The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli
(New York: Laurel Leaf, 1949), 125
- "Always remember that," said the friar. "Thou hast only to follow the wall far enough and there will be a door in it." (16)
- "Against another wall stood a prayer stool and desk combined, with a smaller one beside it. On the wall hung a little cupboard which held Brother Luke's few personal belongings and his breviary." (18)
- "Robin, too, went to work. It was exciting to use the sharp chisel. It slid easily into the wood, peeling off the smallest slivers which fell in a pleasant litter around him. Soon the square place appeared where the other piece of wood should fit. For some reason he did not know Robin felt very content. He loved the smell of the wood he was whittling, even the acrid smell of the oak that Brother Matthew was working. He liked the sharp whistle of the plane as it slid over the board, and the ringing sound of the chisel on stone from the mason’s shed." (27-28)
- "Whether thou'lt walk soon I know not. This I know. We must teach thy hands to be skillful in many ways, and we must teach thy mind to go about whether thy legs will carry thee or no. For reading is another door in the wall, dost understand, my son?" Robin smiled and nodded. "Yes," he said. "I see now what you mean by the door in the wall." (29)
- "We shall say the office, to remind us in Whose care we are, here as well as everywhere. They knelt in the woods, as if it had been a cathedral, as indeed it looked to be. For the trees, bare of leaves, arched overhead in the very same way that the groined arches of stone swept up high overhead in the Gothic churches. 'Maybe that is where the idea came from,' thought Robin." (65)
- Sir Peter kept Robin's hand in his and spoke directly to him. "Each of us has his place in the world," he said. "If we cannot serve in one way, there is always another. If we do what we are able, a door always opens to something else." (71)
- "God alone knows whether thou'lt straighten or no. I know not. But this I tell thee. A fine and beautiful life lies before thee, because thou hast a lively mind and a good wit. Thine arms are very strong and sturdy. Swimming hath helped to make them so, but only because thou hast had the will to do it. Fret not, my son. None of us is perfect. It is better to have crooked legs than a crooked spirit. We can only do the best we can with what we have. That, after all, is the measure of success: what we do with what we have." (76)
- "But Robin was learning patience. He had found out that the harder it was to do something, the more comfortable he felt after he had done it." (87)
- "Come, my son," he whispered. "We shall say the office before it is time to set forth on thy mission." (90)
Topic: Kid's Books
Source
Created: 2025-12-03-Wed
Updated: 2025-12-10-Wed