Benedict Freedman > Quotes

“You'll see, you'll come to understand. These big things, these terrible things, are not the important ones. If they were, how could one go on living? No, it is the small, little things that make up a day, that bring fullness and happiness to a life.”
― Benedict Freedman, Mrs. Mike

“When little things are so important, it's because there aren't any big ones.”
― Benedict Freedman, Mrs. Mike

“But death does not stand at the end of life, it is all through it. It is the fear of losing, the knowledge of losing that makes love tender.”
― Benedict Freedman, Mrs. Mike

“I turned my face to the sky and laughed because the things you enjoy can’t hurt you.”
― Benedict Freedman, Mrs. Mike

“I shook off my numbness. I opened the door and went into the other bedroom. Two little figures stood on the bed. One had a shirt over his head which Mike was trying to pull past his ears.
"Here," I said, "you've got to unbutton another button."
"Then you'd have to take the whole thing off," he protested.
"There are time when it pays to start all over again, and this is one of them.”
― Benedict Freedman, Mrs. Mike

“I woke myself up to make sure I wasn’t dreaming, that Mike was really beside me. I kissed the pillow close up near his cheek because I didn’t want to wake him. He opened one eye and grinned at me. “Don’t waste ’em, kitten.”
― Benedict Freedman, Mrs. Mike

“These big things, these terrible things, are not the important ones. If they were, how could one go on living? No, it is the small, little things that make up a day, that bring fullness and happiness to a life.”
― Benedict Freedman, Mrs. Mike

“Mike was right: the pattern of life isn't a straight line; it crosses and recrosses, drawing in and tying together other lives, as I do when I gather in the ends of my thread to make a knot.”
― Benedict Freedman

“Katherine Mary, we're going to know each other very wel, for many years, I hope. You'll see, you'll come to understand. These big things, these terrible things, are not important ones. If they were, how could one go on living? No, it is the small, little things that make up a day, that bring fullness and happiness to a life. Your sergeant coming home, a good dinner, your little Mary laughing, the smell of the woods- oh, so many things, you know them yourself.”
― Benedict Freedman, Mrs. Mike

“I couldn’t stand so many people so close to me. I was overpowered by the noise, the perfume, the decorations, and by the glare of the electric lights. After the soft glow of candles, everything seemed harsh and artificially bright.”
― Benedict Freedman, Mrs. Mike

“But, Mike, I don’t want to wear a brace.”
“You’ll give it a chance, won’t you?”
“Well, if I can wear it under my clothes.”
“Sure and you can. I’ve made it that soft it won’t chafe.”
I took off my shirt and undid the top buttons of my underwear. “You’ll have to put it on me, Mike. I’ll never figure out how it works.”
“Lift up your arms, then, and I’ll slip it on.”
I did. But instead of slipping it over my arms, it was himself he slipped between them. He kissed me in the hollow of my throat, and it was a long time before we got those braces on.”
― Benedict Freedman, Mrs. Mike

“Every night we stopped in a cabin where wood had been stacked, matches left, and canned goods laid out for the chance traveler. All the unknown host received in return was a scribbled note giving our thanks, any news we could think of, and our names. This whole system of northern hospitality was a gigantic chain, for while we were eating this man’s beans, he was undoubtedly farther up the trail, eating somebody else’s.”
― Benedict Freedman, Mrs. Mike

“She’s a gray woman with gray sayings.”
“A crape-hanger.”
― Benedict Freedman, Mrs. Mike

“I felt afraid. No one would know that, not Mother and not Mike. I’d keep the fear pushed down inside of me, and no one would know it was there. “I’m awfully happy,” I wrote. I was. Awfully happy and awfully in love, and tomorrow I was marrying Mike.”
― Benedict Freedman, Mrs. Mike

“Born in the dirt of European trenches, in the fall of 1918, the flu spread into the Canadian Northwest. And we died, again without doctors, serum, or help. Even the wild forest creatures died. The bear was the only red-blooded animal to escape it. But then, as Mike says, nothing affects bears.”
― Benedict Freedman, Mrs. Mike

“Katherine Mary, w'er going to know each other very well, for many years, I hope. You'll see, you'll come to understand. These big things, these terrible things, are not the important ones. If they were, how could one go on living? No, it is the small, little things that make up a day, that bring fullness and happiness to your life. Your Sergeant coming home, a good dinner, your little Mary laughing, the smell of the woods - oh, so many things, you know them yourself”
― Benedict Freedman

“On the north side of the train the windows were plastered with snow, and on the south side great clouds of snow were whipped along by a sixty-mile gale. There was snow on top of the train and snow under the train, and all the snow there was left in the”
― Benedict Freedman, Mrs. Mike