When I think something nice is going to happen I seem to fly right up on the wings of anticipation; and then the first thing I realize I drop down to earth with a thud. But really, Marilla, the flying part is glorious as long as it lasts. . . it's like soaring through a sunset. I think it almost pays for the thud.

Mrs. Lynde says, 'Blessed are they who expect nothing for they shall not be disappointed.

When I make up my mind to do a thing it stays made up.

Which would you rather be if you had the choice--divinely beautiful or dazzlingly clever or angelically good?

If any person wants to see clearly just how much she has changed - whether for better or worse - let her revisit after some lapse of time any place where she has ones lived. She will meet her former self at every turn, with every familiar face, in every old recollection ... She will see how much she has gained in some respects, how much she has lost - irretrievably lost - in others.

Desire grows by what it feeds on.

never write a line you'd be ashamed to read at your own funeral.