No child on earth was ever meant to be ordinary, and you can see it in them, and they know it, too, but then the times get to them, and the wear out their brains learning what folks expect, and spend their strength trying to rise over those same folks.

The world knew you before you knew the world.

People who read are not too lazy to turn on the television; they prefer books.

I still try to keep my eyes open. I'm always on the lookout for antlion traps in sandy soil, monarch pupae near milkweed, skipper larvae in locust leaves. These things are utterly common, and I've not seen one

How you spend your days is how you spend your life.

Johnston's books are beautifully written and among the funniest I have ever read.

Old memories are very easy to get except that once you write about something you've destroyed it.