Paula Brackston Quotes

And as for company … I do not crave the companionship of other women, for I have never found one who did not judge me against herself and find me either to be envied or pitied. As for the friendship of men … well, when the day comes when one is man enough to treat me as his equal, then, only then, will I allow desire to be my guide.

Better foolish and honest than clever and false.

If you are not able to travel, he told me, the next best thing is to read. Read all you can, girl. And store up that knowledge, for you never know when you will need it.

Must we always bedeck ourselves in prettiness to be thought pleasing? It would appear so. A woman must look a certain way to be worthy of a man’s attentions. It is expected.

what can be imagined can be brought into being.

Faith requires no proof. No evidence. No explanation. Faith is entirely a matter of trust and belief. We cannot know, we can only believe.

Who was it, I wonder, who decided that heartbroken relatives should host a party at the very moment all they wished for was to be left alone to grieve?

there is no courage in being fearless. Do you not know that? A person who knows fear and yet can still think of others, well, he be a brave man.

Reputation is for those who can afford it.

My mind is like the willow; it flexes and springs. My heart is a knot of oak. Let them try to wound me.

Poverty has a way of taking the edge off principles. Hunger can blunt them altogether

We are each mistresses of our own happiness. We ought not to look to others to supply it.

Nevertheless, disease and misfortune knew no social bounds. Nor did the immensely dangerous business of childbirth

After all, are we not measured by the way in which we treat the most vulnerable members of our society?

How much more tuneful are the birds of the woods than the birds of the water. Ducks and geese make their raucous racket without once finding a note of sweetness, whilst these tree dwellers are practiced in the art of melody.