---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the library I felt better, words you…"
description: "\"“In the library I felt better, words you could trust and look at until you understood them, they couldn't change halfway through a sentence like people..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/281/jeanette-winterson-166_language_in-the-library-i-felt-better-words-you-c_2123353.png"
---

#  In the library I felt better, words you could trust and…

![“In the library I felt better, words you could trust and look at until you understood them, they couldn't change halfway through a sentence like people, so it was easier to spot a lie.” quote by Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/281/jeanette-winterson-166_language_in-the-library-i-felt-better-words-you-c_2123353.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/281/jeanette-winterson-166_language_in-the-library-i-felt-better-words-you-c_2123353.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/281/jeanette-winterson-166_language_in-the-library-i-felt-better-words-you-c_2123353.png)

> ““In the library I felt better, words you could trust and look at until you understood them, they couldn't change halfway through a sentence like people, so it was easier to spot a lie.””

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

## About This Quote

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

Libraries offer trustworthy, static words that reveal truth, unlike mutable spoken language.

**In simple terms:** Books provide reliable truth.

Key Takeaway

Seek truth in written words.

Themes

truth language trust

Mood

thoughtful inquisitive

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

- research
- critical reading
- education
- media literacy

Key Concepts

literature epistemology

Questions to Reflect On

- What makes written text more trustworthy?
- Can oral traditions be equally reliable?

A Different Perspective

Spoken words can also be reliable.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Better Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/better-words-526869/) [Felt Better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/felt-better-313668/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Library Felt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/library-felt-2123992/) [Look Understood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/look-understood-4343507/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Words Trust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words-trust-465978/)

## Related quotes

> [In the library I felt better, words you could trust and look at till you understood them, they couldn't change half way through a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/in-the-library-i-felt-better-words-you-could-trust-and-look-at-till/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

> [That's really a very different experience: You don't have to look to be understood. You're already understood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-anderson/that-s-really-a-very-different-experience-you-don-t-have-to-look-to/)

[Laurie Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-anderson/)

> [“He had loved the library, and had felt, as a boy, as though it had a kind of sentience, and perhaps loved him back.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laini-taylor/he-had-loved-the-library-and-had-felt-as-a-boy-as-though-it-had-a-2/)

[Laini Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laini-taylor/)

> [I always knew from that moment, from the time I found myself at home in that little segregated library in the South, all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/i-always-knew-from-that-moment-from-the-time-i-found-myself-at-home-2/)

[Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/)

> [“Cal's fingers tightened on mine, and my heart thumped in response. The library felt very quiet and very still around us. "You'll feel it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-hawkins/cal-s-fingers-tightened-on-mine-and-my-heart-thumped-in-response-the/)

[Rachel Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-hawkins/)

> [“He didn’t feel God in the library, but he felt something beyond himself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-lovett/he-didn-t-feel-god-in-the-library-but-he-felt-something-beyond-himself/)

[Charlie Lovett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-lovett/)

> [I always knew from that moment, from the time I found myself at home in that little segregated library in the South, all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/i-always-knew-from-that-moment-from-the-time-i-found-myself-at-home/)

[Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/)

> [“He had loved the library, and had felt, as a boy, as though it had a kind of sentience, and perhaps loved him back.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laini-taylor/he-had-loved-the-library-and-had-felt-as-a-boy-as-though-it-had-a/)

[Laini Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laini-taylor/)

> [“Every time I went to the library, it felt like a treasure hunt: somewhere amid those dusty books was the answer, and all I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-m-twenge/every-time-i-went-to-the-library-it-felt-like-a-treasure-hunt/)

[Jean M. Twenge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-m-twenge/)

> [Dont trust words, trust actions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/dont-trust-words-trust-actions/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I don't trust words. I trust actions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-don-t-trust-words-i-trust-actions/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“We suffer from the malady of words, and have no trust in any feeling that is not stamped with its special word.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/we-suffer-from-the-malady-of-words-and-have-no-trust-in-any-feeling/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [Don't make me regret if I tell you this words. I trust you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meicee/don-t-make-me-regret-if-i-tell-you-this-words-i-trust-you/)

[Meicee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meicee/)

> [“What's the true reason I've decided I trust him? Certainly his Council work recommends him, his choice of friends. But isn't it just as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/what-s-the-true-reason-i-ve-decided-i-trust-him-certainly-his-council/)

[Kristin Cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/)

> [I don't trust words . I do trust actions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trust/i-don-t-trust-words-i-do-trust-actions/)

[Trust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trust/)

## More by Jeanette Winterson

> [“After nine nights must come ten and every desperate meeting only leaves you desperate for another. There is never enough to eat, never enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/after-nine-nights-must-come-ten-and-every-desperate-meeting-only/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

> [You never give away your heart; you lend it from time to time. If it were not so, how could we take it back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/you-never-give-away-your-heart-you-lend-it-from-time-to-time-if-it/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

> [I have found that I am not a space where people want to live, at least not without decorating first.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/i-have-found-that-i-am-not-a-space-where-people-want-to-live-at-least/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

> [“Yes. Just pass me my leg will you? It's on top of the wardrobe where he threw it, and I think my right arm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/yes-just-pass-me-my-leg-will-you-it-s-on-top-of-the-wardrobe-where-he/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

> [Every second the Universe divides into possibilities and most of those possibilities never happen. It is not a uni-verse -- there is more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/every-second-the-universe-divides-into-possibilities-and-most-of/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

> [You are a pool of clear water where the light plays](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/you-are-a-pool-of-clear-water-where-the-light-plays/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

