Quotes from I, Coriander

Sally Gardner ·  275 pages

Rating: (6.3K votes)


“Honestly, I had no idea that the heart could cause such trouble and strife. It could be broken and still mend. It could be wounded and still heal. It could be given away still returned, lost and found. It could do all that and still you lived, though according to some, only just.”
― Sally Gardner, quote from I, Coriander


“What more can anyone take from me?" said my father, his head bent down. "Everywhere I go I carry my hell with me.”
― Sally Gardner, quote from I, Coriander


“The floor had become a sea and the bed a ship, seen from a great distance. I could hear their voices calling me from far away. It lasted a minute or less. Maybe I dreamed it. Maybe I did not. It was an image that came to haunt me, and I have often wondered what would have happened if I had done as I was told and left the silver shoes alone. Would everything then have been alright?”
― Sally Gardner, quote from I, Coriander


“I got through so much ink in the learning that the inkseller took to knocking at least once a week on the garden door. He had a gray solemn face that looked as if it was chiseled out of stone; he was stooped down like the letter C, as if he were Atlas carrying the weight of the world in his wooden barrel of ink. Maybe he did. I have learned that there is great power in words, no matter how long or short they be.”
― Sally Gardner, quote from I, Coriander


“as if the words came not from her but from the breeze.”
― Sally Gardner, quote from I, Coriander



“My stepmother was no beauty. She was round and squat with a face not unlike a potato that had been scrubbed.”
― Sally Gardner, quote from I, Coriander


“Furniture, my good husband," she said, her mouth full of food, "that be too pretty is without pure thought. Tables with turned and carved legs only encourage the devil to dine."

My father stared at her, bewildered.

This house needs to be made ready for the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, for when he returns to our fair city and takes his rightful place as king, he'll be needing a good meal in a godly home. Do not you agree, husband?"

My father was speechless. Maud, in no way put off by his silence, said, "He will be very hungry. It has been a long time since the Last Supper.”
― Sally Gardner, quote from I, Coriander


“I like him to sleep close to me. Danes says it is better than leaving him alone in a cradle to get too cold or too hot. Mistress Bedwell does not agree. She says that I should have a wet nurse and not hold him all the time, for it indulges him so."
I laughed. "What nonsense!"
Hester looked pleased. "It feels right, him being next to me."
"Hester, do what you feel is best. Take no notice of Patience Bedwell.”
― Sally Gardner, quote from I, Coriander


“Cos'altro possono togliermi? Dovunque io vada mi porto dietro il mio inferno.”
― Sally Gardner, quote from I, Coriander


About the author

Sally Gardner
Born place: The United Kingdom
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“Accidents ambush the unsuspecting, often violently, just like love.”
― Andrew Davidson, quote from The Gargoyle


“Two people can see the same thing, disagree, and yet both be right. It's not logical; it's psychological.”
― Stephen R. Covey, quote from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change


“It's clear to me now that I have been moving toward you and you toward me for a long time. Though neither of us was aware of the other before we met, there was a kind of mindless certainty bumming blithely along beneath our ignorance that ensured we would come together. Like two solitary birds flying the great prairies by celestial reckoning, all of these years and lifetimes we have been moving toward one another.”
― Robert James Waller, quote from The Bridges of Madison County


“The Good of the People was a laudable enough goal, but in denying a man's soul, an enduring part of his being, Marxism stripped away the foundation of human dignity and individual value.”
― Tom Clancy, quote from The Hunt for Red October


“And it was because of their long history that he searched for something to say, something that would get them back to where they had been.

All that came to him was...I miss you. I miss you so fucking bad it hurts, but I don't know how to find you even though you're right in front of me.
― J.R. Ward, quote from Lover Mine


Interesting books

A Red Herring Without Mustard
(31.6K)
A Red Herring Withou...
by Alan Bradley
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
(36.8K)
Killers of the Flowe...
by David Grann
Something Rotten
(28.7K)
Something Rotten
by Jasper Fforde
The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God
(8.9K)
The Divine Conspirac...
by Dallas Willard
The Ascent of Man
(5K)
The Ascent of Man
by Jacob Bronowski
Double Standards
(10.2K)
Double Standards
by Judith McNaught

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.