“Father laughed, which upset Bruno even more; there was nothing that made him more angry than when a grown-up laughed at him for not knowing something, especially when he was trying to find out the answer by asking questions.”
“It is not the brightest who succeed. ... Nor is success simply the sum of the decisions and efforts we make on our own behalf. It is, rather, a gift. Outliers are those that have been given an opportunities - and who have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them.”
“One sign that I am violating my own nature in the name of nobility is a condition called burnout. Though usually regarded as the result of trying to give too much, burnout in my experience results from trying to give what I do not possess-the ultimate in giving too little!”
“You may think some of this seems far-fetched, even impossible. Believe me, I know we all cling to life and its certainties. It’s not easy in these cynical times to cast off the hardness and edge that gets us through our days. But try just a little.”
“Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don’t give up.”
“In trying to become ‘objective,’ Western culture made ‘objects’ of things and people when it distanced itself from them, thereby losing ‘touch’ with them.”
“Good. Tonight, after you were gone, I thought a lot. About you and how you’ve been treating me and I thought, “Why do I love you?” And then, I felt everything in me just let go of everything I was holding onto so tightly. And it hit me that I don’t have an intellectual reason. I don’t need one. I trust myself, I trust my feelings. I’m not gonna try to be anything other than who I am anymore and I hope you can accept that.”
“People who have experienced a certain kind of pleasure in the past will try to repeat or relive it. The deepest-rooted and most pleasurable memories are usually those from earliest childhood, and are often unconsciously associated with a parental figure. ”
“Your human joy fascinates me-the way you experience things, in your life span, so wildly and deeply and all at once, is... entrancing. I’m drawn to it, even when I know I shouldn’t be, even when I try not to be.”
“What worries me the most,′ she continued, ‘is the opposite, the possibility that they’re not trying. They could communicate with us, all right, but they’re not doing it because they don’t see any point to it. It’s like...”--she glanced down at the edge of the tablecloth they had spread over the grass--“like the ants.”
“He saw how hard Jude tried…he saw how determined he was, he saw how brave he was being. And this reminded him that he, too, had to keep trying. Both of them were uncertain; both of them were trying as much as they could; both of them would doubt themselves, would progress and recede. But they would both keep trying, because they trusted the other, and because the other person was the only other person who would ever be worth such hardships, such difficulties, such insecurities and exposure.”
“It doesn’t matter what you’re talking about - war, work, marriage, democracy, love, it all fails because everybody gives up trying after a while, we can’t help ourselves.”
“‘I don’t know what Arks, I mean Mr Robertson, expects of me.’
‘That you do your best. That’s all anybody expects of you. Do your best and he’ll be happy as Larry.’”
Retta, the responsible older sister trying to replace mom, frustrated by the lack of appreciation for her efforts and is hurt by the lack of loyalty from her brothers. Johnny, the pre-teen experiencing a need for rebellion and independence. He’s trying to make a splash because of the lack of attention he gets and how fed up he is with being told what to do.
“The apothecary’s name was Owlglass. He hummed to himself as he worked in his back room. He’d found a new type of blue fluff, which he was grinding down. It was probably good for curing something. He’d have to try it out on people until he found out what.”
“One afternoon, when he was reading, an idea popped into his head and...as the parson was at that very moment passing by, Arthur told him all about it. The parson rather liked the idea, at least he said he was willing to give it a try.”
″‘You can’t mend a dog’s leg if it’s broken. Everyone knows that,’ the boy answered. His eyes became suspiciously bright, but if he was fighting back tears, he didn’t let her know.
‘Why not? Why not at least try? Come, give him a pat.‘”
“After recess, Treehorrn was thirsty, so he went down the hall to the water bubbler. He couldn’t reach it, and he tried to jump up high enough. He still couldn’t get a drink, but he kept jumping up and down, trying.”
“But once or twice, Cat found the odd spell lying about. Then he could not resist trying it. He would have liked to have had just a little of Gwendolen’s talent.”
“I want you to let Caddie run wild with the boys. Don’t keep her in the house learning to be a lady. I would rather see her learn to plow than make samplers, if she can get her health by doing so. I believe it is worth trying. Bring the other girls up as you like, but let me have Caddie.”
″ ‘From now on,’ Katy promised, ‘I shall never complain, I’ll be a happy caboose at the end of a train
And put up with the jolts, the train noise, and the rest,
All the smoke that rolls by- or at least try my best.’ ”
I must only try in the future to show that I am not ungrateful to God for all His goodness to me in sending to me such a lover, such a husband, and such a friend.
Jo had the least self-control, and had hard times trying to curb the fiery spirit which was continually getting her into trouble. Her anger never lasted long, and having humbly confessed her fault, she sincerely repented and tried to do better.