Whatever comes," she said, "cannot alter one thing. If I am a princess in rags and tatters, I can be a princess inside. It would be easy to be a princess if I were dressed in cloth of gold, but it is a great deal more of a triumph to be one all the time when no one knows it.
Frances Hodgson BurnettShe looked into the staring glass eyes and complacent face, and suddenly a sort of heartbroken rage seized her. She lifted her little savage hand and knocked Emily off the chair, bursting into a passion of sobbing- Sara who never cried.
Frances Hodgson BurnettWhen you will not fly into a passion people know you are stronger than they are, because you are strong enough to hold in your rage, and they are not, and they say stupid things they wish they hadn't said afterward. There's nothing so strong as rage, except what makes you hold it in--that's stronger. It's a good thing not to answer your enemies.
Frances Hodgson BurnettFolks who make such a fuss about their rights turn them into wrongs sometimes. -- (from Behind the White Brick)
Frances Hodgson BurnettPerhaps you can feel if you canโt hear,โ was her fancy. โPerhaps kind thoughts reach people somehow, even through windows and doors and walls. Perhaps you feel a little warm and comforted, and donโt know why, when I am standing here in the cold and hoping you will get well and happy again.
Frances Hodgson BurnettI dare say it is rather hard to be a rat,โ she mused. โNobody likes you. People jump and run away and scream out: โOh, a horrid rat!โ I shouldnโt like people to scream and jump and say: โOh, a horrid Sara!โ the moment they saw me, and set traps for me, and pretend they were dinner. Itโs so different to be a sparrow. But nobody asked this rat if he wanted to be a rat when he was made. Nobody said: โWouldnโt you rather be a sparrow?
Frances Hodgson Burnett