"'It's a boy,' said Mr. Matzerath, who presumed himself to be my father. 'He will take over the store when he grows up. At last we know why we've been working our fingers to the bone."' Chapter 3, pg. 47

"Mama thought less about the store than about outfitting her son: 'Oh, well, I knew it would be a boy even if I did say once in a while that it was going to be a girl.' Thus at an early age I made the acquaintance of feminine logic. The next words were: 'When little Oskar is three, he will have a toy drum." Chapter 3, pg. 47

"Grownups have it in them to be creative, and sometimes, with the help of ambition, hard work, and a bit of luck they actually are, but being grownups, they have no sooner created some epoch-making invention than they become a slave...