--- title: "10 Wanted Quotes By Ian McEwan" description: "10 Wanted quotes by Ian McEwan. Plus more from Ian McEwan and more Wanted sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e30/ian-mcewan-494_given_above-all-she-wanted-to-look-as-though-s_2387389.png" --- > [Above all, she wanted to look as though she had not given the matter a moment's thought, and that would take time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/above-all-she-wanted-to-look-as-though-she-had-not-given-the-matter-a/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e30/ian-mcewan-494_given_above-all-she-wanted-to-look-as-though-s_2387389.png) > [I was the basest of readers. All I wanted was my own world, and myself in it, given back to me in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-was-the-basest-of-readers-all-i-wanted-was-my-own-world-and-myself/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d53/ian-mcewan-494_books_i-was-the-basest-of-readers-all-i-wanted_2516563.png) > [No one knew about the squirrel’s skull beneath Briony bed, but no one wanted to know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/no-one-knew-about-the-squirrel-s-skull-beneath-briony-bed-but-no-one/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d0/ian-mcewan-494_bed_no-one-knew-about-the-squirrel-s-skull-b_390135.png) > [...the world she ran through loved her and would give her what she wanted and would let it happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/the-world-she-ran-through-loved-her-and-would-give-her-what-she/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10b/ian-mcewan-494_giving_the-world-she-ran-through-loved-her-and_2869407.png) > [It was not generally realized that what children mostly wanted was to be left alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/it-was-not-generally-realized-that-what-children-mostly-wanted-was-to/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c5/ian-mcewan-494_child_it-was-not-generally-realized-that-what_638179.png) > [No one knew about the squirrel’s skull beneath her bed, but no one wanted to know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/no-one-knew-about-the-squirrel-s-skull-beneath-her-bed-but-no-one/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc1/ian-mcewan-494_bed_no-one-knew-about-the-squirrel-s-skull-b_1182303.png) > [As regards literary culture, it fascinates me that it has been so resilient to the Union. For example, when T.S. Eliot wanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/as-regards-literary-culture-it-fascinates-me-that-it-has-been-so/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32b/ian-mcewan-494_become_as-regards-literary-culture-it-fascinate_2874436.png) > [It was common enough, to see so much death and want a child. Common, therefore human, and he wanted it all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/it-was-common-enough-to-see-so-much-death-and-want-a-child-common/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d10/ian-mcewan-494_children_it-was-common-enough-to-see-so-much-deat_554562.png) > [She wanted to leave, she wanted to lie alone face down on her bed and savor the vile piquancy of the moment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/she-wanted-to-leave-she-wanted-to-lie-alone-face-down-on-her-bed-and/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/635/ian-mcewan-494_anticipate_she-wanted-to-leave-she-wanted-to-lie-al_1134582.png) > [My needs were simple I didn't bother much with themes or felicitous phrases and skipped fine descriptions of weather, landscapes and interiors.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/my-needs-were-simple-i-didn-t-bother-much-with-themes-or-felicitous/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ca/ian-mcewan-494_believe_my-needs-were-simple-i-didn-t-bother-muc_242027.png) ## Other authors on Wanted ## More by Ian McEwan > [“As you will see, we do not believe that artists have an obligation to strike up attitudes to the war. Indeed, they are wise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/as-you-will-see-we-do-not-believe-that-artists-have-an-obligation-to/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [You could say that all novels are spy novels and all novelists are spy masters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/you-could-say-that-all-novels-are-spy-novels-and-all-novelists-are/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I've never had a moment's doubt. I love you. I believe in you completely. You are my dearest one. My reason for life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-ve-never-had-a-moment-s-doubt-i-love-you-i-believe-in-you/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“It is shaming sometimes, how the body will not, or cannot, lie about emotions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/it-is-shaming-sometimes-how-the-body-will-not-or-cannot-lie-about/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“While my friends struggled and calculated, I reached a solution by a set of floating steps that were partly visual, partly just a feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/while-my-friends-struggled-and-calculated-i-reached-a-solution-by-a/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Once, on a walk by a river- Eskdale in low reddish sunlight, with a dusting of snow- his daughter quoted to him an opening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/once-on-a-walk-by-a-river-eskdale-in-low-reddish-sunlight-with-a/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Perhaps it's one of those cases of a microcosm giving you the whole world. Like a spode dinner plate. Or a single cell. Or,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/perhaps-it-s-one-of-those-cases-of-a-microcosm-giving-you-the-whole/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [Who you get, and how it works out- there's so much luck involved, as well as the million branching consequences of your conscious choice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/who-you-get-and-how-it-works-out-there-s-so-much-luck-involved-as/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“On Chesil Beach he could have called out to