When We Were Young & Brave Quotes

“But wishes and hopes are fragile things, easily crushed by the marching boots of enemy soldiers.”
― Hazel Gaynor, When We Were Young & Brave

“For the first time since we’d been under Japanese guard, I understood that freedom wasn’t something I had to wait for, but was something I could choose. In my mind, in my imagination and my memories, I could be as free as the birds that raced the wind; as free as the clouds that chased the sun far above me.”
― Hazel Gaynor, When We Were Young & Brave

“Books are a feast for the imagination,” Mrs. Trevellyan announced as she wafted around her room like a will-o’-the-wisp. “Who cares if there’s barbed wire around the walls. This is our escape.”
― Hazel Gaynor, When We Were Young & Brave

“Funny isn’t it, how little you need when you have nothing.”
― Hazel Gaynor, When We Were Young & Brave

“Books aren't museum pieces to be admired from a distance. They're meant to be lived in; messed up a little.”
― Hazel Gaynor, When We Were Young & Brave

“People talk too much anyway,” she added as we took our food and sat at one of the long tables. “Nobody ever listens properly. You see and hear so much more when you’re quiet.”
― Hazel Gaynor, When We Were Young & Brave

“I think they understand more than we know,” Minnie replied. “But, you’re right. Children don’t deal in consequences. They have a wonderful capacity for living in the now, while we’re forever imagining the worst, and ‘what-iffing.”
― Hazel Gaynor, When We Were Young & Brave

“What’s bothering me is who will look after the sunflower when we’re gone?” Sprout whispered. I stared at the ceiling. “It will have to look after itself now. In the end, I suppose we all do, don’t we.”
― Hazel Gaynor, When We Were Young & Brave

“But, as I’d come to realize about life during a war, nothing stayed the same for long. Just when you thought you’d adjusted and adapted and found a way to cope, the situation changed.”
― Hazel Gaynor, When We Were Young & Brave

“Family was what held us all together in the end.”
― Hazel Gaynor, When We Were Young & Brave

“This is our escape. Right here, in all these glorious words. Between these pages, we can be as free as the birds. We can go anywhere we please.”
― Hazel Gaynor, When We Were Young & Brave

“I knew we couldn't keep on smiling and singing forever. Nobody could, no matter how deeply rooted their faith, or how brave they were.”
― Hazel Gaynor, When We Were Young & Brave

“I always suspected my Girl Guide skills would come in handy one day.”
― Hazel Gaynor, When We Were Young & Brave

“You never forget your children, no matter how far away they might be.”
― Hazel Gaynor, When We Were Young & Brave

“Wherever we were going, and wherever we might go beyond that, I resolved that I would plant a sunflower seed at each place, a symbol of our strength and our determination to carry on. A reminder that we could thrive even in the harshest conditions.”
― Hazel Gaynor, When We Were Young & Brave

“As it followed the sun and outgrew even the tallest girls, that single neglected sunflower came to represent the struggle and resilience of us all. In full bloom it was magnificent. Within its bright face, and its quiet determination to thrive, I saw every one of us, and I knew that we, too, would somehow prevail.”
― Hazel Gaynor, When We Were Young & Brave

“There was nothing amusing about the situation at all, but it felt good to laugh. Who could tell if our tears were from mirth or despair?”
― Hazel Gaynor, When We Were Young & Brave

“Routine and discipline had been our glue, but I wanted the children to understand that the best part of routine was the pure, exhilarating joy”
― Hazel Gaynor, When We Were Young & Brave

“Routine and discipline had been our glue, but I wanted the children to understand that the best part of routine was the pure, exhilarating joy that came when the rules were torn up and the gates of possibility flung wide open.”
― Hazel Gaynor, When We Were Young & Brave

“What’s special about today?” I asked. “We’re having tea, dear, and nobody is bothering us. That’s special, wouldn’t you say?”
― Hazel Gaynor, When We Were Young & Brave

“The sky was endless and blue. Without walls around us, the world felt suddenly enormous.”
― Hazel Gaynor, When We Were Young & Brave

“We didn’t ask any more questions. Everything was difficult whenever somebody mentioned death.”
― Hazel Gaynor, When We Were Young & Brave

“Some creatures, when they’ve been in captivity for a while, don’t adapt to freedom as well as you might expect. Churchill here is used to being fed and given water. He’s only ever known this cage, so this is where he feels comfortable.” He started singing, as if to confirm that he absolutely agreed with her. “Besides, he’s a dear friend, and nobody likes to lose a friend, do they.”
― Hazel Gaynor, When We Were Young & Brave

“Weihsien was unfamiliar and overwhelming, but it also reminded me how big and varied the world was; that it wasn’t all white-skinned children, and starchy British teachers and Received Pronunciation, but a whole wonderful jumble of colors and shapes, languages and customs. It reminded me that I used to wonder about the world; that it used to excite me.”
― Hazel Gaynor, When We Were Young & Brave

“Our musical interludes beside the gramophone were a balm; a reminder that life was full of beauty, and that a gentle waltz or a rousing band number could do wonders for one’s sense of hope and determination.”
― Hazel Gaynor, When We Were Young & Brave

“As we approached the end of our second year under Japanese oppression, I’d learned that there was little benefit to continually worrying about what lay ahead. What was the point? We had no control over our destiny. The best we could do was enjoy any brighter moments when they arrived, however brief they might be. I’d also learned that every situation, no matter how bleak it might seem, always had the potential to improve,”
― Hazel Gaynor, When We Were Young & Brave

“Freedom and kindness were the things we craved as much as bars of chocolate and syrup pudding, and it was comforting to know that even in a world full of war, kindness was never too far away.”
― Hazel Gaynor, When We Were Young & Brave

“Fortune did indeed favor the brave, and luck was on our side.”
― Hazel Gaynor, When We Were Young & Brave

“Brown Owl replied with, “Good night, Brownies,” and for a moment, despite the war and the stony-faced soldiers outside, I felt that nothing bad would happen as long as I had my friends beside me and good thoughts in my heart. But, as I was starting to realize, things can change very quickly in a war, and where one moment can make you feel safe and hopeful, another can just as easily make you feel terribly alone and afraid.”
― Hazel Gaynor, When We Were Young & Brave

“felt lucky to have the sort of brother who gave me his last peppermint, and not the sort who pulled wings off flies and stood on spiders, like Winnie’s horrid brother, Alex. I took the candy and let it rest on my tongue, savoring the sweet taste. “Make it last,” Edward said.”
― Hazel Gaynor, When We Were Young & Brave