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Marilynne Robinson Quotes

A little too much anger, too often or at the wrong time, can destroy more than you would ever imagine Picture Quote #1

When we accept dismissive judgments of our community we stop having generous hope for it. We cease to be capable of serving its best interests Picture Quote #1

There is more beauty than our eyes can bear, precious things have been put into our hands and to do nothing to honor them is to do great harm Picture Quote #1

That is to say, I pray for you. And there’s an intimacy in it. That’s the truth Picture Quote #1

I owe everything that I have done to the fact that I am very much at ease being alone Picture Quote #1

We inhabit, we are part of, a reality for which explanation is much too poor and small Picture Quote #1

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Science can give us knowledge, but it cannot give us wisdom. Nor can religion, until it puts aside nonsense and distraction and becomes itself again Picture Quote #1

The locus of the human mystery is perception of this world. From it proceeds every thought, every art Picture Quote #1

For me writing has always felt like praying even when I wasn’t writing prayers Picture Quote #1

I want to feel that art is an utterance made in good faith by one human being to another Picture Quote #1

We experience pain and difficulty as failure instead of saying, I will pass through this, everyone I have ever admired has passed through this, music has come out of it, literature has come out of it. We should think of our humanity as a privilege Picture Quote #1

It felt very good to have him walking beside her. Good like rest and quiet, like something you could live without but you needed anyway. That you had to learn how to miss, and then you’d never stop missing it Picture Quote #1

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There are worries that seem to me sustained by the love of worry. For example, that people are reading from screens, or listening to recorded books. Why scold the impulse to enjoy language and narrative in whatever form it takes? Picture Quote #1

The best essays come from the moment in which people really need to work something out Picture Quote #1

We are part of a mystery, a splendid mystery within which we must attempt to orient ourselves if we are to have a sense of our own nature Picture Quote #1

Oddly enough, my favorite genre is not fiction. I’m attracted by primary sources that are relevant to historical questions of interest to me, by famous old books on philosophy or theology that I want to see with my own eyes, by essays on contemporary science, by the literatures of antiquity Picture Quote #1

The moon looks wonderful in this warm evening light, just as a candle flame looks beautiful in the light of morning. Light within light... It seems to me to be a metaphor for the human soul, the singular light within that great general light of existence Picture Quote #1

There is no justice in love, no proportion in it, and there need not be, because in any specific instance it is only a glimpse or parable of an embracing, incomprehensible reality. It makes no sense at all because it is the eternal breaking in on the temporal. So how could it subordinate itself to cause or consequence? Picture Quote #1

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She conceived of life as a road down which one traveled, an easy enough road through a broad country, and that one’s destination was there from the very beginning, a measured distance away, standing in the ordinary light like some plain house where one went in and was greeted by respectable people and was shown to a room where everything one had ever lost or put aside was gathered together, waiting Picture Quote #1

People who feel any sort of regret where you are concerned will suppose you are angry, and they will see anger in what you do, even if you’re just quietly going about a life of your own choosing. They will make you doubt yourself, which, depending on cases, can be a severe distraction and a waste of time. This is a thing I wish I had understood much earlier than I did Picture Quote #1

I have spent my life watching, not to see beyond the world, merely to see, great mystery, what is plainly before my eyes. I think the concept of transcendence is based on a misreading of creation. With all respect to heaven, the scene of the miracle is here, among us. The eternal as an idea is much less preposterous than time, and this very fact should seize our attention Picture Quote #1

I want to overhear passionate arguments about what we are and what we are doing and what we ought to do. I want to feel that art is an utterance made in good faith by one human being to another. I want to believe there are geniuses scheming to astonish the rest of us, just for the pleasure of it Picture Quote #1

A narrow pond would form in the orchard, water clear as air covering grass and black leaves and fallen branches, all around it black leaves and drenched grass and fallen branches, and on it, slight as an image in an eye, sky, clouds, trees, our hovering faces and our cold hands Picture Quote #1

