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It Always Amazes Me To Look At The Little, Wrinkled Brown Seeds And Think Of The Rainbows In 'em," Said Captain Jim. "when I Ponder On Them Seeds I Don't Find It Nowise Hard To Believe That We've Got Souls That'll Live In Other Worlds. You Couldn't Hardly Believe There Was Life In Them Tiny Things, Some No Bigger Than Grains Of Dust, Let Alone Colour And Scent, If You Hadn't Seen The Miracle, Could You?

-Lucy Maud Montgomery

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It Always Amazes Me

Lucy Maud Montgomery

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It Always Amazes Me To Look At The Little, Wrinkled Brown Seeds And Think Of The Rainbows In 'em," Said Captain Jim. "when I Ponder On Them Seeds I Don't Find It Nowise Hard To Believe That We've Got Souls That'll Live In Other Worlds. You Couldn't Hardly Believe There Was Life In Them Tiny Things, Some No Bigger Than Grains Of Dust, Let Alone Colour And Scent, If You Hadn't Seen The Miracle, Could You?

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I've Always Loved The Night And I'll Like Lying Awake And Thinking Over Everything In Life, Past, Present And To Come. Especially To Come.

Behind Them In The Garden The Little Stone House Brooded Among The Shadows. It Was Lonely But Not Forsaken. It Had Not Yet Done With Dreams And Laughter And The Joy Of Life; There Were To Be Future Summers For The Little Stone House; Meanwhile, It Could Wait. And Over The River In Purple Durance The Echoes Bided Their Time.

I Suppose It Was A Romantic Was To Perish... For A Mouse

I'm Afraid Of Those Cows,' Protested Poor Dora, Seeing A Prospect Of Escape. 'the Very Idea Of Your Being Scared Of Those Cows,' Scoffed Davy. 'why, They're Both Younger Than You.

Outgrowing Things We Love Is Never A Pleasant Process.

I Am Well In Body Although Considerable Rumpled Up In Spirit.

People Laugh At Me Because I Use Big Words. But If You Have Big Ideas, You Have To Use Big Words To Express Them, Haven't You?

There Are Plenty Of People, In Avonlea And Out Of It, Who Can Attend Closely To Their Neighbours' Business By Dint Of Neglecting Their Own; But Mrs. Rachel Lynde Was One Of Those Capable Creatures Who Can Manage Their Own Concerns And Those Of Other Folks Into The Bargain.

Trees, Unlike So Many Humans, Always Improve On Acquaintance. No Matter How Much You Like Them At The Start You Are Sure To Like Them Much Better Further On, And Best Of All When You Have Known Them For Years And Enjoyed Intercourse With Them In All Seasons.

All Things Great Are Wound Up With All Things Little.

I Read Somewhere Once That Souls Were Like Flowers,' Said Priscilla. 'then Your Soul Is A Golden Narcissus,' Said Anne, 'and Diana's Is Like A Red, Red Rose. Jane's Is An Apple Blossom, Pink And Wholesome And Sweet.' 'and Our Own Is A White Violet, With Purple Streaks In Its Heart,' Finished Priscilla.

We Should Regret Our Mistakes And Learn From Them, But Never Carry Them Forward Into The Future With Us.

When You've Learned To Laugh At The Things That Should Be Laughed At, And Not To Laugh At Those That Shouldn't, You've Got Wisdom And Understanding. -aunt Jimsie

Next To Trying And Winning, The Best Thing Is Trying And Failing.

Proverbs Are All Very Fine When There's Nothing To Worry You, But When You're In Real Trouble, They're Not A Bit Of Help.

She Had Never Before Minded Being Alone. Now She Dreaded It. When She Was Alone Now She Felt So Dreadfully Alone.

It Is A Strange Thing To Read A Letter After The Writer Is Dead - A Bitter-sweet Thing, In Which Pain And Comfort Are Strangely Mingled.

The Beauty Of Winter Is That It Makes You Appreciate Spring.

Isn't It Good Just To Be Alive On A Day Like This? I Pity The People Who Aren't Born Yet For Missing It.

Dramatic Things Always Have A Bitterness For Some One.

It Seems To Me A Most Dreadful Thing To Go Out Of The World And Not Leave One Person Behind You Who Is Sorry You Are Gone,' Said Anne, Shuddering.

A Girl Who Would Fall In Love So Easily Or Want A Man To Love Her So Easily Would Probably Get Over It Just As Quickly, Very Little The Worse For Wear. On The Contrary, A Girl Who Would Take Love Seriously Would Probably Be A Good While Finding Herself In Love And Would Require Something Beyond Mere Friendly Attentions From A Man Before She Would Think Of Him In That Light.

