Tracy Chevalier Quotes

You're so calm and quiet, you never say. But there are things inside you. I see them sometimes, hiding in your eyes.

Tracy Chevalier

Eye, Calm, Quiet

46 Copy quote
It's those little daily incidents of life that are dramatic, and if you put a frame around it , suddenly they become much bigger and much more important than you ever imagined.

Tracy Chevalier

Important, Littles, Dramatic

"How Do You Find A Story In A Painting?". TED TALK, www.npr.org. June 7, 2013.

18 Copy quote
I find that when I come out of the library I'm in what I call the library bliss of being totally taken away from the distractions of life.

Tracy Chevalier

Taken, Library, Bliss

15 Copy quote
It's a rare book that wins the battle against drooping eyelids.

Tracy Chevalier

Inspiring, Book, Reading

15 Copy quote
Don't write about what you know - write about what you're interested in. Don't write about yourself - you aren't as interesting as you think.

Tracy Chevalier

Writing, Thinking, Interesting

11 Copy quote
He saw things in a way that others did not, so that a city I had lived in all my life seemed a different place, so that a woman became beautiful with the light on her face.

Tracy Chevalier

Life, Beautiful, Light

Tracy Chevalier (1999). “Girl with a Pearl Earring”, E P Dutton

11 Copy quote
Yes, well, life is a folly. If you live long enough, nothing is surprising.

Tracy Chevalier

Long, Life Is, Enough

Tracy Chevalier (1999). “Girl with a Pearl Earring”, E P Dutton

4 Copy quote
I have consistently loved books that I've read when I've been sick in bed.

Tracy Chevalier

Book, Sick, Bed

7 Copy quote
Say something worth the words.

Tracy Chevalier

4 Copy quote
The sign of a masterpiece: A painting when there's a lack of resolution.

Tracy Chevalier

Motivation, Inspiration, Painting

8 Copy quote
Younger women tend to be busier, wearing more layers and more make-up. I don't know if it's because older women are more confident, or just that we don't care any more. But that pared-down approach is the same with the sentences I write; I take out adjectives and adverbs and keep the description to a minimum.

Tracy Chevalier

Writing, Adjectives And Adverbs, Care

7 Copy quote
We say very little, for we do not need to. We are silent together, each in her own world, knowing the other is just at her back.

Tracy Chevalier

Knowing, Together, Needs

Tracy Chevalier (2010). “Remarkable Creatures: A Novel”, p.182, Penguin

4 Copy quote
You know I don’t listen to market gossip,” she began, “but it is hard not to hear it when my daughter’s name is mentioned.

Tracy Chevalier

Daughter, Names, Gossip

Tracy Chevalier (1999). “Girl with a Pearl Earring”, E P Dutton

7 Copy quote
I wanted to wear the mantle and the pearls. I wanted to know the man who painted her like that.

Tracy Chevalier

Men, Pearls, Wanted

Tracy Chevalier (2012). “Tracy Chevalier 3-Book Collection: Girl With a Pearl Earring, Remarkable Creatures, Falling Angels”, p.52, HarperCollins UK

4 Copy quote
I had walked along that street all my life, but had never been so aware that my back was to my home

Tracy Chevalier

Home, Streets

Tracy Chevalier (2009). “Girl With a Pearl Earring”, p.14, HarperCollins UK

7 Copy quote
So many (too many) books are published every year, and it seems everyone is writing a book. Perhaps we should all be reading more and writing less!

Tracy Chevalier

Book, Reading, Writing

7 Copy quote
I have spent my life waiting for something to happen,’ she said. ‘And I have come to understand that nothing will. Or it already has, and I blinked during that moment and it's gone. I don't know which is worse — to have missed it or to know there is nothing to miss.’ Falling Angels

Tracy Chevalier

Fall, Angel, Waiting

4 Copy quote
I didn't move. I've learned from years of experience that dogs and falcons and ladies come back to you if you stay where you are.

Tracy Chevalier

Dog, Moving, Years

Tracy Chevalier (2004). “The Lady and the Unicorn: A Novel”, p.13, Penguin

5 Copy quote
Over his shoulder I saw a star fall. It was me.

Tracy Chevalier

Stars, Fall, Saws

4 Copy quote
My father was often impatient during March, waiting for winter to end, the cold to ease, the sun to reappear. March was an unpredictable month, when it was never clear what might happen. Warm days raised hopes until ice and grey skies shut over the town again.

Tracy Chevalier

Father, Winter, Ice

Tracy Chevalier (1999). “Girl with a Pearl Earring”, E P Dutton

6 Copy quote
Normally book ideas come to me in a moment.

Tracy Chevalier

Book, Ideas, Moments

"Tracy Chevalier: 'Slavery has to be raised until it's put to bed'". Interview with Robert McCrum, www.theguardian.com. March 16, 2013.

7 Copy quote
Jane Austen easily used half a page describing someone else's eyes; she would not appreciate summarizing her reading tastes in ten titles.

Tracy Chevalier

Reading, Eye, Appreciate

4 Copy quote
That's how fossil hunting is: It takes over, like a hunger, and nothing else matters but what you find. And even when you find it, you still start looking again the next minute, because there might be something even better waiting.

Tracy Chevalier

Hunting, Waiting, Might

Tracy Chevalier (2010). “Remarkable Creatures: A Novel”, p.41, Penguin

4 Copy quote
I try to write 1,000 words a day - about three pages. When I reach 1,000 words I feel good. Less than that: a failure. More than that: tired.

Tracy Chevalier

Writing, Tired, Feel Good

"Tracy Chevalier: 'Slavery has to be raised until it's put to bed'". Interview with Robert McCrum, www.theguardian.com. March 16, 2013.

6 Copy quote
It was not a house where secrets could be kept easily.

Tracy Chevalier

House, Secret

Tracy Chevalier (1999). “Girl with a Pearl Earring”, E P Dutton

4 Copy quote

You May Also Like:

Scarlett Johansson

Geraldine Brooks

Tracy Chevalier

Follow

Born: October 19, 1962
Occupation: Novelist
Cite this Page: Citation

Popular Topics