rituals Quotes

“These were her rituals, the routines that made her feel alive and connected. Without them, where would she be? Lost.”

“A belief in God and the rituals surrounding that belief—church every Sunday, grace before meals, prayers before bed—were an important part of the Deweys’ existence.”

“As [Ekwefi] buried one child after another her sorrow gave way to the despair and then to grim resignation. The birth of her children, which should be a woman’s crowning glory, became for Ekwefi mere physical agony devoid of promise. The naming ceremony after seven market weeks became an empty ritual.”

″‘With all your customs,’ Eragon risked saying, ‘it seems as though you’ve only made it easier to offend people.‘”

“I’ve heard it said that the week in which a young girl prepares for her debut as an apprentice geisha is like when a caterpillar turns into a butterfly.”

“Brett was happy. Mike had a way of getting an intensity of feeling into shaking hands. Robert Cohn shook hands because we were back.”

“The lottery was conducted – as were the square dances, the teen club, the Halloween program – by Mr. Summers, who had time and energy to devote to civic activities.”

“Clean forgot what day it was,”

″ People ain’t the way they used to be. ”

″ So much of the ritual had been forgotten or discarded. ”

″‘There goes my old man.’ Mrs. Delacroix said. She held her breath while her husband went forward.”

“Bill Hutchinson was standing quiet, staring down at the paper in his hand.‘”

“Although Mr. Summers and everyone else in the village knew the answer perfectly well, it was the business of the official of the lottery to ask such questions formally.”

“It isn’t fair, it isn’t right,”

“There’s always been a lottery. ”

“Daughters draw with their husbands’ families, Tessie,”

“Guess we better get started, get this over with, so we can go back to work.”

“Get up there, Bill,”

“Someone gave little Davy Hutchinson a few pebbles.”

“Mrs. Delacroix selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands and turned to Mrs. Dunbar. ‘Come on,’ she said. ‘Hurry up.‘”

“You didn’t give him time enough to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn’t fair!”

″‘There’s Don and Eva,’ Mrs. Hutchinson yelled. ‘Make them take their chance!’

“The people had done it so many times that they only half listened to the directions; most of them were quiet, wetting their lips, not looking around.”

“A transition was about to be completed: the sun was crossing the zenith to a winter place in the sky, a place where prayers of long winter nights would call out the long summer days of new growth. Tonight the old priests would be praying for the force to continue the relentless motion of the stars.”

“You must learn to distract your victims with a myriad of pleasant little rituals? thoughtful gifts tailored just for them, clothes and adornments designed to please them, gestures that show the time and attention you are paying them. Mesmerized by what they see, they will not notice what you are really up to.”