Last September, I wrote about a memoir I'd just finished reading. It was "The Midwife; A Memoir of Birth, Joy & Hard Times", by Jennifer Worth. http://beckypovich.blogspot.com/2010/09/memoirs-i-love-memoirs.html.
I didn't think I'd like it at first. It was about the poorest of the poor, in 1950's England. But the writing was just beautiful. This is one of those rare books I'd actually read a second time. Fortunately, too, Jennifer Worth has written other books in this series, which I'll look for at the library...one of these days!
Here are a couple that really spoke to me:
"Circumstances bring people together and take them apart. One cannot keep up with everyone in a lifetime."
"What a pity! Life is so fleeting, and the past so rich."
What about you? What are some of your favorite lines from books? Are there any in particular that really resonated with you?
From Stephen King's "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption":
ReplyDelete"I hope Andy is down there.
I hope I can make it across the border.
I hope to see my friend and shake his hand.
I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams.
I hope."
Love your picture of Vern. He looks so happy and content.
"Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the spaces between the notes and and curl my back to loneliness." Maya Angelou (Singin' and Swingin' and gettin' Merry Like Christmas) Oh to be able to write like that!
ReplyDelete"Up Scrooge went not caring a button for that.[Ghosts in the darkened stairwell] Darkness was cheap and Scrooge liked it." I love Dickens and his marvelous cast of colorful characters.
ReplyDelete"Why. know you not that I am woman? When I think, I must speak!"
ReplyDeleteAs You Like It by W. Shakespeare
Hi Becky,
ReplyDeleteI just got through reading "Beloved" by Toni Morrison. I jotted down a quote, which I rarely do. It is on page 95:
"Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another."
They were talking about escaping from slavery in the 1800's, but I was thinking of how it applies to many other situations today.
I hope those storms are all over with now. Take care,
Kathy
The world breaks us all. Afterward, some are stronger at the broken places." Ernest Hemingway- Farewell To Arms
ReplyDelete"Promise me you'll always remember: you're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." A.A. Milne, Winne the Pooh
"Because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart." -Anne Frank
"Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand." - Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit
I think "Little Women" has SO much wisdom in it. I have compiled about two dozen passages that really resonate with me.
ReplyDeleteOne of them is from the chapter entitled "Burdens." Marmee is giving the girls a lesson about gratefulness and contentment. The line that spoke volumes in that passage is this:
"When you feel discontented, think over your blessings, and be grateful."
A very wise lesson to be learned, huh?
Love,
Patti
LOL--this is exactly why I have quotes at the end of my posts. They are my virtual form of hoarding, these lines that touch me until I just can't part with them. Here's one I hope to use someday: “Resentment is the most precious flower of poverty.” Carson McCullers, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
ReplyDeleteI'm lucky to remember the name of the book!
ReplyDelete"Beware thoughts that come in the night. They aren't turned properly; they come in askew, free of sense and restriction, deriving from the most remote of sources."
ReplyDeletehttp://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/w/williamlea193205.html
This quote is from my brother-in-law's first book, Blue Highways. I always loved this quote, but I love it even more since I've had the chance to spend time with Will and talk with him first-hand about the writing life. What an inspiration!
There are a few books that I've read, when after a day or two of simmering with the story, I've gone back and read them again, right away. There's always something more there in the second reading and I love when a story moves me to do this.
ReplyDeleteThanks, everyone! This is great. I hope the quotes keep on comin'!
ReplyDeleteHi Becky, what a gift you have to put words on paper and make them sing and touch a person's heart. hugs ~lynne~
ReplyDeleteI can't think of favorite lines right now, but I am happy to read yours.
ReplyDeleteGlad to be back enjoying your posts.
Lynne, thank you so much. It's always great to hear from you!
ReplyDeleteAnd Myrna, I'm so glad you are back! You've been missed very much!