Falling In Love

The Body Grows Slowly And Steadily But The Soul Grows By Leaps And Bounds. It May Come To Its Full Stature In An Hour.

I Must Get Out All My Ambitions And Dust Them.

It Always Amazes Me To Look At The Little, Wrinkled Brown Seeds And Think Of The Rainbows In 'em," Said Captain Jim. "when I Ponder On Them Seeds I Don't Find It Nowise Hard To Believe That We've Got Souls That'll Live In Other Worlds. You Couldn't Hardly Believe There Was Life In Them Tiny Things, Some No Bigger Than Grains Of Dust, Let Alone Colour And Scent, If You Hadn't Seen The Miracle, Could You?

Our Sacrifice Is Greater Than His," Cried Rilla Passionately. "our Boys Give Only Themselves. We Give Them.

When One Great Passion Seizes Possession Of The Soul All Other Feelings Are Crowded Out.

I Wish I Were Dead, Or That It Were Tomorrow Night,' Groaned Phil.

I've Come Home In Love With Loneliness

Everything Is New In The Spring. Springs Themselves Are Always So New, Too. No Spring Is Ever Just Like Any Other Spring. It Always Has Something Of Its Own To Be Its Own Peculiar Sweetness.

It Is Ever So Much Easier To Be Good If Your Clothes Are Fashionable.

Nathan Always Believed His Wife Was Trying To Poison Him But He Didn't Seem To Mind. He Said It Made Life Kind Of Exciting.

The Woods Are Never Solitary — They Are Full Of Whispering, Beckoning, Friendly Life. But The Sea Is A Mighty Soul, Forever Moaning Of Some Great, Unshareable Sorrow, Which Shuts It Up Into Itself For All Eternity. We Can Never Pierce Its Infinite Mystery — We May Only Wander, Awed And Spellbound, On The Outer Fringe Of It. The Woods Call To Us With A Hundred Voices, But The Sea Has One Only — A Mighty Voice.

Most Things Are Predestined, But Some Are Just Darn Sheer Luck, Said Roaring Abel.

Nothing Mattered Much To Me For A Time There, After You Told Me You Could Never Love Me, Anne. There Was Nobody Else -- There Never Could Be Anybody Else For Me But You. I've Loved You Ever Since That Day You Broke Your Slate Over My Head In School.

He Had Also The Reputation Of Being A Bit Of A Lady Killer. But That Probably Accrued To Him From His Possession Of A Laughing, Velvety Voice Which No Girl Could Hear Without A Heartbeat, And A Dangerous Way Of Listening As If She Were Saying Something That He Had Longed All His Life To Hear.

Fear Is A Confession Of Weakness. What You Fear Is Stronger Than You, Or You Think It Is, Else You Wouldn't Be Afraid Of It.

I Feel As Though Someone's Handed Me The Moon... And I Don't Exactly Know What To Do With It.

If You Can Sit In Silence With A Person For Half An Hour And Yet Be Entirely Comfortable, You And That Person Can Be Friends. If You Cannot, Friends You'll Never Be And You Need Not Waste Time In Trying.

Don't You Just Love Poetry That Gives You A Crinkly Feeling Up And Down Your Back?

Nothing Is Ever Really Lost To Us As Long As We Remember It.

I Wish We Could See Perfumes As Well As Smell Them. I'm Sure They Would Be Very Beautiful.

Whenever You Looked Forward To Anything Pleasant You Were Sure To Be More Or Less Disappointed . . . Perhaps That Is True. But There Is A Good Side To It Too. The Bad Things Don't Always Come Up To Your Expectations Either . . . They Nearly Always Turn Out Ever So Much Better Than You Think.

Gilbert Darling, Don't Let's Ever Be Afraid Of Things. It's Such Dreadful Slavery. Let's Be Daring And Adventurous And Expectant. Let's Dance To Meet Life And All It Can Bring To Us, Even If It Brings Scads Of Trouble And Typhoid And Twins!" (anne To Gilbert)

There Was Something In Her Movements That Made You Think She Never Walked But Always Danced.

The Only True Animal Is A Cat, And The Only True Cat Is A Gray Cat.

"oh, Marilla, Looking Forward To Things Is Half The Pleasure Of Them," Exclaimed Anne. "you Mayn't Get The Things Themselves; But Nothing Can Prevent You From Having The Fun Of Looking Forward To Them. Mrs. Lynde Says, 'blessed Are They Who Expect Nothing For They Shall Not Be Disappointed.' But I Think It Would Be Worse To Expect Nothing Than To Be Disappointed.".

