Quotes from D.E. Stevenson

But is it?' Guthrie says, waving his hands in the effort to explain. 'We're living in the twentieth century, of course, but are they?

When you're very young you take people as you find them. It's only when you've had experience that you begin to measure and weigh.

I murmur faintly that Betty is very young, but Miss McCarthy treats this excuse with contempt, and decrees that Betty is to start on Thursday, 'and not waste any more precious time'. She hands me a printed list of the school uniform, and bows me to the door – I emerge from the interview completely disillusioned as to my adequacy as a parent.

She had sunk her whole personality to be Arnold's wife, but even that was not enough, he was still unsatisfied …

Grace says she likes thinking about the future and making plans—even if the plans don't come off—and perhaps if Jack's old aunt dies in time they will be able to manage it all right. The old aunt is "over ninety and quite queer", so Grace does not feel that it is wrong to envisage her end.

Of course they all have the radio now and listen to it in their homes so they understand English—or what they are pleased to call Oxford English," said Mr. Semple with scorn. " Oxford English—that's what they call it, Mr. Kirke. Did you ever hear the like of that?

Barbie smiled. 'But that's business,' she declared. 'Sometimes people are nice and sometimes nasty. In business you have to take the rough with the smooth

Loneliness is inside a person," replied Sutherland. "It is possible to be lonely in a big city. If a person is contented and has enough work to do he will not feel lonely amongst the hills … but it is a wee bit out of the way and would not do for a man with young children who were attending school. All the same it is a solid little house and comfortable. If you are going in that direction Mistress Sutherland would be pleased to give you a cup of tea." Rhoda

Left-hand neighbour turns to me and remarks, 'I am always so sorry for army people – so dreadful to be moved away from a place when you are fond of it.' Reply that there is some consolation in the fact that you are also moved away from places you are not fond of.

A particular feature of Stevenson's oeuvre is the way in which characters that appear in one book may crop up in another context in a quite different title. Readers like this because in a way it reflects the way the world is; our lives are not linear narratives–they are meandering stories that take place in diverse settings and that are peopled by characters who drop in and out at various stages.

Look here, Bel," he said. "I've got a car. Peter said I could have his car for the day. Where shall we go? Where would you like to go?" "You mean today?" asked Bel. She felt slightly dazed for she was not a "sudden" person. She had envisaged a quiet day doing various odd jobs for which she had no time during the week.

It would be exciting to write a play, Barbara thought, to see your creations put on the garment of mortality, to hear your words issuing from their mouths. But a play must always be a little disappointing; no actor can completely satisfy an author, and there must be some discrepancy between the author's conception of a character and the actor's expression. This was far better than any play, for the actors were themselves. They couldn't act out of character if they tried,

My post bag is full of letters from all over the world and the curious thing is that so many of these letters tell me that my books are a cure for loneliness. Perhaps this is because I open the door and invite my readers to come in, to sit down by the fire and take part in the life of the characters.

when the operation is to be done but

Life has dealt her some hard blows; she has accepted them and made the best of things. She does not expect Fate to be kind.

had written and warned Mr. Heatley that I was slow and he had replied that it did not matter—but would it? Supposing they found me too slow! Supposing the work was beyond me! The idea of plunging into an office amongst a lot of other clerks who knew their jobs was alarming to say the least of it.

No, she was not like other people. Other people took grown-up things as a matter of course—things like late dinner, and wine, driving cars and going to the theater; things like marriage and housekeeping and ordering commodities from the shops; whereas she was just playing at it all the time, pretending to be grown up, when, really and truly all the time, she was just Barbara—a plain, gawky child. She had the same body

She had made a fool of the whole thing by asking old Durnet and Mrs. Goldsmith. The former was practically an imbecile in Mr. Bulmer's opinion—a good many people were practically imbeciles in Mr. Bulmer's opinion.

Other children had brothers and sisters and sometimes they said to me it must be dull being an only child. " What do you do? " they asked. " Fancy having nobody to play with! " I was never dull; there was plenty to do and I had Mother to play with. I never thought of Mother as being " old " or " young." In fact I never really thought of her at all. She was just Mother.

Our home was very happy. I took it for granted of course, it was only when I got older that I realised all homes were not as happy as ours. Father was good and patient and kind and he never spared himself. I understood Father very well but I knew he did not understand me. He did not understand children. Sometimes he expected too much of them, and sometimes too little. He believed sincerely that " of such are the Kingdom of Heaven.

Unfortunately Bel was unable to enjoy these days whole-heartedly. There was a cloud upon her spirits. She had agreed with Louise that the best thing to do was to forget all her troubles, but it is one thing to know what is the best thing to do and quite another thing to be able to do it.

The idea of writing down one's difficulties and perplexities is not a new one. Great men have found it valuable in clearing their minds and helping them to wise and deliberate judgment—why shouldn't I, in my smaller way, find a solution to my difficulties in the same manner? My mind needs clearing, God knows, and if pen and paper will help me to clear it, I shall not grudge the time or the labor involved.

Looking back I remembered other occasions when Miles had let me down; this was not the first time—nor the second time. I had made excuses for him because I had admired him so tremendously.

Every day,' nodded Julia. 'I've learnt quite a lot. What an easy way of making money, isn't it?' 'But, look here! You mustn't try speculating on your own. It's frightfully risky. The thing to do is to put your pile into something safe.' 'Oh, I know,' she agreed. 'I've learnt enough about business to know that I don't know much.' 'Some people never learn as much as that.