All Annie Dillard Quotes
- The universe that suckled us is a monster that does not care if we live or die--it does not care if it itself grinds to… Beast
- I am a fugitive and a vagabond, a sojourner seeking signs. Fugitive
- It is difficult to undo our own damage, and to recall to our presence that which we have asked to leave. Asked
- Nature's silence is its one remark, and every flake of world is a chip off that old mute and immutable block. Block
- Silence is not our heritage but our destiny; we live where we want to live. Destiny
- The soul may ask God for anything, and never fail. Ask
- Whenever there is stillness there is the still small voice, God's speaking from the whirlwind, nature's old song, and dance... Dance
- She is nine, beloved, as open-faced as the sky and as self-contained. I have watched her grow. As recently as three or four years ago,… Ago
- The sea pronounces something, over and over, in a hoarse whisper; I cannot quite make it out. Beach
- Love so sprang at her, she honestly thought no one had ever looked into it. Where was it in literature? Someone would have written something.… Ever Looked
- When you open a book,” the sentimental library posters said, “anything can happen.” This was so. A book of fiction was a bomb. It was… Been
- It is difficult to undo our own damage, and to recall to our presence that which we have asked to leave. It is hard to… Asked
- What have we been doing all these centuries but trying to call God back to the mountain, or, failing that, raise a peep out of… All
- The mountains are great stone bells; they clang together like nuns. Who shushed the stars? There are a thousand million galaxies easily seen in the… Among
- We are here to witness. There is nothing else to do with those mute materials we do not need. Until Larry teaches his stone to… All
- I alternate between thinking of the planet as home - dear and familiar stone hearth and garden - and as a hard land of exile… All
- I cannot imagine a sorrier pursuit than struggling for years to write a book that attempts to appeal to people who do not read in… Appeal
- The world is fairly studded and strewn with pennies cast broadside by a generous hand. But- and this is the point- who gets excited by… Bought
- It has always been a happy thought to me that the creek runs on all night, new every minute, whether I wish it or know… All
- How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour, and that one, is what we… Both
- Geography is the key, the crucial accident of birth. A piece of protein could be a snail, a sea lion, or a systems analyst, but… Accident
- There was only silence. It was the silence of matter caught in the act and embarrassed. There were no cells moving, and yet there were… Act
- An Inuit hunter asked the local missionary priest: If I did not know about God and sin, would I go to hell? No, said the… Asked
- Then why did you tell me? Atheism
- On plenty of days the writer can write three or four pages, and on plenty of other days he concludes he must throw them away. Concludes