--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And sometimes then he sat with us for an…" description: "\"And sometimes then he sat with us for an hour or so, sharing our limbo, listening while I read. Books from any shelf, opened at any page, in which I wo..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa2/diane-setterfield-1008_art_and-sometimes-then-he-sat-with-us-for-an_3041887.jpg" --- # And sometimes then he sat with us for an hour or so… ![“And sometimes then he sat with us for an hour or so, sharing our limbo, listening while I read. Books from any shelf, opened at any page, in which I would start and finish anywhere, mid-sentence sometimes. Wuthering Heights ran into Emma, which gave way to The Eustace Diamonds, which faded into…” quote by Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa2/diane-setterfield-1008_art_and-sometimes-then-he-sat-with-us-for-an_3041887.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa2/diane-setterfield-1008_art_and-sometimes-then-he-sat-with-us-for-an_3041887.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa2/diane-setterfield-1008_art_and-sometimes-then-he-sat-with-us-for-an_3041887.jpg) > “And sometimes then he sat with us for an hour or so, sharing our limbo, listening while I read. Books from any shelf, opened at any page, in which I would start and finish anywhere, mid-sentence sometimes. Wuthering Heights ran into Emma, which gave way to The Eustace Diamonds, which faded into Hard Times, which ceded to The Woman in White. Fragments. It didn't matter. Art, its completeness, its formedness, its finishedness, had no power to console. Words, on the other hand, were a lifeline.” [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Fragmented reading reflects life's incompleteness; stories provide connection when formal structures fail. **In simple terms:** Books give comfort when life feels unfinished. Key Takeaway Seek meaning in the fragments. Themes literature fragmentation comfort meaning connection Mood introspective hopeful Type literary inspirational When to use this quote - loneliness - creative writing - therapy - education Key Concepts narrative theory psychology existentialism Questions to Reflect On - How do you find coherence in fragmented experiences? - What role do stories play in your personal resilience? A Different Perspective fragmented narratives may lack coherence, risking confusion. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diamond/) [Hard time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard-time/) [Hard times](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard-times/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Lifelines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lifelines/) [Limbo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/limbo/) [Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words/) [Wuthering Heights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wuthering-heights/) ## Related quotes > [Art, its completeness, its formedness, its finishedness, had no power to console. Words on the other hand, were a lifeline. They left their hushed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/art-its-completeness-its-formedness-its-finishedness-had-no-power-to/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [I do think that the imagination you create yourself when you're reading, to create the tone and the accent of the world, is an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-larroquette/i-do-think-that-the-imagination-you-create-yourself-when-you-re/) [John Larroquette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-larroquette/) > [“All narrative begins for me as listening. When I read, I listen. When I write, I listen—for silence, inflection, rhythm, rest. Then comes the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/all-narrative-begins-for-me-as-listening-when-i-read-i-listen-when-i-2/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“All narrative begins for me as listening. When I read, I listen. When I write, I listen—for silence, inflection, rhythm, rest.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/all-narrative-begins-for-me-as-listening-when-i-read-i-listen-when-i/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“Shirley goes over the edge.” “I don’t like games like this.” “Now George Sand starts to go up in flames.” I sighed and closed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/shirley-goes-over-the-edge-i-don-t-like-games-like-this-now-george/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“Art, its completeness, its formedness, its finishedness, had no power to console. Words, on the other hand, were a lifeline.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/art-its-completeness-its-formedness-its-finishedness-had-no-power-to-2/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“Tess of the d’Urbervilles, Johnny Got His Gun, A Farewell to Arms, A Prayer for Owen Meany, some years Wuthering Heights, Silas Marner, Their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-zevin/tess-of-the-d-urbervilles-johnny-got-his-gun-a-farewell-to-arms-a/) [Gabrielle Zevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-zevin/) > [“YESTERDAY afternoon set in misty and cold. I had half a mind to spend it by my study fire, instead of wading through heath…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/yesterday-afternoon-set-in-misty-and-cold-i-had-half-a-mind-to-spend/) [Emily Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [This progressive effacement of human relationships is not without certain problems for the novel. How, in point of fact, would one handle the narration…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-houellebecq/this-progressive-effacement-of-human-relationships-is-not-without/) [Michel Houellebecq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-houellebecq/) > ['Wuthering Heights' is portrayed as a great romantic novel, and when I read it again, I thought, 'How is this romantic? All these people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chloe-pirrie/wuthering-heights-is-portrayed-as-a-great-romantic-novel-and-when-i/) [Chloe Pirrie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chloe-pirrie/) > [I'm glad nobody has asked me to adapt 'Wuthering Heights' because I think I would make a mess of it. Everybody makes a mess…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-davies/i-m-glad-nobody-has-asked-me-to-adapt-wuthering-heights-because-i/) [Andrew Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-davies/) > [I can sing 'Wuthering Heights' by Kate Bush so perfectly, it makes people's jaws drop and go: 'Wait! I don't understand!'