--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Molly holds the coat up, inspecting it…" description: "\"“Molly holds the coat up, inspecting it. It’s interesting, actually, sort of a military style with bold black buttons. The gray silk lining is disinteg..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e71/christina-baker-kline-1124_cursive_molly-holds-the-coat-up-inspecting-it-it_2099002.jpg" --- # Molly holds the coat up, inspecting it. It’s interesting… ![“Molly holds the coat up, inspecting it. It’s interesting, actually, sort of a military style with bold black buttons. The gray silk lining is disintegrating. Going through the pockets, she fishes out a folded piece of lined paper, almost worn away at the creases. She unfolds it to reveal a child’s…” quote by Christina Baker Kline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e71/christina-baker-kline-1124_cursive_molly-holds-the-coat-up-inspecting-it-it_2099002.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e71/christina-baker-kline-1124_cursive_molly-holds-the-coat-up-inspecting-it-it_2099002.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e71/christina-baker-kline-1124_cursive_molly-holds-the-coat-up-inspecting-it-it_2099002.jpg) > ““Molly holds the coat up, inspecting it. It’s interesting, actually, sort of a military style with bold black buttons. The gray silk lining is disintegrating. Going through the pockets, she fishes out a folded piece of lined paper, almost worn away at the creases. She unfolds it to reveal a child’s careful cursive in faint pencil, practicing the same sentence over and over again: Upright and do right make all right. Upright and do right make all right. Upright and do right . . . Vivian takes it from her and spreads the paper open on her knee. “I remember this. Miss Larsen had the most beautiful penmanship.” “Your teacher?” Vivian nods. “Try as I might, I could never form my letters like hers.”” [Christina Baker Kline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-baker-kline/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A child's repeated mantra about uprightness reflects a yearning for moral clarity amid chaos. **In simple terms:** Child repeats moral lesson for guidance. Key Takeaway Cultivate personal integrity despite disorder. Themes morality innocence guidance order chaos Mood reflective introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - education - parenting - self‑discipline - narrative analysis Key Concepts psychology ethical development Questions to Reflect On - What does “upright” mean to you? - How do you teach moral values? A Different Perspective Mantras can become rote without understanding. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Careful Cursive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/careful-cursive-4185365/) [Cursive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cursive/) [Penmanship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/penmanship/) [Penmanship Teacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/penmanship-teacher-4185364/) [Teacher Vivian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teacher-vivian-4185366/) ## Related quotes > [“I CAN SPEAK. I JUST LIKE TO SHOW OFF MY NICE PENMANSHIP.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mia-sheridan/i-can-speak-i-just-like-to-show-off-my-nice-penmanship/) [Mia Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mia-sheridan/) > [God is busy with the completion of your work, both outwardly and inwardly. He is fully occupied with you. Every human being is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/god-is-busy-with-the-completion-of-your-work-both-outwardly-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Thomas Penmanship is my Dude Love. When I become very successful in WWE as Tommaso Ciampa, one day I'm going to pull out Tommy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommaso-ciampa/thomas-penmanship-is-my-dude-love-when-i-become-very-successful-in/) [Tommaso Ciampa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tommaso-ciampa/) > [When I got in trouble, my mom would make me read or write - I would have to write my name over and over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ro-james/when-i-got-in-trouble-my-mom-would-make-me-read-or-write-i-would-have/) [Ro James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ro-james/) > [There's life for you. Spend the best years of your life studying penmanship and rhetoric and syntax and Beowulf and George Eliot, and then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/there-s-life-for-you-spend-the-best-years-of-your-life-studying/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [To tell you the truth, I see any revolution as basically a penmanship exercise. It all loops around and winds up where you started.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-reinking/to-tell-you-the-truth-i-see-any-revolution-as-basically-a-penmanship/) [Ann Reinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-reinking/) > [I can write with absolutely perfect penmanship with my feet. If I broke both my arms, I could still write a girl a love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-somerhalder/i-can-write-with-absolutely-perfect-penmanship-with-my-feet-if-i/) [Ian Somerhalder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-somerhalder/) > [A man's penmanship is an unfailing index of his character, moral and mental, and a criterion by which to judge his peculiarities of taste…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-vaughan/a-man-s-penmanship-is-an-unfailing-index-of-his-character-moral-and/) [Bill Vaughan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-vaughan/) > [“So brace yourself for the momentum. Because you’re about to be engulfed in a mental sphere of intrigue while being intellectually saturated in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-w-allison/so-brace-yourself-for-the-momentum-because-you-re-about-to-be/) [Calvin W. Allison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-w-allison/) > [Most of my teachers wanted to send me to the principal's office. But my fourth-grade