Things We Didn't Say, written by Amy Lynn Green
Written as a collection of letters between various characters of the story, this novel is about a young woman whose plans for the future are thwarted when she ends up working as a translator for German POWs in her hometown. Eventually accused of treason, the collection of letters the book is compiled of is the evidence she presents to prove her innocence.
p. 23, Real life is dreadfully tedious, the way it interrupts reading.
p. 77, I give you this caution: Luther was old when he wrote those thoughts, and deeply pained from numerous chronic illnesses. His frustration was compounded by years of unsuccessful attempts to convert Jewish audiences. That's not to excuse his harsh views, you understand.
Or perhaps it is. Perhaps I worry that in my later years, I will begin to calcify into bitterness, looking at the failed aspects of my ministry and spewing ill-considered words that will become part of my legacy.
Should that happen, I hope someone would reason with me, or even gently guide me away from the pulpit, dearly as I love it. That would be better than leading my flock astray at the end. Will you remember that please?
p. 89, (speaking of Works of Love, written by Soren Kierkegaard) In it, you'll find this passage: "Men think that it is impossible for a human being to love his enemies, for enemies are hardly able to endure the sight of one another. Well, then, shut your eyes - and your enemy looks just like your neighbor." Wise words for us in these difficult times.
p. 106, How much of us is deliberate choice, and how much is society and conditioning and circumstances?
p. 141, I don't know if you are a religious man, Major, but I'll share with you a secret that isn't often preached from the pulpits: Sometimes showing grace breaks us before it heals us. Forgiveness can feel like a betrayal of justice. We want others to deserve grace, or at least ask for it, even knowing full well that the greatest grace was extended to us "when we were enemies".
p. 142, We are called to obey and forgive and love, even when we can't see the outcome of our choices.
p. 152, The government is made up of people, and people are inclined to trust what they feel they know and understand most.
p. 161, Is that comforting? It has been for me, sometimes, to think that we make choices and learn and grow, but that we're put in the places and with the people we are for a reason.
p. 177, "Johanna, no one is a hooligan," Mother said primly, pulling out of the middle of the road. "Or at least not just a hooligan. They are brothers and sons and probably some hapless women's future husbands. More important, they have reasons for all they do that we'll likely never know."
p. 178, I'm afraid that at times I've dismissed my mother, who married at nineteen, raised two daughters, and never seemed to want more out of life than a quiet existence knitting, supporting Dad, and perfecting her smothered pork chop recipe. It's in times like these that I realize she's a stronger woman than I'll ever be.
p. 183, Whoever thought of making old unfashionable had a head for business, and that's a fact.
p. 193, That's a roundabout way of reassuring you that you can make a difference. You already are. There's not much hope of you single-handedly removing prejudice against Japanese Americans or making other systemic changes, but systems are made up of people, and if you can change a few people, that amounts to something.
p. 195, The question is, Who are you when you don't have a law telling you what to do? How do you treat a man you hate when you know he can't fight back?
Think about it. Right now, even.
Think about it. Right now, even.
p. 258, The past is never in the past, not for countries, and not for individuals. But we have to have the courage to move beyond it.
p. 377, God was in all the ways I've seen others care and challenge and stand by me this past year.
p. 385, After the Crash, I decided it would be more worthwhile to invest in young lives than in stock. Greater return on investment, you know.
p. 387, After all that's happened, I'd be grateful to leave the whispers and mistrust that follow me around, but I find that I'm not as bitter as I once was. I've seen the best and the worst of this little town, and I've realized it's made up of people with their own prejudices and priorities and hopes and fears - just like me. We're all just fallible people trying desperately to make sense of an incomprehensibly complex world. I don't want to forget that.
p. 390, "We can easily hurt others, and once we do, there's no escaping each other. Forgiveness is all that keeps us together, and withholding it keeps us apart".
** This post contains affiliate links and I'm grateful when people use them. **
