a person who was clever ought to be clever enough not to be unjust or deliberately unkind to anyone.
Frances Hodgson BurnettPerhaps to be able to learn things quickly isn't everything. To be kind is worth a great deal to other people...Lots of clever people have done harm and have been wicked.
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 BurnettHowever many years she lived, Mary always felt that 'she should never forget that first morning when her garden began to grow'.
Frances Hodgson BurnettWhatever 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 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