--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ...they lived in a curious but not…" description: "\"“...they lived in a curious but not unhappy isolation, though her father was a popular schoolteacher. Partly they were cut off by Sara’s heart trouble,..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97a/alice-munro-1231_isolation_they-lived-in-a-curious-but-not-unhappy_2982398.png" --- # ...they lived in a curious but not unhappy isolation… ![“...they lived in a curious but not unhappy isolation, though her father was a popular schoolteacher. Partly they were cut off by Sara’s heart trouble, but also by their subscribing to magazines nobody around them read, listening to programs on the national radio network, which nobody around them…” quote by Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97a/alice-munro-1231_isolation_they-lived-in-a-curious-but-not-unhappy_2982398.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97a/alice-munro-1231_isolation_they-lived-in-a-curious-but-not-unhappy_2982398.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97a/alice-munro-1231_isolation_they-lived-in-a-curious-but-not-unhappy_2982398.png) > ““...they lived in a curious but not unhappy isolation, though her father was a popular schoolteacher. Partly they were cut off by Sara’s heart trouble, but also by their subscribing to magazines nobody around them read, listening to programs on the national radio network, which nobody around them listened to. By Sara’s making her own clothes—sometimes ineptly— from Vogue patterns, instead of Butterick. Even by the way they preserved some impression of youth instead of thickening and slouching like the parents of Juliet’s schoolfellows.”” [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A family lives in self‑imposed isolation, clinging to personal tastes and habits that set them apart from neighbors. **In simple terms:** They stay isolated by choosing unique interests and fashions. Key Takeaway Embrace individuality while seeking connection. Themes isolation individuality family dynamics Mood reflective melancholic Type literary observational When to use this quote - small town life - creative pursuits - intergenerational relationships Key Concepts social alienation personal expression Questions to Reflect On - How do personal quirks affect community ties? - What balance between uniqueness and belonging? A Different Perspective Isolation can become loneliness without effort to engage. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Isolation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/isolation/) [Isolation Father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/isolation-father-4644456/) [Juliet Schoolfellows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/juliet-schoolfellows-4644455/) [Like Parents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-parents/) [Listened Sara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/listened-sara-4644454/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Parents Juliet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parents-juliet-4644453/) [Patterns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patterns/) ## Related quotes > [“…Lived in curious but not unhappy isolation…subscribing to magazines nobody around them read, listening to programs on the national radio network which nobody around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/lived-in-curious-but-not-unhappy-isolation-subscribing-to-magazines/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“I'm Penryn. I'm named after an exit off Interstate 80." "Nice." They nod as if to say they understand what it's like to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-ee/i-m-penryn-i-m-named-after-an-exit-off-interstate-80-nice-they-nod-as/) [Susan Ee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-ee/) > [You know what I can't stand? These little girls that get pregnant and don't grow up, they think they can just carry on with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheyenne/you-know-what-i-can-t-stand-these-little-girls-that-get-pregnant-and/) [Cheyenne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheyenne/) > [Like my parents taught me, never give up, and always love what you do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-chen/like-my-parents-taught-me-never-give-up-and-always-love-what-you-do/) [Nathan Chen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-chen/) > [We all have those dreams of going back in time and seeing what it was like when our parents were younger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-helberg/we-all-have-those-dreams-of-going-back-in-time-and-seeing-what-it-was/) [Simon Helberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-helberg/) > [“It's like parents choosing to raise their own standard of living rather than to provide for the future of their kids. You wouldn't consider…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-engdahl/it-s-like-parents-choosing-to-raise-their-own-standard-of-living/) [Sylvia Engdahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-engdahl/) > [TRUE friends are like parents. Sometimes, you don't like what they're saying, but they always love you enough to tell you what's RIGHT.