I just finished a great novel, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith. I came across it on someone’s blog and decided to pick it up from the library. It was such a wonderfully written, powerful and insightful book. I highly recommend it. It tells the story of a young girl growing up in Brooklyn in the early 1900s and of her family’s struggle to survive and rise above the poverty of working class immigrants through education.
There are so many good quotes in the book, but since I was borrowing the book from the library I didn’t really highlight or flag any of them. Here is one quote I did find. It’s the young protagonist pondering the meaning of happiness. Her conclusion is so encouraging for all of us to remember how simple, how free, and how attainable happiness is!
“People always think that happiness is a faraway thing,” thought Francie, “something complicated and hard to get. Yet, what little things can make it up; a place of shelter when it rains – a cup of strong hot coffee when you’re blue; for a man, a cigarette for contentment; a book to read when you’re alone – just to be with someone you love. Those things make happiness.”
There are so many good quotes in the book, but since I was borrowing the book from the library I didn’t really highlight or flag any of them. Here is one quote I did find. It’s the young protagonist pondering the meaning of happiness. Her conclusion is so encouraging for all of us to remember how simple, how free, and how attainable happiness is!
“People always think that happiness is a faraway thing,” thought Francie, “something complicated and hard to get. Yet, what little things can make it up; a place of shelter when it rains – a cup of strong hot coffee when you’re blue; for a man, a cigarette for contentment; a book to read when you’re alone – just to be with someone you love. Those things make happiness.”
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