--- title: "10 New Quotes By Eleanor Catton" description: "10 New quotes by Eleanor Catton. Plus more from Eleanor Catton and more New sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/703/eleanor-catton-2384_20th-century_an-interesting-thing-about-new-zealand-y_64260.png" --- > [An interesting thing about New Zealand, you know, literature is that it really didn't begin in any real sense until the 20th…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/an-interesting-thing-about-new-zealand-you-know-literature-is-that-it/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/703/eleanor-catton-2384_20th-century_an-interesting-thing-about-new-zealand-y_64260.png) > [I really wanted to write an adventure story, a murder-mystery that was set during the gold-rush years in New Zealand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/i-really-wanted-to-write-an-adventure-story-a-murder-mystery-that-was/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5fc/eleanor-catton-2384_adventure_i-really-wanted-to-write-an-adventure-st_1260531.png) > [My father is an expatriate American; he fell in love with New Zealand in his youth and never went home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/my-father-is-an-expatriate-american-he-fell-in-love-with-new-zealand/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9f/eleanor-catton-2384_american_my-father-is-an-expatriate-american-he-f_2653318.png) > [I am a New Zealander, but I don't want to swallow New Zealand identity in one gulp.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/i-am-a-new-zealander-but-i-don-t-want-to-swallow-new-zealand-identity/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/506/eleanor-catton-2384_am_i-am-a-new-zealander-but-i-don-t-want-to_2909238.png) > [Astrology's a moving system that depends on where you're looking at it from on Earth. My horoscope here in London would be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/astrology-s-a-moving-system-that-depends-on-where-you-re-looking-at/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f9/eleanor-catton-2384_astrology_astrology-s-a-moving-system-that-depends_197601.jpg) > [My second novel, 'The Luminaries,' is set in the New Zealand gold rushes of the 1860s, though it's not really a historical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/my-second-novel-the-luminaries-is-set-in-the-new-zealand-gold-rushes/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f7/eleanor-catton-2384_been_my-second-novel-the-luminaries-is-set-in_903410.png) > [I grew up on the South Island of New Zealand, in a city chosen and beloved by my parents for its proximity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/i-grew-up-on-the-south-island-of-new-zealand-in-a-city-chosen-and/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d2/eleanor-catton-2384_arthur_i-grew-up-on-the-south-island-of-new-zea_2230788.jpg) > [The books that really made an impact on me were not set in New Zealand. Some were New Zealand novels, but the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/the-books-that-really-made-an-impact-on-me-were-not-set-in-new/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b67/eleanor-catton-2384_book_the-books-that-really-made-an-impact-on_3036226.jpg) > [I went to a state school in Christchurch, New Zealand, and then straight on to the University of Canterbury. But I worked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/i-went-to-a-state-school-in-christchurch-new-zealand-and-then/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d16/eleanor-catton-2384_fast-food_i-went-to-a-state-school-in-christchurch_501486.png) > [There are a lot of people of my generation in New Zealand literature, young writers on their first or second books, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/there-are-a-lot-of-people-of-my-generation-in-new-zealand-literature/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b2/eleanor-catton-2384_about_there-are-a-lot-of-people-of-my-generati_497483.png) ## Other authors on New ## More by Eleanor Catton > [“We spend our entire lives thinking about death. Without that project to divert us, I expect we would all be dreadfully bored. We would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/we-spend-our-entire-lives-thinking-about-death-without-that-project/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [I often feel intellectually frustrated when I'm in a position where I'm not moving forward; when I'm not enquiring about something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/i-often-feel-intellectually-frustrated-when-i-m-in-a-position-where-i/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [An interesting thing about New Zealand, you know, literature is that it really didn't begin in any real sense until the 20th century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/an-interesting-thing-about-new-zealand-you-know-literature-is-that-it/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [“own reputation, by associating himself with a story of cuckoldry, blackmail, murder, and revenge, and nor did he spare a thought for how Balfour…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/own-reputation-by-associating-himself-with-a-story-of-cuckoldry/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [“In my experience people are rarely contented to end up where they started.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/in-my-experience-people-are-rarely-contented-to-end-up-where-they/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [“His temperament was deeply nostalgic, not for for his own past, but for past ages; he was cynical of the present, fearful of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/his-temperament-was-deeply-nostalgic-not-for-for-his-own-past-but-for/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [“What was glimpsed in Aquarius—what was envisioned, believed in, prophesied, predicted, doubted, and forewarned—is made, in Pisces, manifest. Those solitary visions that, but a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/what-was-glimpsed-in-aquarius-what-was-envisioned-believed-in/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [“Gaining control isn't the exciting part. Sleeping with a minor isn't exciting because you get to boss them around. It's exciting because you're risking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/gaining-control-isn-t-the-exciting-part-sleeping-with-a-minor-isn-t/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [Astrology's a moving system that depends on where you're looking at it from on Earth. My horoscope here in London would be completely different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/astrology-s-a-moving-system-that-depends-on-where-you-re-looking-at/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [As an artist, you need to be not at all entitled in your relation with the work. So money is kind of worrying. