Quotes from The Plum Tree

Ellen Marie Wiseman ·  400 pages

Rating: (12K votes)


“I want you to understand something. War makes perpetrators of some, criminals of others, and victims of everyone. Just because a soldier is in the battle, doesn't mean that he believes in the war.”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, quote from The Plum Tree


“When we're together," he whispered, "we'll only see each other, not the ugliness around us.”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, quote from The Plum Tree


“These men wanted Hitler in a position to put an end to the Republic and to return Germany to the days of the Kaiser. But then the chancellor had become a dictator, putting himself and his followers above the , and now they were using that power to strip the Jews of their rights”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, quote from The Plum Tree


“But then the chancellor had become dictator, putting himself and his followers above the law, and now, they were using that power to strip the Jews of their rights.”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, quote from The Plum Tree


“knees. “How is that possible? Who do those Scheisse”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, quote from The Plum Tree



“it that the world is getting closer to the end of its days, and the devil is winning”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, quote from The Plum Tree


“The wounds will be covered by pleasant moments, moments that I used to take for granted. Hopefully, the pleasant moments will become more frequent, and longer lasting. Because if I keep living int the past, I won't survive.”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, quote from The Plum Tree


“Yet brutal actions become war crimes only if you lose.” Christine”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, quote from The Plum Tree


“But good can still stand up against evil. And maybe the best place to do that is here.”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, quote from The Plum Tree


“And may those who know the truth speak out.”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, quote from The Plum Tree



“the house had been dispelled, evicted by”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, quote from The Plum Tree


“Christmas was an enduring milestone that came and went, while the world forever changed.”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, quote from The Plum Tree


“she was always careful to brush and re-braid her hair, making sure the blond plaits were straight”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, quote from The Plum Tree


“...They were nothing but numbers to the people who had started this war.”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, quote from The Plum Tree


“So that’s how it happens, she thought. I’ll get distracted by life. The wounds will be covered by pleasant moments, moments that I used to take for granted. Hopefully, the pleasant moments will become more frequent, and longer lasting. Because if I keep living in the past, I won’t survive.”
― Ellen Marie Wiseman, quote from The Plum Tree



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About the author

Ellen Marie Wiseman
Born place: in The United States
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“She fought him by reminding herself what her father had said to Emil Hesping—that they lived in a country where believing had taken the place of knowing.”
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“While I pressed the tissue to my face, Beck said, “Can I tell you something? There are a lot of empty boxes in your head, Sam.”
I looked at him, quizzical. Again, it was a strange enough concept to hold my attention.
“There are a lot of empty boxes in there, and you can put things in them.” Beck handed me another tissue for the other side of my face.
My trust of Beck at that point was not yet complete; I remember thinking that he was making a very bad joke that I wasn’t getting. My voice sounded wary, even to me. “What kinds of things?”
“Sad things,” Beck said. “Do you have a lot of sad things in your head?”
“No,” I said.
Beck sucked in his lower lip and released it slowly. “Well, I do.”
This was shocking. I didn’t ask a question, but I tilted toward him.
“And these things would make me cry,” Beck continued. “They used to make me cry all day long.”
I remembered thinking this was probably a lie. I could not imagine Beck crying. He was a rock. Even then, his fingers braced against the floor, he looked poised, sure, immutable.
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“Brain tape?” I suggested, with a little smirk. I was eight, after all.
Beck smiled, a weird private smile that, at the time, I didn’t understand. Now I knew it was relief at eliciting a joke from me, no matter how pitiful the joke was. “Yes, brain tape. And a brain blanket over the top. Now I don’t have to look at those sad things anymore. I could open those boxes sometime, I guess, if I wanted to, but mostly I just leave them sealed up.”
“How did you use the brain tape?”
“You have to imagine it. Imagine putting those sad things in the boxes and imagine taping it up with the brain tape. And imagine pushing them into the side of your brain, where you won’t trip over them when you’re thinking normally, and then toss a blanket over the top. Do you have sad things, Sam?”
I could see the dusty corner of my brain where the boxes sat. They were all wardrobe boxes, because those were the most interesting sort of boxes — tall enough to make houses with — and there were rolls and rolls of brain tape stacked on top. There were razors lying beside them, waiting to cut the boxes and me back open.
“Mom,” I whispered.
I wasn’t looking at Beck, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw him swallow.
“What else?” he asked, barely loud enough for me to hear. “The water,” I said. I closed my eyes. I could see it, right there, and I had to force out the next word. “My …” My fingers were on my scars.
Beck reached out a hand toward my shoulder, hesitant. When I didn’t move away, he put an arm around my back and I leaned against his chest, feeling small and eight and broken.
“Me,” I said.”
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― Alice Hoffman, quote from Practical Magic


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