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100 Memorable Quotes By Barbara Kingsolver, The Author Of The Poisonwood Bible

Famous As: Novelist, Poet, Essayist
Born On: April 8, 1955
Born In: Annapolis, Maryland, United States
Age: 67 Years

Barbara Kingsolver is a noted American writer. She attended DePauw University and then the University of Arizona, studying biology at both, before embarking on a career as a freelance writer. After a while, she started to work on becoming a novelist and eventually she found success when her first novel ‘The Bean Trees’, published in 1988. Kingsolver was born in 1955 in Maryland but when she was still only seven year old her family went to Congo and her experiences in the country was the inspiration behind her most famous novel ‘The Poisonwood Bible’. She has also written a widely read non-fiction book titled ‘Animal, Vegetable, Miracle’ that described the ways in which her family tried to eat locally. Her work draws heavily from themes such as social justice and human interaction, as well as biodiversity. A large percentage of her books have been on the New York Times Bestsellers List and it is no wonder that she is considered one of America’s top writers. Here are some of the famous quotes from Barbara Kingsolver, which will surely appeal to a curious mind.

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The very least you can do in your life is figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof.

The very least you can do in your life is figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof.

Barbara Kingsolver
The friend who holds your hand and says the wrong thing is made of dearer stuff than the one who stays away.

The friend who holds your hand and says the wrong thing is made of dearer stuff than the one who stays away.

Barbara Kingsolver
She kept swimming out into life because she hadn't yet found a rock to stand on.

She kept swimming out into life because she hadn't yet found a rock to stand on.

Barbara Kingsolver
Listen. Slide the weight from your shoulders and move forward. You are afraid you might forget, but you never will. You will forgive and remember.

Listen. Slide the weight from your shoulders and move forward. You are afraid you might forget, but you never will. You will forgive and remember.

Barbara Kingsolver
Everything you're sure is right can be wrong in another place.

Everything you're sure is right can be wrong in another place.

Barbara Kingsolver
But kids don't stay with you if you do it right. It's the one job where, the better you are, the more surely you won't be needed in the long run.

But kids don't stay with you if you do it right. It's the one job where, the better you are, the more surely you won't be needed in the long run.

Barbara Kingsolver
God doesn’t need to punish us. He just grants us a long enough life to punish ourselves.

God doesn’t need to punish us. He just grants us a long enough life to punish ourselves.

Barbara Kingsolver
Listen. To live is to be marked. To live is to change, to acquire the words of a story, and that is the only celebration we mortals really know. In perfect stillness, frankly, I've only found sorrow.

Listen. To live is to be marked. To live is to change, to acquire the words of a story, and that is the only celebration we mortals really know. In perfect stillness, frankly, I've only found sorrow.

Barbara Kingsolver
I’ve seen how you can’t learn anything when you’re trying to look like the smartest person in the room.

I’ve seen how you can’t learn anything when you’re trying to look like the smartest person in the room.

Barbara Kingsolver
What I want is so simple I almost can't say it: elementary kindness.

What I want is so simple I almost can't say it: elementary kindness.

Barbara Kingsolver
The changes we dread most may contain our salvation.

The changes we dread most may contain our salvation.

Barbara Kingsolver
I attempted briefly to consecrate myself in the public library, believing every crack in my soul could be chinked with a book.

I attempted briefly to consecrate myself in the public library, believing every crack in my soul could be chinked with a book.

Barbara Kingsolver
Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It's the one and only thing you have to offer.

Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It's the one and only thing you have to offer.

Barbara Kingsolver
The power is in the balance: we are our injuries, as much as we are our successes.

The power is in the balance: we are our injuries, as much as we are our successes.

Barbara Kingsolver
There is a strange moment in time, after something horrible happens, when you know it's true, but you haven't told anyone yet.

There is a strange moment in time, after something horrible happens, when you know it's true, but you haven't told anyone yet.

Barbara Kingsolver
A mother's body remembers her babies-the folds of soft flesh, the softly furred scalp against her nose. Each child has it's own entreaties to body and soul.

