Authors: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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: 68 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.

Listed In:
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