--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I put the gold star up in the front…" description: "\"I put the gold star up in the front window beside the flag. Alterations is what I know and what I did: hems, gussets and seams.\" — Anne Sexton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ee/anne-sexton-645_alterations_i-put-the-gold-star-up-in-the-front-wind_1953238.jpg" --- # I put the gold star up in the front window beside the… ![“I put the gold star up in the front window beside the flag. Alterations is what I know and what I did: hems, gussets and seams.” quote by Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ee/anne-sexton-645_alterations_i-put-the-gold-star-up-in-the-front-wind_1953238.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ee/anne-sexton-645_alterations_i-put-the-gold-star-up-in-the-front-wind_1953238.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ee/anne-sexton-645_alterations_i-put-the-gold-star-up-in-the-front-wind_1953238.jpg) > “I put the gold star up in the front window beside the flag. Alterations is what I know and what I did: hems, gussets and seams.” [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker displays a personal achievement, linking it to national symbols, and reflects on the craft of making things. **In simple terms:** Shows pride in work and connection to larger identity. Key Takeaway Celebrate small victories and their broader meaning. Themes pride identity craft work nationalism Mood reflective proud Type personal symbolic When to use this quote - home decoration - personal milestones - handmade projects - patriotic displays Key Concepts self-expression symbolism labor Questions to Reflect On - How does personal pride intersect with national identity? - What does the act of making say about self-worth? A Different Perspective May overlook deeper societal issues behind symbols. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Flags](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flags/) [Gold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gold/) [Stars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stars/) [Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work/) ## Related quotes > [I want to get a gold star. 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When I've been nominated for Emmys and when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feig/the-awards-world-can-be-ridiculous-but-i-m-not-one-to-bash-it-i-love/) [Paul Feig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feig/) > [“He sat at his desk – last seat, last row – and looked at the chart on the wall next to him. Of course…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-sachar/he-sat-at-his-desk-last-seat-last-row-and-looked-at-the-chart-on-the/) [Louis Sachar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-sachar/) > [“The only gold stars the CIA gives out are for death in the field, and then only to actual employees, not contracted assets. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-greaney/the-only-gold-stars-the-cia-gives-out-are-for-death-in-the-field-and/) [Mark Greaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-greaney/) > [“Do I get a gold star?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-hodkin/do-i-get-a-gold-star/) [Michelle Hodkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-hodkin/) > [I relate with military families and Gold Star families. Gold Star families are families where somebody didn't come home. My father died in 1949.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-walsh/i-relate-with-military-families-and-gold-star-families-gold-star/) [Joe Walsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-walsh/) > [“For me, it was a Gold Star day. 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There is nothing so minute or inconsiderable, that I would not rather know it than not.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/all-knowledge-is-of-itself-of-some-value-there-is-nothing-so-minute/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [What change has made the pastures sweet And reached the daisies at my feet, And cloud that wears a golden hem? This lovely world,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-ingelow/what-change-has-made-the-pastures-sweet-and-reached-the-daisies-at-my/) [Jean Ingelow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-ingelow/) > [It is ... through the world of the imagination which takes us beyond the restrictions of provable fact, that we touch the hem of truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/it-is-through-the-world-of-the-imagination-which-takes-us-beyond-the/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote The droghte of March hath perced to the roote.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/whan-that-aprill-with-his-shoures-soote-the-droghte-of-march-hath/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) ## More by Anne Sexton > [Blind with love, my daughter has cried nightly for horses, those long-necked marchers and churners that she has mastered, any and all, reigning them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/blind-with-love-my-daughter-has-cried-nightly-for-horses-those-long/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [I am crazy as hell, but I know it. And knowing it is a kind of sanity that makes the sickness worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/i-am-crazy-as-hell-but-i-know-it-and-knowing-it-is-a-kind-of-sanity/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [And what of the dead? They lie without shoes in the stone boats. They are more like stone than the sea would be if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/and-what-of-the-dead-they-lie-without-shoes-in-the-stone-boats-they/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [The Witch's Life" When I was a child there was an old woman in our neighborhood whom we called The Witch. All day she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/the-witch-s-life-when-i-was-a-child-there-was-an-old-woman-in-our/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [I have forgiven all the old actors for dying. A new one comes on with the same lines, like large white growths, in his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/i-have-forgiven-all-the-old-actors-for-dying-a-new-one-comes-on-with/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [“From the Garden” Come, my beloved, consider the lilies. We are of little faith. We talk too much. Put your mouthful of words away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/from-the-garden-come-my-beloved-consider-the-lilies-we-are-of-little/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [Oh thumb, I want a drink it is dark, where are the big people, when will I get there...?