The Arm of the Starfish Quotes

“You cannot see the past that did not happen any more than you can foresee the future.”
― Madeleine L'Engle, The Arm of the Starfish

“If you’re going to care about the fall of the sparrow you can’t pick and choose who’s going to be the sparrow. It’s everybody, and you’re stuck with it.”
― Madeleine L'Engle, The Arm of the Starfish

“Rules are made for people, not people for rules,”
― Madeleine L'Engle, The Arm of the Starfish

“Only where love and need are one,
And the work is play for mortal stakes,
Is the deed ever really done
For Heaven and the future’s sakes.”
― Madeleine L'Engle, The Arm of the Starfish

“There’s something wrong about trying to heal with a surgeon’s knife.”
― Madeleine L'Engle, The Arm of the Starfish

“There always have been and there always will be people who have been corrupted into enjoying any excuse for cruelty.”
― Madeleine L'Engle, The Arm of the Starfish

“If you accept any position of authority you have to know when to break or circumvent a rule. It’s the knowing when that’s important.”
― Madeleine L'Engle, The Arm of the Starfish

“if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.”
― Madeleine L'Engle, The Arm of the Starfish

“I can’t do it for love of God, like Tom Tallis, or for heaven’s sake, as Mr. Frost said. But because I love people I have to act according to it—to the fact that I love them.”
― Madeleine L'Engle, The Arm of the Starfish