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

“When a member of the family leaves or dies, it changes the dynamics of a family. People move and shift, take up places they either wanted to have or are forced into roles they never wanted. It happens without anybody noticing, but it’s shifting all the time.”
― Cecelia Ahern, quote from The Marble Collector


“Like being alive one moment and dead the next.”
― Courtney Summers, quote from Fall for Anything


“الكائن الإنساني ليس إلا شعوراً بالوحدة. وحيد يحيط به وحيدون.”
― Milan Kundera, quote from The Festival of Insignificance


“I hold firmly to my original views. After all I am a philosopher. ”
― Voltaire, quote from Candide: or, Optimism


“Her eyes were closed to the sunlight flickering past the window, her ears plugged with tiny white buds, slender fingers tapping a steady moderato beat at odds with the easy sway in her shoulders. I couldn't hear the music, but as I watched, her body coiled around a deep breath, and the rhythm accelerated through the flat of her hand, and then her hips rocked to four powerful chords, and her head dropped loose on her shoulders, and she squeezed her knees together and drew in her feet, her calf muscles tautening and her ankle bones turning and then tendons in the back of her hand thumping time and the cords of her neck pulling the skin tight over her collarbones as her body snaked through what I heard in my head as Hugh Burns's guitar solo in "Baker Street" clear as day. And though confined to her seat, she danced unselfconsciously and without restraint, and every small movement in every small part of her—the life in her—was the most beautiful thing I thought I'd ever seen. I wanted to cup her gently in my hands and carry her home and keep her forever but, mindful of the probability that she might have other ideas, instead I closed my eyes and turned up the music in my head and, in spirit if not quite in body, danced with her instead.”
― Graeme Cameron, quote from Normal


Interesting books

Out of My Mind
(77.8K)
Out of My Mind
by Sharon M. Draper
Rant
(54.8K)
Rant
by Chuck Palahniuk
Reaper Man
(66.8K)
Reaper Man
by Terry Pratchett
Lady Midnight
(111.8K)
Lady Midnight
by Cassandra Clare
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
(61.7K)
The Miraculous Journ...
by Kate DiCamillo
The Summer I Turned Pretty
(117.6K)
The Summer I Turned...
by Jenny Han

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.