But it is impossible, I find, to tidy books without ending by sitting on the floor in the middle of a great untidiness and reading.
Elizabeth von ArnimFor I'm afraid of loneliness; shiveringly, terribly afraid. I don't mean the ordinary physical loneliness, for here I am, deliberately travelled away from London to get to it, to its spaciousness and healing. I mean that awful loneliness of spirit that is the ultimate tragedy of life. When you've got to that, really reached it, without hope, without escape, you die. You just can't bear it, and you die.
Elizabeth von ArnimGuests can be, and often are, delightful, but they should never be allowed to get the upper hand.
Elizabeth von Arnim