--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Perhaps,' she said, leaning forward a…" description: "\"“Perhaps,' she said, leaning forward a little, 'you will tell me your name. If we are to be friends' - she smiled her grave smile - 'as I hope we are, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/564/elizabeth-von-arnim-2484_smile-hope_perhaps-she-said-leaning-forward-a-littl_312653.png" --- # Perhaps,' she said, leaning forward a little, 'you will… ![“Perhaps,' she said, leaning forward a little, 'you will tell me your name. If we are to be friends' - she smiled her grave smile - 'as I hope we are, we had better begin at the beginning.” quote by Elizabeth von Arnim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/564/elizabeth-von-arnim-2484_smile-hope_perhaps-she-said-leaning-forward-a-littl_312653.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/564/elizabeth-von-arnim-2484_smile-hope_perhaps-she-said-leaning-forward-a-littl_312653.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/564/elizabeth-von-arnim-2484_smile-hope_perhaps-she-said-leaning-forward-a-littl_312653.png) > ““Perhaps,' she said, leaning forward a little, 'you will tell me your name. If we are to be friends' - she smiled her grave smile - 'as I hope we are, we had better begin at the beginning.”” [Elizabeth von Arnim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-von-arnim/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Inviting conversation at the start builds trust and deepens friendship through shared stories. **In simple terms:** Start friendships by sharing origins. Key Takeaway Begin with personal histories to connect. Themes relationships communication trust Mood intimate thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - first meetings - friendship building - intimate dialogues Key Concepts storytelling vulnerability Questions to Reflect On - What stories reveal your true self? - How can beginnings shape lasting bonds? A Different Perspective Too much focus on past may hinder present growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [“I suppose I don’t have many friends either. I mean, there are people you see every day and are friendly with, but…real friends”—she smiled—“I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bella-forrest/i-suppose-i-don-t-have-many-friends-either-i-mean-there-are-people/) [Bella Forrest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bella-forrest/) > [Behind your smile, I hope you still miss me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/behind-your-smile-i-hope-you-still-miss-me/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I paint my dreams on a canvas of life with a smile of hope, An attempt to make my destiny a bit colorful!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mysticald-faiqa/i-paint-my-dreams-on-a-canvas-of-life-with-a-smile-of-hope-an-attempt/) Mysticald/Faiqa > [Don't mind to your failures, smile to what you have, hope for tomorrow... look up :)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-quimada/don-t-mind-to-your-failures-smile-to-what-you-have-hope-for-tomorrow/) [Nathaniel Quimada](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-quimada/) > [Always smile even when facing crisis for being depressed wont change your reality. Smile and hope for the best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/always-smile-even-when-facing-crisis-for-being-depressed-wont-change/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“We never know what a day will bring us, but one thing we do know is that every morning we can wake up, smile…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-k-wookey/we-never-know-what-a-day-will-bring-us-but-one-thing-we-do-know-is/) Ellen K. Wookey > [I never enter a new company without the hope that I may discover a friend, perhaps the friend, sitting there with an expectant smile.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-c-benson/i-never-enter-a-new-company-without-the-hope-that-i-may-discover-a/) [A. C. Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-c-benson/) > [You can fake a smile and hope that no one recognizes. But there will always be one person who looks closer and sees the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-can-fake-a-smile-and-hope-that-no-one-recognizes-but-there-will/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There's so much living to be squeeze into the cracks of one little day. You can make someone laugh, smile, hope, sing, think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/regina-brett/there-s-so-much-living-to-be-squeeze-into-the-cracks-of-one-little/) [Regina Brett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/regina-brett/) > [Begin whatever you have to do: the beginning of a work stands for the whole.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/decimius-magnus-ausonius/begin-whatever-you-have-to-do-the-beginning-of-a-work-stands-for-the/) [Decimius Magnus Ausonius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/decimius-magnus-ausonius/) > [We all learned in kindergarten that the beginning is a very good place to start. As we have this debate on illegal immigration and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marsha-blackburn/we-all-learned-in-kindergarten-that-the-beginning-is-a-very-good/) [Marsha Blackburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marsha-blackburn/) > [“Begin at the beginning," I said, "and go on till you come to the end. Then stop.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lish-mcbride/begin-at-the-beginning-i-said-and-go-on-till-you-come-to-the-end-then/) [Lish McBride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lish-mcbride/) > [Where shall we begin? There is no beginning. Start where you arrive. Stop before what entices you. And work! You will enter little by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auguste-rodin/where-shall-we-begin-there-is-no-beginning-start-where-you-arrive/) [Auguste Rodin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auguste-rodin/) > [“Begin at the beginning, go on until the end, then stop.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/begin-at-the-beginning-go-on-until-the-end-then-stop/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [To begin, at the beginning...