Dinah Maria Mulock Craik Quotes

Oh! my dear children, if you did but know how the heart instinctively turns from a sullen countenance — how hateful is that expression which some like to put on when they are ever so slightly offended, thinking it a point of honour not to smile or speak, but to look sulky for hours — how such a look changes the warmest love of parent, or sister, or friend, into dislike!

It is one of my decided opinions that married people ought to have no one, be the tie ever so close and dear, living permanently with them, to break the sacred duality — no, let me say the unity of their home.

[It] was the first time in my life I ever knew the meaning of that rare thing, tenderness. A quality different from kindliness, affectionateness, or benevolence; a quality which can exist only in strong, deep, and undemonstrative natures, and therefore in its perfection is oftenest found in men.

Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts not measured words, but pouring them right out, just as they are.

Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person; having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but to pour them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, knowing that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then, with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away.

Forgotten? No, we never do forget:
We let the years go; wash them clean with tears,
Leave them to bleach out in the open day,
Or lock them careful by, like dead friends' clothes,
Till we shall dare unfold them without pain, — But we forget not, never can forget.

A friend is one to whom one may pour out the contents of one's heart, chaff and grain together, knowing that gentle hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away.

It was delightful to wake up early and refreshed, and come down to this sunshiny, cheerful breakfast-table, where, though nothing was grand, all was thoroughly comfortable.

The only real parting is when there is no love left to part from

When, two years before the time of our story, the school was in want of a mistress, Winifred Lee had presented herself before the churchwardens, and asked for the situation. She won upon them so much with her meek ways, that they gave it to her without any questioning. Only after all was settled, one of them, glancing at her mourning dress and her wedding-ring, observed that of course she was a widow, and without children, as such only were eligible to the situation. Winifred Lee answered, “No; that she was not a widow.” While she spoke, her cheek crimsoned, and her eyes filled with tears. The churchwarden was a kindhearted man, and asked no further, but said cheerfully that rules were made to be broken, and, whether widow or not, she should be the schoolmistress still. And more than this no one in the parish knew of Winifred Lee. Nevertheless, she was generally liked, for she had always some little kindness ready for every one; and in her own school she was warmly beloved.

The sheriff listened uneasily to a sound, very uncommon at elections, of the populace expressing an opinion contrary to that of the lord of the soil.

Manhood had come to him, both in character and demeanour, not as it comes to most young lads, an eagerly-desired and presumptuously-asserted claim, but as a rightful inheritance, to be received humbly, and worn simply and naturally.

I felt a weight on my chest; a sense of hot indignation which settled down into inconceivable melancholy.

It is not the things we see, but the mind we see them with, which makes the real interest of travelling.

What a world it was! Literally swimming in sunshine, from the sparkling sea in the distance, to the beds of marigolds close by — huge marigolds, double and single, mingled with carnations that filled the air with rich autumnal scent, all the more delicious because we feel it is autumnal, and therefore cannot last.