“the goodness of the mother is written on the gaiety of the child.”

“A dutiful mother is someone who follows every step her child makes...And a good mother is someone whose child wants to follow her.”

“Being a good mother, it seemed to me, meant you ran the risk of losing your child.”

“I wonder if there's a difference between being a dutiful mother and being a good mother.'There is,' I said, and Charlotte looked up at me, expectant. Even if I couldn't articulate the difference as an adult, as a child I had felt it. I thought for a moment. 'A dutiful mother is someone who follows every step her child makes,' I said. And a good mother?'I lifted my gaze to Charlotte's. 'Is someone whose child wants to follow her.”

“Good Demeter mothering keeps a child in the heat and passion of life which immortalize and establish soulfulness. Mothering involves not only physical survival and achievement—Demeter's grain and fruit—it is also concerned with guiding a child to his or her unknown depths and the mystery of fate.”

“I do think all good and evil comes from words. I have to tune myself into a good temper with something musical, and I run to a book as a child to its mother.”