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/oh-thumb-i-want-a-drink-it-is-dark-where-are-the-big-people-when-will/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [I want to kiss God on His nose and watch Him sneeze and so do you. Not out of disrespect. Out of pique. Out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/i-want-to-kiss-god-on-his-nose-and-watch-him-sneeze-and-so-do-you-not/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [I, in my brand new body, which was not a woman's yet, told the stars my questions and thought God could really see the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/i-in-my-brand-new-body-which-was-not-a-woman-s-yet-told-the-stars-my/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [Father, you died once, salted down at fifty-nine, packed down like a big snow angel, wasn't that enough?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/father-you-died-once-salted-down-at-fifty-nine-packed-down-like-a-big/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [When I'm writing, I know I'm doing the thing I was born to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/when-i-m-writing-i-know-i-m-doing-the-thing-i-was-born-to-do/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [Cinderella and the prince lived, they say, happily ever after, like two dolls in a museum case never bothered by diapers or dust, never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/cinderella-and-the-prince-lived-they-say-happily-ever-after-like-two/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [“Quite collected at cocktail parties, meanwhile in my head I'm undergoing open-heart surgery.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/quite-collected-at-cocktail-parties-meanwhile-in-my-head-i-m/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [I cannot walk an inch / without trying to walk to God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/i-cannot-walk-an-inch-without-trying-to-walk-to-god/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [Now that I have written many words, and let out so many loves, for so many, and been altogether what I always was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/now-that-i-have-written-many-words-and-let-out-so-many-loves-for-so/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) [Explore all 428 Anne Sexton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) ## More Alterations quotes > [“When you alter yourself, the alterations become the truth...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/when-you-alter-yourself-the-alterations-become-the-truth/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Death's not a separation or alteration or parting; it's just a one-handled door.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stevie-smith/death-s-not-a-separation-or-alteration-or-parting-it-s-just-a-one/) [Stevie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stevie-smith/) > [There are two processes which we adopt consciously or unconsciously when we try to prophesy. We can seek a period in the past whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/there-are-two-processes-which-we-adopt-consciously-or-unconsciously/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [The present Constitution, with a few alterations of a trifling nature, is just as good as we want; and if it is sustained on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigham-young/the-present-constitution-with-a-few-alterations-of-a-trifling-nature/) [Brigham Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigham-young/) > [My being consists of matter and form, that is, of soul and body; annihilation will reach neither of them, for they were never produced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/my-being-consists-of-matter-and-form-that-is-of-soul-and-body/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Every story is flawed, every story is subject to change. Even after it is set down to print, between covers of a book, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-richmond/every-story-is-flawed-every-story-is-subject-to-change-even-after-it/) [Michelle Richmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-richmond/) > [Human beings were not well served by permanence or stasis. Obviously, if individuals were progressing, they were undergoing a series of presumably desirable alterations,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/human-beings-were-not-well-served-by-permanence-or-stasis-obviously/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Everything that makes diversity of kinds, of species, differences, properties... everything that consists in generation, decay, alteration and change is not an entity, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giordano-bruno/everything-that-makes-diversity-of-kinds-of-species-differences/) [Giordano Bruno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giordano-bruno/) > [One of the pleasures of reading is seeing this alteration on the pages, and the way, by reading it, you have made the book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/one-of-the-pleasures-of-reading-is-seeing-this-alteration-on-the/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) > [Whether it is seen in personal terms or trans-personal terms, whether it is Heaven or Nirvana or Happy Hunting Ground or the Garden of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-smith/whether-it-is-seen-in-personal-terms-or-trans-personal-terms-whether/) [John Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-smith/) > [For a woman ... to explore and express the fullness of her sexuality, her ambitions, her emotional and intellectual capacities, her social duties, her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-j-kaplan/for-a-woman-to-explore-and-express-the-fullness-of-her-sexuality-her/) [Louise J. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-j-kaplan/) > [When it happens that a person has to give up a sexual object, there quite often ensues an alteration of his ego which can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/when-it-happens-that-a-person-has-to-give-up-a-sexual-object-there/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [Reagan took an approach to the Cold War dramatically different from any other US President. To wit, he thought we should win. This was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-coulter/reagan-took-an-approach-to-the-cold-war-dramatically-different-from/) [Ann Coulter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-coulter/) > [Contentment is never the outcome of fulfillment, of achievement, or of the possession of things; it is not born of action or inaction. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/contentment-is-never-the-outcome-of-fulfillment-of-achievement-or-of/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments: love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/let-me-not-to-the-marriage-of-true-minds-admit-impediments-love-is-2/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) Browse all 94 Alterations quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I put the gold star up in the front window beside the flag. 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