“Certainly that mild quip of the elderly man wouldn't shock anybody today. We might laugh appreciatively at his wit, but that would be the extent of our reaction.”

— Madeleine L'Engle

Acceptance Speech for the Margaret Edwards Award (1998)
Context: One day back in the fifties my father and I were watching a program on our black and white TV which included an interview with an elderly man who answered one question by remarking, "Just because there's snow on the roof doesn't mean the fire's gone out in the furnace."
The screen went black as the program went off the air, and we heard the announcer say, "There will be a brief interlude of organ music."
Certainly that mild quip of the elderly man wouldn't shock anybody today. We might laugh appreciatively at his wit, but that would be the extent of our reaction. The change in point of view has been equally radical in the world of books. Somehow or other I've never gotten around to reading Lady Chatterly's Lover, but I doubt if it would shock me.

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Madeleine L'Engle 223

American writer 1918–2007

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“Certainly that mild quip of the elderly man wouldn't shock anybody today. We might laugh appreciatively at his wit, but that would be the extent of our reaction.”

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Madeleine L'Engle 223

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