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peaches/i-can-sing-wuthering-heights-by-kate-bush-so-perfectly-it-makes/) [Peaches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peaches/) > [“Far rather would I be condemned to a perpetual dwelling in the infernal regions, than, even for one night, abide beneath the roof of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/far-rather-would-i-be-condemned-to-a-perpetual-dwelling-in-the/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“THE HE’S ARE SHE’S In 1847, three novels excite England’s readers. Wuthering Heights by Ellis Bell tells a devastating tale of passion and shame.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eduardo-galeano/the-he-s-are-she-s-in-1847-three-novels-excite-england-s-readers/) [Eduardo Galeano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eduardo-galeano/) > ['Wuthering Heights' by Emily Bronte has been my all-time favorite book since I was in middle school.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-serle/wuthering-heights-by-emily-bronte-has-been-my-all-time-favorite-book/) [Rebecca Serle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-serle/) ## More by Diane Setterfield > [“They are more real than the books on the shelves, books that are sketched with the barest hint of a line here and there,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/they-are-more-real-than-the-books-on-the-shelves-books-that-are/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“Margaret Lea.” “The biographer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/margaret-lea-the-biographer/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“He was the first of my ghosts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/he-was-the-first-of-my-ghosts/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“It was like living entirely inside a book.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/it-was-like-living-entirely-inside-a-book/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“Then something rang a bell in his mind. What”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/then-something-rang-a-bell-in-his-mind-what/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [What better way to get to know someone than through her choice and treatment of books?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/what-better-way-to-get-to-know-someone-than-through-her-choice-and/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“I have always been a reader; I have read at every stage of my life, and there has never been a time when reading…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/i-have-always-been-a-reader-i-have-read-at-every-stage-of-my-life-and/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“Yesterday or the day before, while I had been going about my business, quietly and in private, some unknown person—some stranger—had gone to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/yesterday-or-the-day-before-while-i-had-been-going-about-my-business/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“the Missus stood like a ghost.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/the-missus-stood-like-a-ghost/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“But perhaps the answer is to stop writing altogether, for when I do write, even now as I write this very sentence, this very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/but-perhaps-the-answer-is-to-stop-writing-altogether-for-when-i-do/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [Our clients' faces, with the customary outward paleness and inner glow of the book lover.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/our-clients-faces-with-the-customary-outward-paleness-and-inner-glow/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“He felt something move in his chest, as though an organ had been removed and something unfamiliar left in its place. A sentiment he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/he-felt-something-move-in-his-chest-as-though-an-organ-had-been/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [Still in my coat and hat, I sank onto the stair to read the letter. (I never read without making sure I am in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/still-in-my-coat-and-hat-i-sank-onto-the-stair-to-read-the-letter-i/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [I still believe in stories. I still forget myself when I am in the middle of a good book. Books are for me, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/i-still-believe-in-stories-i-still-forget-myself-when-i-am-in-the/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [Of course I loved books more than people. Of course I valued "Jane Eyre" over the anonymous stranger...Of course all of Shakespeare was worth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/of-course-i-loved-books-more-than-people-of-course-i-valued-jane-eyre/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) [Explore all 292 Diane Setterfield quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. 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Books from any shelf, opened at any page, in which I would start and finish anywhere, mid-sentence sometimes. Wuthering Heights ran into Emma, which gave way to The Eustace Diamonds, which faded into Hard Times, which ceded to The Woman in White. Fragments. It didn't matter. Art, its completeness, its formedness, its finishedness, had no power to console. 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