Quotessence
Home / Authors / Ann Patchett
Ann Patchett

Ann Patchett Quotes

Author

Filter quotes by topic

AllWritingPeopleIfsThinkingBookWantPersonsKnowsWayWorldTwoGivingNovelReadingShouldTryingArtSleepFictionKind

Famous Ann Patchett Quotes

“Do you want to do this thing? Sit down and do it. Are you not writing? Keep sitting there. Does it not feel right? Keep sitting there. Think of yourself as a monk walking the path to enlightenment. Think of yourself as a high school senior wanting to be a neurosurgeon. Is it possible? Yes. Is there some shortcut? Not one I've found. Writing is a miserable, awful business. Stay with it. It is better than anything in the world.”

ThinkingWorldWantFeelsWritingDoeSchoolFoundPathWalkingEnlightenmentHigh SchoolSittingDown AndAwfulMiserableSeniorMonkThink Of YouFeels RightShortcutsNeurosurgeonsPath To EnlightenmentHigh School Senior
Book:This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage
Create image

“I think that people all grow up and have their same personalities, but you can say, "Oh, I can see the roots of this personality, which I didn't like, but then you grew up, and I can still see you as that person, but I do really like you now." Which is sort of how I feel about children - I mean, about children who I knew when I was a child and grew up with, and they're still my friends, and children that I know as children who I see growing up, and every year I like them more.”

PeopleThinkingKnowsFeelsYearsMeanChildrenPersonsStillsI CanGrowsGrowing UpGrowingLike YouGrewPersonalityGrew UpMy FriendsRootsReally Like You
Author:Ann Patchett
Create image

“[I remember going] to a hotel gym at six o'clock in the morning, and the television was on, and it's some drama in which two men have clearly kidnapped a woman. They're interrogating her, and they put a plastic bag over her head. They're suffocating her, and I'm thinking, It's six o'clock in the morning! Why does anybody need to see this? How can I find the off switch?”

ThinkingMenNeedsDoeTwoRememberMorningTelevisionDramaSixClockBagsHotelGymPlasticKidnappedSuffocatingPlastic Bags
Author:Ann Patchett
Create image

“That is one thing I've learned, that it is possible to really understand things at certain points, and not be able to retain them, to be in utter confusion just a short while later. I used to think that once you really knew a thing, its truth would shine on forever. Now it's pretty obvious to me that more often than not the batteries fade, and sometimes what you knew even goes out with a bang when you try to call on it, just like a lightbulb cracking off when you throw the switch.”

ThinkingTryingSometimesAbleUsedCertainForeverOne ThingShiningObviousConfusionI've LearnedFadesBangsBatteriesThings I've LearnedShine On
Author:Ann Patchett
Create image

“Reading fiction is important. It is a vital means of imagining a life other than our own, which in turn makes us more empathetic beings. Following complex story lines stretches our brains beyond the 140 characters of sound-bite thinking, and staying within the world of a novel gives us the ability to be quiet and alone, two skills that are disappearing faster than the polar icecaps.”

ThinkingWorldGivingMeanTwoImportantCharacterStoriesTurnsReadingSoundLinesAbilityBrainFictionNovelQuietSkillsComplexesFollowingDisappearFasterStayingBitesEmpatheticSound Bites140 CharacterReading Fiction
Author:Ann Patchett
Create image