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/true-friends-are-like-parents-sometimes-you-don-t-like-what-they-re/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [In 'The Big Chill,' those characters are in middle age, thinking, 'Oh, God, I've turned into my parents. I've failed.' And in 'Beside Still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-lowell/in-the-big-chill-those-characters-are-in-middle-age-thinking-oh-god-i/) [Chris Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-lowell/) > [You know how kids are. They like to do what parents do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-lendl/you-know-how-kids-are-they-like-to-do-what-parents-do/) [Ivan Lendl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-lendl/) > [“I like parents, old-school, old-world parents. So real. Just think of all they've seen in their lives. They were born in another world and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laleh-khadivi/i-like-parents-old-school-old-world-parents-so-real-just-think-of-all/) [Laleh Khadivi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laleh-khadivi/) > [I was little there were times I wanted my parents to be normal. I wanted them to have a religion. I wanted them to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gael-garcia-bernal/i-was-little-there-were-times-i-wanted-my-parents-to-be-normal-i/) [Gael Garcia Bernal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gael-garcia-bernal/) > [I like my parents but they are just not good parents. They are nice enough people. I'm not interested in hurting their feelings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-carolla/i-like-my-parents-but-they-are-just-not-good-parents-they-are-nice/) [Adam Carolla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-carolla/) > [I don't like my parents; I never will. I didn't cry at either of their funerals. I haven't missed them for five seconds. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-small/i-don-t-like-my-parents-i-never-will-i-didn-t-cry-at-either-of-their/) [David Small](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-small/) > [I always wonder what my life would be like if I had parents like the other kids who went to my high school.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stormy-daniels/i-always-wonder-what-my-life-would-be-like-if-i-had-parents-like-the/) [Stormy Daniels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stormy-daniels/) > [I'm like all parents who try to shelter their children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/najat-vallaud-belkacem/i-m-like-all-parents-who-try-to-shelter-their-children/) [Najat Vallaud-Belkacem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/najat-vallaud-belkacem/) ## More by Alice Munro > [William Maxwell's my favorite North American writer, I think. And an Irish writer who used to write for 'The New Yorker' called Maeve Brennan,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/william-maxwell-s-my-favorite-north-american-writer-i-think-and-an/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“Not very long ago I was driving with my husband on the back roads of Grey County, which is to the north and east…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/not-very-long-ago-i-was-driving-with-my-husband-on-the-back-roads-of/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“Her silent singing wrapped around the story she was telling herself, which she extended further every night on the deck. (Averill often told herself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/her-silent-singing-wrapped-around-the-story-she-was-telling-herself/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“Something happened here. In your life there are a few places, or maybe only the one place, were something happened, and then there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/something-happened-here-in-your-life-there-are-a-few-places-or-maybe/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [My head was a magpie's nest lined with such bright scraps of information.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/my-head-was-a-magpie-s-nest-lined-with-such-bright-scraps-of/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [The thing is to be happy, no matter what. Just try that. You can. It gets to be easier and easier. It's nothing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/the-thing-is-to-be-happy-no-matter-what-just-try-that-you-can-it-gets/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [What she wants to do if she can get the time to do it, is not so much to live in the past as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/what-she-wants-to-do-if-she-can-get-the-time-to-do-it-is-not-so-much/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“Children Katy's age had no problem with monotony. In fact they embraced it, diving into it and wrapping the familiar words round their tongues…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/children-katy-s-age-had-no-problem-with-monotony-in-fact-they/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“This is what happens. You put it away for a little while, and now and again you look in the closet for something else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/this-is-what-happens-you-put-it-away-for-a-little-while-and-now-and/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [She sits in her usual ample armchair, with piles of books and unopened magazines around her. She sips cautiously from the mug of weak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/she-sits-in-her-usual-ample-armchair-with-piles-of-books-and-unopened/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [The images, the language, of pornography, and romance are alike; monotonous and mechanically seductive, quickly leading to despair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/the-images-the-language-of-pornography-and-romance-are-alike/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [I was a grade B housewife, maybe a B minus. But when I got time to write, I would be unable to finish a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/i-was-a-grade-b-housewife-maybe-a-b-minus-but-when-i-got-time-to/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [She would live now, not read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/she-would-live-now-not-read/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“You would think as you get older your mind would fill up with what they call the spiritual side of things, but mine just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/you-would-think-as-you-get-older-your-mind-would-fill-up-with-what/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [Peoples lives, in Jubilee as elsewhere, were dull, simple, amazing, unfathomable-deep caves paved with kitchen linoleum. . . . What I wanted \[to write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/peoples-lives-in-jubilee-as-elsewhere-were-dull-simple-amazing/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) [Explore all 261 Alice Munro quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) ## More Isolation quotes > [It is the incongruous thing in my entire life, this isolation.. ... My work requires it - but I myself have no need or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marsden-hartley/it-is-the-incongruous-thing-in-my-entire-life-this-isolation-my-work/) [Marsden Hartley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marsden-hartley/) > [Generally, I like all islands. There, it is easier to rule.