> [“It's the cliches that cause the trouble. A precise emotion seeks a precise expression. If what I feel is not precise than how should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/it-s-the-cliches-that-cause-the-trouble-a-precise-emotion-seeks-a/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

> [What would it have meant to be happy? What would it have meant if things had been bright, clear, good between us?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/what-would-it-have-meant-to-be-happy-what-would-it-have-meant-if/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

> [“Mrs Ratlow was a widow, and she was head of English, but she still did all the cooking and cleaning for her two sons,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/mrs-ratlow-was-a-widow-and-she-was-head-of-english-but-she-still-did/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

> [“I shall have nowt to talk to now the baby is boiled.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/i-shall-have-nowt-to-talk-to-now-the-baby-is-boiled/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

> [“What art does is to coax us away from the mechanical and towards the miraculous. The so-called uselessness of art is a clue to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/what-art-does-is-to-coax-us-away-from-the-mechanical-and-towards-the/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

> [Happy Valentines Day to those who have found love, in whatever shape or form, and to those who are still hunting, don’t give up.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/happy-valentines-day-to-those-who-have-found-love-in-whatever-shape/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

> [“It took me a long time to realise that there are two kinds of writing: the one you write and the one that writes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/it-took-me-a-long-time-to-realise-that-there-are-two-kinds-of-writing/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

> [A curse on this game. How can you stick at a game when the rules keep on changing? I shall call myself Alice and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/a-curse-on-this-game-how-can-you-stick-at-a-game-when-the-rules-keep/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

> [“He turned away and I turned to him in vivid heat to look on the sun-dried world. The groves and towers were gone. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/he-turned-away-and-i-turned-to-him-in-vivid-heat-to-look-on-the-sun/)

[Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

[Explore all 1,016 Jeanette Winterson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/)

## More Language quotes

> [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/)

[Ted Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-martinez/)

> [Usually male directors have to use foul language to get the job done. But I never came down to that level as being a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/divya-khosla-kumar/usually-male-directors-have-to-use-foul-language-to-get-the-job-done/)

[Divya Khosla Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/divya-khosla-kumar/)

> [The problem posed by indirect speech acts is the problem of how it is possible for the speaker to say one thing and mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searle/the-problem-posed-by-indirect-speech-acts-is-the-problem-of-how-it-is/)

[John Searle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-searle/)

> [A man walks down the street. It's a street in a strange world. Maybe it's the third world. Maybe it's his first time around.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-simon/a-man-walks-down-the-street-it-s-a-street-in-a-strange-world-maybe-it/)

[Paul Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-simon/)

> [“I only have two words to say More or Less”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timbur/i-only-have-two-words-to-say-more-or-less/)

[TimBur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timbur/)

> [It's like saying French shouldn't be taught because you don't understand it because it's new. Shakespeare is just like learning a new, exciting language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-barnett/it-s-like-saying-french-shouldn-t-be-taught-because-you-don-t/)

[Samuel Barnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-barnett/)

> [I am attracted to looking at the different things language can mean even in one sometimes quite ordinary utterance. Writing is partly about listening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/i-am-attracted-to-looking-at-the-different-things-language-can-mean/)

[Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/)

> [What is music? Music is language. A human being wants to express ideas in this language, but not ideas that can be translated into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-webern/what-is-music-music-is-language-a-human-being-wants-to-express-ideas/)

[Anton Webern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-webern/)

> [You're beautiful, cute, pretty, gorgeous, and fuck.. I ran out of words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raghib-clitso/you-re-beautiful-cute-pretty-gorgeous-and-fuck-i-ran-out-of-words/)

[Raghib Clitso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raghib-clitso/)

> [The world has a soul and whoever understands that soul can also understand the language of many things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/the-world-has-a-soul-and-whoever-understands-that-soul-can-also/)

[Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/)

> [“The words for what I want to say right now don't exist. Everything sounds…so cliché.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelly-crane/the-words-for-what-i-want-to-say-right-now-don-t-exist-everything/)

[Shelly Crane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelly-crane/)

> [A man cannot speak but he judges himself. With his will or against his will he draws his portrait to the eye of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-man-cannot-speak-but-he-judges-himself-with-his-will-or-against-his/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [Words can kill you trust towards someone, mind you language people, every reaction had its consequence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/words-can-kill-you-trust-towards-someone-mind-you-language-people/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“Finxerunt animi, raro et perpauca loquentis. (To action little, less to words inclinded.)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/finxerunt-animi-raro-et-perpauca-loquentis-to-action-little-less-to/)

[Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/)

> [For comedy action, I must know the language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sammo-hung/for-comedy-action-i-must-know-the-language/)

[Sammo Hung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sammo-hung/)

[Browse all 21,951 Language quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“In the library I felt better, words you could trust and look at until you understood them, they couldn't change halfway through a sentence like people, so it was easier to spot a lie.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Jeanette Winterson"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/in-the-library-i-felt-better-words-you-could-trust-and-look-at-until/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Language"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/in-the-library-i-felt-better-words-you-could-trust-and-look-at-until/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/281/jeanette-winterson-166_language_in-the-library-i-felt-better-words-you-c_2123353.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/281/jeanette-winterson-166_language_in-the-library-i-felt-better-words-you-c_2123353.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/281/jeanette-winterson-166_language_in-the-library-i-felt-better-words-you-c_2123353.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“In the library I felt better, words you could trust and look at until you understood them, they couldn't…” — Jeanette Winterson",
                "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": "Jeanette Winterson",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“In the library I felt better,...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/in-the-library-i-felt-better-words-you-could-trust-and-look-at-until/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/in-the-library-i-felt-better-words-you-could-trust-and-look-at-until/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
