27 Barbara Kingsolver Quotes for You to Enjoy

Barbara Kingsolver

American Novelist

Born: Apr 8, 1955

Life Me People Think Time You

Related authors: Elie Wiesel Ernest Hemingway H. P. Lovecraft James Baldwin John Updike Leo Rosten Nathaniel Hawthorne Richard Bach

Sometimes the strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws. Barbara Kingsolver

Strength Natural Sometimes Motherhood Laws Greater Mother's Day Than Natural Laws

Empathy is really the opposite of spiritual meanness. It's the capacity to understand that every war is both won and lost. And that someone else's pain is as meaningful as your own. Barbara Kingsolver

War Spiritual Lost Own Pain Every Else Someone Both Empathy Understand Opposite Won Capacity Meaningful Really Meanness Your

What a writer can do, what a fiction writer or a poet or an essay writer can do is re-engage people with their own humanity. Barbara Kingsolver

Humanity People Poet Own Writer Essay Fiction Fiction Writer

I think the most interesting parts of human experience might be the sparks that come from that sort of chipping flint of cultures rubbing against each other. Barbara Kingsolver

Experience Think Other Come Most Sort Parts Cultures Human Against Interesting Human Experience Chipping Might Sparks Flint Each Rubbing

Every time I step onto an airplane, I turn to the right and take a good, hard stare into the maw of the engine. I don't know what I'm looking for. I just do it. Barbara Kingsolver

Time Good Looking Just Do It Every Every Time Airplane Onto Take Step Know Just Turn Engine Hard Stare Right

Small change, small wonders - these are the currency of my endurance and ultimately of my life. Barbara Kingsolver

Life Change My Life Small Ultimately Currency Wonders Endurance

I'm not pretending to be ingenuous; I know what I'm doing. Barbara Kingsolver

Pretending Know Doing

I used to think religion was just more of the same thing. Dump responsibility on the big guy. Now I see an importance in that. It's a relief to accept that not everything is under your control. Barbara Kingsolver

I don't bring expectations to any of my books. I don't tell people what to do. I want to invite them in. Barbara Kingsolver

People Books Tell Invite Expectations Any Want Them Bring

It kills you to see them grow up. But I guess it would kill you quicker if they didn't. Barbara Kingsolver

You Guess Would See Up Quicker Them Grow Grow Up

When you pick up a novel from the bed side table, you put down your own life at the same time and you become another person for the duration. Barbara Kingsolver

Life Time You Become Own Down Side Table Pick Put Another Bed Up Person Duration Same Same Time Your Novel

Being a novelist and being a mother have exactly coincided in my life: the call from my agent saying that I had a contract for my first novel - that was on my answering phone message when I got back from the hospital with my first child. Barbara Kingsolver

I suppose that is my central obsession. What we owe to society, what we owe to ourselves. Barbara Kingsolver

Society Ourselves Obsession Suppose Owe Central

Motherhood is so sentimentalised and romanticised in our culture. It's practically against the law to say there are moments in the day when you hate your children. Everyone actually has those moments. Barbara Kingsolver

Day You Culture Hate Law Motherhood Everyone Our Say Those Practically Children Against Your Moments Actually

I love developing children as characters. Children rarely have important roles in literary fiction - they are usually defined as cute or precious, or they create a plot by being kidnapped or dying. Barbara Kingsolver

Love Important Cute Defined Kidnapped Plot Characters Rarely Developing Important Roles Precious Roles Being Children Fiction Dying Literary Literary Fiction Create

Most every book I bring into the world is like birthing a baby; it's a lot of effort! Barbara Kingsolver

Book World Every Baby Like Most Lot Effort Bring

The first sentence of a book is a promise. Barbara Kingsolver

Book First Promise Sentence

When people are frightened about going hungry and paying their mortgages, a scarcity model begins to prevail; they fear someone else will get their piece of the pie. Barbara Kingsolver

Prevail People Fear Will Else Hungry Scarcity About Someone Mortgages Pie Piece Frightened Model Begins Get Going Paying

As a biologist, I can't think of myself as anything but an animal among animals and plant. Barbara Kingsolver

Myself Animal Plant Animals Think Anything Among Biologist

You always need that spark of imagination. Sometimes I'm midway through a book before it happens. However, I don't wait for the muse to descend, I sit down every day and I work when I'm not delivering lambs on the farm. Barbara Kingsolver

Work Day You Every Day Book Sometimes Wait Before Sit Farm Down Every Imagination Through Delivering Always However Happens Lambs Midway Spark Descend Muse Need

In the day-to-day, farm work is stress relief for me. At the end of the day, I love having this other career - my anti-job - that keeps me in shape and gives me control over a vegetal domain. Barbara Kingsolver

Work Love Day Me End Of The Day Stress Control Farm Other Relief Having Gives Shape Day-To-Day Over Domain End Keeps Career

I was trained in classical piano, but it kind of dawned on me that classical pianists compete for six job openings a year, and the rest of us get to play 'Blue Moon' in a hotel lobby. Barbara Kingsolver

Me Job Moon Rest Year Lobby Kind Classical Piano Dawned Hotel Openings Trained Get Blue Six Us Play Compete

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