---
title: "2 Thing Taught Quotes By Annie Dillard"
description: "2 Thing Taught quotes by Annie Dillard. Plus more from Annie Dillard and more Thing Taught sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd6/annie-dillard-509_children_we-teach-our-children-one-thing-only-as_342097.jpg"
---

> [“We teach our children one thing only, as we were taught: to wake up. We teach our children to look alive there, to join by words and activities the life of human culture on this planet's crust. As adults we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/we-teach-our-children-one-thing-only-as-we-were-taught-to-wake-up-we/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd6/annie-dillard-509_children_we-teach-our-children-one-thing-only-as_342097.jpg)

> [We teach our children one thing only, as we were taught: to wake up. We teach our children to look alive there, to join by words and activities the life of human culture on the planet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/we-teach-our-children-one-thing-only-as-we-were-taught-to-wake-up-we-2/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce6/annie-dillard-509_activity_we-teach-our-children-one-thing-only-as_2471963.jpg)

## More by Annie Dillard

> [Like everyone in his right mind, I feared Santa Claus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/like-everyone-in-his-right-mind-i-feared-santa-claus/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

> [“This is a spendthrift economy; though nothing is lost, all is spent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/this-is-a-spendthrift-economy-though-nothing-is-lost-all-is-spent/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

> [The creatures I seek do not want to be seen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/the-creatures-i-seek-do-not-want-to-be-seen/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

> [Nothing moves a woman so deeply as the boyhood of the man she loves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/nothing-moves-a-woman-so-deeply-as-the-boyhood-of-the-man-she-loves/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

> [We live in all we seek. The hidden shows up in too-plain sight. It lives captive on the face of the obvious - the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/we-live-in-all-we-seek-the-hidden-shows-up-in-too-plain-sight-it/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

> [“...The mockingbird took a single step into the air and dropped. His wings were still folded against his sides as though he were singing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/the-mockingbird-took-a-single-step-into-the-air-and-dropped-his-wings/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

> [“Father had stretched out his long legs and was tilting back in his chair. Mother sat with her knees crossed, in blue slacks, smoking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/father-had-stretched-out-his-long-legs-and-was-tilting-back-in-his/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

> [I am a frayed and nibbled survivor in a fallen world, and I am getting along. I am aging and eaten and have done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/i-am-a-frayed-and-nibbled-survivor-in-a-fallen-world-and-i-am-getting/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

> [It should surprise no one that the life of the writer - such as it is - is colorless to the point of sensory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/it-should-surprise-no-one-that-the-life-of-the-writer-such-as-it-is/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

> [It is madness to wear ladies' straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/it-is-madness-to-wear-ladies-straw-hats-and-velvet-hats-to-church-we/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

> [The sense impressions of one-celled animals are not edited for the brain. This is philosophically interesting in a rather mournful way, since it means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/the-sense-impressions-of-one-celled-animals-are-not-edited-for-the/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

> [“What can we make of the inexpressible joy of children? It is a kind of gratitude, I think—the gratitude of the ten-year-old who wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/what-can-we-make-of-the-inexpressible-joy-of-children-it-is-a-kind-of/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

> [“If we were to judge nature by its common sense or likelihood, we wouldn't believe the world existed. In nature, improbabilities are the one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/if-we-were-to-judge-nature-by-its-common-sense-or-likelihood-we/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

> [For writing a first draft requires from the writer a peculiar internal state which ordinary life does not induce. ... how to set yourself spinning?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/for-writing-a-first-draft-requires-from-the-writer-a-peculiar/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

> [I am a fugitive and a vagabond, a sojourner seeking signs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/i-am-a-fugitive-and-a-vagabond-a-sojourner-seeking-signs/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

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