even though I was scared to death, I did what my mother advised and got through the experience with flying colors.
To this day, my mother’s advice has gotten me through many difficult situations, especially ones that are totally new to me! With my mother’s simple advice, I know I could dine with the Queen of England, just by following her lead. Thanks, Mother!
-Deborah Ford”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
“Southerners have a lot to be proud of. We have survived, and we have overcome. Southern women, especially, have learned to be proud of what they have and patient for what they want--even revenge. That which doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, as the old saying goes, and darlin’, there is just no way to ever kill the pride and joy of being a Grits.
Wisdom, courage, sacrifice, and determination are the lessons of our history. Southerners know and understand our past as a people, which is why we are all connected, no matter our status in life. We recognize kinship as the golden threads that are woven through our past: the struggles, the pain, and the power of overcoming.”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
Wisdom, courage, sacrifice, and determination are the lessons of our history. Southerners know and understand our past as a people, which is why we are all connected, no matter our status in life. We recognize kinship as the golden threads that are woven through our past: the struggles, the pain, and the power of overcoming.”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
“Southern girls know the sweet smell of summer…
Confederate jasmine
Sweet wisteria
Purple lilac
Suntan lotion”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
Confederate jasmine
Sweet wisteria
Purple lilac
Suntan lotion”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
“The Baptists gave the South Billy Graham and Stonewall Jackson. The Methodists gave the South Martin Luther King, Jr. (Not that we’re reading anything into that, we’re just stating a fact.)”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
“Well, I declare!:
The Appalachian dialect of the mountains of West Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee is linguistically closer to Elizabethan English (the language of Shakespeare) than any other dialect spoken today. That includes the dialect spoken by the British royal family!”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
The Appalachian dialect of the mountains of West Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee is linguistically closer to Elizabethan English (the language of Shakespeare) than any other dialect spoken today. That includes the dialect spoken by the British royal family!”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
“Anyone who’s spent time below the Mason-Dixon line knows this truth: Southern women are anything but ordinary. Our unique, often unspoken code of conduct has allowed us to survive good times and bad, and never lose the sense of who we are. Margaret Mitchell, the belle of Southern female writers, got it right when she had Scarlett O’Hara come down the stairs in a dress made out of curtains: a Southern girl knows that pride and endurance always come before vanity. Our character is both created by, and essential to, the fabric of our society. Without the strength of the Southern girl, the South couldn’t have survived its rich and rocky history; without history, on the other hand, the Southern girl wouldn’t be who she is today.
It’s sometimes suggested (by Yankees, we’d wager) that Grits are one-dimensional. This is not surprising: those who don’t understand us see only our outward devotion to femininity and charm. What they are missing is the fact that, like the magnolia tree, our beautiful blossoms are the outward expression of the strength that lies beneath.”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
It’s sometimes suggested (by Yankees, we’d wager) that Grits are one-dimensional. This is not surprising: those who don’t understand us see only our outward devotion to femininity and charm. What they are missing is the fact that, like the magnolia tree, our beautiful blossoms are the outward expression of the strength that lies beneath.”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
““The biggest myth about Southern women is that we are frail types--fainting on our sofas…nobody where I grew up ever acted like that. We were about as fragile as coal trucks.”
-Lee Smith, North Carolina Grits and author of The Last Girls”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
-Lee Smith, North Carolina Grits and author of The Last Girls”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
“It is a special vanity of Southern women to believe that they are different from other American women.”
-Sharon McKern, author of Redneck Mothers, Good Ol’ Girls and Other Southern Belles”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
-Sharon McKern, author of Redneck Mothers, Good Ol’ Girls and Other Southern Belles”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
“You can’t choose your family, but you always choose your friends. Make this choice wisely.”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
“Grits Pearl of Wisdom #39:
It’s been said that love makes the world go round. That may be true, but friendship keeps the world on its axis!”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
It’s been said that love makes the world go round. That may be true, but friendship keeps the world on its axis!”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
“Southern Girls know…men may come and go, but friends are forevah!”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
“Hope needs a foundation, and that foundation is you! Bless your hearts, every last one of you!”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
“Grits Glossary
success \sǝk-‘ses\ n: something a Grits has to define for herself, simply put”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
success \sǝk-‘ses\ n: something a Grits has to define for herself, simply put”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
“A worthy cause is the best medicine in life, and it doesn’t taste half-bad going down.”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
“Grits Pearl of Wisdom #38:
Expect respect! That’s the only way you’re ever going to get it.”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
Expect respect! That’s the only way you’re ever going to get it.”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
“Ask any man you meet: there is just something about a Southern girl. If she’s a Southern girl with attitude and talent, well, it’s just not a fair fight.”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
“Grits Pearl of Wisdom #37:
The cream always rises to the top, so quit being the milkmaid. There’s more to life than calluses, darlin’!”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
The cream always rises to the top, so quit being the milkmaid. There’s more to life than calluses, darlin’!”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
““If we ever decide to compare knees, you’re going to find that I have more scars than anyone else in the room. That’s because I’ve fallen down and gotten up so many times in my life.”
--Mary Kay Ashe, Texas Grits and Founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics
Maybe this is why Lifetime Television Network named this Grits their Businesswoman of the Century!”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
--Mary Kay Ashe, Texas Grits and Founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics
Maybe this is why Lifetime Television Network named this Grits their Businesswoman of the Century!”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
““Don’t tell me I can’t do something, ‘cause I’ll show you I can.”
--Tammy Wynette, legendary country singer and Alabama Grits”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
--Tammy Wynette, legendary country singer and Alabama Grits”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
““You’ve got to continue to grow, or you’re just like last night’s cornbread--stale and dry.”
