Anne of Green Gables Coming of Age Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

"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." (28.47)

Anne is definitely someone who learns through trial and error. This little bit of self-reflection is a turning point for Anne, forcing her to admit how much she's learned through her accidents. Anne makes fewer mistakes after this.

Quote #5

"Miss Barry put us in the spare room, according to promise. It was an elegant room, Marilla, but somehow sleeping in a spare room isn't what I used to think it was. That's the worst of growing up, and I'm beginning to realize it. The things you wanted so much when you were a child don't seem half so wonderful to you when you get them." (29.26)

Anne's fixation on sleeping in a spare room might seem odd to modern readers, but think of it this way: Anne is imagining being an honored guest in someone's home, rather than an orphan girl who didn't belong and probably had to sleep somewhere like the kitchen.

Quote #6

"I didn't mind promising not to read any more like it, but it was agonizing to give back that book without knowing how it turned out. But my love for Miss Stacy stood the test and I did. It's really wonderful, Marilla, what you can do when you're truly anxious to please a person." (30.12)

Anne owes a lot of her reformed bad behaviors to Miss Stacy, a teacher she loves, and who she wants to love her back. It takes a lot of love to endure the agony of giving a book back without finishing it.