How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Title.Paragraph)
Quote #1
What had I seen? Too much. What did I know? Only that knowledge carries a damned high price. Miss Wilcox, my teacher, had taught me so much. Why had she never taught me that? (1.38)
One of the horrible markers of adulthood is the realization that adults, especially role models, are never as infallible as we think they are. They, like everyone else, have flaws, and in this case, Mattie realizes that a little knowledge is indeed a dangerous thing.
Quote #2
I had looked around. I'd seen all the things she'd spoken of and more besides. I'd seen a bear cub lift its face to the drenching spring rains. And the silver moon of winter, so high and blinding. I'd seen the crimson glory of a stand of sugar maples in autumn and the unspeakable stillness of a mountain lake at dawn. I'd seen them and loved them. But I'd also seen the dark of things. The starved carcasses of winter deer. The driving fury of a blizzard wind. And the gloom that broods under the pines always. Even on the brightest of days. (3.abecedarian.93)
Mattie is torn in her writing. Miss Parrish wants her to write the beauty of the world with reverence and respect, but Mattie is drawn to the dark reality too; she knows that life is more complicated than the novels she reads. It indicates a certain maturity to how she sees the world.
Quote #3
I would have liked to tell Mr. Palmer just how old and feeble that joke is, but instead I said, "Oh, of course, sir! How clever of you!" because I had learned a thing or two during my time at the Glenmore. About when to tell the truth and when not to. (8.6)
One mark of maturity is learning the rules of the game. Mattie has learned how to work the dining room to her advantage, though she never really develops the mercenary nature of either Weaver or Fran. She's too earnest and good-hearted for that.