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/as-an-artist-you-need-to-be-not-at-all-entitled-in-your-relation-with/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [The nice thing about the zodiac as a system is it is quite comprehensive as a range of impulses and psychological states it can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/the-nice-thing-about-the-zodiac-as-a-system-is-it-is-quite/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [“True feeling is always circular - either circular, or paradoxical - simply because its cause and its expression are tow halves of the very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/true-feeling-is-always-circular-either-circular-or-paradoxical-simply/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [“he built his persona as a shield around his person, because he knew very well how little his person could withstand.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/he-built-his-persona-as-a-shield-around-his-person-because-he-knew/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [“It must have been unpleasant to be discussed as a curiosity, spoken about over breakfast, and between rounds at billiards, as if one's soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/it-must-have-been-unpleasant-to-be-discussed-as-a-curiosity-spoken/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [Theatre is a concentrate of life as normal. Theatre is a purified version of real life, an extraction, an essence of human behaviour that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/theatre-is-a-concentrate-of-life-as-normal-theatre-is-a-purified/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new/eleanor-catton/#itemlist", "name": "10 New Quotes By Eleanor Catton", "numberOfItems": 10, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "An interesting thing about New Zealand, you know, literature is that it really didn't begin in any real sense until the 20th century.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Eleanor Catton" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/an-interesting-thing-about-new-zealand-you-know-literature-is-that-it/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/703/eleanor-catton-2384_20th-century_an-interesting-thing-about-new-zealand-y_64260.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/703/eleanor-catton-2384_20th-century_an-interesting-thing-about-new-zealand-y_64260.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/703/eleanor-catton-2384_20th-century_an-interesting-thing-about-new-zealand-y_64260.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“An interesting thing about New Zealand, you know, literature is that it really didn't begin in any real…” — Eleanor Catton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I really wanted to write an adventure story, a murder-mystery that was set during the gold-rush years in New Zealand.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Eleanor Catton" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/i-really-wanted-to-write-an-adventure-story-a-murder-mystery-that-was/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5fc/eleanor-catton-2384_adventure_i-really-wanted-to-write-an-adventure-st_1260531.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5fc/eleanor-catton-2384_adventure_i-really-wanted-to-write-an-adventure-st_1260531.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5fc/eleanor-catton-2384_adventure_i-really-wanted-to-write-an-adventure-st_1260531.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I really wanted to write an adventure story, a murder-mystery that was set during the gold-rush years in New…” — Eleanor Catton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My father is an expatriate American; he fell in love with New Zealand in his youth and never went home.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Eleanor Catton" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/my-father-is-an-expatriate-american-he-fell-in-love-with-new-zealand/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9f/eleanor-catton-2384_american_my-father-is-an-expatriate-american-he-f_2653318.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9f/eleanor-catton-2384_american_my-father-is-an-expatriate-american-he-f_2653318.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9f/eleanor-catton-2384_american_my-father-is-an-expatriate-american-he-f_2653318.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“My father is an expatriate American; he fell in love with New Zealand in his youth and never went home.” — Eleanor Catton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I am a New Zealander, but I don't want to swallow New Zealand identity in one gulp.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Eleanor Catton" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/i-am-a-new-zealander-but-i-don-t-want-to-swallow-new-zealand-identity/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/506/eleanor-catton-2384_am_i-am-a-new-zealander-but-i-don-t-want-to_2909238.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/506/eleanor-catton-2384_am_i-am-a-new-zealander-but-i-don-t-want-to_2909238.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/506/eleanor-catton-2384_am_i-am-a-new-zealander-but-i-don-t-want-to_2909238.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I am a New Zealander, but I don't want to swallow New Zealand identity in one gulp.” — Eleanor Catton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Astrology's a moving system that depends on where you're looking at it from on Earth. My horoscope here in London would be completely different to down in New Zealand.