Patricia MacLachlan > Quotes

“There is always something to miss, no matter where you are.”
― Patricia MacLachlan, Sarah, Plain And Tall

“You will have a story in there. . . or a character, a place, a poem, a moment in time. When you find it, you will write it. Word after word after word after word.”
― Patricia MacLachlan, Word After Word After Word

“Sometimes, what people choose to write down on paper is more important than what they say."

Caleb didn't know what Sarah meant. But I knew. I wrote in my journal every night. And when I read what I had written, I could see myself there, clearer than when I looked in the mirror. I could see all of us: Papa, who couldn't always say the things he felt; Caleb, who said everything; and Sarah, who didn't know that she had changed us all.”
― Patricia MacLachlan, Skylark

“My greatest fear is being somewhere without a book.”
― Patricia MacLachlan

“Fact and fiction are different truths.”
― Patricia MacLachlan, The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt

“I, myself, write to change my life, to make it come out the way I want it to. But other people write for other reasons: to see more closely what it is they are thinking about, what they may be afraid of. Sometimes writers write to solve a problem, to answer their own question. All these reasons are good reasons. And that is the most important thing I'll ever tell you. Maybe it is the most important thing you'll ever hear. Ever.”
― Patricia MacLachlan, Word After Word After Word

“Some words may make you happy, some may make you said. Maybe some will make you angry. What I hope. . . what I hope is that something will whisper in your ear.”
― Patricia MacLachlan, Word After Word After Word

“There are always things to miss," said Maggie. "No matter where you are.”
― Patricia MacLachlan, Sarah, Plain and Tall

“My brother William is a fisherman, and he tells me that when he is in the middle of a fogbound
sea the water is a color for which there is no name.”
― Patricia MacLachlan, Sarah, Plain and Tall

“Sometimes poetry--words--give us a small, lovely look at ourselves. And sometimes that is enough.”
― Patricia MacLachlan, Baby

“Writing... is ... brave. You are brave.”
― Patricia MacLachlan, Word After Word After Word

“...there are some things for which there are no answers, no matter how beautiful the words may be.”
― Patricia MacLachlan, Baby

“Life is made up of circles.”
― Patricia MacLachlan

“I will come by train. I will wear a yellow bonnet. I am plain and tall.”
― Patricia MacLachlan, Sarah, Plain and Tall

“Sadness is
Steam rising
Tears falling
A breath you take in
But can't let out
As hard as you try.”
― Patricia MacLachlan, Word After Word After Word

“... I want most of all for you to forgive Grandfather. I want you to forgive Grandfather so I can grow up and be just like you.”
― Patricia MacLachlan, Caleb's Story

“What is perfect? Journey, a thing doesn't have to be perfect to be fine. That goes for a picture. That goes for life....Things can be good enough.”
― Patricia MacLachlan, Journey

“Where else," I will say, "does an old turtle crossing the path Make all the difference in the world?”
― Patricia MacLachlan, All the Places to Love

“I sing the songs I sang to you every night.
I sing them
so I will remember you,
hoping that you will remember me too,
even though I am here,
and you are there.”
― Patricia MacLachlan, Your Moon, My Moon: A Grandmother's Words to a Faraway Child

“Poets and children," said Sylvan. "We are the same really. When you can't find a poet, find a child. Remember that.”
― Patricia MacLachlan, The Poet's Dog

“Things happen, Jacob," I heard Sarah say. "The rope broke. I could have died."
"Don't, Sarah," said Papa.
"You could have lost me, Jacob," said Sarah. "And that's the way life is. Something happens . . . one little moment in time. If you're lucky, you have a chance to make things better. You have that chance here. Don't let it pass.”
― Patricia MacLachlan, Caleb's Story

“This is important to writing. . . that is, it is important to my own writing. This. . . is landscape! Mine. This dirt came from the prairie where I was a child. I played in it, dug in it, planted in it, and walked over it. It is where I began. And all my writing begins with a landscape such as this. A place.”
― Patricia MacLachlan, Word After Word After Word

“Byrd: It is important because we are giving her something to take away with her when she goes.
Lalo: What will she take with her?
Byrd: Us.
Sophie: And what will we have when she's gone?
Byrd looked at Sophie and shook her head because she couldn't speak”
― Patricia MacLachlan, Baby

“What happened last night was my fault," I said. "I put up the rope, Sarah. I must have done it wrong."
"Fault?" said Sarah. "Oh, Caleb, I want you to listen to me. There comes a time when fault doesn't matter. Things happen. And we can't blame ourselves--or someone else--forever."
I heard a noise behind me, and saw Papa standing there, Cassie beside him. I knew he had heard Sarah's words.”
― Patricia MacLachlan, Caleb's Story

“My brother William is a fisherman, and he tells me that when he is in the middle of a fog-bound sea the water is a color for which there is no name.”
― Patricia MacLachlan, Sarah, Plain and Tall

“Outlines are silly. Once you write the outline, there’s no reason to write the story. You write to participate . . . to find out what is going to happen!”
― Patricia MacLachlan, Word After Word After Word

“Sometimes you think you know more than you really do—people, events, things that are true and things that are not. Sometimes you think you know yourself. But then, surprise, it is someone else who shows you what is really there, like the truth a photograph shows.”
― Patricia MacLachlan, White Fur Flying

“Life is not a straight line, she said. And sometimes we circle back to a past time. But we are not the same. We are changed forever.”
― Patricia MacLachlan, Baby

“Dogs speak words, but only poets and children Hear.”
― Patricia MacLachlan, The Poet's Dog

“There is a joy...in creating surprising insight into a character. The characters in my books become, for me, good friends, extended family members, or the brothers and sisters I never had. Books affect lives, especially children's lives, because children have a genuine belief in the truth of stories, the ultimate gift for the writer. It's a shared gift—from writer to reader and back again.”
― Patricia MacLachlan