Quotessence
Home / Authors / Elizabeth Strout
Elizabeth Strout

Elizabeth Strout Quotes

Author

Filter quotes by topic

AllPeopleKnowsThinkingWayWorldWritingFeelsOlivesDifferentEnoughKindPersonsYearsBookChildrenFeltLongMomentsReaderSaid

Famous Elizabeth Strout Quotes

“I mention this because there is the question of how children become aware of what the world is, and how to act in it. How, for example, do you learn that it is impolite to ask a couple why they have no children? How do you set a table? How do you know if you are chewing with your mouth open if no one has ever told you? How do you even know what you look like if the only mirror in the house is a tiny one high above the kitchen sink, or if you have never heard a living soul say that you are pretty, but rather, as your breasts develop, are told by your mother that you are starting to look like one of the cows in the Pedersons’ barn?”

Children
Book:My Name Is Lucy Barton
Create image

“Olive's private view is that life depends on what she thinks of as "big bursts" and "little bursts." Big bursts are things like marriage or children, intimacies that keep you afloat, but these big bursts hold dangerous, unseen currents. Which is why you need the little bursts as well: a friendly clerk at Bradlee's, let's say, or the waitress at Dunkin' Donuts who knows how you like your coffee. Tricky business, really.”

ThinkingKnowsNeedsWellsChildrenLittlesBigsViewsKnow HowDangerousDependsCurrentsCoffeeIntimacyFriendlyUnseenTrickyOlivesClerksWaitressDonutsDunkin Donuts
Book:Olive Kitteridge
Create image