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/generally-i-like-all-islands-there-it-is-easier-to-rule/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [To really be of benefit to others as the Buddha always taught, we ourselves must first get out of the swamp. One of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tenzin-palmo/to-really-be-of-benefit-to-others-as-the-buddha-always-taught-we/) [Tenzin Palmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tenzin-palmo/) > [For years mental health professionals taught people that they could be psychologically healthy without social support, that “unless you love yourself, no one else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-d-perry/for-years-mental-health-professionals-taught-people-that-they-could/) [Bruce D. Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-d-perry/) > [Isolation makes me lonesome, but when I'm lonely in a crowd, I feel desolate and forlorn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-fowler/isolation-makes-me-lonesome-but-when-i-m-lonely-in-a-crowd-i-feel/) [Steve Fowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-fowler/) > [I am very convinced that I did not contract Ebola in the isolation unit, because our process is so safe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kent-brantly/i-am-very-convinced-that-i-did-not-contract-ebola-in-the-isolation/) [Kent Brantly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kent-brantly/) > [Something in our nature cries out to be loved by another. Isolation is devastating to the human psyche. That is why solitary confinement is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-chapman/something-in-our-nature-cries-out-to-be-loved-by-another-isolation-is/) [Gary Chapman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-chapman/) > [“Two people who live their lives alone in rooms doing strange, gentle things can sometimes be together in the middle of a dangerous storm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-hunt/two-people-who-live-their-lives-alone-in-rooms-doing-strange-gentle/) [Samantha Hunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-hunt/) > [“In good company your thoughts run, in solitude your thought is still; it goes deeper and makes for itself a deeper groove, delves. Delve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumer-godden/in-good-company-your-thoughts-run-in-solitude-your-thought-is-still/) [Rumer Godden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumer-godden/) > ['Mulk' is a film that needed to be made. We can no longer sweep the isolation of the Indian Muslim under the carpet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anubhav-sinha/mulk-is-a-film-that-needed-to-be-made-we-can-no-longer-sweep-the/) [Anubhav Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anubhav-sinha/) > [Helping reproductive services doesn't just help women in isolation. It helps men just as much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tucker-max/helping-reproductive-services-doesn-t-just-help-women-in-isolation-it/) [Tucker Max](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tucker-max/) > [“This is one of the harshest after effects of the pandemic that I am witnessing some and experiencing some, a diminished ability to deal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shellen-lubin/this-is-one-of-the-harshest-after-effects-of-the-pandemic-that-i-am/) [Shellen Lubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shellen-lubin/) > [“This was the difference, she thought, between solitude and isolation. And now she knew something about herself she hadn’t known before. It was an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-s-a-corey/this-was-the-difference-she-thought-between-solitude-and-isolation/) [James S.A. Corey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-s-a-corey/) > [Oh, the solitariness of sin! There is nothing like it, except, perhaps, the solitariness of death. In that isolation none can reach you, none…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-reginald-haweis/oh-the-solitariness-of-sin-there-is-nothing-like-it-except-perhaps/) [Hugh Reginald Haweis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-reginald-haweis/) > [So many writers grew up in tortured isolation, in revolt against their families. I and my sister were in a house where writing was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-packer/so-many-writers-grew-up-in-tortured-isolation-in-revolt-against-their/) [George Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-packer/) [Browse all 1,128 Isolation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/isolation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“...they lived in a curious but not unhappy isolation, though her father was a popular schoolteacher. Partly they were cut off by Sara’s heart trouble, but also by their subscribing to magazines nobody around them read, listening to programs on the national radio network, which nobody around them listened to. By Sara’s making her own clothes—sometimes ineptly— from Vogue patterns, instead of Butterick. 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