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81f292a
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Don't be afraid of death; be afraid of an unlived life. You don't have to live forever, you just have to live.
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Natalie Babbitt |
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421d2e4
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Like all magnificent things, it's very simple.
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philosophy
simplicity
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Natalie Babbitt |
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fd3646d
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The first week of August hangs at the very top of summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning. The weeks that come before are only a climb from balmy spring, and those that follow a drop to the chill of autumn, but the first week of August is motionless, and hot. It is curiously silent, too, with blank white dawns and glaring noons, and sunsets smeared with too much color.
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summer
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Natalie Babbitt |
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80881e3
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Everything's a wheel, turning and turning, never stopping. The frogs is part of it, and the bugs, and the fish, and the wood thrush, too. And people. But never the same ones. Always coming in new, always growing and changing, and always moving on. That's the way it's supposed to be. That's the way it is.
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Natalie Babbitt |
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ae8a54a
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You can't have living without dying. So you can't call it living, what we got. We just are, we just be, like rocks beside the road.
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life
tuck-everlasting
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Natalie Babbitt |
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8bde983
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dont be afraid of death, be afraid of the unlived life.
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Natalie Babbitt |
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ce0da03
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The first week of August hangs at the very top of the summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning. The weeks that come before are only a climb from balmy spring, and those that follow a drop to the chill of autumn, but the first week of August is motionless, and hot. It is curiously silent, too, with blank white dawns and glaring noons, and sunsets smeared with too much color...
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regret
summer
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Natalie Babbitt |
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d767d59
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For some, time passes slowly. An hour can seem like an eternity. For others, there was never enough. For Jesse Tuck, it didn't exist.
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Natalie Babbitt |
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c8f29a8
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And suddenly, she longed for a thunderstorm.
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Natalie Babbitt |
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2ff050b
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Don't fear death, fear the un-lived life
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missed-chances
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Natalie Babbitt |
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9b1e868
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How old are you, anyway?' she asked, squinting at him. There was a pause. At last he said, 'Why do you want to know?' I just wondered,' said Winnie. All right. I'm one hundred and four years old,' he told her solemnly. No, I mean really,' she persisted. Well then.' he said, 'if you must know, I'm seventeen.' Seventeen?' That's right.' Oh,' said Winnie hopelessly. 'Seventeen. That's old.' You have no idea,' he agreed with a nod.
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Natalie Babbitt |
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03b062a
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The ownership of land is an odd thing when you come to think of it. How deep, after all, can it go? If a person owns a piece of land, does he own it all the way down, in ever narrowing dimensions, till it meets all other pieces at the center of the earth? Or does ownership consist only of a thin crust under which the friendly worms have never heard of trespassing?
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Natalie Babbitt |
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ea83769
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But dying's part of the wheel, right there next to being born. You can't pick out the pieces you like and leave the rest. Being part of the whole thing, that's the blessing.
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Natalie Babbitt |
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1101287
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Well, thought Winnie, crossing her arms on the windowsill, she different. Things had happened to her that were hers alone, and had nothing to do with them. It was the first time. And no amount of telling about it could help them understand or share what she felt. It was satisfying and lonely, both at once.
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Natalie Babbitt |
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1b22bc7
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Do not fear death, but rather the unlived life. You don't have to live forever. You just have to live.
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Natalie Babbitt |
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3cc9486
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No connection, you would agree. But things can come together in strange ways. The wood was at the center, the hub of the wheel. All wheels must have a hub. A ferris wheel has one, as the sun is the hub of the wheeling calendar. Fixed points they are, and best left undisturbed, for without them, nothing holds together. But sometimes people find this out too late.
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Natalie Babbitt |
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9decbf0
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with white dawns and glaring moons, and sunsets smeared with too much color.
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tuck-everlasting
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Natalie Babbitt |
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477cf91
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For, through the twilight sounds of crickets and sighing trees, a faint, surprising wisp of music came floating to them and all three turned toward it, toward the wood.
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Natalie Babbitt |
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9c7b76e
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Closing the gate on her oldest fears as she had closed the gate of her own fenced yard, she discovered the wings she'd always wished she had.
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overcoming-fear
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Natalie Babbitt |
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a01d66a
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You dont have to live forever just live.
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Natalie Babbitt |
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c8b6c35
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I'm not exactly sure what I'd do, you know, but something interesting - something that's all mine. Something that would make some kind of difference in the world. It'd be nice to have a new name, to start with, one that's not all worn out from being called so much.
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Natalie Babbitt |
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68f85fc
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I was having that dream again, the good one where we're all in heaven and never heard of Treegap.
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dream
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Natalie Babbitt |
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a8729d2
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The way I see it," Miles went on, "it's no good hiding yourself away, like Pa and lots of other people. And it's no good just thinking of your own pleasure, either. People got to do something useful if they're going to take up space in the world."
