“I’m afraid,′ wrote someone on a school report, ‘that Claudia’s intelligence may well prove a stumbling-block unless she learns how to control her enthusiasms and channel her talents.’ Of course, intelligence is always a disadvantage. Parental hearts should sink at the first signs of it.”

“I’m afraid,′ wrote someone on a school report, ‘that Claudia’s intelligence may well prove a stumbling-block unless she learns how to control her enthusiasms and channel her talents.’ Of course, intelligence is always a disadvantage. Parental hearts should sink at the first signs of it.”

— Penelope Lively