The key to contentment was to never ask why; she had learned that long ago. Elizabeth Strout More Quotes by Elizabeth Strout More Quotes From Elizabeth Strout But what could you do? Only keep going. People kept going; they had been doing it for thousands of years. You took the kindness offered, letting it seep as far in as it could go, and the remaining dark crevices you carried around with you, knowing that over time they might change into something almost bearable. Elizabeth Strout knowing dark kindness Olive's private view is that life depends on what she thinks of as "big bursts" and "little bursts." Big bursts are things like marriage or children, intimacies that keep you afloat, but these big bursts hold dangerous, unseen currents. Which is why you need the little bursts as well: a friendly clerk at Bradlee's, let's say, or the waitress at Dunkin' Donuts who knows how you like your coffee. Tricky business, really. Elizabeth Strout coffee children thinking Oh that's lovely," said Bunny. "Olive, you've got a date." "Why would you say something so foolish?" Olive asked, really annoyed. "We're two lonely people having supper." "Exactly," said Bunny. "That's a date. Elizabeth Strout lonely two people Each of his son's had been his favorite child. Elizabeth Strout favorite-child children son And it was too late. No one wants to believe something is too late, but it is always becoming too late, and then it is. Elizabeth Strout too-late life believe Or maybe, he thought, returning to the boxes, it was part of being Catholic--you were made to feel guilty about everything Elizabeth Strout guilty catholic made The appetites of the body were private battles. Elizabeth Strout appetite battle body I don't think there was a particular book that made me want to write. They all did. I always wanted to write. Elizabeth Strout writing book thinking I love theater. I love sitting in an audience and having the actors right there, playing out what it means to be a human being. Elizabeth Strout actors sitting mean My first job was when I was about 12, cleaning houses in the afternoons for different elderly women in town. I hated it. Elizabeth Strout elderly house jobs For years I did most of my reading on the F train between Brooklyn and Manhattan. I had long commutes, and I read tons of books on that train; I loved it. Elizabeth Strout reading book years No exchange rate for the confidence of youth. Elizabeth Strout rate youth You surely know that in the course of a long marriage it is not unusual for a husband or a wife to develop a crush on someone else. Elizabeth Strout crush husband long I have to pay attention to what I have felt and observed, then push these responses to an extreme while keeping the story within the realm of being psychologically and emotionally true. Elizabeth Strout stories pay attention I'm drawn to New England because that's where my roots are, and I miss it. I come from many generations of New Englanders, and so, in my writing, I've been drawn back there to the landscape and the light and the type of personality that's revealed. Elizabeth Strout new light personality roots My parents were very, very, very strict. Elizabeth Strout parents were very strict I don't know if I have a memory of not thinking I was a writer - it goes that far back. I went to law school because I didn't know how to earn a living otherwise. I tried to ignore the pull, but it wouldn't let me. Elizabeth Strout memory me school thinking I got a gerontology certificate a million years ago along with my law degree, so I've been interested in older people for many years. Some people grow up with a lot of kids around, but I just grew up with a lot of old people. Elizabeth Strout some-people grow law people I grew up on a dirt road in Maine, and pretty much everybody on that dirt road was related to me, and they were old. And so grumpy. Elizabeth Strout old road pretty me I like people a lot, but I am not comfortable in literary New York situations. There is deep anxiety and tension around success here. I don't share problems I'm having about my work, and I think conversations around publishing are boring. Elizabeth Strout i-am work success people
