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87 Inspiring Quotes By Anne Tyler Will Make You Love Her More

Famous As: Novelist
Born On: October 25, 1941
Born In: Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States
Age: 82 Years
Anne Tyler is an acclaimed American novelist, short story writer and literary critic. She is known for the vivid way in which she builds the characters in her stories. Tyler studied Russian at Duke University and then attended Columbia University for her post graduate education. It was during her time as a student at Duke University that her story ‘Paula’ was published in the literary journal at the University. Despite a break in her career as a writer, Tyler has published some of the most well-known works in the English language. Some of her noted novels include ‘Breathing Lessons’, ‘Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant’, ‘Searching for Caleb’ and ‘A Patchwork Planet’. She won the ‘Pulitzer Prize’ for Fiction in 1989 for the novel ‘Breathing Lessons’. She had also been awarded the ‘National Book Critics Circle Award’ for Fiction in 1985 for the novel ‘The Accidental Tourist’ and it remains one of her most widely read books. Anne Tyler is without doubt one of the most influential and important story-tellers of the modern era and here are some of the most famous quotes and sayings from her life and work. Take a look at the most memorable quotations and thoughts by Anne Tyler which have been excerpted from the vast sea of her works.
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I read so I can live more than one life in more than one place.

I read so I can live more than one life in more than one place.

Anne Tyler
I'm beginning to think that maybe it's not just how much you love someone. Maybe what matters is who you are when you're with them.

I'm beginning to think that maybe it's not just how much you love someone. Maybe what matters is who you are when you're with them.

Anne Tyler
It is very difficult to live among people you love and hold back from offering them advice.

It is very difficult to live among people you love and hold back from offering them advice.

Anne Tyler
It is not how much you love someone, but who you are when you are with him.

It is not how much you love someone, but who you are when you are with him.

Anne Tyler
I've never quite believed that one chance is all I get

I've never quite believed that one chance is all I get

Anne Tyler
One sad thing about this world is that the acts that take the most out of you are usually the ones that people will never know about.

(from 'Celestial Navigation')

One sad thing about this world is that the acts that take the most out of you are usually the ones that people will never know about. (from 'Celestial Navigation')

Anne Tyler
People always call it luck when you’ve acted more sensibly than they have.

People always call it luck when you’ve acted more sensibly than they have.

Anne Tyler
Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered she had turned into the wrong person.

Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered she had turned into the wrong person.

Anne Tyler
It's true that writing is a solitary occupation, but you would be surprised at how much companionship a group of imaginary characters can offer once you get to know them.

It's true that writing is a solitary occupation, but you would be surprised at how much companionship a group of imaginary characters can offer once you get to know them.

Anne Tyler
People who hadn't suffered a loss yet struck me as not quite grown up.

People who hadn't suffered a loss yet struck me as not quite grown up.

Anne Tyler
There is no sound more peaceful than rain on the roof, if you're safe asleep in someone else's house.

There is no sound more peaceful than rain on the roof, if you're safe asleep in someone else's house.

Anne Tyler
It struck her all at once that dealing with other human beings was an awful lot of work.

It struck her all at once that dealing with other human beings was an awful lot of work.

Anne Tyler
When you have children, you're obligated to live.

When you have children, you're obligated to live.

Anne Tyler
Ever consider what pets must think of us? I mean, here we come back from a grocery store with the most amazing haul - chicken, pork, half a cow. They must think we're the greatest hunters on earth!

Ever consider what pets must think of us? I mean, here we come back from a grocery store with the most amazing haul - chicken, pork, half a cow. They must think we're the greatest hunters on earth!

Anne Tyler
He wished he had inhabited more of his life, used it better, filled it fuller.

He wished he had inhabited more of his life, used it better, filled it fuller.

Anne Tyler
Bravest thing about people is how they go on loving mortal beings after finding out there's such a thing as dying.

Bravest thing about people is how they go on loving mortal beings after finding out there's such a thing as dying.

Anne Tyler
But if you never did anything you couldn't undo you'd end up doing nothing at all.

But if you never did anything you couldn't undo you'd end up doing nothing at all.

Anne Tyler
She was good at talking with young people. She seemed to view them as interesting foreigners.

She was good at talking with young people. She seemed to view them as interesting foreigners.

Anne Tyler
It seems to me that since I've had children, I've grown richer and deeper. They may have slowed down my writing for a while, but when I did write, I had more of a self to speak from.

It seems to me that since I've had children, I've grown richer and deeper. They may have slowed down my writing for a while, but when I did write, I had more of a self to speak from.

Anne Tyler
If I waited till I felt like writing, I'd never write at all.

If I waited till I felt like writing, I'd never write at all.

Anne Tyler
...it's closeness that does you in. Never get too close to people, son.

...it's closeness that does you in. Never get too close to people, son.

Anne Tyler
They were like people who run to meet, holding out their arms, but their aim is wrong; they pass each other and keep running.

They were like people who run to meet, holding out their arms, but their aim is wrong; they pass each other and keep running.

Anne Tyler
There is no true life. Your true life is the one you end up with, whatever it may be. You just do the best you can with what you've got.

There is no true life. Your true life is the one you end up with, whatever it may be. You just do the best you can with what you've got.

Anne Tyler
He was wondering if there was some cryptic, cultish mark on his door that told all the crazy people he'd have trouble saying no.

He was wondering if there was some cryptic, cultish mark on his door that told all the crazy people he'd have trouble saying no.

Anne Tyler
I'm falling into disrepair

I'm falling into disrepair

Anne Tyler
That was one of the worst things about losing your wife, I found: your wife is the very person you want to discuss it all with.

That was one of the worst things about losing your wife, I found: your wife is the very person you want to discuss it all with.

Anne Tyler
But it was easier, somehow, to reflect on them all from a distance than to be struggling for room in their midst.

But it was easier, somehow, to reflect on them all from a distance than to be struggling for room in their midst.

Anne Tyler
You’re only ever as happy as your least happy child?’ 

You’re only ever as happy as your least happy child?’ 

Anne Tyler
The trouble with dying,” she’d told Jeannie once, “is that you don’t get to see how everything turns out. You won’t know the ending.

The trouble with dying,” she’d told Jeannie once, “is that you don’t get to see how everything turns out. You won’t know the ending.

Anne Tyler
But it has occurred to me, on occasion, that our memories of our loved ones might not be the point. Maybe the point is their memories—all that they take away with them.

But it has occurred to me, on occasion, that our memories of our loved ones might not be the point. Maybe the point is their memories—all that they take away with them.

Anne Tyler