Vittoria Cottage Quotes

“She saw beauty in ordinary little things and took pleasure in it (and this was just as well because she had had very little pleasure in her life). She took pleasure in a well-made cake, a smoothly ironed napkin, a pretty blouse, laundered and pressed; she liked to see the garden well dug, the rich soil brown and gravid; she loved her flowers. When you are young you are too busy with yourself... you haven't time for ordinary little things but, when you leave youth behind, your eyes open and you see magic and mystery all around you: magic in the flight of a bird, the shape of a leaf, the bold arch of a bridge against the sky, footsteps at night and a voice calling in the darkness, the moment in a theatre before the curtain rises, the wind in the trees, or (in winter) an apple-branch clothed with pure white snow and icicles hanging from from a stone and sparkling with rainbow colours.”
― D.E. Stevenson, Vittoria Cottage

“We’re going about it the wrong way … Passing laws and trying to make people happy and good … there’s only one way in which it can be done and that’s from inside outwards; starting with the individual and spreading outwards to others. Some people have power in them and could do a lot, others could just do a little, but everybody could do something … even if they just made one house a happy place.”
― D.E. Stevenson, Vittoria Cottage

“She saw, more or less, how the whole thing had happened, for she had the gift—which is often a doubtful blessing—of being able to see the other person's point of view, of being able to put herself in the other person's place.”
― D.E. Stevenson, Vittoria Cottage

“When you are young you are too busy with yourself - so Caroline thought - you haven't time for ordinary little things”
― D.E. Stevenson, Vittoria Cottage

“Caroline sat down beside Sue and held her hand and prayed. She had been frightened and miserable, her nerves tense with apprehension . . . but gradually all the fear and anxiety ebbed away and a flood of love and courage poured into her heart. She could feel it flowing through her and into the suffering girl like a warm comforting stream. Caroline did not move; she sat there quietly and let it flow—it was as easy as that—and presently Sue's trembling hand relaxed and her moans ceased and there was silence in the room.
"What are you doing to me, Mrs Dering?" whispered Sue.
"Loving you," replied Caroline gently.”
― D.E. Stevenson, Vittoria Cottage

“Children are ruthless because they have not learned pity, they are inconsiderate because they have never experienced pain. When Philip had written the letter he had not seen his father receiving it, Philip had just sat down and written exactly what he was feeling with absolute honesty...”
― D.E. Stevenson, Vittoria Cottage

“judged others by herself”
― D.E. Stevenson, Vittoria Cottage

“Life is transitory, thought Robert as he strolled along in the dark. Nothing in this world is permanent—neither sorrow nor joy—and only a foolish person would ask for permanence. We don’t stand still, thought Robert. We are travellers upon the path of life. No traveller can bathe twice in the same stream. He bathes and goes on his way and, if the road is dusty and hot, he may look back longingly and think of the clear cool water with regret . . . but presently he may come upon another stream, different of course, but equally delightful to bathe in.”
― D.E. Stevenson, Vittoria Cottage

“Life is transitory, thought Robert as he strolled along in the dark. Nothing in this world is permanent—neither sorrow nor joy—and only a foolish person would ask for permanence. We don’t stand still, thought Robert. We are travellers upon the path of life. No traveller can bathe twice in the same stream. He bathes and goes on his way and, if the road is dusty and hot, he may look back longingly and”
― D.E. Stevenson, Vittoria Cottage

“Life is transitory, thought Robert as he strolled along in the dark. Nothing in this world”
― D.E. Stevenson, Vittoria Cottage

“Children are ruthless because they have not learned pity, they are inconsiderate because they have never experienced pain. When”
― D.E. Stevenson, Vittoria Cottage

“upon the path of life. No traveller can bathe twice in the same stream. He bathes and goes on his way and, if the road is dusty and hot, he may look back longingly and think of the clear cool water with regret . . . but presently he may come upon another stream, different of course, but equally delightful to bathe in.”
― D.E. Stevenson, Vittoria Cottage

“Nothing in this world is permanent—neither sorrow nor joy—and only a foolish person would ask for permanence. We don’t stand still, thought Robert. We are travellers”
― D.E. Stevenson, Vittoria Cottage

“When you are young you are too busy with yourself — so Caroline thought — you haven’t time for ordinary little things, but, when you leave youth behind, your eyes open and you see magic and mystery all around you: magic in the flight of a bird, the shape of a leaf, the bold arch of a bridge against the sky, footsteps at night and a voice calling in the darkness, the moment in a theatre before the curtain rises, the wind in the trees, or (in winter) an apple-branch clothed with pure white snow and icicles hanging from a stone and sparkling with rainbow colours.”
― D.E. Stevenson, Vittoria Cottage

“Life is transitory, thought Robert as he strolled along in the dark. Nothing in this world is permanent — neither sorrow nor joy — and only a foolish person would ask for permanence. We don’t stand still, thought Robert. We are travellers upon the path of life. No traveller can bathe twice in the same stream. He bathes and goes on his way and, if the road is dusty and hot, he may look back longingly and think of the clear cool water with regret … but presently he may come upon another stream, different of course, but equally delightful to bathe in.”
― D.E. Stevenson, Vittoria Cottage

