Maud Hart Lovelace · 352 pages
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“Isn't it mysterious to begin a new journal like this? I can run my fingers through the fresh clean pages but I cannot guess what the writing on them will be.”
― Maud Hart Lovelace, quote from Betsy in Spite of Herself
“The silence in the room had width, height, depth, mass and substance.”
― Maud Hart Lovelace, quote from Betsy in Spite of Herself
“When there are boys you have to worry about how you look, and whether they like you, and why they like another girl better, and whether they're going to ask you to something or other. It's a strain.”
― Maud Hart Lovelace, quote from Betsy in Spite of Herself
“Betsy dreamed about going away from Deep Valley, but she didn't for a moment suspect that around a bend in her Winding Hall of Fate a journey was actually waiting.”
― Maud Hart Lovelace, quote from Betsy in Spite of Herself
“Did he know that she was so dissatisfied with herself that she was always pretending to be different? Probably he did, and despised her for it. More than anyone she knew, Joe Willard was always, fearlessly, himself.”
― Maud Hart Lovelace, quote from Betsy in Spite of Herself
“Drunkeness, she told us in a rare moment of confidence, is a sin against the fruit, the tree, the wine itself. Wine, distilled and nurtured from bud into fruit; it deserves reverance. Joy. Gentleness.
(Page 194.)”
― Joanne Harris, quote from Five Quarters of the Orange
“You look like a winter night", he had told her when he had given it to her. "I could sleep inside the cold of you".”
― Catherynne M. Valente, quote from Deathless
“Cosas detestables
Cuando uno tiene prisa por salir, llega alguien de visita y se queda hablando un largo tiempo. Si es una persona de poca importancia, uno puede deshacerse de ella diciendo que podrán hablar en otra ocasión; pero si se trata de alguien a quien se le debe respeto, la situación se vuelve realmente detestable.
Uno encuentra un pelo sobre el suzuri, o el mismo sumi contiene un grano de piedra que, al frotar, produce un chirrito destemplado.
Un hombre que no se destaca en nada, discute toda clase de temas, riéndose, como si supiera algo de ello.
Envidiar la suerte de los demas y quejarse de la propia, hablar mal de la gente, interesarse por lo superficial, querer saberlo todo y estar resentido y vilipediar a los que no nos han informado de los hechos, o bien, cuando sólo se ha tenido una noticia parcial, hablar de ella con lujo de detalles como si se tratase de algo que conoce desde el principio: todo esto es odioso.
Se está por escuchar alguna noticia interesante cuando un niño empieza a llorar.
Un hombre nos viene a ver en secreto; un perro lo ve y se pone a ladrar: dan ganas de matarlo.
Ya es bastante tontería el invitar a un hombre a pasar la noche, ocultándolo donde no debería estar, y he aquí que ronca.
Uno va a la cama y está a punto de quedar dormido cuando un mosquito anuncia su presencia con voz aguda cerca de nuestra cara; hasta se siente el aire que mueve con sus alas a pesar de su pequeñez, y esto es en extremo odioso.
Estamos en medio de un relato cuando otra persona se inmiscuye, nos interrumpe, y trata de demostrar que es el único ser inteligente de la reunión. Tales personas son odiosas, se trate de niños o mayores.
Un hombre con el que tenemos relaciones amorosas, se pone a alabar a una mujer que conoció en el pasado, y aunque sea una cosa lejana no puede resultar menos horrible. ¡Cuánto más si se trata de alguien a quien él sigue visitando!
No soporto a las personas que salen sin cerrar la puerta tras de sí.”
― Sei Shōnagon, quote from The Pillow Book
“Carmen didn't like change, and she certainly didn't like endings.”
― Ann Brashares, quote from The Second Summer of the Sisterhood
“You never told me your name," he says, his voice so hauntingly familiar it causes a rush of heat to blanket my skin.
I sigh,staring blankly down the hall when I say, "Psycho Girl-Psycho Horseback Singing Girl..." I shrug. "I've heard it both ways."
He squints.His hand reaching for my shoulder,then falling away the instant he catches the look of reproach on my face.
"Look," I say,knowing I need to stop him before he can go any further.His kindness will only distract me at a time when I need to stay focused. "I've had a really bad day.And if my calculations are right,I have three hundred and eight more,give or take, before I get to graduate and get the heck out of this place. So,why don't you just call me whatever you want. Everyone else does.It's not like it matters..." My cheeks go hot,my eyes start to sting, and I know I'm rambling like a lunatic,but I cant seem to stop,can't seem to care.The world's most socially inept Seeker-that's me in a nutshell.
"Don't let them reduce you to that," he says,his gaze instense, his voice surprising me with its sincerity, its urgency. "Don't let them define how you see yourself,or your place here. And if you ever need someone to talk to,I'm not hard to find.I'm either in class, reading in the library,or eating lunch in the North hallway."
The second he says it,my gaze flies down the length of him.Slipping past a gray V-neck tee and dark denim jeans,not the least bit surprised when I land on the same heavy,black, thick-soled shoes I spied earlier.
Then before he can say anything more, I'm gone. Trying to ignore the comforting stream of kindness and love that swarms all around me.”
― Alyson Noel, quote from Fated
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