She Had...the Glimmerings Of A Sense Of Humour - Which Is Simply Another Name For A Sense Of The Fitness Of Things.

Life Owes Me Something More Than It Has Paid Me And I'm Going Out To Collect It.

Here Sat Marilla Cuthbert, When She Sat At All, Slightly Distrustful Of Sunshine, Which Seemed To Her Too Dancing And Irresponsible A Thing For A World Which Was Meant To Be Taken Seriously.

But Really, Marilla, One Can't Stay Sad Very Long In Such An Interesting World, Can One?

There Are Many Worse Friends Than The Soft, Silent, Furry, Cat-folk.

There Is Such A Place As Fairyland - But Only Children Can Find The Way To It...until They Have Grown So Old That They Forget The Way. Only A Few, Who Remain Children At Heart, Can Ever Find That Fair, Lost Path Again...the World Calls Them Singers And Poets And Artists And Story-tellers; But They Are Just People Who Have Never Forgotten The Way To Fairyland.

True Friends Are Always Together In Spirit.

I'm Not A Bit Changed - Not Really. I'm Only Just Pruned Down And Branched Out. The Real Me - Back Here - Is Just The Same.

The World Looks Like Something God Had Just Imaged For His Own Pleasure, Doesn't It?

Being Frightened Of Things Is Worse Than The Things Themselves.

I Do Know My Own Mind,' Protested Anne. 'the Trouble Is, My Mind Changes And Then I Have To Get Acquainted With It All Over Again.

Maples Are Such Sociable Trees ... They're Always Rustling And Whispering To You.

People Told Her She Hadn't Changed Much, In A Tone Which Hinted They Were Surprised And A Little Disappointed She Hadn't.

I Don't Know That She Is As Amusing As She Was When She Was A Child, But She Makes Me Love Her And I Like People Who Make Me Love Them. It Saves Me So Much Trouble In Making Myself Love Them.

Fancies Are Like Shadows...you Can't Cage Them, They're Such Wayward, Dancing Things.

Isn't It Splendid To Think Of All The Things There Are To Find Out About? It Just Makes Me Feel Glad To Be Alive--it's Such An Interesting World. It Wouldn't Be Half So Interesting If We Know All About Everything, Would It? There'd Be No Scope For Imagination Then, Would There?but Am I Talking Too Much? People Are Always Telling Me I Do. Would You Rather I Didn't Talk? If You Say So I'll Stop. I Can Stop When I Make Up My Mind To It, Although It's Difficult.

After All," Anne Had Said To Marilla Once, "i Believe The Nicest And Sweetest Days Are Not Those On Which Anything Very Splendid Or Wonderful Or Exciting Happens But Just Those That Bring Simple Little Pleasures, Following One Another Softly, Like Pearls Slipping Off A String.

I'm Sure I Shall Always Feel Like A Child In The Wood.

Nobody Whom This War Has Touched Will Ever Be Happy Again In Quite The Same Way. But It Will Be A Better Happiness, I Think, Little Sister - A Happiness We've Earned.

Besides, I've Been Feeling A Little Blue — Just A Pale, Elusive Azure. It Isn't Serious Enough For Anything Darker.

I Am Well In Body Although Considerably Rumpled Up In Spirit, Thank You, Ma'am,' Said Anne Gravely. Then Aside To Marilla In An Audible Whisper, 'there Wasn't Anything Startling In That, Was There, Marilla?

What Had Seemed Easy In Imagination Was Rather Hard In Reality.

It's Such An Interesting World. It Wouldn't Be Half So Interesting If We Knew All About Everything, Would It?

Talking Too Much

I Have Really Done So Few Bad Things That They Have To Keep Harping On The Old Ones [.]

It Would Be Lovely To Sleep In A Wild Cherry-tree All White With Bloom In The Moonshine

Oh, But There's Such A Difference Between Saying A Thing Yourself And Hearing Other People Say It,' Wailed Anne. 'you May Know A Thing Is So, But You Can't Help Hoping Other People Don't Quite Think It Is.

Despair Is A Free Man--hope Is A Slave.

As A Rule, I Am Very Careful To Be Shallow And Conventional Where Depth And Originality Are Wasted.

The Woods Are Never Solitary--they Are Full Of Whispering, Beckoning, Friendly Life. But The Sea Is A Mighty Soul, Forever Moaning Of Some Great, Unshareable Sorrow, Which Shuts It Up Into Itself For All Eternity.

