Quotes from Karen Cushman

Corpus bones, I thought. To be wedded to this perfumed prig with his mouth in a knot and a frown always on his face!

I am commanded to write an account of my days: I am bit by fleas and plagued by family. That is all there is to say.

And the cat went with her.

She must not look too proud nor yet too humble, lest people say she is proud of her humility." Excerpt From: Catherine, Called Birdy.

19TH DAY OF OCTOBER, Feast of Saint Frideswide, virgin, though why that should make someone a saint I do not know

refused to bless a house with a cat in it.

in the context of 1881] Don't you want to get married and have babies? Mrs. Bergman used to say that women need- What women need is more exercise, shorter skirts, and their own way once in a while.

Seems to me God made a big mistake when He failed to put handles on watermelons.

Corpus Bones! I utterly loathe my life.

I watched the early morning light pass over and through the windows of colored glass, leaving streaks of red and green and yellow on the stone floor. When I was little, I used to try and capture the colored light. I thought I could hold it in my hand and carry it home. Now I know it is like happiness-- it is there or it is not, you cannot hold it or keep it.

Just because you don't know everything don't mean you know nothing.

Corpus Bones! I utterly loathe my life.

Fathers should make you feel safe.

I think sometimes that people are like onions. On the outside smooth and whole and simple but inside ring upon ring, complex and deep.

I cannot escape my life but can only use my determination and courage to make it the best I can.

she dreamed of nothing, for she hoped for nothing and expected nothing. It was as cold and dark inside her as out in the frosty night.

I am near fourteen and have never yet seen a hanging. My life is barren.

Minds, like diapers, need occasional changing.

She was not as stupid as some I have had, and better company, but still perhaps her going was for the best. She was not what I needed." "Because I failed," whispered Alyce in the shadows. "Because she gave up," continued the midwife. "I need an apprentice who can do what I tell her, take what I give her, who can try and risk and fail and try again and not give up...

It's important to know what you think, my dear, or else you will be so hemmed in by other people's ideas and opinions, you won't have room for your own.

I have developed a rash on my body where the rough cloth rubs on my skin. I wanted to take a bath, thinking that the dirt on my skin made the rash worse, but the bathing tub has been turned upside down and is being used as an extra table in the kitchen and i cannot have it until spring, so I just spread goose grease on my rash. The dogs are following me everywhere.

I know what I want. A full belly, a contented heart, and a place in this world.

Just as a river by night shines with the reflected light of the moon, so too do you shine with the light of your family, your people, and your God. So you are never far from home, never alone, wherever you go.

Love brightens and purifies the heart.