Nine Wise Things Characters Have Said in Books

“Alice laughed. 'There's no use trying,' she said. 'One can't believe impossible things.'

'I daresay you haven't had much practice,' said the Queen. 'When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.'

Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

"“We used to all come outside when the streetlights came on and prowl the neighborhood in a pack, a herd of kids on banana-seat bikes and minibikes. The grown-ups looked so silly framed in their living-room and kitchen windows. They complained about their days and sighed deep sighs of depression and loss. They talked about how spoiled and lucky children were these days. We will never be that way, we said, we will never say those things.”

Jill McCorkle, "Creatures of Habit"

“There’s always a story,” she said. “It’s all stories, really. The sun coming up every day is a story. Everything’s got a story in it. Change the story, change the world.”

Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky

"Here I became aware of the world’s tenderness, the profound beneficence of all that surrounded me, the blissful bond between me and all of creation, and I realized that the joy I had sought in you was not only secreted within you, but breathed around me everywhere, in the speeding street sounds, in the hem of a comically lifted skirt, in the metallic yet tender drone of the wind, in the autumn clouds bloated with rain. I realized that the world does not represent a struggle at all, or a predaceous sequence of chance events, but shimmering bliss, beneficent trepidation, a gift bestowed on us and unappreciated."

Vladimir Nabokov, "Beneficence"

"Grown-ups love figures. When you describe a new friend to them, they never ask you about the important things. They never say 'What's his voice like? What are his favourite games? Does he collect butterflies?' Instead they demand 'How old is he? How many brothers has he? How much does he weigh? How much does his father earn?' Only then do they feel they know him. If you say to the grown-ups: 'I've seen a lovely house made of pink brick, with geraniums in the windows and doves on the rood', they are unable to picture such a house. You must say: I saw a house that come a hundred thousand francs.' Then they cry out: 'How pretty!' Again, you might say to them: 'The proof that the little prince existed is that he was enchanting, that he laughed, and that he was looking for a sheep. When someone wants a sheep, it is proof that they exist.' The grown-ups will merely shrug their shoulders, and treat you like a child. But if you tell them: 'The planet he came from is Asteroid B 612', then they will be convinced, and will spare you all their question. That is how they are. You must not hold it against them. Children have to be very indulgent towards grown-ups.”

― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

“Begin at the beginning," the King said, very gravely, "and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”

― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

If you speak the truth, the monster whispered in his ear, you will be able to face whatever comes.

― Patrick Ness, A Monster Calls

“Look at the pebbles in the bottom of the pool, Miss Emily, so round and smooth and shining." 

"Yes, but where did they get that beautiful polish, that satin skin, that lovely shape, Rebecca? Not in the still pool lying on the sands. It was never there that their angles were rubbed off and their rough surfaces polished, but in the strife and warfare of running waters. They have jostled against other pebbles, dashed against sharp rocks, and now we look at them and call them beautiful.”

― Kate Douglas Wiggin, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

“Courage is not a man with a gun in his hand. It's knowing you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.”

― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each Tuesday That Artsy Reader Girl assigns a topic and then post her top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join her and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.    

The Sunday Salon: The Consolations of Being on a Pale Blue Dot

 

Welcome! I am delighted that you joined us here at the Sunday Salon. 

What is the Sunday Salon? 

The Sunday Salon is a place to link up and share what we have been doing during the week. It's also a great opportunity to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 

Pale Blue Dot by Voyager

The Consolations of the Telescopic Perspective in Disorienting Times

What I Read Last Week (Links are to my reviews):

The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

How We Learn to Be Brave: Decisive Moments in Life and Faith by Mariann Edgar Budde 

Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks 

What I'm Reading Now:

Roots by Alex Haley (Chapter-a-Day)

I Am a Cat by Natsume Sōseki (Classics Club)

Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford (Classics Club)

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

The Sunday Salon: A Three-Book Week

My Favorite Kids' Books Set in Another Time and Place (But Don't Let That Put You Off Reading These)

Grace Notes: Poems About Families by Naomi Shihab Nye

I began to list 3 Good Things every day during the pandemic. Now I've established a regular routine of writing down my 3 Good Things. Here are 3 Good Things from last week:

Good Thing #1:

Mindful March 2025 

Good Thing #2:

I had so much fun at my friend Cindy's 

75th birthday party in Galveston

last weekend.

Good Thing #3:

Spring is coming here.

Wild violet and a Monarch in my yard.

Weekend linkup spots are listed below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

        

I hope you will join the linkup for Sunday Salon below. 

Grace Notes: Poems About Families by Naomi Shihab Nye: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

   

Today's Featured Book: 

Grace Notes: Poems About Families

by Naomi Shihab Nye

Genre: Poetry

Published: May 7, 2024

Page Count: 224 pages

Summary: 

National Book Award finalist and former Young People’s Poet Laureate Naomi Shihab Nye’s Grace Notes: Poems about Families celebrates family and community. This rich collection of one hundred never-before-published poems is also the poet’s most personal work to date. With poems about her own childhood and school years, her parents and grandparents, and the people who have touched and shaped her life in so many ways, this is an emotional and sparkling collection to savor, share, and read again and again.