Nobody Is Ever Too Old To Dream. And Dreams Never Grow Old.

Anne Of Windy Poplars

It's So Easy To Be Wicked Without Knowing It, Isn't It?

Thank Goodness Air And Salvation Are Still Free...and So Is Laughter.

I Wonder What It Would Be Like To Live In A World Where It Was Always June.

I Don't Really Care What People Think About Me If They Don't Let Me See It.

Before This War Is Over,' [walter] Said - Or Something Said Through His Lips - 'every Man And Woman And Child In Canada Will Feel It - You, Mary, Will Feel It - Feel It To Your Heart's Core. You Will Weep Tears Of Blood Over It. The Piper Has Come - And He Will Pipe Until Every Corner Of The World Has Heard His Awful And Irresistible Music. It Will Be Years Before The Dance Of Death Is Over - Years, Mary. And In Those Years Millions Of Hearts Will Break.

I'm So Glad My Window Looks East Into The Sunrising- It's So Splendid To See The Morning Coming Up Over Those Long Hills And Glowing Through Those Sharp Fir Tops. It's New Every Morning, And I Feel As If I Washed My Very Soul In That Bath Of Earliest Sunshine.

It's Delightful When Your Imaginations Come True, Isn't It?

Poor Soul, She Always Knew Everything About Her Neighbors, But She Never Was Very Well Acquainted With Herself.

When I Left Queen's My Future Seemed To Stretch Out Before Me Like A Straight Road. I Thought I Could See Along It For Many A Milestone. Now There Is A Bend In It. I Don't Know What Lies Around The Bend, But I'm Going To Believe That The Best Does.

My Pen Shall Heal, Not Hurt.

I'd Write Of People And Places Like I Knew, And I'd Make My Characters Talk Everyday English; And I'd Let The Sun Rise And Set In The Usual Quiet Way Without Much Fuss Over The Fact. If I Had To Have Villains At All, I'd Give Them A Chance, Anne--i'd Give Them A Chance. There Are Some Terrible Bad Men The World, I Suppose, But You'd Have To Go A Long Piece To Find Them...but Most Of Us Have Got A Little Decency Somewhere In Us. Keep On Writing, Anne.

Facts Are Stubborn Things, But, As Some One Has Wisely Said, Not Half So Stubborn As Fallacies.

If Any Person Wants To See Clearly Just How Much She Has Changed - Whether For Better Or Worse - Let Her Revisit After Some Lapse Of Time Any Place Where She Has Ones Lived. She Will Meet Her Former Self At Every Turn, With Every Familiar Face, In Every Old Recollection ... She Will See How Much She Has Gained In Some Respects, How Much She Has Lost - Irretrievably Lost - In Others.

It's So Dreadful To Have Nothing To Love - Life Is So Empty - And There's Nothing Worse Than Emptiness.

Anne Laughed And Sighed. She Felt Very Old And Mature And Wise — Which Showed How Young She Was.

Which Would You Rather Be If You Had The Choice--divinely Beautiful Or Dazzlingly Clever Or Angelically Good?

Don't Look At Me So Sorrowfully And So Disapprovingly, Dearest. I Can't Be Sober And Serious - Everything Looks So Rosy And Rainbowy To Me.

People Who Haven’t Red Hair Don’t Know What Trouble Is.

...the Sorrows God Sent Us Brought Comfort And Strength With Them, While The Sorrows We Brought On Ourselves, Through Folly Or Wickedness, Were By Far The Hardest To Bear.

But I'd Rather Look Like You Than Be Pretty," She Told Anne Sincerely. Anne Laughed, Sipped Honey From The Tribute, And Cast Away The Sting.

The Ghosts Of Things That Never Happened Are Worse Than The Ghosts Of Things That Did.

When People Ask Me What On Earth I Want To Keep Two Cats For I Tell Them I Keep Them To Do My Resting For Me.

I'd Rather Look Ridiculous When Everybody Else Does Than Plain And Sensible All By Myself.

Why Is It That The Nicest Things Never Are Healthy?

Secrets Are Generally Terrible. Beauty Is Not Often Hidden — Only Ugliness And Deformity.

I Can't Cheer Up — I Don't Want To Cheer Up. It's Nicer To Be Miserable!

Valancy Herself Had Never Quite Relinquished A Certain Pitiful, Shamed, Little Hope That Romance Would Come Her Way Yet - Never, Until This Wet, Horrible Morning, When She Wakened To The Fact That She Was Twenty-nine And Unsought By Any Man. Ay, There Lay The Sting. Valancy Did Not Mind So Much Being An Old Maid. After All, She Thought, Being An Old Maid Couldn’t Possibly Be As Dreadful As Being Married To An Uncle Wellignton Or An Uncle Benjamin, Or Even An Uncle Herbert. What Hurt Her Was That She Had Never Had A Chance To Be Anything But An Old Maid.

