Quotes from The Reluctant Heiress

Eva Ibbotson ·  368 pages

Rating: (7.1K votes)


“I must go-- the aunts will be worried. Guy, I don't know if we will meet again, but--" Her voice broke and she tried again. "Sometimes, when you're alone and you look up at--" Once more, she had to stop. Then she managed, "If I cannot be anything else... could I be your Star Sister? Could I at least be that?"

Guy dug his nails into his palms. Everything in him rose in protest at the fey, romantic conceit. He did not want her in the heavens, linked to him by some celestial whimsy, but here and now in the flesh and after the death of the flesh, her hand in his as they rose from graves like these when the last trump sounded.

"Yes," he managed to say. "You can be my Star Sister. You can at least be that.”
― Eva Ibbotson, quote from The Reluctant Heiress


“She took a deep breath, inhaling the night air scented with hay, honeysuckle and the rich waters of the lake, listened to the music and laughter coming from the theatre, tilted her head to the the stars. She had never seen them so brilliant and clear. Cassiopeia, Orion, the great girdle of the Milky Way-and her own birth sign, Gemini. With such staggering beauty in the world, how could anyone not rejoice?

It seemed however, that 'anyone' could. For at once came the age-old cry of lovers since time began. 'What are the stars if i am not gazing at them with him? What is beauty except something we share?”
― Eva Ibbotson, quote from The Reluctant Heiress


“[Tessa] knew about phantom limbs [....] Her cheek, where the Englishman's fingers had been, did not exactly ache ... but very strangely, most curiously ... it felt.”
― Eva Ibbotson, quote from The Reluctant Heiress


“Do I know everything about him already? she thought, bewildered. And back came the answer: Everything. You are branded with this knowledge, you will have it for the rest of time.”
― Eva Ibbotson, quote from The Reluctant Heiress


“It is a fearful thing to love what time can touch.”
― Eva Ibbotson, quote from The Reluctant Heiress



“The Unconscious, lately discovered by Professor Freud and used by others to store their joys, fears and frustrations, was for Nerine a gigantic subterranean wardrobe”
― Eva Ibbotson, quote from The Reluctant Heiress


About the author

Eva Ibbotson
Born place: in Vienna, Austria
Born date January 21, 1925
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“You know, I can see more than just the future or the past."
"Really?" I asked, paging through through the papers in the file. "Can you also see the present? Because I can do that, too. Like, right now, I sense that I'm in a messy room with a total toolbox.”
― Rachel Hawkins, quote from Spell Bound


“When all was over, they buried the dead ancestor under piles of dirt, grass, leaves, or snow. Mammoths were even known to bury other dead animals, including humans.”
― Jean M. Auel, quote from The Plains of Passage


“I’m in love with you,” I responded. He laughed the most beguiling and gentle laugh. “Of course you are,” he replied. “I understand perfectly because I’m in love with myself. The fact that I’m not transfixed in front of the nearest mirror takes a great deal of self-control.”
― Anne Rice, quote from Blackwood Farm


“A person is nothing but his image. Philosophers can tell us that it doesn't matter what the world thinks of us, that nothing matters but what we really are. But philosophers don't understand anything. As long as we live with other people, we are only what other people consider us to be. Thinkingabout how others see us and trying to make our image as attractive as possible is considered a kind of dissembling or cheating. But doesthere exist another kind of direct contact between my self and their selves except through the mediation of the eyes? Can we possiblyimagine love without anxiously following our image in the mind of the beloved? When we are no longer interested in how we are seen bythe person we love, it means we no longer love.”
― Milan Kundera, quote from Immortality


“Isn't that what friends do?" It hurt to hear the uncertainty in his voice. "You're my friend Kate, and you're miserable. What could possibly be more important than taking care of you?”
― Aimee Carter, quote from The Goddess Test


Interesting books

Black Dawn
(17.3K)
Black Dawn
by Rachel Caine
Heaven, Texas
(26.9K)
Heaven, Texas
by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Enchanters' End Game
(76.5K)
Enchanters' End Game
by David Eddings
Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable
(7.3K)
Molloy, Malone Dies,...
by Samuel Beckett
I Kissed Dating Goodbye: A New Attitude Toward Relationships and Romance
(18.3K)
I Kissed Dating Good...
by Joshua Harris
Hot Six
(106.9K)
Hot Six
by Janet Evanovich

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.