Laura

“When she but mentioned the name of someone whom she admired, one got an instant impression that the person must be wonderful, her voice invested the name with a sort of grace. When she liked people, she always called them by name a great many times in talking to them, and she enunciated the name, no matter how commonplace, in a penetrating way, without hurrying over it or slurring it; and this, accompanied by her singularly direct glance, had a curious effect. When she addressed Aunt Lydia, for instance, she seemed to be speaking to a person deeper down than the blurred, taken-for-granted image of my aunt that I saw every day, and for a moment my aunt became more individual, less matter-of-fact to me.”
― Willa Cather, My Mortal Enemy

“Here, I felt, winter brought no desolation; it was tamed, like a polar bear led on a leash by a beautiful lady.”
― Willa Cather, My Mortal Enemy

“Her sarcasm was so quick, so fine at the point—it was like being touched by metal so cold that one doesn't know whether one is burned or chilled.”
― Willa Cather, My Mortal Enemy

“When kindness has left people, even for a few moments, we become afraid of them, as if their reason has left them.”
― Willa Cather, My Mortal Enemy