I wish I could leave you certain of the images in my mind, because they are so beautiful that I hate to think they will be extinguished when I am. Well, but again, this life has its own mortal loveliness. And memory is not strictly mortal in its nature, either. It is a strange thing, after all, to be able to return to a moment, when it can hardly be said to have any reality at all, even in its passing. A moment is such a slight thing. I mean, that its abiding is a most gracious reprieve Picture Quote #1

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It is an amazing thing to watch people laugh, the way it sort of takes them over. Sometimes they really do struggle with it... so I wonder what it is and where it comes from, and I wonder what it expends out of your system, so that you have to do it till you’re done, like crying in a way, I suppose, except that laughter is much more easily spent Picture Quote #1

Then there is the matter of my mother’s abandonment of me. Again, this is the common experience. They walk ahead of us, and walk too fast, and forget us, they are so lost in thoughts of their own, and soon or late they disappear. The only mystery is that we expect it to be otherwise Picture Quote #1

You see how it is godlike to love the being of someone. Your existence is a delight to us. I hope you never have to long for a child as I did, but oh, what a splendid thing it has been that you came finally, and what a blessing to enjoy you now for almost seven years Picture Quote #1

When things are taking their ordinary course, it is hard to remember what matters. There are so many things you would never think to tell anyone. And I believe they may be the things that mean most to you, and that even your own child would have to know in order to know you well at all Picture Quote #1

Everything that falls upon the eye is apparition, a sheet dropped over the world’s true workings. The nerves and the brain are tricked, and one is left with dreams that these specters loose their hands from ours and walk away, the curve of the back and the swing of the coat so familiar as to imply that they should be permanent fixtures of the world, when in fact nothing is more perishable Picture Quote #1

That’s the strangest thing about this life, about being in the ministry. People change the subject when they see you coming. And then sometimes those very same people come into your study and tell you the most remarkable things. There’s a lot under the surface of life, everyone knows that. A lot of malice and dread and guilt, and so much loneliness, where you wouldn’t really expect to find it, either Picture Quote #1