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY is hosted by Rose City Reader. What book are you happy about reading this week? Please share the opening sentence (or so) on BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY! Add the link to your blog or social media post and visit other blogs to see what others are reading.

Happy Friday and welcome to the FIRST LINE FRIDAY, hosted by Reading is My Superpower! It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line.

How Parents Ever Get Together Anyway

They might grow up on opposite sides of the world

Different religions, different foods,

then one day they come to a town in Kansas

take jobs in the same psychiatric hospital

neither of them doctors...

yes, sure, that sounds likely...

THE FRIDAY 56 is hosted by Anne of Head Full of Books. To play, open a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% on your e-reader). Find a sentence or two and post them, along with the book title and author. Then link up on Head Full of Books and visit others in the linky. 

Every Age

If you open the door 

to happiness

what comes through?...

Poets Naomi Shihab Nye and Jennifer Chang are speaking in Houston next Monday night, so I am trying to read the latest books of each author before the reading.

The purpose of THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, and befriend other bloggers. THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer.    

February 28th - 6th - How much time does blogging take out of your life weekly? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)

Blogging doesn't take time out of my life...blogging gives me additional life, including a sense of meaning and a feeling of happiness.

My Favorite Kids' Books Set in Another Time and Place (But Don't Let That Put You Off Reading These)

I am delighted to be able to share some of my favorite kids' books set in another time and place with you today. These are children's fiction. But don't let that put you off reading these. These are amazing stories. Most are on the 1001 Children's Books You Must Read list or were chosen as Newbery winners.

Viking's Dawn by Henry Treece

Harald, a young early Viking, joins the great warrior Thorkell Fairhar for an adventure on board the Nameless where he and the crew meet disaster and death before the survivors return home from the coasts of Scotland and the Irish trade routes.

Knight's Fee by Rosemary Sutcliff

Randall is an unloved and unwanted orphan kennel boy at Arundel Castle. And then, one fateful day, he upsets the new Lord''s mettlesome horse. Against the violent and turbulent backdrop of Norman England, Sutcliff tells the moving story of a young boy who is wagered and won in a game of chess between a lord and a minstrel . . .

Chancy and the Grand Rascal by Sid Fleischman

Searching for his orphaned brother and sisters, Ohio farm boy Chancy Dundee is reunited with his long-lost Uncle Will, the fastest-talking rascal of the American Midwest during the 1870s.

Pit Pony by Joyce Barkhouse

If Willie could have his dream, he would go to Sable Island and ride free over the sand dunes on the back of a wild horse. Instead, 11-year-old Willie must work in the coal mines of Cape Breton, hardly ever seeing the light of day. But with the help of Gem, the gentle pit pony, he discovers that things aren't always as bad as they seem. And a surprising event reveals that miracles can happen, even in a coal mine.

The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman

A girl known only as Brat has no family, no home, and no future until she meets Jane the Midwife and becomes her apprentice. As she helps the short-tempered Jane deliver babies, Brat—who renames herself Alyce—gains knowledge, confidence, and the courage to want something in life for the first time.

The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder

On the empty winter prairie, gray clouds to the northwest meant only one thing: a blizzard was seconds away. The first blizzard came in October. It snowed almost without stopping until April. The temperature dropped to forty below. Snow reached the roof-tops. And no trains could get through with food and coal. The townspeople began to starve. The Ingalls family barely lived through that winter. And Almanzo Wilder knew he would have to risk his life to save the town.

By the Great Horn Spoon! by Sid Fleischman

When Jack's aunt is forced to sell her beloved mansion but is still unable to raise enough money to pay her debts, the twelve-year-old goes to California in search of gold to help her. Joined by his trusty butler, Praiseworthy, Jack finds adventure and trouble at every turn. Will Jack strike gold in San Francisco or come home empty-handed?

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor

Why is the land so important to Cassie's family? It takes the events of one turbulent year—the year of the night riders and the burnings, the year a white girl humiliates Cassie in public simply because she's black—to show Cassie that having a place of their own is the Logan family's lifeblood. It is the land that gives the Logans their courage and pride—no matter how others may degrade them, the Logans possess something no one can take away.

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

World War II is drawing to a close in East Prussia and thousands of refugees are on a desperate trek toward freedom, many with something to hide. Among them are Joana, Emilia, and Florian, whose paths converge en route to the ship that promises salvation, the Wilhelm Gustloff. Forced by circumstance to unite, the three find their strength, courage, and trust in each other tested with each step closer to safety.

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

Billy has long dreamt of owning not one, but two, dogs. So when he’s finally able to save up enough money for two pups to call his own—Old Dan and Little Ann—he’s ecstatic. It doesn’t matter that times are tough; together they’ll roam the hills of the Ozarks.

Soon Billy and his hounds become the finest hunting team in the valley. Stories of their great achievements spread throughout the region, and the combination of Old Dan’s brawn, Little Ann’s brains, and Billy’s sheer will seems unbeatable. But tragedy awaits these determined hunters—now friends—and Billy learns that hope can grow out of despair, and that the seeds of the future can come from the scars of the past.

Do you have any other recommendations for me 

for either adult's or children's historical fiction?

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each Tuesday That Artsy Reader Girl assigns a topic and then post her top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join her and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.