Margi Preus > Quotes

“Look at this world! So vast! So wide! Huge masses of land spread across it; multitudes of green and brown islands dotted the blue expanse of the oceans. He felt like a bird contemplating the sky.”
― Margi Preus, Heart of a Samurai

“These shells are just like the people of the world, Okachan,' Manjiro said, speaking not just to his mother, but to everyone. 'They come from many places. They come in many different colors and sizes. But they are all beautiful.”
― Margi Preus, Heart of a Samurai

“The door through which he had glimpsed such wondrous light, he had walked through. He had encountered both beauty and pain. Now he understood that was how it would always be—no matter where he went in the world.”
― Margi Preus, Heart of a Samurai

“Different versions of a true story”
― Margi Preus

“Fall down seven times, get up eight.”
― Margi Preus

“A smile becomes you or perhaps you become you when you smile.”
― Margi Preus, West of the Moon

“A courteous samurai, his father said, would wash his hair before battle so if his head was taken it would smell sweet for his enemy.”
― Margi Preus, Heart of a Samurai

“A trifle can be enough when luck is on your side.”
― Margi Preus, West of the Moon

“What are true things, and what are not? What is good, and what is rubbish? Everything you encounter in life, everything you read, you have to use your own noggin.”
― Margi Preus

“My father told me that a person should always put his heart in order before falling asleep. Then he will be unencumbered by fear.”
― Margi Preus, Heart of a Samurai

“I want to do what's right. But how can I, when I am faced with only impossible choices?”
― Margi Preus, West of the Moon

“Fall down seven times, get up eight,” Manjiro said. “So my mother used to say.” 22 THE RACE here were no earthquakes. There were no broken legs. There were no emergencies of any kind. The day of the race arrived, as days generally did on the farm, with the barnyard rooster incessantly announcing its arrival. Manjiro climbed out of bed like an old man. Today was the day of his humiliation. Captain Whitfield squinted up at him from his coffee when he came into the dining room. “Rough night?” he asked. Manjiro shook his head, trying not to let his gloom show. He had taken great pains to keep this contest secret from Captain Whitfield. He poured himself a cup of coffee, muttering to himself, “I’m not going to let the cat jump in the bag now.” “Pardon me?” the captain said. Manjiro shook his head and sipped his coffee, the bitterness of it like a rebuke. His relationship with Captain Whitfield had been changing. Now that Manjiro was growing up—he was seventeen now—he regarded the captain more as a friend than a father. There were times, though, like now, when the feeling of being the naughty child of a possibly disapproving father was overwhelming. He should have confided in Captain Whitfield; the captain might have been able to help him out of his predicament. Well, it was too late now. He”
― Margi Preus, Heart of a Samurai

“fishermen”
― Margi Preus, Heart of a Samurai

“When one’s own courage is fixed in his heart, and when his resolution is devoid of doubt, then when the time comes he will of necessity be able to choose the right move. —from Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai”
― Margi Preus, Heart of a Samurai

“a person should always put his heart in order before falling asleep. Then he will be unencumbered by fear.”
― Margi Preus, Heart of a Samurai

“Such is the amazing power of stories to link us to our past and lead us all the way back to the present.”
― Margi Preus

“boat had swept away most of their catch. Once”
― Margi Preus, Heart of a Samurai

“We believe what we want to believe.”
― Margi Preus, Windswept

“So you're going to think about it?”
― Margi Preus, Windswept

“We believe what we want to believe."
page 109”
― Margi Preus, Windswept