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Eleanor Catton" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/astrology-s-a-moving-system-that-depends-on-where-you-re-looking-at/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f9/eleanor-catton-2384_astrology_astrology-s-a-moving-system-that-depends_197601.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f9/eleanor-catton-2384_astrology_astrology-s-a-moving-system-that-depends_197601.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f9/eleanor-catton-2384_astrology_astrology-s-a-moving-system-that-depends_197601.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Astrology's a moving system that depends on where you're looking at it from on Earth. 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So far, I've been describing it as 'an astrological murder mystery.'", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Eleanor Catton" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/my-second-novel-the-luminaries-is-set-in-the-new-zealand-gold-rushes/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f7/eleanor-catton-2384_been_my-second-novel-the-luminaries-is-set-in_903410.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f7/eleanor-catton-2384_been_my-second-novel-the-luminaries-is-set-in_903410.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f7/eleanor-catton-2384_been_my-second-novel-the-luminaries-is-set-in_903410.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“My second novel, 'The Luminaries,' is set in the New Zealand gold rushes of the 1860s, though it's not…” — Eleanor Catton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I grew up on the South Island of New Zealand, in a city chosen and beloved by my parents for its proximity to the mountains - Christchurch is two hours distant from the worn saddle of Arthur's Pass, the mountain village that was and is my father's spiritual touchstone, his chapel and cathedral in the wild.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Eleanor Catton" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/i-grew-up-on-the-south-island-of-new-zealand-in-a-city-chosen-and/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d2/eleanor-catton-2384_arthur_i-grew-up-on-the-south-island-of-new-zea_2230788.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d2/eleanor-catton-2384_arthur_i-grew-up-on-the-south-island-of-new-zea_2230788.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d2/eleanor-catton-2384_arthur_i-grew-up-on-the-south-island-of-new-zea_2230788.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I grew up on the South Island of New Zealand, in a city chosen and beloved by my parents for its proximity…” — Eleanor Catton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The books that really made an impact on me were not set in New Zealand. Some were New Zealand novels, but the New Zealandness of them was not what carried me or excited me.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Eleanor Catton" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/the-books-that-really-made-an-impact-on-me-were-not-set-in-new/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b67/eleanor-catton-2384_book_the-books-that-really-made-an-impact-on_3036226.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b67/eleanor-catton-2384_book_the-books-that-really-made-an-impact-on_3036226.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b67/eleanor-catton-2384_book_the-books-that-really-made-an-impact-on_3036226.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The books that really made an impact on me were not set in New Zealand. 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But I worked part-time all the way through high school: first with a paper round, then at a fast-food outlet, a video store and a hardware store.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Eleanor Catton" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/i-went-to-a-state-school-in-christchurch-new-zealand-and-then/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d16/eleanor-catton-2384_fast-food_i-went-to-a-state-school-in-christchurch_501486.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d16/eleanor-catton-2384_fast-food_i-went-to-a-state-school-in-christchurch_501486.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d16/eleanor-catton-2384_fast-food_i-went-to-a-state-school-in-christchurch_501486.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I went to a state school in Christchurch, New Zealand, and then straight on to the University of Canterbury…” — Eleanor Catton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There are a lot of people of my generation in New Zealand literature, young writers on their first or second books, that I'm just really excited about. There seems to be a big gap between the generation above and us; it seems to be quite radically different in terms of form and approach.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Eleanor Catton" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/there-are-a-lot-of-people-of-my-generation-in-new-zealand-literature/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b2/eleanor-catton-2384_about_there-are-a-lot-of-people-of-my-generati_497483.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b2/eleanor-catton-2384_about_there-are-a-lot-of-people-of-my-generati_497483.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b2/eleanor-catton-2384_about_there-are-a-lot-of-people-of-my-generati_497483.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There are a lot of people of my generation in New Zealand literature, young writers on their first or second…” — Eleanor Catton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new/eleanor-catton/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new/eleanor-catton/", "name": "New Quotes by Eleanor Catton", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new/eleanor-catton/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/703/eleanor-catton-2384_20th-century_an-interesting-thing-about-new-zealand-y_64260.png" }, "description": "10 New quotes by Eleanor Catton. 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