teacher once put her arms around me and said,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-young/most-of-my-teachers-wanted-to-send-me-to-the-principal-s-office-but/) [Andrew Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-young/) > [Sold my soul to the devil / for nice penmanship. / Now I write real pretty / but I'm starting to regret it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mangan/sold-my-soul-to-the-devil-for-nice-penmanship-now-i-write-real-pretty/) [Dan Mangan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mangan/) > [In the beginning of the 19th century, maybe forty percent of women and fifty percent of men could produce a signature, which meant that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/in-the-beginning-of-the-19th-century-maybe-forty-percent-of-women-and/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [In an ideal world, the perfect biographical subject would have been the star of his penmanship class at grade school - and would thereafter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/in-an-ideal-world-the-perfect-biographical-subject-would-have-been/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [I saw that bad handwriting should be regarded as a sign of an imperfect education.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-saw-that-bad-handwriting-should-be-regarded-as-a-sign-of-an/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [... when I hear people say that penmanship is dead, my response: it's about time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-bennett/when-i-hear-people-say-that-penmanship-is-dead-my-response-it-s-about/) [Jessica Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-bennett/) ## More by Christina Baker Kline > [“Mr. Grote shows me how he grows wild rice in the stream and collects the seeds. The rice is nutty and brown. He plants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-baker-kline/mr-grote-shows-me-how-he-grows-wild-rice-in-the-stream-and-collects/) [Christina Baker Kline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-baker-kline/) > [“I try to forget the horror of what happened. Or—perhaps forget is the wrong word. How can I forget? And yet how can I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-baker-kline/i-try-to-forget-the-horror-of-what-happened-or-perhaps-forget-is-the/) [Christina Baker Kline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-baker-kline/) > [“don’t know how much of my memory of this time is affected by my age now and how much is a result of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-baker-kline/don-t-know-how-much-of-my-memory-of-this-time-is-affected-by-my-age/) [Christina Baker Kline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-baker-kline/) > [“The stark gray sky and bare tree limbs feel more suited to her than the uncomplicated promise of sunny spring days.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-baker-kline/the-stark-gray-sky-and-bare-tree-limbs-feel-more-suited-to-her-than/) [Christina Baker Kline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-baker-kline/) > [“Sometimes these spirits have been more real to me than people, more real than God. They fill silence with their weight, dense and warm,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-baker-kline/sometimes-these-spirits-have-been-more-real-to-me-than-people-more/) [Christina Baker Kline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-baker-kline/) > [“Every Easter she and her mother planted those crocuses near the fence beside the driveway, and soon enough a whole cluster of them, white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-baker-kline/every-easter-she-and-her-mother-planted-those-crocuses-near-the-fence/) [Christina Baker Kline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-baker-kline/) > [“Babies pay no attention to the clock.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-baker-kline/babies-pay-no-attention-to-the-clock/) [Christina Baker Kline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-baker-kline/) > [“Mr. Kaminski pulled a chain hanging from the pressed-metal kitchen ceiling, and light seeped from a bulb, casting a wan glow over a scarred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-baker-kline/mr-kaminski-pulled-a-chain-hanging-from-the-pressed-metal-kitchen/) [Christina Baker Kline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-baker-kline/) > [“Before we leave the gravesite, Mary sings Mother's favorite gospel hymn ... Mary's lovely voice rises and lingers in the air, and by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-baker-kline/before-we-leave-the-gravesite-mary-sings-mother-s-favorite-gospel/) [Christina Baker Kline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-baker-kline/) > [“for the first time since the fire, my worries are gone. I feel a joy so strong it’s almost painful—a knife’s edge of joy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-baker-kline/for-the-first-time-since-the-fire-my-worries-are-gone-i-feel-a-joy-so/) [Christina Baker Kline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-baker-kline/) > [“What was it the teacher in her Legal Issues class said the other day? Never bring up a point you don’t have an answer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-baker-kline/what-was-it-the-teacher-in-her-legal-issues-class-said-the-other-day/) [Christina Baker Kline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-baker-kline/) > [“Mrs. Scatcherd raps Dutchy's knuckles several times with a long wooden ruler, though it seems to me a halfhearted penalty. He barely winces, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-baker-kline/mrs-scatcherd-raps-dutchy-s-knuckles-several-times-with-a-long-wooden/) [Christina Baker Kline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-baker-kline/) > [“(There are many ways to be crippled, I’ve learned over the years, many forms of paralysis.)