Quotes: Motherhood (2)

Mothers and children 31 …"Lady Middleton had taken the wise precaution of bringing with her their eldest child, a fine little boy about six years old, by which means there was one subject always to be recurred to by the ladies in case of extremity, for they had to inquire his name and age, admire his beauty, and ask questions which his mother answered for him, while he hung about her and held down his head, to the great surprise of her ladyship, who wondered at his being so shy before company as he could make noise enough at home…took up to ten minutes to determine whether the boy were most like his father or mother, and in what particular he resembled either." Austen, Sense and Sensibility. Timeless.

Mothers and children 120 " …a fond mother…in pursuit of praise for her children, the most rapacious of human beings, is likewise the most credulous; her demands are exorbitant, but she will swallow anything; and the excessive affection and endurance of the Miss Steeles towards her offspring, were viewed therefore by Lady Middleton without the smallest surprise or distrust" Austen, Sense and Sensibility. Credulous worship of her children.

Mothers and children 121 “ 'And here is my sweet little Annamaria,' she added, tenderly caressing a little girl of three years old, who had not made a noise for the last two minutes; 'and she is always so gentle and quiet—never was there such a quiet little thing!' …unfortunately in bestowing these embraces, a pin in her ladyship’s headdress slightly scratching the child’s neck, produced from this pattern of gentleness such violent screams, as could hardly be outdone by any creature professedly noisy." Austen, Sense and Sensibility. Children are predictable. They always behave exactly as you don't want them to.

Mothers and sons 1314 "She [Theseus’s mother, Aethra] could not help being sorrowful at finding him already so impatient to begin his adventures in the world." “The Minotaur” Hawthorne, Tanglewood Tales. A boy's way.

Mothers and sons 1315 "But Aethra sighed and looked disquieted; for, no doubt, she began to be conscious that her son was no longer a child, and that in a little while hence, she must send him forth among the perils and troubles of the world." “The Minotaur” Hawthorne, Tanglewood Tales. The end of motherhood.

Quotes: Motherhood (1)

Mother and children 1093 Mother: "…they make me almost as much a child as they themselves are!" Hawthorne: "The Snow Image." Same with teachers: they keep you young.

Motherhood 1090 "But, you must know, a mother listens with her heart, much more than with her ears…." Hawthorne: "The Snow Image"

Motherhood 334 "What the mother sings to the cradle goes all the way down to the coffin." Henry Ward Beecher. 1887. Gross, ed. Oxford Book of Aphorisms. You never outgrow your childhood.

Motherhood 234 "The baby was coming; each morning she was nauseated, chilly, bedraggled, and certain that she would never again be attractive; each twilight she was afraid…did not feel exalted, but unkempt and furious." Sinclair Lewis, Main Street.

Motherhood 234 Every matron hinted, “Now that you’re going to be a mother, dearie, you’ll get over all these ideas of yours and settle down.” Sinclair Lewis, Main Street. However, for some women, motherhood is not enough.

Quotes: Morning

Morning 980 "But there is an influence in the light of morning that tends to rectify whatever errors of fancy, or even of judgment, we may have incurred during the sun’s decline…." Hawthorne: “Rappaccini’s Daughter”

Morning 38 "...those fresh bright hours of the morning when temptations go to sleep and leave the ear open to the voice of the good angel, inviting to industry, sobriety and peace." George Eliot, Silas Marner.

Quotes: Morality

Morality 195 "We have, in fact, two kinds of morality side by side; one which we preach but do not practice, and another which we practice but seldom preach." Bertrand Russell. 1928. Gross, ed. Oxford Book of Aphorisms.

Morality 198 "Morality is the theory that every human act must be either right or wrong, and that 99 percent of them are wrong." H. L. Mencken. Portable Curmudgeon.

Morality 250 "...the followers of the ‘golden rule’ may indulge in hopes of heaven, but they must reckon with the certainty that other people will be masters of the earth." T.H. Huxley. From Evolution and Ethics. 1894. Gross, ed. Essays.

Morality 251 "What would become of the garden if the gardener treated all the weeds and slugs and birds and trespassers as he would like to be treated...?" T.H. Huxley. From Evolution and Ethics. 1894. Gross, ed. Essays.

Morality 54 "In fact you're so earnest about morality…that I hate to think how essentially immoral you must be underneath." Lewis, Babbitt.

Morality 205 "I tell you there’s nothing to immorality; it don’t pay." Lewis, Babbitt.

Morality 270 Hearn: "It seems to me you just do the thing that seems best at the moment, and worry about the rest of it later…that’s bourgeois morality." Hearn. Mailer, The Naked and the Dead.

Morality 461 "He [Sir Thomas] had sacrificed the right to the expedient." Austen, Mansfield Park.

Quote: Moralist

Moralist 199 "The infliction of cruelty with good conscience is a delight to moralists—that is why they invented Hell." Bertrand Russell. Portable Curmudgeon. The moralist delights in sending those with whom they disagree to Hell.

Quote: Moral of a Story

Moral of a story 1207 "But you appear to be still capable of understanding that the commonest things, such as lie within everybody’s grasp, are more valuable than the riches which so many mortals sigh and struggle after." Hawthorne’s The Wonder Book for Boys and Girls.

Quotes: Mood (11)

Mood 393 "…the anesthesia of exhaustion." Mailer, The Naked and the Dead.

Mood 441 "In his mood everything familiar seemed unreal." Mailer, The Naked and the Dead.

Mood 501 "He had no will…was completely passive, blissfully tired, and it took him minutes to decide to ask for anything, or to bring his hand up to his forehead to chase an insect." Mailer, The Naked and the Dead.

Mood 502 "But it never occurred to him to quit [to die from his wound]…so many things he wanted to do." Mailer, The Naked and the Dead.