Remarks by Elizabeth Prentiss | V2Melody Quotations

“I don't think people ought to like me, on the whole, but when they do, aint I glad?”

Combining self-doubt with an unaffected delight in being loved · Journal, 1 January 1842

“I do love to carry puddings to good old grannies.”

A playful glimpse of her early delight in practical acts of kindness · Journal, December 1841

“When I begin to pray I have so much to thank Him for, that I hardly know how to stop.”

Finding gratitude still possible in the midst of personal bereavement · Letter to Miss Lord, 31 January 1849

“The loss of a mother is never made up or atoned for; and ours was such a mother.”

A direct expression of the enduring nature of bereavement · Letter to her youngest brother, 1849

“We can not drain this bitter cup at one draught and then go on our way as though it had never been.”

Acknowledging that grief cannot simply be completed and left behind · Letter to her youngest brother, 1849

“It is the struggle to be patient and gentle and cheerful, when pressed down and worn upon and distracted, that costs us so much.”

Recognising that character is tested most severely under exhaustion and pressure · Letter to Mrs. Stearns, 17 February 1849

“I have an insatiable curiosity about even the outer life of those I love; and of the inner one you can not say too much.”

Expressing a desire to know friends deeply rather than superficially · Letter to Miss Eliza A. Warner, 27 September 1868

“We make the most of it as long as we must stay in it; but the under-current bears home.”

Balancing engagement with earthly life against a strong sense of spiritual homecoming · Letter from Dorset, 27 July 1873

“I feel like a ball that now is tossed to Sorrow and tossed back by Sorrow to Joy.”

Capturing the rapid alternation between grief and happiness in lived experience · Letter to Miss Eliza A. Warner, 26 October 1868

“It seems to me we are meant to use all the faculties God gives us; to abuse them is another thing.”

Distinguishing the healthy use of human abilities from their misuse · Letter to Mrs. Condict, 27 February 1877

“We enjoy seeing our children enjoy their work and their play; is our Father unwilling to let us enjoy ours?”

Arguing that faith need not exclude innocent pleasure and creativity · Letter to Mrs. Condict, 27 February 1877

“What a pity it is that one can't have a separate language with which to address each beloved one!”

Wondering whether ordinary language can express the individuality of different loves · Letter to Mrs. Humphrey, 1 April 1871

“I love you harder than I tell, or can tell you.”

A characteristically warm admission that affection exceeds the power of language · Letter to Miss Anna S. Prentiss, Richmond

“It seems to me that the sound of my six little feet is the very pleasantest sound in the world.”

Finding intense happiness in the ordinary sounds of family life · Letter to a sister-in-law, 15 January 1864

“Holiness is not a mere abstraction; it is praying and loving and being consecrate, but it is also the doing kind deeds, speaking friendly words.”

Defining spiritual life through ordinary acts of kindness as well as devotion · Letter to Miss E. S. Gilman, 29 April 1871

“Yet somebody must look out for the drops, and I am only too thankful to seize on this one.”

Defending small acts of compassion even when confronted by overwhelming need · Letter to a friend, 17 March 1856

“We live in a mystery, and shall never be satisfied till we see Him as He is.”

Acknowledging the limits of human understanding in matters of faith · Letter to Mrs. Condict, 2 May 1876

“Let us take our lot in life just as it comes, courageously, patiently, and faithfully.”

Advocating courage and patience in accepting life's circumstances · Letter to Mrs. Condict, 14 February 1877

“The true story of my life will never be written. But whatever you do, don't envy it.”

A candid warning against idealising another person's outward life · Letter to Mrs. Condict, 14 February 1877

“We must touch each other with the tips of our fingers.”

Recognising how tenderness and restraint matter when dealing with vulnerable hearts · Letter to a young relative, 23 September 1873

“To love Christ more—this is the deepest need, the constant cry of my soul.”

A concise expression of the spiritual longing that shaped her life and writing · Letter to a young relative, 23 September 1873

“Perhaps in the time of our humiliation, when everything seems a failure, we are making the best kind of progress.”

Suggesting that unseen growth may occur precisely when progress seems absent · Letter to a friend in Texas, 1 December 1873

“God never places us in any position in which we can not grow.”

Seeing difficult circumstances as opportunities for inward growth · Letter to a friend in Texas, 1 December 1873

“Whatever may be said to the contrary by others, to me life has been a battle-field, and I believe always will be; but is the soldier necessarily unhappy because he is fighting?”

Separating struggle from unhappiness and finding purpose within difficulty · Letter to Mrs. Condict, 7 November 1875

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