My grandfather once told her if you couldn't read with cold feet, there wouldn't be a literate soul in the state of Maine.

Marilynne Robinson
About This Quote

My grandfather once told her if you couldn't read with cold feet, there wouldn't be a literate soul in the state of Maine. "Cold feet" refers to the fear of doing something wrong. This quote is said to have come from a time when learning how to read was not an easy task. Many children were not taught how or did not have the required materials necessary to learn how to read.

My grandfather is thought to have been one of these children. The "cold" in the quote alludes to the difficult process of learning how to read, making this poem quite humorous. The fact that he said this in Maine would suggest that he was born in Maine.

Source: Gilead

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