Quotes from Open House

Elizabeth Berg ·  272 pages

Rating: (50.9K votes)


“I made cranberry sauce, and when it was done put it into a dark blue bowl for the beautiful contrast. I was thinking, doing this, about the old ways of gratitude: Indians thanking the deer they'd slain, grace before supper, kneeling before bed. I was thinking that gratitude is too much absent in our lives now, and we need it back, even if it only takes the form of acknowledging the blue of a bowl against the red of cranberries.”
― Elizabeth Berg, quote from Open House


“I remove my wedding rings and put them in the jewelry box. So many others have done this. I am not the only one. I am not the only one. But here, I am the only one.”
― Elizabeth Berg, quote from Open House


“It's amazing how smart the body is. Though maybe we could do without loving. I think it's overrated, and I think it's too hard. You should only love your children; that is necessary, because otherwise you might kill them. But to love a man? It's overrated, and it's too hard and I will never, ever do it again.”
― Elizabeth Berg, quote from Open House


“My mother lost too much and repaired herself in the only way she was able to repair herself. That in fact she is repairing herself, hour by hour.”
― Elizabeth Berg, quote from Open House


“I once read that Martha Stewart never wears a bathrobe. Not that I like Martha Stewart, nobody likes Martha Stewart, I don’t think even Martha Stewart likes Martha Stewart.”
― Elizabeth Berg, quote from Open House



“When did After start? I don't remember it starting. I only remember it having arrived. Things were bad for such a long time before he left. But I miss him. I can feel loneliness in my like circulation; as constant and as irrefutable.”
― Elizabeth Berg, quote from Open House


About the author

Elizabeth Berg
Born place: in St. Paul, Minnesota, The United States
Born date December 2, 1948
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“She was close in her husband's arms; she clung to him; whatever of strangeness and slowness and insularity she might find in him, none of that mattered so long as she could slip her hands beneath his coat, run her fingers over the warm smoothness of the satin back of his waistcoat, seem almost to creep into his body, find in him strength, find in the courage and kindness of her man a shelter from the perplexing world.”
― Sinclair Lewis, quote from Main Street


“He is flawless, without a blemish. Majesic . . . muscular.”
― Gail Carson Levine, quote from Ever


“I checked my gear, my pockets, my shoelaces, and realized that I had crossed the line between making sure I was ready and trying to postpone the inevitable.”
― Jim Butcher, quote from Turn Coat


“Let me try to explain something to you, Buns. Until recently, I believed that I was entirely human. As a human, I accepted that I was the most powerful being on the planet—with the remote exception of running into a bear, mountain lion, alligator, or shark—all easily avoidable in most situations. The only thing I really had to fear was another human,” I say. “Sweetie, you really should’ve had a healthy respect for weather, too, because that is what usually wipes out civilizations faster than even plagues, which by the way, are scarier than sharks,” Buns replies.”
― Amy A. Bartol, quote from Intuition


“Is it possible to get over a voice like this? Someday, I'd like to be able to hear her speak a sentence on the phone with out it making me want to hang up, get in my car, and drive as many miles as it takes to kiss her.”
― Nina LaCour, quote from Everything Leads to You


Interesting books

The Warrior's Path
(5.2K)
The Warrior's Path
by Catherine M. Wilson
Goliath
(26.5K)
Goliath
by Scott Westerfeld
James Potter and the Hall of Elders' Crossing
(21.7K)
James Potter and the...
by G. Norman Lippert
The Other Wind
(14.4K)
The Other Wind
by Ursula K. Le Guin
Paris Spleen
(8.5K)
Paris Spleen
by Charles Baudelaire
Flyboys: A True Story of Courage
(15.6K)
Flyboys: A True Stor...
by James D. Bradley

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.