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Miss Read Quotes

Not to be alone - ever - is one of my ideas of hell, and a day when I have had no solitude at all in which 'to catch up with myself' I find mentally, physically and spiritually exhausting.

Not to be alone - ever - is one of my ideas of hell, and a day when I have had no solitude at all in which 'to catch up with myself' I find mentally, physically and spiritually exhausting.

Miss Read
Ideas, Solitude, Hell
Miss Read (2007). “Village Diary”, p.188, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Happiness is the result of an attitude of mind. I believe you can build it out of small things.

Miss Read
Happiness, Attitude, Believe

it seems to me that grandmothers have a very special place in the affections of young children. Not obliged, as parents are, to provide food, shelter, protection, advice and discipline, day in and day out, they can afford to be much more easy-going. The unexpected present, the extra outing, the little treat of a favourite meal prepared especially to delight the child and, above all, the time to listen to youthful outpourings, all make a grandmother a loved ally. It is hardly surprising that the bond between grandmother and grandchild is often stronger than that between parent and child.

Miss Read
Children, Grandmother, Discipline

Thoughts by a graveside are too dark and deep to be sustained for any length of time. Sooner or later the hurt mind turns to the sun for healing, and this is as it should be, for otherwise, what future could any of us hope for, but madness?

Miss Read
Hurt, Healing, Dark
Miss Read (2001). “Village School”, p.120, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

What I do feel the modern child lacks, when compared with the earlier generation, is concentration, and the sheer dogged grit to carry a long job through. ... Helping children to face up to a certain amount of drudgery, cheerfully and energetically, is one of the biggest problems that teachers, in these days of ubiquitous entertainment, have to face in our schools.

Miss Read
Education, Teacher, Jobs
Miss Read (1977). “Chronicles of Fairacre, Comprising Village School, Village Diary, and Storm in the Village”

The thing to do,' I said as we gained the lane that leads to Beech Green and Fairacre, 'is to get absolutely everything in the summer and lock it in a cupboard. Then order every scrap of food from a shop the week before Christmas and sit back and enjoy watching everyone else go mad. I've been meaning to do it for years.

Miss Read
Summer, Order, Years
Miss Read (2001). “Village School”, p.66, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

marrows - alas! - are arriving in a steady stream at the back door. ... Oddly enough, the majority of people who grow them in Fairacre say, as they hand them over: 'Funny thing! I don't care for them myself. In fact, none of the family likes them!' But still they plant them. It must be the fascination of seeing such a wonderful return for one small seed, that keeps marrow-growers at their dubious task.

Miss Read
Doors, Hands, Funny Things

A quarter past three," she exclaimed, catching sight of the bedside clock. "What a time to be drinking tea!" "Anytime," Harold told her, "is time to be drinking tea.

Miss Read
Drinking, Past, Sight
Miss Read (2002). “Gossip from Thrush Green”, p.168, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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