--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Of course I recognized it. How could I…" description: "\"“Of course I recognized it. How could I not, for I had read it goodness knows how many times. 'Jane Eyre,' I said wonderingly. 'You recognized it? Yes,..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fad/diane-setterfield-1008_writer_of-course-i-recognized-it-how-could-i-no_2577927.png" --- # Of course I recognized it. How could I not, for I had read… ![“Of course I recognized it. How could I not, for I had read it goodness knows how many times. 'Jane Eyre,' I said wonderingly. 'You recognized it? Yes, it is. I asked a man in a library. It's by Charlotte someone. She had a lot of sisters, apparently.” quote by Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fad/diane-setterfield-1008_writer_of-course-i-recognized-it-how-could-i-no_2577927.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fad/diane-setterfield-1008_writer_of-course-i-recognized-it-how-could-i-no_2577927.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fad/diane-setterfield-1008_writer_of-course-i-recognized-it-how-could-i-no_2577927.png) > ““Of course I recognized it. How could I not, for I had read it goodness knows how many times. 'Jane Eyre,' I said wonderingly. 'You recognized it? Yes, it is. I asked a man in a library. It's by Charlotte someone. She had a lot of sisters, apparently.”” [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. Recognizing familiar stories reveals how deeply literature influences us and connects us across time. **In simple terms:** Stories connect us across time. Key Takeaway Notice recurring themes in what you read. Themes literature recognition connection memory Mood reflective nostalgic Type literary conversational When to use this quote - book clubs - teaching - writing workshops - personal reflection Key Concepts intertextuality authorial influence cultural memory Questions to Reflect On - What does this recognition say about your own experiences? - How does familiarity shape your interpretation? A Different Perspective Recognition may be superficial without deeper analysis. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Eyre Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eyre-said-1703609/) [Jane Eyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jane-eyre/) [Recognized Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/recognized-read-1751221/) [Recognized Yes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/recognized-yes-1751223/) [Wonderingly Recognized](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wonderingly-recognized-1751222/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [“You examine me Miss Eyre, ” said he: “Do you think me handsome?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/you-examine-me-miss-eyre-said-he-do-you-think-me-handsome/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“And my own feelings? Shame. For I had lied. Of course I loved books more than people. Of course I valued Jane Eyre over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/and-my-own-feelings-shame-for-i-had-lied-of-course-i-loved-books-more/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“Jane Eyre. Villette. The Woman in White.” “Middlemarch,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/jane-eyre-villette-the-woman-in-white-middlemarch/) [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/) > [“Let me hasten to add that I am not at all like Jane Eyre, who must have given hope to so many plain women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-pym/let-me-hasten-to-add-that-i-am-not-at-all-like-jane-eyre-who-must/) [Barbara Pym](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-pym/) > [“I am a free human being with an independent will." Jane Eyre”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/i-am-a-free-human-being-with-an-independent-will-jane-eyre/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“On the bus, I pull out my book. It's the best book I've ever read, even if I'm only halfway through. It's called Jane…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fanny-britt/on-the-bus-i-pull-out-my-book-it-s-the-best-book-i-ve-ever-read-even/) [Fanny Britt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fanny-britt/) > [“Mr. Rochester : Your gaze is very direct, Miss Eyre. Do you think me handsome? Jane Eyre: No, sir.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/mr-rochester-your-gaze-is-very-direct-miss-eyre-do-you-think-me/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“I remembered that the real world was wide, and that a varied field of hopes and fears, of sensations and excitements, awaited those who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hope-nicholson/i-remembered-that-the-real-world-was-wide-and-that-a-varied-field-of/) [Hope Nicholson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hope-nicholson/) > [“The words of Jane Eyre skipped through my mind. How deceiving they were. No wonder the council had outlawed books. Stories enabled you to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiffany-truitt/the-words-of-jane-eyre-skipped-through-my-mind-how-deceiving-they/) [Tiffany Truitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiffany-truitt/) > [“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/) > [“Just like in Jane Eyre, the moral of the story would be 'never forget that you're nothing but a sad sausage.