--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Yet there was always in me, even when I…" description: "\"“Yet there was always in me, even when I was very small, the sense that I ought to be somewhere else. And wander I did, although, in my everyday life, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d3/anna-quindlen-467_books_yet-there-was-always-in-me-even-when-i-w_54337.png" --- # Yet there was always in me, even when I was very small… ![“Yet there was always in me, even when I was very small, the sense that I ought to be somewhere else. And wander I did, although, in my everyday life, I had nowhere to go and no imaginable reason on earth why I should want to leave. The buses took to the interstate without me, the trains sped by…” quote by Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d3/anna-quindlen-467_books_yet-there-was-always-in-me-even-when-i-w_54337.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d3/anna-quindlen-467_books_yet-there-was-always-in-me-even-when-i-w_54337.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d3/anna-quindlen-467_books_yet-there-was-always-in-me-even-when-i-w_54337.png) > ““Yet there was always in me, even when I was very small, the sense that I ought to be somewhere else. And wander I did, although, in my everyday life, I had nowhere to go and no imaginable reason on earth why I should want to leave. The buses took to the interstate without me, the trains sped by. So I wandered the world through books. I went to Victorian England in the pages of 'Middlemarch' and 'A little Princess', and to Saint Petersburg before the fall of the tsar with 'Anna Karenina'. I went to Tara, and Manderley, and Thornfield Hall, all those great houses, with their high ceilings and high drama, as I read 'Gone with the Wind', 'Rebecca' and 'Jane Eyre'.”” [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A restless yearning drives the speaker to escape the confines of ordinary life, finding freedom and adventure through literature's immersive worlds. **In simple terms:** Literature as a portal for escapism. Key Takeaway Reading transports the mind beyond physical limits. Themes escapism literary travel identity yearning imagination Mood nostalgic curious reflective Type personal reflection literary homage escapist anecdote When to use this quote - feeling trapped in routine - seeking emotional resonance - exploring historical periods - immersing in dramatic narratives - finding purpose through stories Key Concepts books as alternate realities personal longing cultural immersion Practical Applications - using novels to broaden perspective - leveraging reading for emotional escape Questions to Reflect On - What does it mean to 'wander' without moving? - How can stories reshape our sense of belonging? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anna Karenina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anna-karenina/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Books Went](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books-went-270876/) [Day life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/day-life/) [Everyday life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/everyday-life/) [Jane Eyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jane-eyre/) [Karenina Went](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/karenina-went-761121/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Little princess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/little-princess/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Reading-for-life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading-for-life/) [Saint peter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saint-peter/) [Somewhere else](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/somewhere-else/) [Traveling-through-books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/traveling-through-books-194024/) [Victorian England](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/victorian-england-442936/) [Wandered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wandered/) [Went Victorian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/went-victorian-761122/) ## Related quotes > [“Wherever you travel to, appreciate the culture and beauty of the place.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/wherever-you-travel-to-appreciate-the-culture-and-beauty-of-the-place/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [ There was another reason \[she\] took her books whenever they went away. 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I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-paul/when-i-come-home-and-look-back-through-my-book-of-books-i-see-a/) [Pamela Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-paul/) > [“James and the other eight children of 'Superior Dosset,' of whom there are still five alive, may be said to have represented Victorian England,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-galsworthy/james-and-the-other-eight-children-of-superior-dosset-of-whom-there/) [John Galsworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-galsworthy/) > [“Even Karl Marx, who spent more than three decades living in Victorian England, acknowledged the rise in British workers' living standards between the 1840s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/even-karl-marx-who-spent-more-than-three-decades-living-in-victorian/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [“If we were in Victorian England I would have called him dashing;but, since we lived in the 21st century I would have to settle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-reid/if-we-were-in-victorian-england-i-would-have-called-him-dashing-but/) [Penny Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-reid/) > [Then years back, when I moved to California, I happened to see a book about fashions of 19th-century Victorian England, only four pages of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/then-years-back-when-i-moved-to-california-i-happened-to-see-a-book/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“She didn't want to encourage me by asking questions. She didn't want me to go deeper into that other world. 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Loss as character. 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In New York I have only been madamed once,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/in-england-i-am-always-madam-i-arrived-too-late-to-ever-be-a-miss-in/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [I can't think of a single downside to motherhood now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-can-t-think-of-a-single-downside-to-motherhood-now/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It would take a helluva man to replace no man at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/it-would-take-a-helluva-man-to-replace-no-man-at-all/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [Not writing at all leads to nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/not-writing-at-all-leads-to-nothing/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [Reading has always been my home, my sustenance, my great invincible companion. "Book love," Trollope called it. "It will make your hours pleasant to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/reading-has-always-been-my-home-my-sustenance-my-great-invincible/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [I think I'm like most novelists in that my books have gotten farther and farther away from autobiography the longer I've been writing them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-i-m-like-most-novelists-in-that-my-books-have-gotten-farther/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) [Explore all 538 Anna Quindlen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) [Christopher K. 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Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) [Markus Herz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-herz/) > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Yet there was always in me, even when I was very small, the sense that I ought to be somewhere else. And wander I did, although, in my everyday life, I had nowhere to go and no imaginable reason on earth why I should want to leave. The buses took to the interstate without me, the trains sped by. So I wandered the world through books. I went to Victorian England in the pages of 'Middlemarch' and 'A little Princess', and to Saint Petersburg before the fall of the tsar with 'Anna Karenina'. 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