لكنها كانت واثقة من أنها لا تستطيع أن تعرف حدودها إلا عندما تتجاوزها

She was an anchor but at least now she knew it had an end, a stopping place. It hit bottom. She could fall no deeper. (p76)

She wanted to believe. But she also knew better.

Her own limits were the limits of her horizon; but limited minds can recognize limitations only in others. And so she felt that her outlook was very wide indeed, and that where his conflicted with hers marked his limitations; and she dreamed of helping him to see as she saw, of widening his horizon until it was identified with hers.

She fell, she hurt, she felt. She lived. And for all the tumble of her experiences, she still had hope. Maybe this next time would do the trick. Or maybe not. But unless you stepped into the game, you would never know.

Her source of self respect was that she had not - as she put it - given up and crawled into safety somewhere. Into a safe marriage.

"I know my limits." "No one knows their limits till they've gone beyond them."

A recognition of limits, of boundaries, may be the only thing that prevents power from dizzy collapse.

While she was doing something she kept her hope alive.

She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.

Internally, knowing your limits keeps you humble, motivated, and focused on a goal to point your finger toward. Externally, knowing the limits that are set to you by others gives you a place to point a different finger. And yes, I am talking about the middle one.

She did not believe that things could remain the same in different places, and since the portion of her life that lay behind her had been bad, no doubt that which remained to be lived would be better.

Even as she lay dreaming these dreams, however, a sane part of her mind was still on duty. Realistically, she knew that what she was thinking was nonsense.

A wise girl knows her limits, a smart girl knows that she has none.