Anne Shirley on Faith, Fashion, and Fall

I had a stack of books to dive into this summer, and I’ve made my way through a few of them, although I was sidetracked by a certain TV series on Netflix that has taken away from my reading time. (Excuse me as I hang my head in embarrassment).

My favorite read so far is actually a reread of my old worn copy of Anne of Green Gables.  I don’t remember the last time I read it, but I feel like the words came alive in a new way this time.  Maybe it’s because I’m working on improving my own language and writing skills, but I found myself dog-earing pages and smiling at the words that came tumbling out of Anne’s mouth.

Here are a few of my favorite lines from the book:

On character:

She was sitting there waiting for something or somebody and, since sitting and waiting was the only thing to do just then, she sat and waited with all her might and main.

On faith:

Why must people kneel down to pray?  If I really wanted to pray I’ll tell you what I’d do.  I’d go out into a great big field all alone or into the deep, deep woods, and I’d look up into the sky–up–up–up—into that lovely blue sky that looks as if there was no end to its blueness.  And then I’d just feel a prayer.

On fashion:

I’d rather look ridiculous when everybody else does than plain and sensible all by myself.

On fall:

I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.

On kindreds:

Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think.  It’s splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.

On personalities:

There’s such a lot of different Annes in me.  I sometimes think that is why I’m such a troublesome person.  If I was just the one Anne it would be ever so much more comfortable, but then it wouldn’t be half so interesting.

On conscience:

It’s always wrong to do anything you can’t tell the minister’s wife.  It’s as good as an extra conscience to have a minister’s wife for your friend.

On ambition:

Oh, it’s delightful to have ambitions.  I’m so glad I have such a lot.  And there never seems to be any end to them–that’s the best of it.  Just as soon as you attain to one ambition you see another one glittering higher up still.  It does make life so interesting.

And just because I love the language:

Excitement hung around Anne like a garment, shone in her eyes, kindled in every feature.  She had come dancing up the lane, like a wind-blown sprite, through the mellow sunshine and lazy shadows of the August evening.

I can’t wait until Leila is old enough to read Anne for the first time.

Do you ever reread books?  What are some of your old favorites?