21 Quotes by Paula Brackston

...our individual freedoms, our rights to the very thoughts in our own heads, for pity's sake, they are being taken from us one by one, as the pebbles can be taken from a beach. In this way the loss at first goes unnoticed, until it is too late, and all that remains is the shifting sand beneath what once was.

If you are not able to travel," he told me, "the next best thing is to read. Read all you can girl, girl. And store up that knowledge, for you never know when you will need it.

Knowledge cannot be unknown. Experience cannot be unlived.

Better foolish and honest than clever and false.

Poverty has a way of taking the edge off principles. Hunger can blunt them altogether.

There was roast hog, of course, braised mutton, and casserole of the tenderest beef. Platters of trout and salmon gleamed like treasure, dressed with mint and parsley sauces. Dishes of glossy prunes and dates shipped from an unknowable country sat amid roasted apples, delicate custards, and jewel-colored jellies.

We are each mistresses of our own happiness. We ought not to look to others to supply it.

And secrets are dangerous. They start small but grow with every evasive answer or outright lie that protects them. Nevertheless, I confess to finding the closeness such conspiracy breeds irresistibly delicious.

For, what is home? Surely more than a set of rooms, a roof, an address? Home suggests belonging. Suggests warmth, safety, companionship. Love.