Nancy Farmer · 311 pages
Rating: (14K votes)
“That was the best kind of story: when the teller was as much under its spell as the listener.”
“She took to reading with a fervor so extreme, Baba Joseph had to take the books from her hands by force. 'Your eyes are not tractors. They are not meant to pull heavy loads,' he said sternly.”
“Knowledge is a house that must be built from the ground up. We know how to make the roof. The information is useless if we don't understand the foundations on which it is to be placed.”
“I am one for whom dangers are play-
things
One who empties men of their
strength as a nut from its shell
The charms you use I chop up for
relish on my porridge
Beware! I am a deadly mamba
Wrestler of legends
A hive of hornets
A man among men”
“If you squat on a path, you'll get boils on your backside.”
“Tendai remembered his last birthday. It seemed one shouldn't make wishes idly. Who knew which spirits were listening. He considered a moment and then thought, I wish for courage. Because with courage, you weren't afraid to look at the truth. You weren't afraid to ask questions or do the right thing.”
“Lower ways of life give way to higher.”
“Men who were frightened to read the entire Koran because they knew they would be confronted with the words of a prophet who would never condone their actions.”
“I feel it's all wrong to be nervous," said Maria. "I feel it's lack of confidence. One ought to go right ahead, never minding."
"Some people do," he said, "but they're the duds. They are the ones that win prizes at school, and you never hear of them again. Go on. Be nervous. Be ill. Be sick down the lavatory pan. It's part of your life from now on. You've got to go through with it. Nothing's worth while if you don't fight for it first, if you haven't a pain in your belly beforehand.”
“The opportunity to love a dog and to treat it with kindness is an opportunity for a lost and selfish heart to be redeemed. They are powerless and innocent, and it is how we treat the humblest among us that surely determines the fate of our souls”
“Happily, as you are not my husband, I do not have to give your opinion more attention than I choose,” I snapped. “Good day, Mr. Hargreaves.”
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