The Wonder Quotes
"The journey was no worse than she expected."
"Lib settled herself on the single bench down the middle, her boots hanging closer to the right-hand wheel than she liked."
"He carried her trunk to what he called the jaunting car."
"She resisted the impulse to reach under her cloak and pull out her watch."
"She checked her watch now: almost nine, and the sun hadn’t set yet."
"Lib knew nothing about the O’Donnells except that they had to be a family of means."
"Lib could be on the ship back to England in a matter of days."
"It struck Lib now that the name of Nightingale was why the O’Donnell family had taken the trouble to bring a nurse all the way across the Irish Sea."
"Lib thought of saying, in a very cool voice, 'Doctor, I see that I’ve been brought here in hopes that my association with a very great lady might cast a veneer of respectability over an outrageous fraud. I’ll have no part in it.'"
"A shabby jacket, shoulders flecked with dandruff, and a knob-headed walking stick."
"At the hospital, Lib’s training was resented as much as it was appreciated."
"Lib would have liked to offer the old man the chair if she could have done it without insult."
"Lib pulled the chain at her waist and turned her watch up."
"She imagined herself trying to explain that the Irish job had proved objectionable on moral grounds."
"No excuses, work hard and refuse God nothing. Do your duty while the world whirls. Don't complain, don't despair. Better to drown in the surf than stand idly on the shore."
"You have one great advantage over most of your fellow nurses, Mrs. Wright: You’re bereft. Free of ties."
"But Heaven’s own light shone in her eyes, She was too good for me, And an angel claimed her for his own, And took her from Lough Ree."
"What’s so special about water? There’s nothing in the water."
"The children that are strangers have lied to me, strange children have faded away, and have halted from their paths."
"I have slept and have taken my rest, and I have risen up, because the Lord hath protected me."
"My love is mine, and I am his, in me he dwells, in him I live."
"We must be scavengers in a time of calamity."
"Putting out the drop of milk does no harm, at least."
"She must be no gossip, no vain talker; she should never answer questions about her sick except to those who have a right to ask them."
"You expect me to believe that this milk is for the fairies?"
"Hospitality’s a sacred law with the Irish, Mrs. Wright. If anyone knocks, we must open up and feed and shelter them, even if the kitchen floor do be thick with sleeping people already."
"I don’t pray, nor do I go to church, not for many years now."
"Prayer brings more happiness than a feast."
"That silence you heard, when you tried to pray—that’s the sound of God listening."
"I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word, and deed, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault."
"Maiden mother, meek and mild, take oh take me for thy child."
"The water in my riddle doesn’t look like the widest of rivers, even. Imagine it spread all over the ground, but no danger in crossing it."
"Leave the bed sleepy, leave the table hungry."
"If we were perfectly dead unto ourselves, and not entangled within our own breasts, then should we be able to taste divine things."
"For the Lord bestoweth his blessings there, where he findeth the vessels empty."
"Thou art willing to give me heavenly food and bread of angels to eat."
"How sweet and pleasant the banquet, when thou gavest thyself to be our food!"
"We have to be cleaned before we’re let in."
"If Earth was such unworthy soil for God’s best specimens, why did he perversely plant them there?"
"Private nursing was always narrowing, and the peculiarity of this particular job had intensified the effect, shrinking her world to one small chamber."
"At the front, anyone who’s not useful is an impediment."
"To study something can mean interfering with it."
"We had three spoons to feed a hundred men."
"God may have sent the blight, but the English made the famine."
"Wise words are rarer than emeralds, yet they come from the mouths of poor slave girls."
"Her stoical character and elevated spirits may obscure the truth."
"The sharp-scented breath known as the odour of famine."
"The lurching walk and strained posture, the chill, distended fingers, the sunken eyes."
"The girl’s wasting away in front of you."
"You’re trying to get your brother into heaven."
"When we guess," said the girl, "that’s God telling us things."
"Then eat! Please. Even a mouthful. A sip. I beg of you."
"Please! For my sake. For the sake of everyone who—"
"Kitty, from the doorway: 'Tis Mr. Thaddeus.'"
"The priest looked uncomfortably hot in his layers of black. Had Lib managed to prick his conscience at the meeting last night? His mouth still turned up as he greeted Anna, but his eyes were woebegone."
"Lib pushed down her dislike of the man. After all, if anyone could convince Anna of the folly in her theology, it would logically be her priest."
"You’re afraid of her telling him about the manna, Monster!"
"I know I am weak but my mother is here."
"This whole earth was the land of exile."
"I just wish I knew how long it’ll take."
"I’ll join you both in Athlone tomorrow or the next day."
"The price of a new life. Let me feed you. Open your mouth."
"We’re going for a ride on Polly. You know Polly, I believe. You won’t be scared."
"None are so blind as those who will not see."
"But neither the Creator nor Nature should be blamed for what human hands have wrought."