A mother's body remembers her babies-the folds of soft flesh, the softly furred scalp against her nose. Each child has it's own entreaties to body and soul.

Barbara Kingsolver
In a world as wrong as this one, all we can do is make things as right as we can.

In a world as wrong as this one, all we can do is make things as right as we can.

Barbara Kingsolver
Memory is a complicated thing, a relative to truth, but not its twin.

Memory is a complicated thing, a relative to truth, but not its twin.

Barbara Kingsolver
It's what you do that makes your soul.

It's what you do that makes your soul.

Barbara Kingsolver
Pain reaches the heart with electrical speed, but truth moves to the heart as slowly as a glacier.

Pain reaches the heart with electrical speed, but truth moves to the heart as slowly as a glacier.

Barbara Kingsolver
Misunderstanding is my cornerstone. It's everyone's, come to think of it. Illusions mistaken for truth are the pavement under our feet.

Misunderstanding is my cornerstone. It's everyone's, come to think of it. Illusions mistaken for truth are the pavement under our feet.

Barbara Kingsolver
The most important thing about a person is always the thing you don't know.

The most important thing about a person is always the thing you don't know.

Barbara Kingsolver
It is true that I do not speak as well as I can think. But that is true of most people, as nearly as I can tell.

It is true that I do not speak as well as I can think. But that is true of most people, as nearly as I can tell.

Barbara Kingsolver
If we can't, as artists, improve on real life, we should put down our pencils and go bake bread.

If we can't, as artists, improve on real life, we should put down our pencils and go bake bread.

Barbara Kingsolver
The truth needs so little rehearsal.

The truth needs so little rehearsal.

Barbara Kingsolver
It's frightening when things you love appear suddenly changed from what you have always known.

It's frightening when things you love appear suddenly changed from what you have always known.

Barbara Kingsolver
Sugar, it's no parade but you'll get down the street one way or another, so you'd just as well throw your shoulders back and pick up the pace.

Sugar, it's no parade but you'll get down the street one way or another, so you'd just as well throw your shoulders back and pick up the pace.

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

Sometimes the strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws.

Barbara Kingsolver
But I've swallowed my pride before, that's for sure. I'm practically lined with my mistakes on the inside like a bad-wallpapered bathroom.

But I've swallowed my pride before, that's for sure. I'm practically lined with my mistakes on the inside like a bad-wallpapered bathroom.

Barbara Kingsolver
Your dreams, what you hope for and all that, it's not separate from your life. It grows right up out of it.

Your dreams, what you hope for and all that, it's not separate from your life. It grows right up out of it.

Barbara Kingsolver
Every betrayal contains a perfect moment, a coin stamped heads or tails with salvation on the other side.

Every betrayal contains a perfect moment, a coin stamped heads or tails with salvation on the other side.

Barbara Kingsolver
Humans can be fairly ridiculous animals.

Humans can be fairly ridiculous animals.

Barbara Kingsolver
To live is to change, to acquire the words of a story, and that is the only celebration we mortals really know.

To live is to change, to acquire the words of a story, and that is the only celebration we mortals really know.

Barbara Kingsolver
Memories do not always soften with time; some grow edges like knives.

Memories do not always soften with time; some grow edges like knives.

Barbara Kingsolver
How pointless life could be, what a foolish business of inventing things to love, just so you could dread losing them.

How pointless life could be, what a foolish business of inventing things to love, just so you could dread losing them.

Barbara Kingsolver
No other continent has endured such an unspeakably bizarre combination of foreign thievery and foreign goodwill.

No other continent has endured such an unspeakably bizarre combination of foreign thievery and foreign goodwill.

Barbara Kingsolver
Silence has many advantages. When you do not speak, other people presume you to be deaf or feeble-minded and promptly make a show of their own limitations.

Silence has many advantages. When you do not speak, other people presume you to be deaf or feeble-minded and promptly make a show of their own limitations.

Barbara Kingsolver
I lost a child,

I lost a child," she said, meeting Lusa's eyes directly. "I thought I wouldn't live through it. But you do. You learn to love the place somebody leaves behind for you.

