“…it is better than everything else, that the world should be a little better because a person has lived – even ever so little better, dearest.” ~ from Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett
People are known to collect just about anything imaginable, from amber to zippers. As for me, I collect words, specifically quotes, and have been doing so for years in a spiral notebook kept close at hand. Upon hearing or reading statements that especially speak to me, I record them. Writing them down helps affix them in my mind as well as documents them for later reference.
Collecting quotes is easy. Enacting them is not. The instructive value of this collection depends on my capacity for turning these words into actions, practicing them in my life, thereby rendering them living quotes.
Reprinted above is the quote that started my collection. The first time I heard these words, I was sitting alone in the cozy upstairs apartment of a quaint, white clapboard house on Pearl Street in Berea, Kentucky. The fall semester of my junior year in college was coming to an end. While completing a final project, I flipped on the portable black and white television to keep me company. The 1936 movie, Little Lord Fauntleroy, flickered onto the screen. Having never seen this title before, I had no idea what to expect. Purely by happenstance, I was introduced to a classic film destined to become an all-time favorite.
Based on the 1885 book of the same title, by Frances Hodgson Burnett, (author of The Secret Garden and A Little Princess) the story, set in the late 1800s, follows a young boy and his widowed mother from New York City to England where he is to inherit the title of his cruel, hard-hearted paternal grandfather. Having estimated his grandson’s mother to be unworthy, the elderly Earl of Dorincourt refuses to allow her to reside with her son in the castle. Knowing any trace of the pain this arrangement caused her would be injurious to the future relationship between her son and his grandfather, she accepted the circumstances with dignity and grace. Sustained by the depth of love for her child and her virtue, she endured the onslaught of spiteful injustice the Earl relentlessly inflicted upon her.
Understandably, the steadfast devotion to her son had forged a reciprocal bond impervious to the Earl’s attempts to undermine the child’s loyalty. Typical of his class, the Earl was convinced his wealth could replace the loving kindness the little Lord had known all his life and come to expect from grown ups. Ill-tempered, dissatisfied, and miserable with his own life, the elder Earl was unable to comprehend the riches this child had stored up within himself. Having been surrounded by adults who demonstrated patience, consideration, gentle guidance, compassion, generosity, and love, the child possessed strength of character, courage, and wisdom beyond his years.
Shielded by his mother’s love, as well as his youth and innocence, the little Lord was blind to his grandfather’s inhumanity, assuming instead that the Earl’s intentions were always noble. Guided by his mother’s instructions to always be good, always be kind, always be brave and true so that he might leave the world a better place, the little fellow could not imagine any other way of being. The powerful combination of verbalizing and modeling these messages was evident not only in the influence of the mother on the son, but in the eventual impact of the grandson on the grandfather. A heart opening to love is beautiful to behold.
Few movies have moved me as profoundly as this one. By the time the closing credits appeared on the screen, the carpet around my feet was littered with a jumble of sodden tissues. The unfinished project lay scattered across the coffee table. Heedless of the disarray, my mind was focused on recalling the exact words the little Lord’s mother had spoken to him. Without the benefit of rewind or replay, my resolve to commit her simple, yet erudite counsel to memory led me to the campus library first thing the next morning.
Deep in the stacks sat a single, dusty copy of Little Lord Fauntleroy, covered in a nondescript black material frayed from use, the print of the title worn to near illegibility. Mission accomplished, prize in hand, I checked out at the front desk eager to spend winter break immersed in the lives of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s characters. Pleased to discover the movie had been a close approximation of the book, the search for the desired passage didn’t take long.
Perhaps this quote resonated with me because it expressed a familiar philosophy in a simple, eloquent, enlightening manner that felt inspirational. The world should be better for my having lived pertains to any and every aspect of life. The word world can be regarded in its narrowest or broadest sense. ‘World’ may refer to that which is as immediate as a room or location, or as intangible as a chance encounter or personal relationship. Whatever ‘world’ I inhabit, it should be better for my having been there. If not better, then at least in as good a condition as I found it.
Although stated in the past tense, “…because a person has lived,” the quote is not a contemplation of death. It is a proclamation for life! An invitation to embrace every chance, however little, to make the world better as I live. Words to live by…a living quote.
