---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I got that familiar mania - there is…"
description: "\"“I got that familiar mania - there is information somewhere here, and I can find it, I have to. A good librarian is not so different from a prospector,..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/309/elizabeth-mccracken-10336_blind-faith_i-got-that-familiar-mania-there-is-infor_1190022.png"
---

#  I got that familiar mania - there is information somewhere…

![“I got that familiar mania - there is information somewhere here, and I can find it, I have to. A good librarian is not so different from a prospector, her whole brain a divining rod. She walks to books and stands and wonders: here? Is the answer here? The same blind faith in finding, even when…” quote by Elizabeth McCracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/309/elizabeth-mccracken-10336_blind-faith_i-got-that-familiar-mania-there-is-infor_1190022.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/309/elizabeth-mccracken-10336_blind-faith_i-got-that-familiar-mania-there-is-infor_1190022.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/309/elizabeth-mccracken-10336_blind-faith_i-got-that-familiar-mania-there-is-infor_1190022.png)

> ““I got that familiar mania - there is information somewhere here, and I can find it, I have to. A good librarian is not so different from a prospector, her whole brain a divining rod. She walks to books and stands and wonders: here? Is the answer here? The same blind faith in finding, even when hopeless. If someone caught me when I was in the throes of tracking something elusive, I would have told them: but it's out there. I can feel it.””

[Elizabeth McCracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-mccracken/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The speaker compares a librarian to a prospector, driven by an unrelenting search for hidden knowledge despite uncertainty.

**In simple terms:** Seeking knowledge is like prospecting for gold.

Key Takeaway

Persist in searching for answers.

Themes

curiosity knowledge persistence

Mood

inquisitive determined

Type

literary motivational

When to use this quote

- research
- creative writing
- academic study

Key Concepts

information seeking intuition determination

Questions to Reflect On

- What drives your relentless search for information?
- When does curiosity become counterproductive?

A Different Perspective

The quest may become obsessive, leading to burnout.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Blind faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blind-faith/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Finding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/finding/) [Finding Hopeless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/finding-hopeless-3528215/) [Good Librarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-librarian-364922/) [Librarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/librarian/) [Librarian Different](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/librarian-different-3528214/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/)

## Related quotes

> [“Librarians, to Melanie, were somewhat on par wit God- who else could be bothered with, and better yet, know the answers to so many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/librarians-to-melanie-were-somewhat-on-par-wit-god-who-else-could-be/)

[Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/)

> [“Like a good American, I wanted to sue somebody. But like a good librarian, I just sat at my desk and waited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-makkai/like-a-good-american-i-wanted-to-sue-somebody-but-like-a-good/)

[Rebecca Makkai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-makkai/)

> [Knowledge was power, but a good librarian did not hoard the gift. She taught others how to find, where to look, how to see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/knowledge-was-power-but-a-good-librarian-did-not-hoard-the-gift-she/)

[Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/)

> [The secret of a good librarian is that he never reads anything more of the literature in his charge than the title and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/the-secret-of-a-good-librarian-is-that-he-never-reads-anything-more/)

[Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/)

> [“Librarians were somewhat on a par with God-who else could be bothered with, and better yet, know the answers to so many different types…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/librarians-were-somewhat-on-a-par-with-god-who-else-could-be-bothered/)

[Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/)

> [In early days, I tried not to give librarians any trouble, which was where I made my primary mistake. Librarians like to be given…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-drinker-bowen/in-early-days-i-tried-not-to-give-librarians-any-trouble-which-was/)

[Catherine Drinker Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-drinker-bowen/)

> [“Librarians, to Melanie, were somewhat in a par with god -- who else could be bothered with, and better yet, know the answers to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/librarians-to-melanie-were-somewhat-in-a-par-with-god-who-else-could/)

[Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/)

> [“In order to be really good as a librarian, everything counts towards your work, every play you go see, every concert you hear, every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-smith/in-order-to-be-really-good-as-a-librarian-everything-counts-towards/)

[Allen Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-smith/)

> [Despite popular theories, I believe people fall in love based not on good looks or fate but on knowledge. Either they are amazed by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-mccracken/despite-popular-theories-i-believe-people-fall-in-love-based-not-on/)

[Elizabeth McCracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-mccracken/)

> [Librarian like Stewardess, Certified Public Accountant, Used Car Salesman is one of those occupations that people assume attract a certain deformed personality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-mccracken/librarian-like-stewardess-certified-public-accountant-used-car/)

[Elizabeth McCracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-mccracken/)

> [“Pilgrim's Regress (Sonnet 2324) Mirage mistaken as message, when ethnic cleansing feels enlightened, Sinai becomes septic, Bethlehem becomes Bedlam. Dogma decreed as divine, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/pilgrim-s-regress-sonnet-2324-mirage-mistaken-as-message-when-ethnic/)

[Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/)

> [I was brought up in the kind of Catholic situation up until I was about eleven years old, which was that God is this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-harrison/i-was-brought-up-in-the-kind-of-catholic-situation-up-until-i-was/)

[George Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-harrison/)

> [“Blind faith is just another word for slavery”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/genevieve-cogman/blind-faith-is-just-another-word-for-slavery/)

[Genevieve Cogman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/genevieve-cogman/)

> [Love, like a chicken salad or restaurant hash, must be taken with blind faith or it loses its flavor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-rowland/love-like-a-chicken-salad-or-restaurant-hash-must-be-taken-with-blind/)

[Helen Rowland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-rowland/)

> [“Richard Dawkins regards faith as an evil to be eliminated; he takes all religious faith to be blind faith. (Dawkins says) ‘Scientific belief is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lennox/richard-dawkins-regards-faith-as-an-evil-to-be-eliminated-he-takes/)

[John Lennox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lennox/)

## More by Elizabeth McCracken

> [“Aunt Helen Beck had many intentions about her death. She was about being dead the way some people are about being British - she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-mccracken/aunt-helen-beck-had-many-intentions-about-her-death-she-was-about/)

[Elizabeth McCracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-mccracken/)

> [“But you cannot fly away from people who have flown away from you; you cannot fly into your own arms.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-mccracken/but-you-cannot-fly-away-from-people-who-have-flown-away-from-you-you/)

[Elizabeth McCracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-mccracken/)

> [Engagements - they are like a prayer before eating, best quick.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-mccracken/engagements-they-are-like-a-prayer-before-eating-best-quick/)

[Elizabeth McCracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-mccracken/)

> [“Though my love for you is infinitesimal, your eyes are as dewey as any old decimal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-mccracken/though-my-love-for-you-is-infinitesimal-your-eyes-are-as-dewey-as-any/)

[Elizabeth McCracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-mccracken/)

> [“For us what was killing was how nothing had changed. We'd been waiting to be transformed, and now here we were, back in our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-mccracken/for-us-what-was-killing-was-how-nothing-had-changed-we-d-been-waiting/)

[Elizabeth McCracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-mccracken/)

> [Books remember all the things you cannot contain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-mccracken/books-remember-all-the-things-you-cannot-contain/)

[Elizabeth McCracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-mccracken/)

> [In reference works, as in sin, omission is as bad as willful misbehavior.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-mccracken/in-reference-works-as-in-sin-omission-is-as-bad-as-willful-misbehavior/)

[Elizabeth McCracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-mccracken/)

> [After most deaths, I imagine, the awfulness lies in how everything’s changed….there’s a hole. It’s person-shaped and it follows you everywhere…. For us what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-mccracken/after-most-deaths-i-imagine-the-awfulness-lies-in-how-everything-s/)

[Elizabeth McCracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-mccracken/)

> [“I told him that I apologised, that I understood, but really: I am not a museum, not yet, I'm a love letter, a love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-mccracken/i-told-him-that-i-apologised-that-i-understood-but-really-i-am-not-a/)

[Elizabeth McCracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-mccracken/)

> [“When I was a teenager in Boston, a man on the subway handed me a card printed with tiny pictures of hands spelling out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-mccracken/when-i-was-a-teenager-in-boston-a-man-on-the-subway-handed-me-a-card/)

[Elizabeth McCracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-mccracken/)

> [“I'm thinking of that Florida lady again, the one who wanted a book about the lighter side of a child's death, and I know:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-mccracken/i-m-thinking-of-that-florida-lady-again-the-one-who-wanted-a-book/)

[Elizabeth McCracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-mccracken/)

> [“History remembers the velvet hearted.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-mccracken/history-remembers-the-velvet-hearted/)

[Elizabeth McCracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-mccracken/)

> [“Single people eat sadly--they cobble together things left from shopping trips based on dreams of all the meals they'd fix for themselves, all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-mccracken/single-people-eat-sadly-they-cobble-together-things-left-from/)

[Elizabeth McCracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-mccracken/)

> [Librarian like Stewardess, Certified Public Accountant, Used Car Salesman is one of those occupations that people assume attract a certain deformed personality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-mccracken/librarian-like-stewardess-certified-public-accountant-used-car/)

[Elizabeth McCracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-mccracken/)

> [Library books were, I suddenly realized, promiscuous, ready to lie down in the arms of anyone who asked. Not like bookstore books, which married…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-mccracken/library-books-were-i-suddenly-realized-promiscuous-ready-to-lie-down/)

[Elizabeth McCracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-mccracken/)

[Explore all 66 Elizabeth McCracken quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-mccracken/)

