A Little Princess and a New Year's Resolution

Through the introduction from a friend while browsing at a bookstore together a few weeks ago, I made a purchase of the book called A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. The book is one of the titles that Penguin has chose as one of their popular classics and even in Malaysia, only costs RM8.50, which is a steal really considering what books normally costs here.

In any case, if you are hard up and want to have a preview before forking out, Google Books has various pages of the book scanned and published online here. In the course of my search, I found that the book has been made into a movie directed by Alfonso Cuarón released in 1995. His is the only name I know on the list as the cast are unknown names to me.

If you don't already know Frances Hodgson Burnett, you might have seen a movie about another one of her books, namely The Secret Garden, and Little Lord Fauntleroy. The Secret Garden is one of my favourite movies and books so it is worth the time spent on them, God only knows how many times I have re-read and re-watch them!

But anyways, I digressed. In the chapter titled about halfway through the chapter, Sara had a thought that inspired me. This is what she said:

When people are insulting you, there is nothing so good for them as not to say a word--just to look at them and think. Miss Mimchin turns pale with rage when I do it, Miss Amelia looks frightened, and so do the girls. When you will not fly into a passion people know you are stronger than they are, because you are strong enough to hold in your rage, and they are not, and they say stupid things they wish they hadn't said afterward. There's nothing so strong as rage, except what makes you hold it in--that's stronger. Its a good thing not to answer your enemies.

It made me think about controlling my own moods and anger, which I used to be able to hold in quite easily when I was younger but seem to have slowly lost control of it as I grew up.

As such, my one and only New Year's Resolution is this -- to remember Sara Crewe and be stronger than my rage. What is yours? I hope you are able to keep it, for hardly anyone ever keeps their resolutions nowadays...