---
title: "1 Reading Want Quotes By Ann Patchett"
description: "1 Reading Want quotes by Ann Patchett. Plus more from Ann Patchett and more Reading Want sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6bf/ann-patchett-670_birthday_but-sooner-or-later-you-have-to-do-somet_278942.jpg"
---

> [“But sooner or later you have to do something. If you think you're going to find one thing that will be perfect for you, you're going to spend your eightieth birthday reading the want ads.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/but-sooner-or-later-you-have-to-do-something-if-you-think-you-re/)

[Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6bf/ann-patchett-670_birthday_but-sooner-or-later-you-have-to-do-somet_278942.jpg)

## More by Ann Patchett

> [She sang as if she was saving the life of every person in the room.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/she-sang-as-if-she-was-saving-the-life-of-every-person-in-the-room/)

[Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/)

> [If I had problems, I kept them to myself. I didn't make a scene.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/if-i-had-problems-i-kept-them-to-myself-i-didn-t-make-a-scene/)

[Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/)

> [I can't write the book I want to write, but I can and will write the book I am capable of writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/i-can-t-write-the-book-i-want-to-write-but-i-can-and-will-write-the/)

[Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/)

> [“Without worry to protect me, every thought that came into my mind received real attention.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/without-worry-to-protect-me-every-thought-that-came-into-my-mind/)

[Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/)

> [“I wrote the last sentence of The Patron Saint of Liars in early April and stumbled out of my apartment and into the beautiful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/i-wrote-the-last-sentence-of-the-patron-saint-of-liars-in-early-april/)

[Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/)

> [“In the future, he will try to say her name enough, but he never can.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/in-the-future-he-will-try-to-say-her-name-enough-but-he-never-can/)

[Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/)

> [My novels are very much the same, as I think many people's novels are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/my-novels-are-very-much-the-same-as-i-think-many-people-s-novels-are/)

[Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/)

> [“He was in love, and never had he felt such kindness towards another person.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/he-was-in-love-and-never-had-he-felt-such-kindness-towards-another/)

[Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/)

> [“Gen was sleeping the sleep of the heavily drugged.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/gen-was-sleeping-the-sleep-of-the-heavily-drugged/)

[Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/)

> [If I was a waitress, I was too tired at the end of the day when I came home to try to write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/if-i-was-a-waitress-i-was-too-tired-at-the-end-of-the-day-when-i-came/)

[Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/)

> [“She didn't know how to hate her mother yet, but every time she left her father crying in the airport she came that much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/she-didn-t-know-how-to-hate-her-mother-yet-but-every-time-she-left/)

[Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/)

> [“When you think of love you think as an American. You must think like a Russian. It is a more expansive view.' 'Americans havea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/when-you-think-of-love-you-think-as-an-american-you-must-think-like-a/)

[Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/)

> [“...Nebraska was white, a page as still as fallen snow. It was not crosshatched with roads, overrun with the hard lines of interstate systems.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/nebraska-was-white-a-page-as-still-as-fallen-snow-it-was-not/)

[Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/)

> [“Clearly he needed a father, but some other father, any other father, would have been preferable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/clearly-he-needed-a-father-but-some-other-father-any-other-father/)

[Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/)

> [“I don't have any talent for vacations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/i-don-t-have-any-talent-for-vacations/)

[Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/)

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