## More Blind faith quotes

> [“Richard Dawkins regards faith as an evil to be eliminated; he takes all religious faith to be blind faith. (Dawkins says) ‘Scientific belief is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lennox/richard-dawkins-regards-faith-as-an-evil-to-be-eliminated-he-takes/)

[John Lennox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lennox/)

> [Love, like a chicken salad or restaurant hash, must be taken with blind faith or it loses its flavor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-rowland/love-like-a-chicken-salad-or-restaurant-hash-must-be-taken-with-blind/)

[Helen Rowland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-rowland/)

> [“Blind faith is just another word for slavery”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/genevieve-cogman/blind-faith-is-just-another-word-for-slavery/)

[Genevieve Cogman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/genevieve-cogman/)

> [I was brought up in the kind of Catholic situation up until I was about eleven years old, which was that God is this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-harrison/i-was-brought-up-in-the-kind-of-catholic-situation-up-until-i-was/)

[George Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-harrison/)

> [“Pilgrim's Regress (Sonnet 2324) Mirage mistaken as message, when ethnic cleansing feels enlightened, Sinai becomes septic, Bethlehem becomes Bedlam. Dogma decreed as divine, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/pilgrim-s-regress-sonnet-2324-mirage-mistaken-as-message-when-ethnic/)

[Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/)

> [Your blind faith a person has been, it provides the opportunity to take unfair advantage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/your-blind-faith-a-person-has-been-it-provides-the-opportunity-to/)

[Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/)

> [“When you leave reasoning &amp; start believing than nothing is reasonable &amp; everything is believable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/imran-bughio/when-you-leave-reasoning-start-believing-than-nothing-is-reasonable/)

[Imran Bughio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/imran-bughio/)

> [Dad was a difference maker. He reached out to people. He took them by the awe and wonder we feel over the most important…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-sagan/dad-was-a-difference-maker-he-reached-out-to-people-he-took-them-by/)

[Nick Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-sagan/)

> [“When ethnic cleansing feels enlightened, Sinai becomes septic, Bethlehem becomes Bedlam.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/when-ethnic-cleansing-feels-enlightened-sinai-becomes-septic/)

[Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/)

> [Religion is based upon blind faith supported by no evidence. Science is based upon confidence that results from evidence - and that confidence can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-randi/religion-is-based-upon-blind-faith-supported-by-no-evidence-science/)

[James Randi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-randi/)

> [“Why is it that, for one religion to be true, all other religions have to be false!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/why-is-it-that-for-one-religion-to-be-true-all-other-religions-have/)

[Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/)

> [I rarely accept things on blind faith, especially the orthodoxy of any given practice, or any given practicum. I'm like, "Oh come on. Is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucas-neff/i-rarely-accept-things-on-blind-faith-especially-the-orthodoxy-of-any/)

[Lucas Neff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucas-neff/)

> [“Blind faith isn't always a good thing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-graham/blind-faith-isn-t-always-a-good-thing/)

[Heather Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-graham/)

> [I suspect that most of the individuals who have religious faith are content with blind faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mortimer-adler/i-suspect-that-most-of-the-individuals-who-have-religious-faith-are/)

[Mortimer Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mortimer-adler/)

> [As scientists you must keep your minds open. There is no use having blind faith in Me, in Sahaja Yoga, in anything because blindness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nirmala-srivastava/as-scientists-you-must-keep-your-minds-open-there-is-no-use-having/)

[Nirmala Srivastava](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nirmala-srivastava/)

[Browse all 203 Blind faith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blind-faith/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“I got that familiar mania - there is information somewhere here, and I can find it, I have to. A good librarian is not so different from a prospector, her whole brain a divining rod. She walks to books and stands and wonders: here? Is the answer here? The same blind faith in finding, even when hopeless. If someone caught me when I was in the throes of tracking something elusive, I would have told them: but it's out there. I can feel it.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Elizabeth McCracken"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-mccracken/i-got-that-familiar-mania-there-is-information-somewhere-here-and-i/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Blind faith"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-mccracken/i-got-that-familiar-mania-there-is-information-somewhere-here-and-i/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/309/elizabeth-mccracken-10336_blind-faith_i-got-that-familiar-mania-there-is-infor_1190022.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/309/elizabeth-mccracken-10336_blind-faith_i-got-that-familiar-mania-there-is-infor_1190022.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/309/elizabeth-mccracken-10336_blind-faith_i-got-that-familiar-mania-there-is-infor_1190022.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“I got that familiar mania - there is information somewhere here, and I can find it, I have to. A good…” — Elizabeth McCracken",
                "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": "Elizabeth McCracken",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-mccracken/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“I got that familiar mania -...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-mccracken/i-got-that-familiar-mania-there-is-information-somewhere-here-and-i/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-mccracken/i-got-that-familiar-mania-there-is-information-somewhere-here-and-i/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
