Leslie > Recent Status Updates

"In its etymology, kind means something radically different from mere agreeableness. Indeed, kind, rightly understood, can include all sorts of disagreeableness. Kind comes from the same root from which we get the word kin. To be kind, then, is to treat someone like they are family. To possess the virtue of kindness is to be in the habit of treating all people as if they were family."

"The current meaning of brave is closely allied to the word bold, which isn’t attached to virtue or vice. Boldness can be bad just as it can be good. In a culture as fragmented as ours, nearly anyone who takes a stand on something can find support somewhere. Right or wrong, anyone who is bold will be considered brave by someone."

Re-reading in preparation for the movie release on March 1

"...because no number of rules or laws could cover every moral or ethical choice we face, virtue picks up where rules leave off. And where rules abound, virtue, like an underused muscle, atrophies."

"Practice makes perfect, but pleasure makes practice more likely, so read something enjoyable. If a book is so agonizing that you avoid reading it, put it down and pick up one that brings you pleasure. Life is too short and books are too plentiful not to."

Delightful

It has turned into the coziest book I've ever read.

Cat's name is Meowhouse 👌

"The last words I said to her," said Cousin Stickles pathetically, "were, 'Who will rub my back at nights now?' And she said—she said—but no, I cannot repeat it."

"Nonsense," said Uncle Benjamin. "Out with it. This is no time to be squeamish."

"She said"—Cousin Stickles' voice was little more than a whisper—"she said—'Oh, darn!'"

So far, it's been almost entirely things people have done to Valancy or things people would do to her.

Finally, now (close to 1/5 of the way through) something is actually happening in the story.

I definitely identify with her desire to keep discomforts secret just to avoid the fuss: "But she was still horribly afraid of one thing—the fuss the whole jamfry of them would make when she told them."

So far it's just sad. So much sadness. So much gray. So much blah. I have only the promises of my wife and friends that it gets better later on.

Casual. fun. draconic.

"Why have you kept Louisa May Alcott out of Teseris's and
Eksi's lives?" she demanded out of the blue.

"What?" His tone was quite different. "Prudencia, what is
the matter with you? Did you have enough breakfast?'

"Quite enough, thank you. So tell me, why?"

He stared at her for a moment in silence.

"If I weren't a gentleman, I'd take your temperature right
now. What on earth are you talking about?"