The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion Quotes

“And I think that was the moment I began to suspect that the luck Hawkes spoke of might really only be an awareness, an awareness of grace.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 5

“I’ve decided positivity is the Everest of virtues. You have to not only confront the dismal realities of life but choose, ofttimes, to blatantly ignore them.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 5

“It takes a great deal to trust the future after one is acquainted with loss.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 5

“Life must be lived. And if we can enjoy some of it, so much the better.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 5

“Hawkes began slowly. “It takes a great deal to trust the future after one is acquainted with loss.” “It feels impossible, for longer than is comforting. And then too tentative to trust.” “It does. But it seems that sword pierced Christ so that we always have a future. Even one different than planned.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 5

“A grin is only a smile that’s fully decided to get on with it.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 5

“He said he wished you to be wise, and good, and true to the beatings of your own heart, and hoped that you could be spared the extremes of society, both the very poor and the very rich, so that neither need nor indulgence would spoil the soul he loved more than anything else in the world.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 5

“My mother always felt that Christmas -- a proper Christmas -- was meant to delight every sense”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 5

“I was there,” I exclaimed. “I could see myself, and the fire, the cool from the window, the table was piled with books, and I was writing something. And it was life, my life, and…and there were footsteps on the stairs.” “Whose?” “I don’t know. But he sounded like the other half of home.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 5

“He’s a bit mad, that one.” I couldn’t help thinking maybe it wasn’t madness at all, merely that he understood something the rest of us didn’t.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 5

“The edge of life can be marked in black faster than one would suppose. Why not ring all the bells?”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 5

“But sometimes family gets their minds stuck on what a person is, and they won’t let it go. She’s taken a piece of Islington, formed a picture as to his character, and run with it all the way to America.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 5

“But it seems that sword pierced Christ so that we always have a future. Even one different than planned.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 5

“I’ve always enjoyed the small turn that happens when one month folds into another. The exchange of the many for the one, the end for the beginning, over and over and over. My mother would say to look for bright things at a new month—“First day, Emma. What do you see gleaming?”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 5

“As a child, I always thought the shadows cast at Christmastide held something of magic in them. That if you pried up the edges, light would come spilling out from the nooks and crannies of the day.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 5

“The memory came to mind just now. And something I’ve not felt for longer than I care to admit began to take shape. That, come sunshine or cloud, I was going to be fine. More than fine. In place, and strong, and anchored in.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 5

“Is it too cold?” Islington asked. “We could take tea somewhere.” “Certainly not. I find that if I can embrace pain a quarter of an hour, almost everything becomes tolerable.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 5

“I soon finished my draft and set it on the table, then opened Latin Phrases for the Unrepentant, watching him work, and asking questions. It was an easy back and forth.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 5

“Foolishness perhaps. Yet comforting. As stories are sometimes meant to be.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 5

“You say that you are my judge; I do not know if you are: but take good heed not to judge me ill, because you would put yourself in great peril. And I warn you so that if God punish you for it, I shall have done my duty in telling you.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 5

“For a moment I thought perhaps I ought to apply the lesson to my own life, but rational thought and a good dose of assurance put an end to self-improvement.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 5

“The memory came to mind just now. And something I’ve not felt for longer than I care to admit began to take shape. That, come sunshine or cloud, I was going to be fine. More than fine. In place, and strong, and anchored in. Tonight, Islington became a stake. And Pierce. And Mary. And Saffronia. And Hawkes. All I can think of is the sound of the rain on the canopy, and everyone still smiling.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 5

“Very strange,” I answered. “True souls sometimes are.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 5

“part of me would rather be wrong than have it proved false.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 5

“know I have incommoded more than one person in my lifetime, and I’m convinced it’s not pleasant for them. She had my full sympathies.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 5

“Mother preferred to keep our cottage a quiet, private place, and Father preferred to keep Mother delighted.”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 5

“This is how I am now greeting all of my favourite acquaintances: “What good wind brings you here?”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 5

“My mother would say to look for bright things at a new month—“First day, Emma. What do you see gleaming?”
― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 5