I dare say it is rather hard to be a rat,” she mused. “Nobody likes you. People jump and run away and scream out: ‘Oh, a horrid rat!’ I shouldn’t like people to scream and jump and say: ‘Oh, a horrid Sara!’ the moment they saw me, and set traps for me, and pretend they were dinner. It’s so different to be a sparrow. But nobody asked this rat if he wanted to be a rat when he was made. Nobody said: ‘Wouldn’t you rather be a sparrow?

If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.

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. I scarcely ever do.

To speak robin to a robin is like speaking French to a Frenchman

Magic is in her just as it is in Dickon," said Colin. "It makes her think of ways to do things - nice things.

Her affection for everything she could love increased.

I am writing in the garden. To write as one should of a garden one must write not outside it or merely somewhere near it, but in the garden.