There Was No Mistaking Her Sincerity--it Breathed In Every Tone Of Her Voice. Both Marilla And Mrs. Lynde Recognized Its Unmistakable Ring. But The Former Understood In Dismay That Anne Was Actually Enjoying Her Valley Of Humiliation--was Reveling In The Thoroughness Of Her Abasement. Where Was The Wholesome Punishment Upon Which She, Marilla, Had Plumed Herself? Anne Had Turned It Into A Species Of Positive Pleasure.

I Love Bright Red Drinks, Don’t You? They Taste Twice As Good As Any Other Color.

Oh, Sometimes I Think It Is Of No Use To Make Friends. They Only Go Out Of Your Life After Awhile And Leave A Hurt That Is Worse Than The Emptiness Before They Came.

Blessings Be The Inventor Of The Alphabet, Pen And Printing Press! Life Would Be -- To Me In All Events -- A Terrible Thing Without Books.

I Love Pretty Things; And I Hate To Look In The Glass And See Something That Isn't Pretty. It Makes Me Feel So Sorrowful—just As I Feel When I Look At Any Ugly Thing. I Pity It Because It Isn't Beautiful.

Rilla's Heart Skipped A Beat — Or, If That Be A Physiological Impossibility, She Thought It Did.

There Might Be Some Hours Of Loneliness. But There Was Something Wonderful Even In Loneliness. At Least You Belonged To Yourself When You Were Lonely.

Marilla Felt More Embarrassed Than Ever. She Had Intended To Teach Anne The Childish Classic, "now I Lay Me Down To Sleep." But She Had, As I Have Told You, The Glimmerings Of A Sense Of Humor--which Is Simply Another Name For A Sense Of The Fitness Of Things; And It Suddenly Occurred To Her That Simple Little Prayer, Sacred To The White-robed Childhood Lisping At Motherly Knees, Was Entirely Unsuited To This Freckled Witch Of A Girl Who Knew And Cared Nothing About God's Love, Since She Had Never Had It Translated To Her Through The Medium Of Human Love.

Never Write A Line You'd Be Ashamed To Read At Your Own Funeral.

We Must Have Ideals And Try To Live Up To Them, Even If We Never Quite Succeed. Life Would Be A Sorry Business Without Them. With Them It's Grand And Great.

New Years Resolution

Some People Go Through Life Trying To Find Out What The World Holds For Them Only To Find Out Too Late That It's What They Bring To The World That Really Counts.

Look, Do You See That Poem?' She Said Suddenly, Pointing.

It's As Easy To Give Away A Million As A Hundred If You Have Not Got Either.

You Mayn't Get The Things Themselves; But Nothing Can Prevent You From Having The Fun Of Looking Forward To Them.

Looking Forward

That's One Of The Things We Learn As We Grow Older -- How To Forgive. It Comes Easier At Forty Than It Did At Twenty.

I Can't Help Flying Up On The Wings Of Anticipation. It's As Glorious As Soaring Through A Sunset... Almost Pays For The Thud.

Houses Are Like People - Some You Like And Some You Don't Like - And Once In A While There Is One You Love.

It Is When My Umbrella Turns Inside Out That I Am Convinced Of The Total Depravity Of Inanimate Things.

Inanimate Objects

It Was November--the Month Of Crimson Sunsets, Parting Birds, Deep, Sad Hymns Of The Sea, Passionate Wind-songs In The Pines. Anne Roamed Through The Pineland Alleys In The Park And, As She Said, Let That Great Sweeping Wind Blow The Fogs Out Of Her Soul.

We Belong To The Race That Knows Joseph

I Was Very Much Provoked. Of Course, I Knew There Are No Fairies; But That Needn't Prevent My Thinking There Is.

I Wonder Why People So Commonly Suppose That If Two Individuals Are Both Writers They Must Therefore Be Hugely Congenial," Said Anne, Rather Scornfully. "nobody Would Expect Two Blacksmiths To Be Violently Attracted Toward Each Other Merely Because They Were Both Blacksmiths.

Nobody Can Keep On Being Angry If She Looks Into The Heart Of A Pansy For A Little While.

Life Is Worth Living As Long As There's A Laugh In It.