Barbara Kingsolver
If you never stepped on anybody's toes, you never been for a walk.

If you never stepped on anybody's toes, you never been for a walk.

Barbara Kingsolver
Now I'm starting to think he wasn't supposed to be my whole life, he was just this doorway to me.

Now I'm starting to think he wasn't supposed to be my whole life, he was just this doorway to me.

Barbara Kingsolver
A human being can be good or bad or right or wrong, maybe. But how can you say a person is illegal? You just can't. That's all there is to it.

A human being can be good or bad or right or wrong, maybe. But how can you say a person is illegal? You just can't. That's all there is to it.

Barbara Kingsolver
Thanks for this day, for all birds safe in their nests, for whatever this is, for life.

Thanks for this day, for all birds safe in their nests, for whatever this is, for life.

Barbara Kingsolver
Morning always comes.

Morning always comes.

Barbara Kingsolver
If you want sweet dreams, you've got to live a sweet life.

If you want sweet dreams, you've got to live a sweet life.

Barbara Kingsolver
I've about decided that's the main thing that separates happy people from the other people: the feeling that you're a practical item, with a use, like a sweater or a socket wrench.

I've about decided that's the main thing that separates happy people from the other people: the feeling that you're a practical item, with a use, like a sweater or a socket wrench.

Barbara Kingsolver
The death of something living is the price of our own survival, and we pay it again and again. We have no choice. It is the one solemn promise every life on earth is born and bound to keep.

The death of something living is the price of our own survival, and we pay it again and again. We have no choice. It is the one solemn promise every life on earth is born and bound to keep.

Barbara Kingsolver
I'm of a fearsome mind to throw my arms around every living librarian who crosses my path, on behalf of the souls they never knew they saved.

I'm of a fearsome mind to throw my arms around every living librarian who crosses my path, on behalf of the souls they never knew they saved.

Barbara Kingsolver
Last time I talked to her she didn't sound like herself. She's depressed. It's awful what happens when people run out of money. They start thinking they're 
no good.

Last time I talked to her she didn't sound like herself. She's depressed. It's awful what happens when people run out of money. They start thinking they're no good.

Barbara Kingsolver
Love weighs nothing.

Love weighs nothing.

Barbara Kingsolver
...I stir in bed and the memories rise out of me like a buzz of flies from a carcass. I crave to be rid of them...

...I stir in bed and the memories rise out of me like a buzz of flies from a carcass. I crave to be rid of them...

Barbara Kingsolver
Sadness is more or less like a head cold - with patience, it passes. Depression is like cancer.

Sadness is more or less like a head cold - with patience, it passes. Depression is like cancer.

Barbara Kingsolver
Oh, mercy. If it catches you in the wrong frame of mind, the King James Bible can make you want to drink poison in no uncertain terms.

Oh, mercy. If it catches you in the wrong frame of mind, the King James Bible can make you want to drink poison in no uncertain terms.

Barbara Kingsolver
Cooking is 80 percent confidence, a skill best acquired starting from when the apron strings wrap around you twice.

Cooking is 80 percent confidence, a skill best acquired starting from when the apron strings wrap around you twice.

Barbara Kingsolver
I had decided early on that if I couldn’t dress elegant, I’d dress memorable.

I had decided early on that if I couldn’t dress elegant, I’d dress memorable.

Barbara Kingsolver
If the Lord hasn't got a boyfriend lined up for me to marry, that's his business.

If the Lord hasn't got a boyfriend lined up for me to marry, that's his business.

Barbara Kingsolver
It's surprising how much memory is built around things unnoticed at the time.

It's surprising how much memory is built around things unnoticed at the time.

Barbara Kingsolver
It's terrible to lose somebody, but it's also true that some people never have anybody to lose, and I think that's got to be so much worse.

It's terrible to lose somebody, but it's also true that some people never have anybody to lose, and I think that's got to be so much worse.

Barbara Kingsolver
When moral superiority combines with billowing ignorance, they fill up a hot-air balloon that's awfully hard not to poke.

When moral superiority combines with billowing ignorance, they fill up a hot-air balloon that's awfully hard not to poke.

