“But the people only talked about how ugly her face looked. No one even bothered to mention what a sweet, kindhearted girl she was. Now, don’t be amazed! That is just the nature of humans, to notice the one flaw among a person’s ten good qualities.”

“Only sweet people with good virtues can go to fairyland. Those who treat others meanly and without respect can never go there.”

“We need no language to laugh”

“Of course, being brave does not mean running towards danger.”

“It is amazing how much you can see in other people - the good and the bad, we won't even talk about the ugly - if you just shut up and watch them.”

“As she grew older, Maddy discovered that she had disappointed almost everyone. An awkward girl with a sullen mouth, a curtain of hair, and a tendency to slouch, she had neither Mae's sweet nature nor sweet face. Her eyes were rather beautiful, but few people ever noticed this, and it was widely believed Maddy was ugly, a troublemaker, too clever for her own good, too stubborn - or too slack - to change.Of course, folk agreed that it was not her fault she was so brown or her sister so pretty, but a smile costs nothing, as the saying goes, and if only the girl had made an effort once in a while, or even showed a little gratitude for all the help and free advice, then maybe she would have settled down.”

“It isn’t right that one human being can hold such power over another. One person’s reality is another person’s crazy. Aren’t crazy people just regular people who don’t fit into someone else’s version of normal and acceptable behavior?”