But She Had Long Ago Learned That When She Wandered Into The Realm Of Fancy She Must Go Alone. The Way To It Was By An Enchanted Path Where Not Even Her Dearest Might Follow Her.

But It Ain't Our Feelings We Have To Steer By Through Life--no, No, We'd Make Shipwreck Mighty Often If We Did That. There's Only The One Safe Compass And We've Got To Set Our Course By That--what It's Right To Do.

Anne Reveled In The World Of Color About Her. "oh, Marilla," She Exclaimed One Saturday Morning, Coming Dancing In With Her Arms Full Of Gorgeous Boughs, "i'm So Glad I Live In A World Where There Are Octobers. It Would Be Terrible If We Just Skipped From September To November, Wouldn't It? Look At These Maple Branches. Don't They Give You A Thrill--several Thrills?

Nothing Worth While Is Every Easy Come By.

Isn't It Splendid To Think Of All The Things There Are To Find Out About? It Just Makes Me Feel Glad To Be Alive-it's Such An Interesting World.

Talking Too Much

In Daylight I Belong To The World . . . In The Night To Sleep And Eternity. But In The Dusk I'm Free From Both And Belong Only To Myself . . . And You

Folks That Has Brought Up Children Know That There's No Hard And Fast Method In The World That'll Suit Every Child. But Them As Never Have Think It's All As Plain And Easy As Rule Of Three—just Set Your Three Terms Down So Fashion, And The Sum'll Work Out Correct.

I've Always Held That Early Marriage Is A Sure Indication Of Second-rate Goods That Had To Be Sold In A Hurry." - Martin Harris

Anne’s Horizons Had Closed In Since The Night She Had Sat There After Coming Home From Queen’s; But If The Path Set Before Her Feet Was To Be Narrow She Knew That Flowers Of Quiet Happiness Would Bloom Along It. The Joys Of Sincere Work And Worthy Aspiration And Congenial Friendship Were To Be Hers; Nothing Could Rob Her Of Her Birthright Of Fancy Or Her Ideal World Of Dreams. And There Was Always The Bend In The Road!

They Keep Coming Up New All The Time - Things To Perplex You, You Know. You Settle One Question And There's Another Right After. There Are So Many Things To Be Thought Over And Decided When You're Beginning To Grow Up. It Keeps Me Busy All The Time Thinking Them Over And Deciding What's Right. It's A Serious Thing To Grow Up, Isn't It, Marilla?

And He Wrote, "when The Moon Rises Tonight Think Of Me And I'll Think Of You.

It's Great To Be Great, But It's Great To Be Human.

No Use In Taking A Cat's Opinion Of A Dog.

I Am Simply A 'book Drunkard.' Books Have The Same Irresistible Temptation For Me That Liquor Has For Its Devotee. I Cannot Withstand Them.

Perhaps, After All, Romance Did Not Come Into One's Life With Pomp And Blare... Perhaps It Crept To One's Side Like An Old Friend Through Quiet Ways.

That's The Worst…or The Best…of Real Life, Anne. It Won't Let You Be Miserable. It Keeps On Trying To Make You Comfortable…and Succeeding…even When You're Determined To Be Unhappy And Romantic.

You'd Find It Easier To Be Bad Than Good If You Had Red Hair." — Anne Shirley

She Asked Me What Made Me Do Such A Thing. That Is An Awkward Question Because I Often Can't Tell What Makes Me Do Things. Sometimes I Do Them Just To Find Out What I Feel Like Doing Them. And Sometimes I Do Them Because I Want To Have Some Exciting Things To Tell My Grandchildren.

Perhaps, After All, Romance Did Not Come Into One’s Life With Pomp And Blare, Like A Gay Knight Riding Down; Perhaps It Crept To One’s Side Like An Old Friend Through Quiet Ways; Perhaps It Revealed Itself In Seeming Prose, Until Some Sudden Shaft Of Illumination Flung Athwart Its Pages Betrayed The Rhythm And The Music, Perhaps . . . Perhaps . . . Love Unfolded Naturally Out Of A Beautiful Friendship, As A Golden-hearted Rose Slipping From Its Green Sheath.

Heaven Grant Me Patience! Clothes Are Very Important," Said Anne Severely

Do You Know What I Think Mayflowers Are, Marilla? I Think They Must Be The Souls Of The Flowers That Died Last Summer, And This Is Their Heaven.

There Must Be A Limit To The Mistakes One Person Can Make, And When I Get To The End Of Them, Then I'll Be Through With Them. That's A Comforting Thought

I Love To Smell Flowers In The Dark," She Said. "you Get Hold Of Their Soul Then.