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Natalie Babbitt |
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b0a37c3
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Everything's a wheel, turning and turning, never stopping. The frogs is part of it, and the bugs, and the fish, and the wood thush, too. And people. But never the same ones. Always coming in new, always growing and changing, and always moving on. Thats the way it's suppose to be. That's the way it is. If we didn't move it out ourself, it would stay here forever, trying to get loose, but stuck. That's what us Tucks are, Winnie. We ain't par..
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Natalie Babbitt |
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9f9460d
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But it's enough, just having this day. It's the knowing there's something different, something special up there waiting. It's the knowing you could choose to change your days--climb up there and throw yourself right down the throat of the only and last and greatest terrible secret in the world. Except you don't climb up.
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Natalie Babbitt |
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f3bd0d3
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Still-there's no use trying to figure why things fall the way they do. Things just are, and fussing don't bring changes.
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Natalie Babbitt |
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ea710d2
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It goes on," Tuck repeated, "to the ocean. But this rowboat now, it's stuck. If we didn't move it out ourself, it would stay here forever, trying to get loose, but stuck. That's what us Tucks are, Winnie. Stuck so's we can't move on. We ain't part of the wheel no more. Dropped off, Winnie. Left behind. And everywhere around us, things is moving and growing and changing. You, for instance. A child now, but someday a woman. And after that, mo..
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Natalie Babbitt |
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fdf2dc6
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Time is like a wheel. Turning and turning - never stopping. And the woods are the center; the hub of the wheel. It began the first week of summer, a strange and breathless time when accident, or fate, bring lives together. When people are led to do things, they've never done before. On this summer's day, not so very long ago, the wheel set lives in motion in mysterious ways.
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Natalie Babbitt |
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1342788
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Life always seems to have worries, even if you own a big and beautiful house on the best street in town.
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Natalie Babbitt |
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32e1732
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You really have to love words if you're going to be a writer, because as a writer, you certainly spend a lot of time with words.
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Natalie Babbitt |
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cede5c1
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The first week of August hangs at the very top of summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning. The weeks that come before are only a climb from balmy spring, and those that follow a drop to the chill of autumn.
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Natalie Babbitt |
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bdd6b7e
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The first week of August hangs at the very top of summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning.
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Natalie Babbitt |
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02f087b
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The ownership of land is an odd thing when you come to think of it. How deep, after all, can it go?
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Natalie Babbitt |
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489bf6c
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B]elieving, was her own true, promising friend once more.
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Natalie Babbitt |
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f1d78d0
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Facts are the barren branches on which we hang the dear, obscuring foliage of our dreams.
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facts
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Natalie Babbitt |
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5301b2f
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What is your suggestion for someone who wants to start writing? Be a reader. It's the only real way to learn how to tell a story.
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Natalie Babbitt |
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2721abb
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Here, child, said Mae hastily Hide your eyes. Boys? Are you decent? What'd you put on to swim in? I got Winnie Foster in the house? For goodness sake ma said Jesse emerging from the stairwell . You think were going to march around in our altogether with Winnie Foster in the house?
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Natalie Babbitt |
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1896602
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Outside, the night seemed poised on tiptoe, waiting, waiting, holding its breath for the storm.
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Natalie Babbitt |
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aa4d466
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That doesn't sound like civil war to me," said Gaylen, turning back to his book with a smile. "It only sounds silly." "Of course it's silly," said the Prime Minister impatiently. "But a lot of serious things start silly."
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Natalie Babbitt |
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21cce59
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Well, thought Winnie, crossing her arms of the windowsill, she was different. Things had happened to her that were hers alone, and had nothing to do with them. It was the first time. And no amount of telling about it could help them understand or share what she felt. It was satisfying and lonely, both at once. She rocked, gazing out at the twilight, and the soothing feeling came reliably into her bones. That feeling--it tied her to them, to..
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Natalie Babbitt |
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7ccbf1c
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He wasn't crazy. How could he be? He was just -- amazing. But she was struck dumb. All she could do was stare at him.
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Natalie Babbitt |
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755f268
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The sky was a ragged blaze of red and pink and orange, and its double trembled on the surface of the pond like color spilled from a paintbox.
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Natalie Babbitt |
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e2b2cce
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Winnie did not believe in fairy tales. She had never longed for a magic wand, did not expect to marry a prince, and was scornful--most of the time--of her grandmother's elves. So now she sat, mouth open, wide-eyed, not knowing what to make of this extraordinary story. It couldn't--not a bit of it--be true. And yet:
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Natalie Babbitt |
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727560b
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No," said Tuck calmly. "Not now. Your time's not now. But dying's part of the wheel, right there next to being born. You can't pick out the pieces you like and leave the rest. Being part of the whole thing, that's the blessing. But it's passing us by, us Tucks. Living's heavy work, but off to one side, the way we are, it's useless, too. It don't make sense. If I knowed how to climb back on the wheel, I'd do it in a minute. You can't have li..
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Natalie Babbitt |