The Measure of Gold Quotes

“They had spent whole summers collecting other ingredients from the forest— micah, chalk, the resin of a pine tree, lichen, some wax, and a drop of dew. After a long and belabored search, Penelope had even discovered some locust wings in the piles of dust beneath her father’s unkempt desk. She had been mixing strange scientific and alchemical potions with her father for as long as she could remember.”
― Sarah C. Patten, The Measure of Gold

“They had spent whole summers collecting other ingredients from the forest— micah, chalk, the resin of a pine tree, lichen, some wax, and a drop of dew. After a long and belabored search, Penelope had even discovered some locust wings in the piles of dust beneath her father’s unkempt desk. She had been mixing strange scientific and alchemical potions with her father for as long as she could remember.”
― Sarah C. Patten, The Measure of Gold

“Think, Penelope, Fulcanelli blurted out. We don't have time for this. You see, humans are the weakest of all the animals because we so rarely see a clear purpose for ourselves.”
― Sarah C. Patten, The Measure of Gold

“It's so easy for humans to blame God for their misery, Manfri said. Really, it's mostly of their own making.”
― Sarah C. Patten, The Measure of Gold

“Perhaps the loss of your voice has more to do with your heart than your throat. The grotto's water can only fix wounds of the flesh that are unhealed, not wounds of the heart. Trust me. I have tried to heal my heart there many times.”
― Sarah C. Patten, The Measure of Gold

“The golden pill was more solvent than medicine, dissolving self, reversing the tide of opposites, like only knowing the alphabet from finish to start, z to a.”
― Sarah C. Patten, The Measure of Gold

“Happiness was not the only virtue. After all, loneliness wrote great symphonies and could paint masterpieces. It was the imperfections and miseries that necessitated the magic.”
― Sarah C. Patten, The Measure of Gold

“He touched Penelope’s hand, confiscating her gaze for a private, burning second, making her feel taller and more beautiful. 'Is this what love does?' She wondered.”
― Sarah C. Patten, The Measure of Gold

“It was a simple truth. She thought of Lucien and of his love of Isaac Newton. She remember Newton’s deeply held mistrust of people. He was an introvert and a private man who never traveled far from his birthplace. While Newton experienced so much celestial wonder, he mostly kept to himself. In fact, it was believed that throughout his life, he never fell in love.”
― Sarah C. Patten, The Measure of Gold

“The travelers’ dances were wild and carefree and, summer after summer, Penelope learned to reveal her deepest truths through movement. The choreography of freedom had a hypnotic sway.”
― Sarah C. Patten, The Measure of Gold