They Were Sisters Quotes

“It matters to ourselves, of course, but it matters terribly to other people. Moral failure or spiritual failure or whatever you call it, makes such a vicious circle... It seems as if when we love people and they fall short, we retaliate by falling shorter ourselves. Children are like that. Adults have a fearful responsibility. When they fail to live up to what children expect of them, the children give up themselves. So each generation keeps failing the next.”
― Dorothy Whipple, They Were Sisters

“Margaret was a sensitive string from which her father could pluck any note he wished. He began early. He used to threaten her when she was no more than a baby that he would go away and get another little girl. Her tears enchanted him. The droop of her mouth was delicious. She used to put her head down on his shoulder and cry, not noisily like a baby, but quietly like an adult. He used to frighten her for the sake of feeling her press closer to him, for the sake of soothing her again.”
― Dorothy Whipple, They Were Sisters