Carol Shields citations

“Write the book you want to read, the one you cannot find.”

“This is why I read novels: so I can escape my own unrelenting monologue.”

“nothing she did
or said

was quite
what she meant

but still her life
could be called a monument

shaped in a slant
of available light

and set to the movement
of possible music”

“There are chapters in every life which are seldom read, and certainly not aloud.”

“Here's to another year and let's hope it's above ground.”

“Bookish people, who are often maladroit people, persist in thinking they can master any subtlety so long as it's been shaped into acceptable expository prose.”