How we cite our quotes: (Book.Chapter.Page)
Quote #1
The book was so ill-written that he could make little sense of it, for it was neither good English nor German, nor were the letters shaped or formed as other letters are. (I.Proem.35)
The story of Kempe's spiritual journey was almost lost because her first scribe apparently didn't pay attention in English or penmanship classes. This means that illiteracy packs a double whammy for women, historically: they had to rely on the good will of men to write their stories—and they had to trust these men to actually have the skills to write properly.
Quote #2
Great was the holy conversation that the anchoress and this creature had through talking of the love of our Lord Jesus Christ for the many days that they were together. (I.18.78-79)
Kempe meets the great female mystic Julian of Norwich and feels the benefit immediately. She feels vindicated in her conversations with a holy woman who has isolated herself for the love of God, and no doubt she experiences kinship and camaraderie with Julian as a woman who is trying to live out a special kind of devotional life in a world full of disapproving men.
Quote #3
Afterwards it happened, as this creature sat at a table with her companions, that she repeated a text of the Gospel which she had learned before with other good word, and then her companions said she had broken her undertaking. And she said, "Yes, sirs, indeed I can no longer keep this agreement with you, for I must speak of my Lord Jesus Christ, though all this world had forbidden me." (I.27.102)
Kempe runs afoul of her travelling companions time and again. Usually, it ends with them dumping her somewhere awkward. In this case, she is told to keep quiet at the dinner table, which is especially difficult for this Chatty Cathy… or should we say Shrieking Sharon? But if there's anything charming about Kempe, it's her inability to care about what other people think of her on most occasions. This is no exception. Her devotion to Christ trumps her promise to keep mum—and there will be no apology.
Quote #4
She was so full of holy thoughts and meditations, and holy contemplations in the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, and holy conversation in which our Lord conversed with her soul, that she could never express them later, so high and so holy they were. (I.29.107)
Kempe often tells us that her mystical experiences are so "high" or profound that she lacks the language to describe them. This inexpressibility is not unusual for people who experience this kind of communion with the divine. After all, it's difficult to name intangible things with physical language. It's a common theme in mystical literature from all traditions.
Quote #5
They prayed in this way for thirteen days. And after thirteen days the priest came back to her to test the effect of their prayers, and then he understood what she said in English to him, and she understood what he said. And yet he did not understand the English that other people spoke [...]. (I.33.119)
This is one of the everyday miracles that occur in Kempe's life to enable her contemplative practices to continue. In this case, Kempe finally finds a sympathetic confessor at St. John Lateran in Rome, but he doesn't speak any English. Kempe doesn't let this stop her, and she applies prayer to the situation. The success of this experiment is another sign for Kempe that God approves of her and her life.
Quote #6
"And I have often told you, daughter, that thinking, weeping and high contemplation is the best life on earth. You shall have more merit in heaven for one year of thinking in your mind than for a hundred years of praying with your mouth [...]." (I.36.126).
While this declaration may come as a surprise, the idea that contemplation is a higher form of spiritual behavior than saying prayers is a pretty common idea at this time. Contemplation requires true devotion—a lifestyle change, really—whereas prayers can be muttered in a hurry with no real effort. This often pits Kempe against those working-day spiritualists, the priests.
Quote #7
Then they asked her confessor if he understood what she had said, and he straightaway in Latin told them the same words that she said before in English, for he could neither speak English nor understand English except from her tongue.
Kempe suffers from the contempt of her travel companions in Rome. This time, they rat her out to an English priest because she's confessing to another priest who doesn't usually understand English. But the English priest sympathizes with Kempe and soon finds out that a miracle has occurred that allows the Kempe and the other priest to understand each other. It's a rare moment when Kempe triumphs absolutely over her detractors.
Quote #8
And so, as she went along with the said men, she told them good stories, until one of the Duke's men who had arrested her said to her, "I rather regret that I met with you, for it seems to me that you speak very good words." (I.53.168)
Kempe is arrested for heresy and manages to charm her guards with good words. It's ironic that her gift of gab either wins her vehement enemies or devoted friends—nothing in between. Her good speech will also win her favor with the Bishop of Lincoln and many others in positions of ecclesiastical power. This is how Kempe escapes being burned at the stake for heresy.
Quote #9
Then for her forwardness and unbelief, our Lord withdrew from her all good thoughts and all good recollections of holy speeches and conversation, and the high contemplation which she had been used to before, and allowed her to have as many evil thoughts as she previously had good thoughts. (I.59.183)
Note that an important part of Kempe's spiritual life has to do with speaking and with verbal communication. It's probable that Kempe relies on these forms of communication because she is illiterate. She can't inform her mind or communicate with others by reading or writing, so it's crucial for her development to keep the words flowing. Anything else is torment.
Quote #10
She spoke boldly and strongly wherever she went in London against swearers, cursers, liars and other such vicious people, and against the pompous fashions of both men and women. (II.9.289)
Kempe doesn't care at all about popular opinion, and we are never aware of this so much as when she's speaking out. At this time, she's returning from her disastrous trip to the Continent with her daughter-in-law, and we can see that age has not made her more timid. She's had a kind of vocation to speak out against those who curse or swear, and she calls them "vicious." This is because cursing in medieval England almost always involved a blasphemous reference to Christ's body.