That Is One Consolation When You Are Poor—there Are So Many More Things You Can Imagine About.

That's All The Freedom We Canhope For - The Freedom To Choose Our Prison. [...]

Freedom To Choose

…i'm Sorry, And A Little Dissatisfied As Well. Miss Stacy Told Me Long Ago That By The Time I Was Twenty My Character Would Be Formed, For Good Or Evil. I Don't Feel That It's What It Should Be. It's Full Of Flaws.' 'so's Everybody's,' Said Aunt Jamesina Cheerfully. 'mine's Cracked In A Hundred Places. Your Miss Stacy Likely Meant That When You Are Twenty Your Character Would Have Got Its Permanent Bent In One Direction Or 'tother, And Would Go On Developing In That Line.

Twilight Drops Her Curtain Down, And Pins It With A Star.

You Have The Itch For Writing Born In You. It's Quite Incurable. What Are You Going To Do With It?

It Was Less Humiliating To Admit Crying Because Of Your Feet Than Because - Because Somebody Had Been Amusing Himself With You And Your Friends Had Forgotten You, And Other People Patronised You.

We've Had A Beautiful Friendship, Diana. We've Never Marred It By One Quarrel Or Coolness Or Unkind Word; And I Hope It Will Always Be So. But Things Can't Be Quite The Same After This. You'll Have Other Interests. I'll Just Be On The Outside.

Have You Ever Noticed That When People Say It Is Their Duty To Tell You A Certain Thing You May Prepare For Something Disagreeable? Why Is It That They Never Seem To Think It A Duty To Tell You The Pleasant Things They Hear About You?

The Night Was Clear And Frosty, All Ebony Of Shadow And Silver Of Snowy Slope; Big Stars Were Shining Over The Silent Fields; Here And There The Dark Pointed Firs Stood Up With Snow Powdering Their Branches And The Wind Whistling Through Them.

Do You Think Amethysts Can Be The Souls Of Good Violets?

Good Night, Belovedest. Your Sleep Will Be Sweet If There Is Any Influences In The Wishes Of Your Own.

You Never Know What Peace Is Until You Walk On The Shores Or In The Fields Or Along The Winding Red Roads Of Prince Edward Island In A Summer Twilight When The Dew Is Falling And The Old Stars Are Peeping Out And The Sea Keeps Its Mighty Tryst With The Little Land It Loves. You Find Your Soul Then. You Realize That Youth Is Not A Vanished Thing But Something That Dwells Forever In The Heart.

Yes, It's Beautiful,' Said Gilbert, Looking Steadily Down Into Anne's Uplifted Face, 'but Wouldn't It Have Been More Beautiful Still, Anne, If There Had Been No Separation Or Misunderstanding . . . If They Had Come Hand In Hand All The Way Through Life, With No Memories Behind Them But Those Which Belonged To Each Other?

Listen To The Trees Talking In Their Sleep,' She Whispered, As He Lifted Her To The Ground. 'what Nice Dreams They Must Have!

Few Women Are So Beautiful And Charming That They Can Afford To Divest Themselves Of Any Portion Of Their Charm; So They Are Very Foolish To Do So By Smoking. It Doesn't Matter About Men. Men Look Ugly And Silly, Too, When Smoking. But It Isn't Beauty That Matters With Them-only Strength

She Seemed To Walk In An Atmosphere Of Things About To Happen.

A Few Italics Really Do Relieve Your Feelings.

Humor Is The Spiciest Condiment In The Feast Of Existence. Laugh At Your Mistakes But Learn From Them, Joke Over Your Troubles But Gather Strength From Them, Make A Jest Of Your Difficulties But Overcome Them.

There Is So Much In The World For Us All If We Only Have The Eyes To See It, And The Heart To Love It, And The Hand To Gather It To Ourselves--so Much In Men And Women, So Much In Art And Literature, So Much Everywhere In Which To Delight, And For Which To Be Thankful.

A Cold In The Head In June Is An Immoral Thing.

Wouldn't It Be Nice If Roses Could Talk? I'm Sure They Could Tell Us Such Lovely Things.

Anne Always Remembered The Silvery, Peaceful Beauty And Fragrant Calm Of That Night. It Was The Last Night Before Sorrow Touched Her Life; And No Life Is Ever Quite The Same Again When Once That Cold, Sanctifying Touch Has Been Laid Upon It.

All In All, It Was A Never-to-be-forgotten Summer — One Of Those Summers Which Come Seldom Into Any Life, But Leave A Rich Heritage Of Beautiful Memories In Their Going — One Of Those Summers Which, In A Fortunate Combination Of Delightful Weather, Delightful Friends And Delightful Doing, Come As Near To Perfection As Anything Can Come In This World.

