Subject: Tradition
Quote: “But she was so suitable in every way,” said Eileen Rich. “She would have carried out things in exactly your ways, in exactly your ideas.”
“Yes,” said Miss Bulstrode, “and that’s just what would have been wrong. You can’t hold on to the past. A certain amount of tradition is good but never too much. A school is for the children of today. It’s not for the children of fifty years ago or even thirty years ago…. You’ll find it written in the Bible. Their old men dream dreams and their young men have visions. We don’t need dreams here, we need vision.”
Character: Eileen Rich and Miss Bulstrode
Chapter/Story: 21—Gathering Threads
Book Title/Copyright: Cat Among the Pigeons, 1959