Quotes from book
The Professor's House

The Professor's House
Willa Cather

The Professor's House is a novel by American novelist Willa Cather. Published in 1925, the novel was written over the course of several years. Cather first wrote the centerpiece, “Tom Outland's Story,” and then later wrote the two framing chapters “The Family” and “The Professor.”

Willa Cather photo

“A work-room should be like an old shoe; no matter how shabby, it's better than a new one.”

Willa Cather book The Professor's House

Book I, Ch. 4
The Professor's House (1925)

Willa Cather photo

“His misfortune was that he loved youth — he was weak to it, it kindled him. If there was one eager eye, one doubting, critical mind, one lively curiosity in a whole lecture-room full of commonplace boys and girls, he was its servant. That ardour could command him. It hadn't worn out with years, this responsiveness, any more than the magnetic currents wear out; it had nothing to do with Time.”

Willa Cather book The Professor's House

Book I, Ch. 1
The Professor's House (1925)

Willa Cather photo

“"In great misfortunes," he told himself, "people want to be alone. They have a right to be. And the misfortunes that occur within one are the greatest. Surely the saddest thing in the world is falling out of love — if once one has ever fallen in."
Falling out, for him, seemed to mean falling out of all domestic and social relations, out of his place in the human family, indeed.”

Willa Cather book The Professor's House

Book III, Ch. 4
The Professor's House (1925)

Willa Cather photo

“To people off alone, as we were, there is something stirring about finding evidences of human labour and care in the soil of an empty country. It comes to you as a sort of message, makes you feel differently about the ground you walk over every day.”

Willa Cather book The Professor's House

Book II, Ch. 2
The Professor's House (1925)

Willa Cather photo

“He had never learned to live without delight. And he would have to learn to, just as, in a Prohibition country, he supposed he would have to learn to live without sherry. Theoretically he knew that life is possible, maybe even pleasant, without joy, without passionate griefs. But it had never occurred to him that he might have to live like that.”

Willa Cather book The Professor's House

Book III, Ch. 4
The Professor's House (1925)

Willa Cather photo

“Art and religion (they are the same thing, in the end, of course) have given man the only happiness he has ever had.”

Willa Cather book The Professor's House

Book I, Ch. 5
The Professor's House (1925)

Willa Cather photo

“Desire is creation, is the magical element in that process. If there were an instrument by which to measure desire, one could foretell achievement.”

Willa Cather book The Professor's House

Book I, Ch. 1
The Professor's House (1925)

Willa Cather photo

“The heart of another is a dark forest, always, no matter how close it has been to one's own.”

Willa Cather book The Professor's House

Book I, Ch. 8
The Professor's House (1925)

Willa Cather photo

“The great fact in life, the always possible escape from dullness, was the lake. The sun rose out of it, the day began there; it was like an open door that nobody could shut. The land and all its dreariness could never close in on you. You had only to look at the lake, and you knew you would soon be free.”

Willa Cather book The Professor's House

Book I, Ch. 1
The Professor's thoughts on Lake Michigan
The Professor's House (1925)

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