Barbara Kingsolver
I thought: this is how life is, ridiculous beyond comprehension.

I thought: this is how life is, ridiculous beyond comprehension.

Barbara Kingsolver
A choir of seedlings arching their necks out of rotted tree stumps, sucking life out of death. I am the forest's conscience, but remember, the forest eats itself and lives forever.

A choir of seedlings arching their necks out of rotted tree stumps, sucking life out of death. I am the forest's conscience, but remember, the forest eats itself and lives forever.

Barbara Kingsolver
It's the one thing we never quite get over: that we contain our own future.

It's the one thing we never quite get over: that we contain our own future.

Barbara Kingsolver
Alice wonders if other women in the middle of the night have begun to resent their Formica.

Alice wonders if other women in the middle of the night have begun to resent their Formica.

Barbara Kingsolver
I thought I wouldn't live through it. But you do. You learn to love the place somebody leaves behind for you.

I thought I wouldn't live through it. But you do. You learn to love the place somebody leaves behind for you.

Barbara Kingsolver
Illusions mistaken for truth are the pavement under our feet. They are what we call civilization.

Illusions mistaken for truth are the pavement under our feet. They are what we call civilization.

Barbara Kingsolver
...nothing momentous comes in this world unless it comes on the shoulders of kindness.

...nothing momentous comes in this world unless it comes on the shoulders of kindness.

Barbara Kingsolver
The conspicuous consumption of limited resources has yet to be accepted widely as a spiritual error, or even bad manners

The conspicuous consumption of limited resources has yet to be accepted widely as a spiritual error, or even bad manners

Barbara Kingsolver
Honk if you love Jesus, text while driving if you want to meet up.

Honk if you love Jesus, text while driving if you want to meet up.

Barbara Kingsolver
No matter what kind of night you're having, morning always wins.

No matter what kind of night you're having, morning always wins.

Barbara Kingsolver
Hunger of the body is altogether different from the shallow, daily hunger of the belly. Those who have known this kind of hunger cannot entirely love, ever again, those who have not.

Hunger of the body is altogether different from the shallow, daily hunger of the belly. Those who have known this kind of hunger cannot entirely love, ever again, those who have not.

Barbara Kingsolver
Value is not made of money, but a tender balance of expectation and longing.

Value is not made of money, but a tender balance of expectation and longing.

Barbara Kingsolver
Every life is different because you passed this way and touched history.

Every life is different because you passed this way and touched history.

Barbara Kingsolver
He was getting that look he gets, oh boy, like Here comes Moses tromping down off of Mount Syanide with ten fresh ways to wreck your life.

He was getting that look he gets, oh boy, like Here comes Moses tromping down off of Mount Syanide with ten fresh ways to wreck your life.

Barbara Kingsolver
For if there is any single thing that everyone hopes for most dearly, it must be this: that the youngest outlive the oldest.

For if there is any single thing that everyone hopes for most dearly, it must be this: that the youngest outlive the oldest.

Barbara Kingsolver
We came from Bethlehem, Georgia bearing Betty Crocker cake mixes into the jungle.

We came from Bethlehem, Georgia bearing Betty Crocker cake mixes into the jungle.

Barbara Kingsolver
Poor Congo, barefoot bride of men who took her jewels and promised the Kingdom.

Poor Congo, barefoot bride of men who took her jewels and promised the Kingdom.

Barbara Kingsolver
You can't really know the person standing before you, because always there is some missing piece

You can't really know the person standing before you, because always there is some missing piece

Barbara Kingsolver
Mr. Shepherd, ye cannot stop a bad thought from coming into your head. But ye need not pull up a chair and bide it sit down.

Mr. Shepherd, ye cannot stop a bad thought from coming into your head. But ye need not pull up a chair and bide it sit down." - Mrs. Brown

Barbara Kingsolver
Maybe he's been in Africa so long he has forgotten that we Christians have our own system of marriage, and it is called Monotony.

Maybe he's been in Africa so long he has forgotten that we Christians have our own system of marriage, and it is called Monotony.

