madeleine

Madeleine L'Engle died on September 6th. I just read about it today. She's most famous for authoring the children's sci-fi series that starts with the book "A Wrinkle in Time."

I remember reading one of the books in her autobiographical series called "A Circle of Quiet" when I lived in Missoula. I took down a passage that resonated with my own feelings about language and expression and life. The passage has many meanings for me and has gained more over time. It inspires me always.

"The more limited our language is, the more limited we are; the more limited the literature we give to our children, the more limited their capacity to respond, and therefore, in their turn, to create. The more our vocabulary is controlled, the less we will be able to think for ourselves….If we limit and distort language, we limit and distort personality."