Quotes from Gail Godwin

None of us suddenly becomes something overnight. The preparations have been in the making for lifetime.

Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths pure theatre.

I read constantly. If I don't have a good book, I'm beside myself.

Learning when 'enough is enough' is the discipline of a lifetime.

The race of children possesses magically sagacious powers.

Dreams say what they mean, but they don't say it in daytime language.

Life is a disease.

Who wanted to creep along in comfort when there was one chance in a thousand of flying?

We can't be free until we can tell our story, and only by telling it convincingly can we each do our bit to help the world grow up.

the remembrance of them is grievous unto us; the burden of them is intolerable.

General Confession it had been watered down to we are truly sorry and we humbly repent.

She was her steady self again, the one about whom Nonie had said, I admire that woman. Despite all her adversities, Beryl Jones manages to stay in control her days.

If someone had really done you an ill turn and later came to you and said, "I am truly sorry," would that mean as much to you as "the burden of it has been intolerable to me"?

Once you get yourself out of the way, you can see everything the way it is. Your self isn't blocking the world from you, once you have sidestepped its shadow.

All beautiful, dangerous idols fall, I thought, if you keep your eye on them long enough.

Maybe it's because I'm more confident of my own powers now, not so afraid of losing myself, of being molded by other people's needs of me, of being overwhelmed by them, that I can live in those strange, green days again and willingly be that girl.

She was the kind of woman who, once she had made up her mind to like somebody, even if it had been an impulsive decision, would invest that person with all sorts of interesting and romantic aspects rather than admit she had been wrong.

Other people don't exist when you're not with them.

During all my worrying about how and when and whether we'd ever get together again, I had neglected to imagine we might slip back together as naturally as a dislocated joint slipping back into place, followed by an ardor more straightforward than either of us had been capable of before.

When someone has enough money, logistics can be worked out in no time.

There was a great deal of energy and contentment to be gotten simply from not living a lie.

Squashed behind The Cloud of Unknowing we discovered a pocket-size spiral notebook with a day-by-day account of the time Justin had stayed with her and her husband after Tommy's death. The writing was legible though it required effort (this was before she took her calligraphy course), but Justin was ecstatic and asked if he could have the little notebook. "This is my history," he said. Later, after he had deciphered every last word: "Boy, was I loved.

When people are sensitive, they can tell when they meet someone who is going to influence their lives.

One of the notebooks was for musings and pep talks. ... The other notebooks were for writing out the novel the way authors had done for centuries.