Florence, he could have gone after her. He did not know, or would not have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/on-chesil-beach-he-could-have-called-out-to-florence-he-could-have/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [It was always the view of my parents...that hot weather encouraged loose morals among young people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/it-was-always-the-view-of-my-parents-that-hot-weather-encouraged/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I apologize for being obvious, but every time I watch the curtain come down on even a halfway decent production of a Shakespeare play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-apologize-for-being-obvious-but-every-time-i-watch-the-curtain-come/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I would rather be physically disabled obviously than mentally. I would rather be paraplegic than nuts. And it is a terrifying prospect and actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-would-rather-be-physically-disabled-obviously-than-mentally-i-would/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Words, as I'm beginning to appreciate, can make things true.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/words-as-i-m-beginning-to-appreciate-can-make-things-true/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I couldn't think about novels at all. It seemed the only writing that was appropriate to that horrendous event was journalism, reportage. And, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-couldn-t-think-about-novels-at-all-it-seemed-the-only-writing-that/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I did not kill my father, but I sometimes felt I had helped him on his way. And but for the fact that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-did-not-kill-my-father-but-i-sometimes-felt-i-had-helped-him-on-his/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanted/ian-mcewan/#itemlist", "name": "10 Wanted Quotes By Ian McEwan", "numberOfItems": 10, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Above all, she wanted to look as though she had not given the matter a moment's thought, and that would take time.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ian McEwan" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/above-all-she-wanted-to-look-as-though-she-had-not-given-the-matter-a/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e30/ian-mcewan-494_given_above-all-she-wanted-to-look-as-though-s_2387389.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e30/ian-mcewan-494_given_above-all-she-wanted-to-look-as-though-s_2387389.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e30/ian-mcewan-494_given_above-all-she-wanted-to-look-as-though-s_2387389.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Above all, she wanted to look as though she had not given the matter a moment's thought, and that would take…” — Ian Mcewan", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I was the basest of readers. 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For example, when T.S. Eliot wanted to become poet in these lands, it wasn't as an English poet, it was an Anglian poet he wanted to be.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ian McEwan" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/as-regards-literary-culture-it-fascinates-me-that-it-has-been-so/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32b/ian-mcewan-494_become_as-regards-literary-culture-it-fascinate_2874436.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32b/ian-mcewan-494_become_as-regards-literary-culture-it-fascinate_2874436.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32b/ian-mcewan-494_become_as-regards-literary-culture-it-fascinate_2874436.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“As regards literary culture, it fascinates me that it has been so resilient to the Union. 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When the wounded were screaming, you dreamed of sharing a little house somewhere, of an ordinary life, a family line, connection.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ian McEwan" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/it-was-common-enough-to-see-so-much-death-and-want-a-child-common/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d10/ian-mcewan-494_children_it-was-common-enough-to-see-so-much-deat_554562.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d10/ian-mcewan-494_children_it-was-common-enough-to-see-so-much-deat_554562.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d10/ian-mcewan-494_children_it-was-common-enough-to-see-so-much-deat_554562.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It was common enough, to see so much death and want a child. 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She needed to contemplate with eyes closed the full richness of what she had lost, what she had given away, and to anticipate the new regime.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ian McEwan" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/she-wanted-to-leave-she-wanted-to-lie-alone-face-down-on-her-bed-and/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/635/ian-mcewan-494_anticipate_she-wanted-to-leave-she-wanted-to-lie-al_1134582.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/635/ian-mcewan-494_anticipate_she-wanted-to-leave-she-wanted-to-lie-al_1134582.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/635/ian-mcewan-494_anticipate_she-wanted-to-leave-she-wanted-to-lie-al_1134582.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“She wanted to leave, she wanted to lie alone face down on her bed and savor the vile piquancy of the moment…” — Ian Mcewan", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My needs were simple I didn't bother much with themes or felicitous phrases and skipped fine descriptions of weather, landscapes and interiors. I wanted characters I could believe in, and I wanted to be made curious about what was to happen to them. Generally, I preferred people to be falling in and out of love, but I didn't mind so much if they tried their hand at something else. 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