Five Windows QUOTES

1 " When it became too wet and cold for out-door expeditions we went to a picture-house together, and sometimes on a Saturday evening we went to the theatre and saw a play. I realised that all these expeditions were planned for my benefit but there was no doubt Uncle Matt enjoyed them as much as I did. He had a natural capacity for enjoyment, he was full of energy and there was a boyishness about him which made him an excellent companion. "

― D.E. Stevenson , Five Windows

2 " When at last a new clerk was engaged to take my place they were forced to believe it and were frankly envious. “ Gosh! ” exclaimed Wrigson. “ Fancy being able to lie in bed as long as you like! Fancy having nothing to do except amuse yourself! ” “ But that isn’t the idea at all,” I told him. “ I’m exchanging one job—which I’m not particularly good at—for another job which I hope to do better. "

― D.E. Stevenson , Five Windows

3 " Somehow talking to him had made me feel better. He was sane and sensible—the first sane, sensible person I had spoken to for hours. As I walked back to the car I had an absurd feeling that I could be friends with that waiter. I wondered what his name was and where he lived … it was foolish, of course; I knew nothing about him, nothing except that he was sensible and kind. "

― D.E. Stevenson , Five Windows

4 " I’ll read it,” he said, smiling. “ But you needn’t worry. As long as you write about things that interest you your books will interest other people. Just keep on writing. Don’t stop. "

― D.E. Stevenson , Five Windows

5 " I started off down the road. Perhaps I should have been worrying about the fate of the green car and its occupants but the plain truth is that I was not worrying at all. The plain truth is I did not care a pin what happened to them. I was utterly fed up and disgusted with the whole crowd. It was my own fault of course. I should never have accepted the invitation to the party. "

― D.E. Stevenson , Five Windows

6 " It’s double Dutch,” declared the man in the check cap. “ That’s what it is.” “ Sounds like Danish to me,” said the man in evening dress. “ He looks like a Dane, too.” “ He’s a Scot,” I said, laughing. “ So am I. He’s offering me a lift home to Scotland, and I’d give my ears to take him at his word. "

― D.E. Stevenson , Five Windows

7 " behave like morons. It’s because they aren’t Christians.” “ But, Barbie——” began Nell. “ They don’t believe in God,” declared Barbie, putting her elbows on the table and fitting her chin into her cupped hands. “ They—don’t—believe—in God.” “ But they do! ” I exclaimed. “ They go to church——” “ Poof! ” said Barbie. “ They go to church and they say their prayers but that milk-and-watery sort of thing is no good. It wouldn’t move a feather, far less a mountain. "

― D.E. Stevenson , Five Windows

8 " The stubborn old mule! ” he shouted. “ She’s crazy! I could have her locked up to-morrow! That would teach her a lesson and save a deal of trouble——” I had never seen anybody in such a fury before and to tell the truth I was terrified. I had heard that people sometimes had fits when they flew into rages and I expected that any minute Uncle Matt might fall down dead. I dodged past him and ran up the stairs, pursued by the sound of his voice, hoarse with anger. "

― D.E. Stevenson , Five Windows

9 " I began to realise that the world was different from what I had thought. Perhaps my home had been too sheltered. Perhaps I had been coddled—not coddled physically but mentally. Perhaps Mother had been right in saying that only children were too sensitive and it was much harder for them when they went out into the world and had their corners rubbed off. Uncle Matt had rubbed off one of my corners effectually; he had destroyed the illusion that you could depend upon grown-up people to be sensible and just. "

― D.E. Stevenson , Five Windows

10 " Malcolm opened the door of the little shed and busied himself lighting the stove. He used the stove to warm the shed so that he could bring the lambs in and warm them. Most hill lambs are hardy and need little care, but some of them, when they arrive in a cold wet world, decide it is not worth the struggle. It was Malcolm’s job to coax them to live and usually he succeeded. "

― D.E. Stevenson , Five Windows

11 " It was a five-mile drive. I peeped out of my bedroom window as they came up the path together and my first impression was that they were very alike. They were the same height and had the same wavy grey hair. Later I changed my mind and decided that no two men could be more unlike. "

― D.E. Stevenson , Five Windows

12 " Do thy diligence to come before winter,” repeated Father. “ Paul was old and weary and he felt the approach of winter as old people still do. He felt the approach of death. He did not dread his passing for he knew that he would obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory, but he longed to see the beloved face of Timothy before he died. "

― D.E. Stevenson , Five Windows

13 " Prayers are not always answered, " Malcolm replied. "Sometimes it's better for us that they're not answered; sometimes they're answered differently from what we expect. "

― D.E. Stevenson , Five Windows

14 " To my mind early June is the most beautiful time of the year in Haines, for spring comes late and June is the transition period from spring to summer; but September is lovely too, and I have seen still, crisp days in October which I would not have exchanged for any other day in the year. It is often beautiful in winter, when the snow lies untrodden and sparkling upon the uplands and every twig on every tree is rimed with frost, and there are days in March when the wind blows cold and clear and great clouds sail majestically across the blue sky. But I could go on forever, finding its peculiar beauty in every month, so perhaps the truth of the matter is that Haines is my home and in my opinion there is no place like it. "

― D.E. Stevenson , Five Windows

15 " Today the first presage of the rising sun was a wash of palest lavender above the rounded outlines of the hills. As the light brightened the shadows of the pine trees deepened; each rock, each tuft of course grass had a shadow. My own shadow, long and thin, took shape and trailed behind me on the stony path.

Here upon the hills there was a space and a wide lonely freedom and there was such purity in the morning air that my spirit was stilled, as if I were in church, to profound solemnity. . . . The morning was like a gift from the past when no town sullied the surface of the earth and legendary heroes strode upon the hills. "

― D.E. Stevenson , Five Windows

16 " What's the use of thinking about something which never could happen? It only makes you discontented with what you've got. "

― D.E. Stevenson , Five Windows

17 " That would be foolish,” he said thoughtfully. “ You see, Davie, if I was wanting a man to help me with the lambing I’d never wait until the lambing had started. I’d get him into the way of things before. He’d be some help to me then. It’s the same with war. I’ll need to learn to be a soldier before the fighting starts. That’s the sensible way of doing. "

― D.E. Stevenson , Five Windows

18 " Life is like looking out of a lot of different windows,” explained Malcolm. "

― D.E. Stevenson , Five Windows

19 " Mr. Mackenzie endeavoured to persuade me to buy a bed, but I refused for I had decided to have a new one. The bed in Mrs. Hall’s boarding-house with its queer musty smell had given me a horror of second-hand beds and bedding. My refusal pained Mr. Mackenzie and to soothe his injured feelings I consented to buy a large old-fashioned chest of drawers and a standard lamp with a parchment shade. "

― D.E. Stevenson , Five Windows

20 " I had been watching the porters and it had looked easy; they swung the crates as if they were full of feathers, but I discovered that the crates were very heavy indeed, it took me all my time to lift them. I was soft, of course, for I had had very little exercise all the winter and I was unskilled into the bargain. The porters were amused at my attempts to help them but they were quite decent about it; probably they thought I was doing it for a joke. "

― D.E. Stevenson , Five Windows