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fanny-britt/just-like-in-jane-eyre-the-moral-of-the-story-would-be-never-forget/) [Fanny Britt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fanny-britt/) > [The web is just another stunning point in the two-hundred-thousand-year history of human beings on earth. The taming of fire; the discovery of penicillin;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-ullman/the-web-is-just-another-stunning-point-in-the-two-hundred-thousand/) [Ellen Ullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-ullman/) > [“Yet there was always in me, even when I was very small, the sense that I ought to be somewhere else. And wander I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/yet-there-was-always-in-me-even-when-i-was-very-small-the-sense-that/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [“Responsibility to yourself means refusing to let others do your thinking, talking, and naming for you...it means that you do not treat your body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/responsibility-to-yourself-means-refusing-to-let-others-do-your/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) ## 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 Writer quotes > [“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/) > [I wrote when I was a young teen, but I didn't put an eye on the available markets until I was seventeen. The next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reed/i-wrote-when-i-was-a-young-teen-but-i-didn-t-put-an-eye-on-the/) [Robert Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reed/) > [Regardless of the criticisms I receive from the left, the right and the middle, I think it's important to maintain a prolific writing jab,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ishmael-reed/regardless-of-the-criticisms-i-receive-from-the-left-the-right-and/) [Ishmael Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ishmael-reed/) > [“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. Krebs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-k-krebs/) > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [If I don't know who I'm writing for, I make it up and pick somebody I'm writing for. That's really the only way to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-mazin/if-i-don-t-know-who-i-m-writing-for-i-make-it-up-and-pick-somebody-i/) [Craig Mazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-mazin/) > [At the very beginning, I was a page at Letterman, and I freelanced for any place that would let me write any word. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-schwartz/at-the-very-beginning-i-was-a-page-at-letterman-and-i-freelanced-for/) [Ben Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-schwartz/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [It took me 20 years to buy an electric typewriter, because I was afraid it would be too sensitive. I like to bang the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elmore-leonard/it-took-me-20-years-to-buy-an-electric-typewriter-because-i-was/) [Elmore Leonard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elmore-leonard/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. 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/) > [I don't think I have made as much of my life as I should have. I should have written more books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/i-don-t-think-i-have-made-as-much-of-my-life-as-i-should-have-i/) [Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/) > [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/) > [I might, by chance, write something just as shoddy; But then I wouldn't show it to everybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/i-might-by-chance-write-something-just-as-shoddy-but-then-i-wouldn-t/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [“Note found in the patron suggestion box: "You have SIGNS up near the computers that say BE QUIET, but people don't be quiet. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gina-sheridan/note-found-in-the-patron-suggestion-box-you-have-signs-up-near-the/) [Gina Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gina-sheridan/) [Browse all 43,858 Writer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Of course I recognized it. How could I not, for I had read it goodness knows how many times. 'Jane Eyre,' I said wonderingly. 'You recognized it? Yes, it is. I asked a man in a library. It's by Charlotte someone. She had a lot of sisters, apparently.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Diane Setterfield" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/of-course-i-recognized-it-how-could-i-not-for-i-had-read-it-goodness/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Writer" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/of-course-i-recognized-it-how-could-i-not-for-i-had-read-it-goodness/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fad/diane-setterfield-1008_writer_of-course-i-recognized-it-how-could-i-no_2577927.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fad/diane-setterfield-1008_writer_of-course-i-recognized-it-how-could-i-no_2577927.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fad/diane-setterfield-1008_writer_of-course-i-recognized-it-how-could-i-no_2577927.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Of course I recognized it. How could I not, for I had read it goodness knows how many times. 'Jane Eyre,' I…” — Diane Setterfield", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Diane Setterfield", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Of course I recognized it. How...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/of-course-i-recognized-it-how-could-i-not-for-i-had-read-it-goodness/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/of-course-i-recognized-it-how-could-i-not-for-i-had-read-it-goodness/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```