Giving Thanks, Anne Shirley Style

agg-with-rose-petalsThanksgiving is just around the corner and with it, the release of a new small-screen remake of Anne of Green Gables. I have to be honest and say I’m a bit nervous to watch it. Lucy Maud Montgomery’s book and the 1985 film are so dear to me, it’s hard to believe that the new version could ever be as good. I will try my best to be objective and give it a fair shot.

In any case, I am just very thankful that Anne of Green Gables has been a part of my life since elementary school, and that literary heroines like Anne can be sources of inspiration for all of us.

Anne herself is full of gratitude, and in the spirit of the upcoming holiday, I compiled a bunch her quotes on being thankful. Enjoy!

Anne is grateful for:

The World Around Her

“Dear old world…you are very lovely, and I am glad to be alive in you.”

“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn’t it? Look at these maple branches. Don’t they give you a thrill–several thrills?”

“Look at that sea, girls–all silver and shadow and vision of things not seen. We couldn’t enjoy its loveliness any more if we had millions of dollars and ropes of diamonds.”

“…one can’t stay sad very long in such an interesting world, can one?”

“The world looks like something God had just imaged for his own pleasure, doesn’t it?”

 

Good Literature

“Don’t you just love poetry that gives you a crinkly feeling up and down your back?”

“I love a book that makes me cry.”

 

Possibility and Imagination

“Isn’t it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive–it’s such an interesting world. It wouldn’t be half so interesting if we know all about everything, would it? There’d be no scope for imagination then, would there?”

“…looking forward to things is half the pleasure of them…You mayn’t get the things themselves; but nothing can prevent you from having the fun of looking forward to them.

 

Coming Home

“I’ve had a splendid time…and I feel that it marks an epoch in my life. But the best of it all was the coming home.”

“It’s good to be back again. It’s so good to see those pointed first coming out against the pink sky—and that white orchard and the old Snow Queen. Isn’t the breath of the wind delicious? And that tea rose—why, it’s a song and a hope and a prayer all in one.

 

Making Mistakes

“I was walking the ridgepole and I fell off. I expect I have sprained my ankle. But, Marilla, I might have broken my neck. Let us look on the bright side of things.”

“Ever since I came to Green Gables I’ve been making mistakes, and each mistake has helped to cure me of some great shortcoming. The affair of the amethyst brooch cured me of meddling with things that didn’t belong to me. The Haunted Woods mistake cured me of letting my imagination run away with me. The liniment cake cured me of carelessness in cooking. Dyeing my hair cured me of vanity. I never think about my hair and nose now—at least, very seldom. And today’s mistake is going to cure me of being too romantic.”

 

What are you grateful for this year? Share in the comments below!

2 responses to “Giving Thanks, Anne Shirley Style”

  1. Morningstar Stevenson Avatar

    I am thankful that my kids love reading as much as I do. I’m looking forward to sharing Anne of Green Gables with them in book and movie form. I, too, love a book that makes me cry.

    1. Kristen Avatar
      Kristen

      As a children’s librarian, I am so glad to hear about kids who love to read 🙂 Happy Thanksgiving!

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