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/to-begin-at-the-beginning/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) ## More by Elizabeth von Arnim > [“I would have all couples neatly paired in years, the forties with the forties, and the twenties with the twenties. Should the forties, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-von-arnim/i-would-have-all-couples-neatly-paired-in-years-the-forties-with-the/) [Elizabeth von Arnim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-von-arnim/) > [“When I drive to the lupins and see them all spread out as far as eye can reach in perfect beauty of colour and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-von-arnim/when-i-drive-to-the-lupins-and-see-them-all-spread-out-as-far-as-eye/) [Elizabeth von Arnim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-von-arnim/) > [She had been dragged in the most humiliating of all dusts, the dust reserved for older women who let themselves be approached, on amorous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-von-arnim/she-had-been-dragged-in-the-most-humiliating-of-all-dusts-the-dust/) [Elizabeth von Arnim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-von-arnim/) > [What a blessing it is to love books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-von-arnim/what-a-blessing-it-is-to-love-books/) [Elizabeth von Arnim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-von-arnim/) > [It is beautiful, beautiful to give; one of the very most beautiful things in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-von-arnim/it-is-beautiful-beautiful-to-give-one-of-the-very-most-beautiful/) [Elizabeth von Arnim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-von-arnim/) > [“I asked nothing better of life. I still ask nothing better of life. Strange to say—for surely it is strange not to have increased…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-von-arnim/i-asked-nothing-better-of-life-i-still-ask-nothing-better-of-life/) [Elizabeth von Arnim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-von-arnim/) > [“No one ever said aloud any of the kinds of things he was so constantly thinking, because no one in the parish, not Alice,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-von-arnim/no-one-ever-said-aloud-any-of-the-kinds-of-things-he-was-so/) [Elizabeth von Arnim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-von-arnim/) > [“The only thing to do with one's old sorrows is to tuck them up neatly in their shroud and turn one's face away from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-von-arnim/the-only-thing-to-do-with-one-s-old-sorrows-is-to-tuck-them-up-neatly/) [Elizabeth von Arnim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-von-arnim/) > [“She belongs to the winter that is past, to the darkness that is over, and has no part or lot in the life I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-von-arnim/she-belongs-to-the-winter-that-is-past-to-the-darkness-that-is-over/) [Elizabeth von Arnim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-von-arnim/) > [“This radiant weather, when mere living is a joy, and sitting still over the fire out of the question, has been going on for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-von-arnim/this-radiant-weather-when-mere-living-is-a-joy-and-sitting-still-over/) [Elizabeth von Arnim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-von-arnim/) > [“And when I'm with you," she said, "I feel as if I were stuffed with—oh, with stars.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-von-arnim/and-when-i-m-with-you-she-said-i-feel-as-if-i-were-stuffed-with-oh/) [Elizabeth von Arnim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-von-arnim/) > [“Here was the world wide-awake and yet only for me, all the fresh pure air only for me, all the fragrance breathed only by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-von-arnim/here-was-the-world-wide-awake-and-yet-only-for-me-all-the-fresh-pure/) [Elizabeth von Arnim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-von-arnim/) > [“... and everybody will have what they never yet have had, a certain amount of that priceless boon, leisure-- leisure to sit down and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-von-arnim/and-everybody-will-have-what-they-never-yet-have-had-a-certain-amount/) [Elizabeth von Arnim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-von-arnim/) > [Beauty made you love, and love made you beautiful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-von-arnim/beauty-made-you-love-and-love-made-you-beautiful/) [Elizabeth von Arnim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-von-arnim/) > [“Surely the colour of London was an exquisite thing. It was like a pearl that late afternoon, something very gentle and pale, with faint…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-von-arnim/surely-the-colour-of-london-was-an-exquisite-thing-it-was-like-a/) [Elizabeth von Arnim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-von-arnim/) [Explore all 155 Elizabeth von Arnim quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-von-arnim/) ## More Smile Hope quotes > [There's so much living to be squeeze into the cracks of one little day. You can make someone laugh, smile, hope, sing, think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/regina-brett/there-s-so-much-living-to-be-squeeze-into-the-cracks-of-one-little/) [Regina Brett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/regina-brett/) > [You can fake a smile and hope that no one recognizes. But there will always be one person who looks closer and sees the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-can-fake-a-smile-and-hope-that-no-one-recognizes-but-there-will/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I never enter a new company without the hope that I may discover a friend, perhaps the friend, sitting there with an expectant smile.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-c-benson/i-never-enter-a-new-company-without-the-hope-that-i-may-discover-a/) [A. C. Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-c-benson/) > [“We never know what a day will bring us, but one thing we do know is that every morning we can wake up, smile…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-k-wookey/we-never-know-what-a-day-will-bring-us-but-one-thing-we-do-know-is/) Ellen K. Wookey > [Always smile even when facing crisis for being depressed wont change your reality. Smile and hope for the best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/always-smile-even-when-facing-crisis-for-being-depressed-wont-change/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Don't mind to your failures, smile to what you have, hope for tomorrow... look up :)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-quimada/don-t-mind-to-your-failures-smile-to-what-you-have-hope-for-tomorrow/) [Nathaniel Quimada](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-quimada/) > [“I paint my dreams on a canvas of life with a smile of hope, An attempt to make my destiny a bit colorful!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mysticald-faiqa/i-paint-my-dreams-on-a-canvas-of-life-with-a-smile-of-hope-an-attempt/) Mysticald/Faiqa > [Behind your smile, I hope you still miss me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/behind-your-smile-i-hope-you-still-miss-me/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) Browse all 9 Smile Hope quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Perhaps,' she said, leaning forward a little, 'you will tell me your name. 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