Dear God, she prayed, let me be something every minute of every hour of my life.
Let me be gay. Let me be sad.
Let me be cold; let me be warm.
Let me be hungry…have too much to eat.
Let me be ragged or well-dressed.
Let me be sincere - be deceitful.
Let me be truthful; let me be a liar.
Let me be honorable and let me sin.
Only let me be something every blessed minute. And when I sleep, let me dream all the time so that not one little piece of living is ever lost.
—A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
