Isola Allegra Goodman Quotes

I myself was now an island. Solitary. Brambles and five-petalled flowers were my garden. Rocks my furniture. Ocean waves my lessons. Sadness overwhelmed me and sank back. Then, like the tide, joy crept in on me again.

I never knew my mother. She died the night that I was born, and so we passed each other in the dark…

I wept for joy because I could escape, and for sorrow I must leave alone.

As I have said, my daughter, no matter what virtue and goodness you see in yourself or others, know that in this world, not one in a thousand escapes without some deception or attack on her honor, no matter how good or perfect.

am sure Damienne prayed for protection, and Claire prayed for our safe journey, but I prayed for nothing. All I wanted was what I could not have, which was to stay.

Not if it’s wrong.” “Most fun things are,” she told me.

My guardian served as my protector, but I had no one to protect me from him.

because, as you have seen, many honest beginnings come to a bad end.

Like the birds, Auguste and I slept in open air. Gratefully we rested without enemies, and looking up at the dark sky, we counted ourselves rich in stars.

Filling these packets and wood boxes, I felt a joy I had not known before. It was not love, and it was not comfort, nor was it mastery or beauty, but it was usefulness.

Like any animal, I would starve if I went lame.

You who sold my lands?” “They were mine by right.” “In trust!

Those who know their faults are truly wise,” the Queen said. “And those who have endured the worst have most to teach. Do not say, then, that your story does not deserve retelling. Tell me, rather, how I might reward you for offering what you have learned.

know that in this world, not one in a thousand escapes without some deception or attack on her honor, no matter how good or perfect.

time; he gave us eternity. We craved space and privacy; he gave us both.

He would destroy us by leaving us alone.

Now I œam refreshed,” said œDamienne when œwe had œdone. œAnd œlooking at œher, œI œthought, œPraying œis refreshment œwhen you œtoil. œKneeling œfeels better œafter long œhours on œyour œfeet.

This œwas œmy prayer. œNot œfor rescue œor escape, œbut œfor my œsoul, œwhich œhad been œsick. œI œgazed at œwaves rising œand shattering, œand œthis was œmy resolve—to remember œmyself as œGod remembered œme.

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The first point above all others, is that earnestly and with all your faith and power, you guard against doing, saying, or thinking anything that would anger God. Never allow the sudden temptations of the world, the flesh, or the devil, to seize you, so that you live more chastity and guard yourself from sin. Remember, as Augustin says, that you cannot be sure of a single hour. Your wretched body will die, decay, and be eaten by worms, leaving your poor soul alone to face the consequences. -Anna France, Lessons for My Daughter, Chapter 2, circa 1517

It is not disapproval of what you said,” she told me earnestly, “but sorrow for what you have endured.

I walked down to the shore, and the waves were shining. The sun was bright, but I was hollow. I thought, How will I live without another soul? And then I thought, What will I live for?

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