Quotes from The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox

Maggie O'Farrell ·  277 pages

Rating: (21.4K votes)


“We are all, Esme decides, just vessels through which identities pass: we are lent features, gestures, habits, then we hand them on. Nothing is our own. We begin in the world as anagrams of our antecedents.”
― Maggie O'Farrell, quote from The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox


“It is a terrible thing to want something you cannot have. It takes you over. I couldn't think straight because of it. There was no one else, I realized, whom I could possibly tell.”
― Maggie O'Farrell, quote from The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox


“Two and a half thousand left-handed people are killed every year using things made for right-handed people.”
― Maggie O'Farrell, quote from The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox


“She walks slowly. She wants to feel the prick, the push of every bit of gravel under her shoe. She wants to feel every scratch, every discomfort of this....her leaving walk.”
― Maggie O'Farrell, quote from The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox


“We begin in the world as anagrams of our antecedents.”
― Maggie O'Farrell, quote from The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox



“Two women in a room. One seated, one standing”
― Maggie O'Farrell, quote from The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox


“Her grandmother keeps announcing that Esme will never find a husband if she doesn't change her ways. Yesterday, when she said it at breakfast, Esme replied "Good" and was sent to finish her meal in the kitchen.”
― Maggie O'Farrell, quote from The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox


“It was always the meaningless tasks that endure: the washing, the cooing, the clearing, the cleaning. Never anything majestic or significant, just the tiny rituals that hold together the seams of human life.”
― Maggie O'Farrell, quote from The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox


“The dress bunched up like loose skin round her neck. It wouldn't behave, wouldn't act as if it was really hers. Wearing it was like being in a three legged race with someone you didn't like.”
― Maggie O'Farrell, quote from The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox


“ear, ‘did you know that two and a half thousand left-handed people are killed every year using things made for right-handed people?”
― Maggie O'Farrell, quote from The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox



About the author

Maggie O'Farrell
Born place: Coleraine, Ireland
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“What seems terrible at first may turn out to be a great thing. You can't predict.”
― A.J. Jacobs, quote from The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible


“I'm glad being shipwrecked appeals to you."

"Captain Walken made a point of avoiding that word."

"Well, he was trying to keep everyone jolly, wasn't he. It's no good having everyone running around screaming and eating each other."

"I wouldn't run around screaming," she said. "I can see eating someone in a pinch, though. If it really came down to it, I mean."

"I don't doubt it."

"Come on, Matt Cruse, don't you find it just a bit exciting, being here?"

"No."

She looked at me as if I'd suggested we stop breathing for a few hours.”
― Kenneth Oppel, quote from Airborn


“It is a little theory of mine that has much exercised my mind lately, that most of the problems of this silly and delightful world derive from our apologising for those things which we ought not to apologise for, and failing to apologise for those things for which apology is necessary.”
― Stephen Fry, quote from Moab Is My Washpot


“I'd rather be dead then be trapped like this! Why didn't you just let me die!? Why don't you just kill me and get it over with!?”
― Erica Stevens, quote from Captured


“There is much to be known," said Adaon, "and above all much to be loved, be it the turn of the seasons or the shape of a river pebble. Indeed, the more we find to love, the more we add to the measure of our hearts.”
― Lloyd Alexander, quote from The Black Cauldron


Interesting books

Vengeance Road
(6.3K)
Vengeance Road
by Erin Bowman
Dear Bridget, I Want You
(8K)
Dear Bridget, I Want...
by Penelope Ward
Red Dragon:
(219.6K)
Red Dragon:
by Thomas Harris
You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life
(54K)
You Are a Badass: Ho...
by Jen Sincero
Danny: The Champion of the World
(48.2K)
Danny: The Champion...
by Roald Dahl
Twisted Twosome
(2.3K)
Twisted Twosome
by Meghan Quinn

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.