As She Walked Along She Dramatized The Night. There Was About It A Wild, Lawless Charm That Appealed To A Certain Wild, Lawless Strain Hidden Deep In Emily’s Nature—the Strain Of The Gypsy And The Poet, The Genius And The Fool.

She Was Richer In Those Dreams Than In Realities; For Things Seen Pass Away, But The Things That Are Unseen Are Eternal.

People Who Don't Like Cats Always Seem To Think There Is Some Peculiar Virtue In Not Liking Them.

You Noticed That I Wore This Outfit Twice? Why, The Only Thing You Wear Twice Is A Sour Expression.

Love You! Girl, You're In The Very Core Of My Heart. I Hold You There Like A Jewel. Didn't I Promise You I'd Never Tell You A Lie? Love You! I Love You With All There Is Of Me To Love. Heart, Soul, Brain. Every Fibre Of Body And Spirit Thrilling To The Sweetness Of You. There's Nobody In The World For Me But You, Valancy.

I'd Like To Add Some Beauty To Life," Said Anne Dreamily. "i Don't Exactly Want To Make People Know More... Though I Know That Is The Noblest Ambition... But I'd Love To Make Them Have A Pleasanter Time Because Of Me... To Have Some Little Joy Or Happy Thought That Would Never Have Existed If I Hadn't Been Born.

[o]ne Can Dream So Much Better In A Room Where There Are Pretty Things.

Reading Stories Is Bad Enough But Writing Them Is Worse.

Anyone Who Has Gumption Knows What It Is, And Anyone Who Hasn’t Can Never Know What It Is. So There Is No Need Of Defining It.

Tomorrow Is Always Fresh, With No Mistakes In It.

I Heard Someone Say Once That The Years From Fifteen To Nineteen Are The Best Years In A Girl's Life.

Heretics Are Wicked, But They're Mighty Int'resting. It's Jest That They've Got Sorter Lost Looking For God, Being Under The Impression That He's Hard To Find - Which He Ain't Never.

But If You Call Me Anne, Please Call Me Anne With An 'e'.

Fairyland Is The Loveliest Word Because It Means Everything The Human Heart Desires.

…i Think,' Concluded Anne, Hitting On A Very Vital Truth, 'that We Always Love Best The People Who Need Us.

I Feel As If Something Has Been Torn Suddenly Out Of My Life And Left A Terrible Hole. I Feel As If I Couldn't Be I — As If I Must Have Changed Into Somebody Else And Couldn't Get Used To It. It Gives Me A Horrible Lonely, Dazed, Helpless Feeling. It's Good To See You Again — It Seems As If You Were A Sort Of Anchor For My Drifting Soul.

Having Adventures Comes Natural To Some People", Said Anne Serenely. "you Just Have A Gift For Them Or You Haven't.

How Sadly Things Had Changed Since She Had Sat There The Night After Coming Home! Then She Had Been Full Of Hope And Joy And The Future Had Looked Rosy With Promise. Anne Felt As If She Had Lived Years Since Then, But Before She Went To Bed There Was A Smile On Her Lips And Peace In Her Heart. She Had Looked Her Duty Courageously In The Face And Found It A Friend--as Duty Ever Is When We Meet It Frankly.

If I Can't Get What I Want - Well, I'll Want What I Can Get.

That's One Splendid Thing About Such Affairs — It's So Lovely To Look Back To Them.

I've Done My Best, And I Begin To Understand What Is Meant By 'the Joy Of Strife'. Next To Trying And Winning, The Best Thing Is Trying And Failing.

It Is Never Quite Safe To Think We Have Done With Life. When We Imagine We Have Finished Our Story Fate Has A Trick Of Turning The Page And Showing Us Yet Another Chapter.

Oh, It's Delightful To Have Ambitions. I'm So Glad I Have Such A Lot. And There Never Seems To Be Any End To Them-- That's The Best Of It. Just As Soon As You Attain To One Ambition You See Another One Glittering Higher Up Still. It Does Make Life So Interesting.

Oh, Marilla, I Thought I Was Happy Before. Now I Know That I Just Dreamed A Pleasant Dream Of Happiness. This Is The Reality.

If A Kiss Could Be Seen I Think It Would Look Like A Violet.

Don't Believe In Imagining Things Different From What They Really Are. When The Lord Puts Us In Certain Circumstances He Doesn't Mean For Us To Imagine Them Away.

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Muriel Rukeyser

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