″‘Yes, dear. Now, I think you could do with some more hair clips, don’t you?’
‘No.’
‘Well, let’s say half a dozen, to be on the safe side, ‘said her mother.
Coraline didn’t say anything.”
“Before you tell your life what you intend to do with it, listen for what it intends to do with you. Before you tell your life what truths and values you have decided to live up to, let your life tell you what truths you embody, what values you represent.”
“Although Lasaraleen had said she was dying to hear Aravis’s story, she showed no sign of really wanting to hear it at all. She was, in fact, much better at talking than at listening... The fuss she made about choosing the dresses nearly drove Aravis mad. She remembered now that Lasaraleen had always been like that, interested in clothes and parties and gossip.”
“But myself is not listening. She refuses to listen. She’s picking up another letter and another and another, frantically looking for a different answer.”
“Now, freight cars are silly and noisy. They talk a lot and don’t attend to what they are doing. They don’t listen to their engine, and when he stops, they bump into each other, screaming, ‘Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Whatever is happening?’ And, I’m sorry to say, they play tricks on an engine who is not used to them.”