Barbara Kingsolver
Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say.

Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say.

Barbara Kingsolver
A breeze shook rain out of new leaves onto their hair, but in their pursuit of eternity they never noticed the chill.

A breeze shook rain out of new leaves onto their hair, but in their pursuit of eternity they never noticed the chill.

Barbara Kingsolver
When you're given a brilliant child you polish her and let her shine.
 Pigs in Heaven

When you're given a brilliant child you polish her and let her shine. Pigs in Heaven

Barbara Kingsolver
You can curse the dead or pray for them, but don't expect them to do a thing for you. They're far too interested in watching us, to see what in heaven's name we will do next.

You can curse the dead or pray for them, but don't expect them to do a thing for you. They're far too interested in watching us, to see what in heaven's name we will do next.

Barbara Kingsolver
I learned to write by reading the kind of books I wished I'd written.

I learned to write by reading the kind of books I wished I'd written.

Barbara Kingsolver
Will you explain to me why people encourage delusional behaviour in children, and medicate it in adults?

Will you explain to me why people encourage delusional behaviour in children, and medicate it in adults?

Barbara Kingsolver
The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for. The most you can do is live inside that hope, running down its hallways, touching the walls on both sides.

The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for. The most you can do is live inside that hope, running down its hallways, touching the walls on both sides.

Barbara Kingsolver
Because I could not stop for death he kindly stopped for me, or paused at least to strike a glancing blow with his sky-blue mouth as he passed.

Because I could not stop for death he kindly stopped for me, or paused at least to strike a glancing blow with his sky-blue mouth as he passed.

Barbara Kingsolver
What we lose in our great human exodus from the land is a rooted sense, as deep and intangible as religious faith, of why we need to hold on to the wild and beautiful places that once surrounded us.

What we lose in our great human exodus from the land is a rooted sense, as deep and intangible as religious faith, of why we need to hold on to the wild and beautiful places that once surrounded us.

Barbara Kingsolver
Friends, there is nothing like your own family to make you appreciate strangers!

Friends, there is nothing like your own family to make you appreciate strangers!

Barbara Kingsolver
You see mother, you had no life of your own. They have no idea. One has only a life of one's own.

You see mother, you had no life of your own. They have no idea. One has only a life of one's own.

Barbara Kingsolver
If you can't dress expensive, dress memorable.

If you can't dress expensive, dress memorable.

Barbara Kingsolver
The loudest sound on earth, she thought, is a man with nothing to do.

The loudest sound on earth, she thought, is a man with nothing to do.

Barbara Kingsolver
Be careful what you give children, for sooner or later you are sure to get it back.

Be careful what you give children, for sooner or later you are sure to get it back.

Barbara Kingsolver
How is it right to slip free of an old skin and walk away from the scene of the crime? We came, we saw, we took away and we left behind, we must be allowed our anguish and our regrets.

How is it right to slip free of an old skin and walk away from the scene of the crime? We came, we saw, we took away and we left behind, we must be allowed our anguish and our regrets.

Barbara Kingsolver
If you ask me, when something extraordinary shows up in your life in the middle of the night, you give it a name and make it the best home you can.

If you ask me, when something extraordinary shows up in your life in the middle of the night, you give it a name and make it the best home you can.

Barbara Kingsolver
But children robbed of love will dwell on magic.

But children robbed of love will dwell on magic.

Barbara Kingsolver
Lies are infinite in number, and the truth so small and singular.

Lies are infinite in number, and the truth so small and singular.

Barbara Kingsolver
This Forest eats itself and lives forever.

This Forest eats itself and lives forever.

Barbara Kingsolver
I considered her my ally, because, like me, she was imperfect.

I considered her my ally, because, like me, she was imperfect.

Barbara Kingsolver
Science doesn't tell us what we should do. It only tells us what is.

Science doesn't tell us what we should do. It only tells us what is.

Barbara Kingsolver
The average food item on a U.S. grocery shelf has traveled farther than most families go on their annual vacations.

The average food item on a U.S. grocery shelf has traveled farther than most families go on their annual vacations.

Barbara Kingsolver