“I listened to them ruin Mr. Dodgson for me—for us—forever. They called him horrible names; they begged Papa to dismiss him from… — Melanie Benjamin Copy Share Image
“...all his smiles were just a little sad around the edges, as if he knew happiness never could last very long” — Melanie Benjamin Happiness Copy Share Image
“And this—instead of happiness—would be only what the two of us deserved, after all.” — Melanie Benjamin Copy Share Image
When you write things down, they sometimes take you places you hadn't planned. — Melanie Benjamin Inspirational Copy Share Image
“I still can't stop marveling that this same boy chose me; and I'm glad that I can't, for we should rejoice in… — Melanie Benjamin Copy Share Image
“Reality had so intruded in my life that flowery verse seemed fanciful, foolish, even.” — Melanie Benjamin Fanciful Copy Share Image
“I will fly, alone. Wearing my own pair of goggles, my view of the world just as unique, just as wonderful, and… — Melanie Benjamin Goggles Copy Share Image
“...'it's not that you are too small, my little chick,but rather that the world is too big.” — Melanie Benjamin Copy Share Image
I had wanted to live forever as a gypsy girl; I had wanted to live forever as a child, tumbling down a… — Melanie Benjamin Children Copy Share Image
“His eyes were so blue as to be startling; I decided I’d never seen blue eyes before, until that moment. They were… — Melanie Benjamin Copy Share Image
“As awful as Bacon’s scenario sounded, at least she had some kind of vision for her future. Whereas I—fanciful thoughts of scandalous… — Melanie Benjamin Actor Copy Share Image
“And this was the greatest gift that aviation could ever give me; not the sense of freedom but the sense of permanence,… — Melanie Benjamin Aviation Copy Share Image
“That's just it, don't you see? I don't want to be taken care of! I don't want be hidden away, a burden!… — Melanie Benjamin Burden Copy Share Image
“And I did not speak German well; I found the language harsh and guttural, my ear simply couldn’t find it pleasing, and… — Melanie Benjamin German language Copy Share Image
My head grew muddled with it all; the silly ways adults acted with one another, never saying what they meant, trusting in… — Melanie Benjamin Adults Copy Share Image
“Dana taught me that the ability to grieve deeply also meant that a person had the capacity to love deeply, laugh deeply,… — Melanie Benjamin Capacity to love Copy Share Image
“ashamed of it even as I craved it. “Oh, she does! There’s a party tomorrow,” — Melanie Benjamin Ashamed Copy Share Image
“I also enjoyed praying at night for forgiveness, secure in the knowledge I’d not really done anything in need of forgiving.” — Melanie Benjamin Forgiveness Copy Share Image
“I flashed a grateful smile at my brother for giving me this gift of a self I had just recently begun to… — Melanie Benjamin Brother Copy Share Image
“There had been so many of them, so pale and thin and dirty, but Mamma had said we weren’t to feel sorry… — Melanie Benjamin Copy Share Image
“All of this was mine, simply for agreeing to marry a man I did not love but who was, in the end,… — Melanie Benjamin Copy Share Image
“For I can think of no fate drearier than sitting at home...for the rest of my life, watching all of you go… — Melanie Benjamin Destiny Copy Share Image
“didn’t like this line of questioning, because it was too much like the questions I asked myself at night, alone in my… — Melanie Benjamin Questioning Copy Share Image
“No one was going to come looking for me, after all—and I wasn’t entirely sure how I felt about that.” — Melanie Benjamin Copy Share Image
“I ran after her, pulling at her arm; this felt like a violation more than anything else. “You can’t read my letters!… — Melanie Benjamin Violation Copy Share Image
Why, then, did I always feel as if his happiness was my responsibility? It wasn't fair for him to burden me with… — Melanie Benjamin Burden Copy Share Image
“I resigned myself to looking for that face that I clearly recalled—until the day when I couldn’t. It happened so suddenly.” — Melanie Benjamin Copy Share Image
There is always so much talk about the sins of the fathers but it is the sins of the mothers that are… — Melanie Benjamin Copy Share Image
“Contemplation, rather than action; that seemed to be my lot in life, and I was ashamed of it even as I craved… — Melanie Benjamin Ashamed Copy Share Image
“reverently that I knew it was a part of him in a way, it turned out, I could never be.” — Melanie Benjamin Copy Share Image
Wonderland was all we had in common, after all; Wonderland was what was denied the two of us. I had denied him… — Melanie Benjamin Copy Share Image
“Pray remember, Alice—love isn’t all. There is family, and education, and potential. Also property, of course.” — Melanie Benjamin Education Copy Share Image
“At the age of twenty-five, he had conquered not only the entire planet but all the sky above it.” — Melanie Benjamin Copy Share Image
“at times I couldn’t recognize my own words, because I was still so often afraid in my life.” — Melanie Benjamin Copy Share Image
“To live for oneself is a terrifying prospect; there is comfort in martyrdom... p 364” — Melanie Benjamin Marriage Copy Share Image
“The moment before he started to suspect that there were punishments for those who dared to dream so big, to fly so… — Melanie Benjamin Time Copy Share Image
“... afraid of everything because nothing truly terrible had happened to me, yet.” — Melanie Benjamin Copy Share Image
“the Germans all hate the Kaiser and there’ll most likely be a civil war, instead.” — Melanie Benjamin Civil war Copy Share Image
“Here, I understood, was someone who would not allow me to take comfort in inertia. Already, I was different with him. Better.… — Melanie Benjamin Copy Share Image
“my breath sour against my fist, which I still held to my mouth as if this was a sorrow that could be… — Melanie Benjamin Grief Copy Share Image