--Loretta Lynn, Kentucky Grits”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
--Loretta Lynn, Kentucky Grits”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
“Grits Pearl of Wisdom #36:
A Southern family’s prized possessions are not only free, but freeing: family memories. Please don’t forget to pass them on.”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
A Southern family’s prized possessions are not only free, but freeing: family memories. Please don’t forget to pass them on.”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
“Grits Pearl of Wisdom #33:
You don’t have to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth to live a rich life. Stainless steel is more practical, anyhow!”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
You don’t have to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth to live a rich life. Stainless steel is more practical, anyhow!”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
“
My Daddy and My Car
By Marilyn Akers, Georgia Grits
At fifteen, I came home from school one afternoon to find a faded red car with a white hardtop and a damaged front fender parked in the driveway. Since my daddy often worked on cars, both for himself and others, I noticed it only in passing. That is until my daddy explained that it was a 1971 Mercury Comet…and it was mine!
Trouble was, it had a blown engine, and it was my job to overhaul it. So after school and on weekends I washed car parts, rode to the junk yard for replacement parts (and foot-long hot dogs from the Dairy Queen), handed my dad all sorts of tools, fixed coffee with cream and sugar, and occasionally got to do a “real” job under the hood. I remember being so excited when he asked me to get on the creeper and roll under the car (the children were never allowed under the car!) to tighten a fender bolt.
Another day, I helped him connect the spark-plug wires to the distributor cap. I asked him why this particular job was so important for him to show me. He replied, “So if you’re ever out with a boy and the car breaks down, you’ll know what to look for.” He meant intentional removal of the wires, and it didn’t occur to me until many years later to ask if that advice was from personal experience!
When the engine work was done, we took it to Earl Scheib for one of his infamous $99 paint jobs. I was so proud of that car and the work done side by side with my dad. We sold it less than a year later, after I stuck my foot through a rusted hole in the floorboard.
I lost my dad in 2001 following a sixteen-year battle with Alzheimer’s Disease. But the bond formed between a teenage daughter and her father, and the lessons I learned from him, will be with me for a lifetime.”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
By Marilyn Akers, Georgia Grits
At fifteen, I came home from school one afternoon to find a faded red car with a white hardtop and a damaged front fender parked in the driveway. Since my daddy often worked on cars, both for himself and others, I noticed it only in passing. That is until my daddy explained that it was a 1971 Mercury Comet…and it was mine!
Trouble was, it had a blown engine, and it was my job to overhaul it. So after school and on weekends I washed car parts, rode to the junk yard for replacement parts (and foot-long hot dogs from the Dairy Queen), handed my dad all sorts of tools, fixed coffee with cream and sugar, and occasionally got to do a “real” job under the hood. I remember being so excited when he asked me to get on the creeper and roll under the car (the children were never allowed under the car!) to tighten a fender bolt.
Another day, I helped him connect the spark-plug wires to the distributor cap. I asked him why this particular job was so important for him to show me. He replied, “So if you’re ever out with a boy and the car breaks down, you’ll know what to look for.” He meant intentional removal of the wires, and it didn’t occur to me until many years later to ask if that advice was from personal experience!
When the engine work was done, we took it to Earl Scheib for one of his infamous $99 paint jobs. I was so proud of that car and the work done side by side with my dad. We sold it less than a year later, after I stuck my foot through a rusted hole in the floorboard.
I lost my dad in 2001 following a sixteen-year battle with Alzheimer’s Disease. But the bond formed between a teenage daughter and her father, and the lessons I learned from him, will be with me for a lifetime.”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
““No one in the South ever asks if you have crazy people in your family. They just ask what side they’re on.”
--Julia, played by Tennessee Grits Dixie Carter, on Designing Women”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
--Julia, played by Tennessee Grits Dixie Carter, on Designing Women”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
““When a New Yorker asked a Savannah society woman what she did, she looked at him, puzzled, ‘Why ah live--ah live in Sa-vannah!’ she replied with proper hauteur.”
--Rosemary Daniell, writer and Georgia Grits”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
--Rosemary Daniell, writer and Georgia Grits”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
“Grits Pearl of Wisdom #31:
Grits can admit their mistakes--and we all make some bad ones--but we never accept defeat.”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
Grits can admit their mistakes--and we all make some bad ones--but we never accept defeat.”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
“Grits Glossary
newcomer \’nü-,kǝ-mǝr\ n: any neighbor who has lived there less than ten years, unless her mother is from the area, of course”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
newcomer \’nü-,kǝ-mǝr\ n: any neighbor who has lived there less than ten years, unless her mother is from the area, of course”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
“Physically and socially, Florida has its own North and South, but its northern area is strictly Southern and its southern area is definitely Northern.
--Florida: A Guide to the Southernmost State by the Federal Writers’ Project”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
--Florida: A Guide to the Southernmost State by the Federal Writers’ Project”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
““It doesn’t matter where you go in the South, because the whole South seems to be married to one another.”
--Marlyn Swartz, Texas Grits”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
--Marlyn Swartz, Texas Grits”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
“Grits Glossary
hillbilly \’hil-,bi-lē\ n: a derogatory term that refers to people living in the next county or town; alternate forms include redneck, cracker, hilljack, swamp rat, hick, and Yankee”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
hillbilly \’hil-,bi-lē\ n: a derogatory term that refers to people living in the next county or town; alternate forms include redneck, cracker, hilljack, swamp rat, hick, and Yankee”
― Grits (Girls Raised in the South) Guide to Life
