From the Mixed-Up Files

“I think you should learn, of course, and some days you must learn a great deal. But you should also have days when you allow what is already in you to swell up inside of you until it touches everything. And you can feel it inside you. If you never take time out to let that happen, then you just accumulate facts, and they begin to rattle around inside of you. You can make noise with them, but never really feel anything with them. It’s hollow.” — E.L. Konigsburg, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

It's impossible to overstate how much this woman's books meant to me as a child. She taught me that it's okay to be a know-it-all, but that it's better to have curiosity and a big heart. From her I learned of the mysterious allure of Tallulah Bankhead, the ferocity of Eleanor of Aquitaine, and how friendships can have a power over you almost like witchcraft. Kongisburg died this weekend, but in a slightly cheesy, very real way, her words will live in me for a long time.