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A little too much anger, too often or at the wrong time, can destroy more than you would ever imagine (Marilynne Robinson Quotes) When we accept dismissive judgments of our community we stop having generous hope for it. We cease to be capable of serving its best interests (Marilynne Robinson Quotes) There is more beauty than our eyes can bear, precious things have been put into our hands and to do nothing to honor them is to do great harm (Marilynne Robinson Quotes) That is to say, I pray for you. And there’s an intimacy in it. That’s the truth (Marilynne Robinson Quotes) I owe everything that I have done to the fact that I am very much at ease being alone (Marilynne Robinson Quotes) We inhabit, we are part of, a reality for which explanation is much too poor and small (Marilynne Robinson Quotes) Science can give us knowledge, but it cannot give us wisdom. Nor can religion, until it puts aside nonsense and distraction and becomes itself again (Marilynne Robinson Quotes) The locus of the human mystery is perception of this world. From it proceeds every thought, every art (Marilynne Robinson Quotes) For me writing has always felt like praying even when I wasn’t writing prayers (Marilynne Robinson Quotes) I want to feel that art is an utterance made in good faith by one human being to another (Marilynne Robinson Quotes) We experience pain and difficulty as failure instead of saying, I will pass through this, everyone I have ever admired has passed through this, music has come out of it, literature has come out of it. We should think of our humanity as a privilege (Marilynne Robinson Quotes) It felt very good to have him walking beside her. Good like rest and quiet, like something you could live without but you needed anyway. That you had to learn how to miss, and then you’d never stop missing it (Marilynne Robinson Quotes) There are worries that seem to me sustained by the love of worry. For example, that people are reading from screens, or listening to recorded books. Why scold the impulse to enjoy language and narrative in whatever form it takes? (Marilynne Robinson Quotes) The best essays come from the moment in which people really need to work something out (Marilynne Robinson Quotes) We are part of a mystery, a splendid mystery within which we must attempt to orient ourselves if we are to have a sense of our own nature (Marilynne Robinson Quotes) Oddly enough, my favorite genre is not fiction. I’m attracted by primary sources that are relevant to historical questions of interest to me, by famous old books on philosophy or theology that I want to see with my own eyes, by essays on contemporary science, by the literatures of antiquity (Marilynne Robinson Quotes) The moon looks wonderful in this warm evening light, just as a candle flame looks beautiful in the light of morning. Light within light... It seems to me to be a metaphor for the human soul, the singular light within that great general light of existence (Marilynne Robinson Quotes) There is no justice in love, no proportion in it, and there need not be, because in any specific instance it is only a glimpse or parable of an embracing, incomprehensible reality. It makes no sense at all because it is the eternal breaking in on the temporal. So how could it subordinate itself to cause or consequence? (Marilynne Robinson Quotes) She conceived of life as a road down which one traveled, an easy enough road through a broad country, and that one’s destination was there from the very beginning, a measured distance away, standing in the ordinary light like some plain house where one went in and was greeted by respectable people and was shown to a room where everything one had ever lost or put aside was gathered together, waiting (Marilynne Robinson Quotes) People who feel any sort of regret where you are concerned will suppose you are angry, and they will see anger in what you do, even if you’re just quietly going about a life of your own choosing. They will make you doubt yourself, which, depending on cases, can be a severe distraction and a waste of time. This is a thing I wish I had understood much earlier than I did (Marilynne Robinson Quotes) I have spent my life watching, not to see beyond the world, merely to see, great mystery, what is plainly before my eyes. I think the concept of transcendence is based on a misreading of creation. With all respect to heaven, the scene of the miracle is here, among us. The eternal as an idea is much less preposterous than time, and this very fact should seize our attention (Marilynne Robinson Quotes) I want to overhear passionate arguments about what we are and what we are doing and what we ought to do. I want to feel that art is an utterance made in good faith by one human being to another. I want to believe there are geniuses scheming to astonish the rest of us, just for the pleasure of it (Marilynne Robinson Quotes) A narrow pond would form in the orchard, water clear as air covering grass and black leaves and fallen branches, all around it black leaves and drenched grass and fallen branches, and on it, slight as an image in an eye, sky, clouds, trees, our hovering faces and our cold hands (Marilynne Robinson Quotes) I wish I could leave you certain of the images in my mind, because they are so beautiful that I hate to think they will be extinguished when I am. Well, but again, this life has its own mortal loveliness. And memory is not strictly mortal in its nature, either. It is a strange thing, after all, to be able to return to a moment, when it can hardly be said to have any reality at all, even in its passing. A moment is such a slight thing. I mean, that its abiding is a most gracious reprieve (Marilynne Robinson Quotes) It is an amazing thing to watch people laugh, the way it sort of takes them over. Sometimes they really do struggle with it... so I wonder what it is and where it comes from, and I wonder what it expends out of your system, so that you have to do it till you’re done, like crying in a way, I suppose, except that laughter is much more easily spent (Marilynne Robinson Quotes) Then there is the matter of my mother’s abandonment of me. Again, this is the common experience. They walk ahead of us, and walk too fast, and forget us, they are so lost in thoughts of their own, and soon or late they disappear. The only mystery is that we expect it to be otherwise (Marilynne Robinson Quotes) You see how it is godlike to love the being of someone. Your existence is a delight to us. I hope you never have to long for a child as I did, but oh, what a splendid thing it has been that you came finally, and what a blessing to enjoy you now for almost seven years (Marilynne Robinson Quotes) When things are taking their ordinary course, it is hard to remember what matters. There are so many things you would never think to tell anyone. And I believe they may be the things that mean most to you, and that even your own child would have to know in order to know you well at all (Marilynne Robinson Quotes) Everything that falls upon the eye is apparition, a sheet dropped over the world’s true workings. The nerves and the brain are tricked, and one is left with dreams that these specters loose their hands from ours and walk away, the curve of the back and the swing of the coat so familiar as to imply that they should be permanent fixtures of the world, when in fact nothing is more perishable (Marilynne Robinson Quotes) That’s the strangest thing about this life, about being in the ministry. People change the subject when they see you coming. And then sometimes those very same people come into your study and tell you the most remarkable things. There’s a lot under the surface of life, everyone knows that. A lot of malice and dread and guilt, and so much loneliness, where you wouldn’t really expect to find it, either (Marilynne Robinson Quotes)

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