I started keeping track of favorite quotes in a journal the summer before ninth grade. I’d like to say the idea came to me naturally, but the truth is I was imitating some girls I’d met during a four-week summer program at Wellesley College. These East Coast dorm-mates were more sophisticated and advanced than I was in every way, including in their literary habits.
I bought a journal at the bookstore on Wellesley’s campus and starting my quote journal with snippets from poems. Remember that poem “Richard Cory” that every bookish high school student from my time (early 90s) had read a dozen times? Of course my brand new journal began with dark stuff like that. Over time, I switched from random poems or famous quotes (thank you Eleanor Roosevelt!) to snippets I liked from books I was reading. I’d copy long passages from To Kill a Mockingbird and The Chosen. Then later, in college, I continued the habit with quotes from Love in the Time of Cholera, Madame Bovary, and other books I was reading for classes or by choice.
The quote journal has continued into adulthood with entries from the past few years from a wider variety of books. I have a big quote in there from Tina Fey’s Bossy Pants, for example, and several from David Seders. I no longer find the need to keep every entry so “high brow.”
In the past few years I’ve had trouble keeping up with the quotes I want to add to the journal. It’s tedious to write them out by hand, which is why I decided that perhaps if I type them here instead, I can print it later and add it to my journal that way. That’s my new intention, at least, for now.
Without further ado, here are some quotes I loved from the book I just finished: Jhumpa Lahiri’s memoir, In Other Words. It should be noted that I’m a Lahiri groupie. I’ve devoured her short story collections and find her word choice, rhythm, and subjects insanely enviable. She’s a pleasure to read. One incredible aspect of In Other Words is that Lahiri wrote it IN ITALIAN, a language she immersed herself in, by choice, as an adult. The book has the Italian on the left and the translator’s English version on the right. Lahiri did not want to do the translation herself, which would have taken her out of the habit of writing in Italian. I’m likely doing a full review of the book for Great New Books in late June, so the rest of this post will only include the quotes I loved the most. Enjoy!
On desire and obsession (in this case for Italian):
I don’t have a real need to know this language. I don’t live in Italy, I don’t have Italian friends. I have only the desire. Yet ultimately a desire is nothing but a crazy need. As in many passionate relationships, my infatuation will become a devotion, an obsession. There will always be something unbalanced, unrequited. I’m in love, but what I love remains indifferent. The language will never need me.
On Lahiri’s slowly increasing comfort with Italian:
When I discover a different way to express something, I feel a kind of ecstasy. Unknown words present a dizzying yet fertile abyss. An abyss containing everything that escapes me, everything possible.
On the joy, as a published writer, of learning to write in other language:
I don’t have many words to express myself–rather, the opposite. I’m aware of a state of deprivation. And yet, at the same time, I feel free, light. I rediscover the reason that I write, the joy as well as the need. I find again the pleasure I’ve felt since I was a child: putting words in a notebook that no one will read.
In Italian I write without style, in a primitive way. I’m always uncertain. My sole intention, along with blind but sincere faith, is to be understood, and to understand myself.
On why she writes:
If I want to understand what moves me, what confuses me, what pains me–everything that makes me react, in short–I have to put it into words. Writing is my only way of absorbing and organizing life. Otherwise it would terrify me, it would upset me too much.
What passes without being put into words, without being transformed and, in a certain sense, purified by the crucible of writing, has no meaning for me. Only words that endure seem real. They have a power, a value superior to us.
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19 Responses
That last quote…perfection and so incredibly timely for me. I’ve been having these stop everything else moments of “I must write this right now” with a few essays (one coming out soon). It’s often the only way I can examine something with the most focus because it forces me to find the right words to describe and understand it. I need to read her books (I’ve only read one). Thanks for this–have missed your posts!
I think you would really like how she writes!
Love the idea of incorporating quotes into your blog posts. It’s a bit easier to type them out. When you come across a quote, do you copy it right then and there, or do you highlight it in the book and come back to it when you’re done reading? What to do with audio books?
Looking forward to your review on Great New Books!
Jackie Cangro recently posted..Free-for-All Friday
I also love writing out another writer’s sentences to get the feel for how the writer structured the thoughts. I do like audio books, but it’s no good for quotes! In books I own I will highlight and go back later to document them. For library books I put a piece of paper in there and often have to reread the whole page to know which lines I wanted to save. I enjoy the hunt!
I am about to finish my fourth quote book. I started the in 1985. I love them and keep them near. I’ve often said they’d be on the short list of things I’d save in a fire. I haven’t read this Lahiri book so am grateful for this glimpse, and, naturally, I love what you love! xox
In the age of memes and blogging, I see good quotes.. probably daily. I should absolutely keep a journal, because when asked to provide a quote I love, I draw a blank. Even though there are millions out there! Of course I always think of Dr. Seuss first.
Oh, I love these quotes Nina, especially that last one (swoon!) and am inspired to start my own quote journal. Though I can see the issue with writing out long passages! I’m glad that you’ll include some here for us to enjoy 🙂
I’ve never read her works by these quotes make me want to! Especially that last one!I can completely relate to it.
I love keeping quotes (and opening lines). It’s one of those things I keep up with but actually look at instead of tucking away somewhere.
I also kept a journal of quotes! I probably still have it, though now I’m more apt to do the Pinterest route.
I’m going to have to look up this author, thanks for sharing!
I used to cut out quotes when I was a kid and tack them to my bulletin board. Now I wish I was that organized!
I love this! I have always kept a “quote journal” of sort and have found that lately I have been moving more and more towards digital journaling. For the record, I have NEVER felt the need to keep it high brow. 🙂
I love quotes. I collected them as a little girl and continue to write the quotes that I want to revisit in notebooks. I remember copying word for word some of Rilke’s poetry in my early journals.
Rudri Bhatt Patel @ Being Rudri recently posted..Everyday Delights – May Edition
Love the quote about language. I remember that exact sensation when I began to really feel comfortable with my Spanish. It was literally another world. Perfect.
These are all wonderful quotes! And I’m absolutely in love with the idea of keeping a quote journal. I’m mad that I didn’t think of that/hear about it a long time ago. It seems to me that keeping it physical and hand-written has its own special value, too, but I’m glad you shared these with us here.
Annie Neugebauer recently posted..Spoilers, the Importance of Story, and the Value of Kindness
I zoned in on your 4-week dorm experience as a 13-year-old. I remember all the things I learned at sleep away camp, but there was nothing so high-brow as quotes journaling. What an experience!
Although I have loved quotes from all sorts of books, I never considered keeping them in a journal until I ran across you and Rudri. I wish I had thought of it years ago!
I really loved this piece of the second quote you highlighted: “My sole intention, along with blind but sincere faith, is to be understood, and to understand myself.” Yow.
Dakota recently posted..“Love Letter” to Port Townsend (Poem)
This is one of those ideas that I LOVE in theory but I know I will never actually do… That said, I could see perhaps taking a photo of the page where the quote lives (I usually get books from the library) and copying it down later. But as it stands, I am only halfway through my 2014 family photo album and that feels like a more pressing project than a quote journal. That said, what a lovely thing to refer back to for writing inspiration, to remind you of what you’ve read, and for your kids to someday read and get to see this other part of you, a piece they might never have otherwise seen. I would LOVE to see a journal full of the quotes that inspired my parents, grandparents, and all the other family members who came before me. I’m a Lahiri fan, too, btw.
Pam recently posted..Destination Maternity Leave
Love the quote about dialect. I recall that careful sensation when I started to truly feel great with my Spanish. It was truly a different universe. Great.