“She held herself until the sobs of the child inside subsided entirely. I love you, she told herself. It will all be okay.”

“Ella held herself rigidly against all emotion until she arrived at the dark haven of her room. Then she threw herself across her bed and cried because life was such a tragic thing.”

“..and looking up into Abednego's face she fought a battle inside herself with the thing that it was, a sort of grabbing thing, and then she held Gertrude out to him. "You have her," she said.”

“She was working to remind herself of who she was. She was working to remember that somewhere in another place entirely she was known and loved.”

“...she gave him all the love she could not give herself. She loved him becasue he was the embodiment of those attributes she wanted for herself...”

“It is not enough for the teacher to love the child. She must first love and understand the universe. She must prepare herself, and truly work at it.”