The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion Quotes

“Aunt Eugenia sniffed, “Yes, well if you read only Exodus, I approve. But if I hear tell you’ve been spending time in the New Testament, I shall remove your Bible entirely.”
“Why is that Aunt?”
“Paul.”
“Paul?”
“Paul. Paul, with his charity above all. Paul, who feels free to chastise us all like schoolchildren. Paul, always harping on long-suffering. I’ve no patience for it.”
“Understood. I’ll read Exodus to the dust and avoid the Apostle Paul in both his pre- and post-conversion state,” I replied. “It is settled.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 8

“one can love many places and still miss home.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 8

“Question: Ought I read the papers more than I do? Answer: Likely. However: Books.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 8

“Women with pockets are a threat to the male sex.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 8

“At time I feel my body has betrayed the girl I was, growing past the lithe limbs hewn in independence. We are to be fit for the purposes of adulthood, I know this. Childhood anticipations are traded with the shouldering of heavier things. But these days, these stones-tossed-in-tall-grass-days, have stretched my muscles, recalled past forms, and I am remembering how it is to feel, to follow the instincts of something young yet ancient. To step outside the province of maturity and marvel.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 8

“That every day should leave some part Free for a sabbath of the heart.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 8

“Two paths leading to a love. Both true. A different shape of happiness to be found with each. Which path you take? Depends on many things. What you choose. What they choose. A thousand other decisions, or possibly very few. One you would love deeply. One you would love completely. One sharp as a knife. One a game of mirrors.One more difficult. One less free. Both inheritors to the line that refused to die when your first heart was buried.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 8

“I have experienced something I can’t quite understand.” Hawkes waited, then, “A state I’ve known.” “What do you do with it?” “I wait on the shore of the mystery to see what the tide will bring.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 8

“One should go away long enough to know the cotton-soft contentment of coming home.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 8

“I refrained from making a long-suffering expression.

I did not.
Long-suffering expression was made.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 8

“Manners must prevail! When they suit one's situation, that is.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 8

“Things that ought to come with warnings rarely do.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 8

“it struck me that there are people in this world—usually men—who are doing other things, like walking long, grass-lined roads and thinking poetry and spangled thoughts. Men like Whitman. Or those who study great lives of ages past, recording them for a thousand generations after. Men like Plutarch. Or men who toil in enchanted islands and cold places called Elsinore, weaving magic and tragedy, and selling the tale to those willing to approach the altar of the stage. Men like Shakespeare.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 8

“He was never ours to begin with. Some things have to be let go. They weren’t made to stay.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 8

“Parian is becoming something of a chum.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 8

“It isn’t that I’m looking to become another Mrs. Morrow, but the idea of this fledgling family is…almost like watching the beginning of a story.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 8

“Who the hell is Hawkes?” he asked.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 8

“St. Crispian’s was out for blood, and Hawkes was going to lead the crusade.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 8

“Lose the occasional member of the family so the family fortune Remains Intact.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 8

“You are wise. Take the truth you have been given and do not mingle it with flattery and trinkets.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 8

“I am not commanding you, rather I am establishing a benevolent dictatorship, in which a command may be given.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 8

“Best write it all out I suppose - exorcise the demons.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 8

“Shimmer and fire, autographing the sky with smoke.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 8

“For example, why was Sarah chastised for laughing at the angel who told her she would bear a child. At ninety! I would have fallen about in absolute stitches, promise or no promise, mind you! The angel would have had to repeat himself three, possibly four, times. I know there is the business of faith in God’s promises, and believing angels is wise to do, but I feel there was some justifiable amusement to be had.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 8