“Arnold was very clever,” she said at last. “He saw how unsettled the world was—everything slipping downhill. He was sure there was going to be another war. Sometimes I almost feel glad he didn’t live to see it. He said things were going from bad to worse and he was quite right, of course . . . but it doesn’t help to be miserable; it doesn’t make things right to keep on grieving over them. It clouds the sun, that’s all.”
― D.E. Stevenson, Vittoria Cottage

“It isn't what happens to you that matters, it's how you take it....”
― D.E. Stevenson, Vittoria Cottage

“....hatred is a terrible thing. Hatred hurts the hater far more than its object.”
― D.E. Stevenson, Vittoria Cottage

“Nothing in this world is permanent-neither sorrow nor joy-and only a foolish person would ask for permanence. We don't stand still, thought Robert. We are travellers upon the path of life.”
― D.E. Stevenson, Vittoria Cottage

“Nobody can laugh at you if you laugh first; the laugh with you.”
― D.E. Stevenson, Vittoria Cottage

“It isn't what happens to you that matters, it's how you take it.”
― D.E. Stevenson, Vittoria Cottage

“Life is transitory . . . . Nothing in the world is permanent—neither sorrow nor joy—and only a foolish person would ask for permanence. We don't stand still . . . . We are travelers upon the path of life. No traveler can bathe twice in the same stream. He bathes and goes on his way and, if the road is dusty and hot he may look back longingly and think of the clear cool water with regret . . . but presently he may come upon another stream, different of course, but equally delightful to bathe in.”
― D.E. Stevenson, Vittoria Cottage

“People can't go on living without happiness—or at least without hope.”
― D.E. Stevenson, Vittoria Cottage

“Homes slid past—hundreds of thousands of houses—and each one was a home, a secret place where people slept and ate and quarreled and made up again, where people were happy or miserable (or, even worse than miserable, were hopelessly resigned). Every house had its own peculiar atmosphere, its own peculiar smell, so that although there were dozens of houses, all alike to look at, they were all quite different.”
― D.E. Stevenson, Vittoria Cottage

“If everybody did what they could . . . made a little happiness here and there, just to start with . . . and then the circles would spread until they touched and merged.

It isn't impossible . . . there's only one way in which it can be done and that's from the inside outwards; starting with the individual and spreading outwards to others. Some people have power in them and could do a lot, others could just do a little, but everybody could do something . . . even if they just made one house a happy place.”
― D.E. Stevenson, Vittoria Cottage

“He’s in cotton-wool, pampered and cosseted, surrounded with hot-house flowers and picture papers. He’s a prisoner in a gilded cage. I wonder how long it will be”
― D.E. Stevenson, Vittoria Cottage

“She had sunk her whole personality to be Arnold’s wife, but even that was not enough, he was still unsatisfied …”
― D.E. Stevenson, Vittoria Cottage

“It was not until now, when she saw that she had lost Robert, that Caroline discovered how much he meant to her … she looked back and tried to determine exactly when her friendship for him had grown into love. It was a useless occupation, of course, and quite fruitless, for now it seemed to Caroline that she had always loved him. Perhaps the seed had been sown all those years ago at Elsinore and had lain dormant in her heart. She loved him in all sorts of different ways: she admired his character and enjoyed his humour, she felt an immense tenderness towards him and her heart beat faster when he was there. These feelings were so strong that they were difficult to disguise, and it was only by damping herself down that she could bear to be in the same room with him. Fortunately Caroline had learnt the lesson of renunciation; her life had taught her how to withdraw gracefully inside herself and how to bear disappointment and heartache with a smiling face, so instead of brooding upon her troubles she tried to banish them. She set to work and made a cake for the party. It was to be a magnificent cake, large and rich, full of eggs and fruit — an absolute pre-war cake. Comfort stood at her elbow, watching eagerly, helping to beat the mixture, breathing heavily with her exertions and chatting the while.”
― D.E. Stevenson, Vittoria Cottage

“Caroline was slightly taken aback (shocked would be much too strong a word to describe her feelings). It was difficult to know what to say to Widgeon. The whole affair seemed so topsy turvy, so typical of the topsy turvy conditions of modern life. She had tried to help her country by Growing More Food, and all she had got for the trouble involved was more trouble. She had received countless forms to fill up; she had been visited by inspectors who seemed to think it was within their province to be rude to her, and who treated her as if she were trying to defraud the authorities of their just and lawful due, and she had been fined quite heavily for doing something she did not know was wrong. Somewhat naturally Caroline felt annoyed and the opportunity to break the law without any risk at all tempted her considerably.”
― D.E. Stevenson, Vittoria Cottage

“Being honest with oneself is often a startling experience, and as Robert walked back to the Cock and Bull he tried to be completely honest with himself and was considerably startled at the result. He discovered that he had ceased to yearn for Wanda; he still grieved for her, of course, but the grief he felt was for her untimely death and not for his own loss. He had passed on from that part of his life and left it behind him. Life is transitory, thought Robert as he strolled along in the dark. Nothing in this world is permanent — neither sorrow nor joy — and only a foolish person would ask for permanence. We don’t stand still, thought Robert. We are travellers upon the path of life. No traveller can bathe twice in the same stream. He bathes and goes on his way and, if the road is dusty and hot, he may look back longingly and think of the clear cool water with regret … but presently he may come upon another stream, different of course, but equally delightful to bathe in.”
― D.E. Stevenson, Vittoria Cottage