“Susan. who sat wide-eyed and silent. overawed by the presence of the great man, heard this in wonder. That she might go by train to school, and learn Latin and French, was a divine blessing, and if algebra, which surely came out of Arabian Nights, were added, her cup of bliss would be complete. Her mind flashed to unbounded knowledge, to the moon with its mountains and craters, to the stars, which were worlds. It dipped down into the earth and moved among caverns in the limestone hills and the springs running in secret places. Her heart beat wildly; heaven was there with doors which would unlock with the key of scholarship. The golden gates would fly apart and she would step into that world of books and language, and the knowledge of echoes and sound and lightning which the schoolmaster called "science".” SchoolLearning Book:The Farm on the Hill Source: The Farm on the Hill
“Everything seemed to move. The chimney-stacks swept across the Great Bear, the Pleiades were entangled in the elm’s boughs, a shooting star fell with a trail of gold, the trees dropped lower and lower as they climbed above them.” StarsConstellationsShooting StarsPleiadesUrsa Major Book:The Country Child Source: The Country Child
“She stood for a time, still and meditative, with her face held up to the arch of sky, seeking a shooting star in that illimitable field above her. The stars glittered and winked as if they were live, sentient beings, the angels themselves, watching the doings of earth, not in the serene manner of celestial beings but excited and interested in what they saw below. Their colours flashed in red and ice-blue and dazzling green and amber. There was Auriga with its bright Capella, a star Susan always recognised since her father long pointed out its bright flame. "That's the one I knows well. It's always been in the sky. I've watched it when I've been going to milking and coming home on winter nights, and it's been a kind of companion to me." The Great Bear swung over the house top, guarding Windystone from harm. Orion was hidden, but if she walked along by the yew trees, she could see his fiery stars and steel-green Riga, and the belt like a jewel. But she stayed where she was, alone, quiet, giving herself up to the movement of the rolling heavens, and she was caught up in that heavenly motion and whirled like a dark atom with the swinging earth.” NightStarsOrionUrsa Major Book:The Farm on the Hill Source: The Farm on the Hill
“The smooth beeches held up their glass-clear leaves to the sun, and the light strained through them like water through a sieve.” SunlightKomorebi Book:The Farm on the Hill Source: The Farm on the Hill
“For a long time we dreamed of a real leather ball, and at last my brother had one for his birthday. The feel of the leather, the stitching round it, the faint gold letters stamped upon it, the touch of the seam, the smell of it, all affected me so deeply that I still have that ache of beauty when I hold a cricket ball.” FeelsLongStillsRealLastsTimeBrotherLong TimeLettersGoldBallsRoundsSmellAll TimeMy BrotherAffectedCricketAcheLeather Author:Alison Uttley
“I do find life difficult at times … and I behave childishly too, do foolish things, unworthy … I don't think one can have great imagination and great wisdom. Can one?” ThinkingDifficultImaginationFoolishBehaveUnworthyGreat ImaginationGreat Wisdom Author:Alison Uttley