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-baker-kline/there-are-many-ways-to-be-crippled-i-ve-learned-over-the-years-many/) [Christina Baker Kline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-baker-kline/) > [“This girl may never go anywhere. She should at least know that adventure is in her bones.” When”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-baker-kline/this-girl-may-never-go-anywhere-she-should-at-least-know-that/) [Christina Baker Kline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-baker-kline/) > [“only link we had to our future was a name scrawled on a piece of paper my father tucked in his shirt pocket as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-baker-kline/only-link-we-had-to-our-future-was-a-name-scrawled-on-a-piece-of/) [Christina Baker Kline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-baker-kline/) [Explore all 281 Christina Baker Kline quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-baker-kline/) ## More Cursive quotes > [Clouds are poems, and the most moving poems linger on the blackboard so long, written in cursive so lovely, they also exist inside our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-beattie/clouds-are-poems-and-the-most-moving-poems-linger-on-the-blackboard/) [Ann Beattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-beattie/) > [I'm really interested in making a mark on a paper and letting that be cursive shorthand for an idea - that's the origin of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-thompson/i-m-really-interested-in-making-a-mark-on-a-paper-and-letting-that-be/) [Craig Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-thompson/) > [My thougths when written down in cursive, they seem prolific...a non- stop flow of facts for those who lack reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-quperlier/my-thougths-when-written-down-in-cursive-they-seem-prolific-a-non/) [Simon Quperlier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-quperlier/) > [Sophisticated ignorance, write my curses in cursive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kanye-west/sophisticated-ignorance-write-my-curses-in-cursive/) [Kanye West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kanye-west/) > [When a boy writes off the world, it's done with sloppy misspelled words, if / a girl writes off the world it's done in cursive?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sage-francis/when-a-boy-writes-off-the-world-it-s-done-with-sloppy-misspelled/) [Sage Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sage-francis/) > [“Slurring is the cursive of speech...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amor-towles/slurring-is-the-cursive-of-speech/) [Amor Towles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amor-towles/) > [How will I ever get out of this labyrinth!" to a margin note written in her loop-heavy cursive: Straight & Fast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/how-will-i-ever-get-out-of-this-labyrinth-to-a-margin-note-written-in/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [I went to an all-girls' Catholic school for, like, six years during the time when kids actually had handwriting class. I've always had a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meghan-markle/i-went-to-an-all-girls-catholic-school-for-like-six-years-during-the/) [Meghan Markle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meghan-markle/) > [“He loved that she eschewed cursive for print, as he did. Cursive, more than anything, betrayed a person's age.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheri-holman/he-loved-that-she-eschewed-cursive-for-print-as-he-did-cursive-more/) [Sheri Holman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheri-holman/) > [Do you remember when they taught cursive in schools? I think they don't anymore. But I still enjoy it - just the physical act…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-carson/do-you-remember-when-they-taught-cursive-in-schools-i-think-they-don/) [Anne Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-carson/) > [Here we are signing autographs for people who essentially know know how to write their name and are functionally literate. But if you cease…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-weller/here-we-are-signing-autographs-for-people-who-essentially-know-know/) [Peter Weller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-weller/) > [Our faucets used to drip, I used to ride the bench, but it was written in cursive for this king to exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-ross/our-faucets-used-to-drip-i-used-to-ride-the-bench-but-it-was-written/) [Rick Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-ross/) > [I can't get off my CrackBerry because it's always clicking. There's so much texting that some people don't know how to write in cursive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-seyfried/i-can-t-get-off-my-crackberry-because-it-s-always-clicking-there-s-so/) [Amanda Seyfried](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-seyfried/) > [“I’m not slurring. I’m talking in cursive.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/river-laurent/i-m-not-slurring-i-m-talking-in-cursive/) [River Laurent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/river-laurent/) > [The handwriting was a girl’s. I mean, you can tell. That enchanted cursive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cohn/the-handwriting-was-a-girl-s-i-mean-you-can-tell-that-enchanted/) [Rachel Cohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cohn/) [Browse all 31 Cursive quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cursive/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Molly holds the coat up, inspecting it. It’s interesting, actually, sort of a military style with bold black buttons. The gray silk lining is disintegrating. Going through the pockets, she fishes out a folded piece of lined paper, almost worn away at the creases. She unfolds it to reveal a child’s careful cursive in faint pencil, practicing the same sentence over and over again: Upright and do right make all right. Upright and do right make all right. Upright and do right . . . Vivian takes it from her and spreads the paper open on her knee. “I remember this. 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