--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: She’d never spent entire days lying on…" description: "\"“She’d never spent entire days lying on her bed reading, entire nights making up complicated stories in her head. She’d not dreamed of willing herself ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48d/joanna-rakoff-31943_books_she-d-never-spent-entire-days-lying-on-h_473068.jpg" --- # She’d never spent entire days lying on her bed reading… ![“She’d never spent entire days lying on her bed reading, entire nights making up complicated stories in her head. She’d not dreamed of willing herself into Anne of Green Gables and Jane Eyre so that she might have real friends, friends who understood her thorny desires and dreams. How could she…” quote by Joanna Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48d/joanna-rakoff-31943_books_she-d-never-spent-entire-days-lying-on-h_473068.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48d/joanna-rakoff-31943_books_she-d-never-spent-entire-days-lying-on-h_473068.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48d/joanna-rakoff-31943_books_she-d-never-spent-entire-days-lying-on-h_473068.jpg) > ““She’d never spent entire days lying on her bed reading, entire nights making up complicated stories in her head. She’d not dreamed of willing herself into Anne of Green Gables and Jane Eyre so that she might have real friends, friends who understood her thorny desires and dreams. How could she spend her days—her life—ushering books into publication but not love them in the way that I did, the way that they needed to be loved?”” [Joanna Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-rakoff/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She reflects on how she once loved books for imagination, now she publishes them without that same passion, highlighting a disconnect between work and personal love for literature. **In simple terms:** She no longer feels the same love for books she once imagined. Key Takeaway Reignite personal passion for what you create. Themes literature career passion disconnection Mood nostalgic reflective Type personal literary When to use this quote - writing career - publishing - personal reading habits Key Concepts creative fulfillment authenticity literary love Questions to Reflect On - Do you still love the work you produce? - How can you reconnect with your original passion? A Different Perspective A career can alienate the original love that inspired it. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anne Of Green Gables](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anne-of-green-gables/) [Bed Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bed-reading-630028/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Complicated Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complicated-stories-1298154/) [Gables Jane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gables-jane-4085203/) [Green gables](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/green-gables/) [Jane Eyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jane-eyre/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [My mom gave me 'Anne of Green Gables' as a present so that was my first introduction to Anne, little did I know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amybeth-mcnulty/my-mom-gave-me-anne-of-green-gables-as-a-present-so-that-was-my-first/) [Amybeth McNulty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amybeth-mcnulty/) > [Prince Edward Island is a lovely place, but does it really need 10 'Anne of Green Gables' gift shops?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-pinette/prince-edward-island-is-a-lovely-place-but-does-it-really-need-10/) [John Pinette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-pinette/) > [I was obsessed with the Canadian novel 'Anne of Green Gables'. 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But my favourite books as a child were probably Laura Ingalls Wilder's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-chevalier/i-read-a-lot-of-fantasy-i-adored-anne-of-green-gables-but-my/) [Tracy Chevalier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-chevalier/) > [I'm in the depths of despair!" (Anne of Green Gables)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-m-in-the-depths-of-despair-anne-of-green-gables/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Anne of Green Gables Author: L.M. 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Courtney Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-courtney-sullivan/) > [The first book I really loved was 'Little Women' - I'd have given anything for Beth to have been allowed to live; I remember…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-oyeyemi/the-first-book-i-really-loved-was-little-women-i-d-have-given/) [Helen Oyeyemi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-oyeyemi/) > [“But of course I'd rather be Anne of Green Gables sewing patchwork than Anne of any other place with nothing to do but play.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery-2/but-of-course-i-d-rather-be-anne-of-green-gables-sewing-patchwork/) [L. M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery-2/) ## More by Joanna Rakoff > [“was so out of place that I disappeared.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-rakoff/was-so-out-of-place-that-i-disappeared/) [Joanna Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-rakoff/) > [“What terrified her was the set of circumstances that allowed her to eat a full pound of spaghetti, the unmoored, untethered quality of her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-rakoff/what-terrified-her-was-the-set-of-circumstances-that-allowed-her-to/) [Joanna Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-rakoff/) > [“The worst that being an artist could do to you would be that it would make you slightly unhappy constantly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-rakoff/the-worst-that-being-an-artist-could-do-to-you-would-be-that-it-would/) [Joanna Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-rakoff/) > [“She needed this wedding—this perfect, minutely orchestrated wedding—to shout, This is who I am. To tell us all that she was not that girl…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-rakoff/she-needed-this-wedding-this-perfect-minutely-orchestrated-wedding-to/) [Joanna Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-rakoff/) > [“Salinger was not cutesy. His work was not nostalgic. These were not fairy tales about child geniuses traipsing the streets of Old New York.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-rakoff/salinger-was-not-cutesy-his-work-was-not-nostalgic-these-were-not/) [Joanna Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-rakoff/) > [“Why couldn’t Caitlin confide in Vix? Because she knew Vix would judge her. Because she knew Vix would refuse to understand. Because it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-rakoff/why-couldn-t-caitlin-confide-in-vix-because-she-knew-vix-would-judge/) [Joanna Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-rakoff/) > [“Alone in her anxieties and insecurities, alone in the tyranny of her mind, but also simply, literally, physically alone, her only companion an oversized,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-rakoff/alone-in-her-anxieties-and-insecurities-alone-in-the-tyranny-of-her/) [Joanna Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-rakoff/) > [“So we’re all doing a pretty good job not revealing our emotions, right? But if you can’t reveal your emotions, how do you go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-rakoff/so-we-re-all-doing-a-pretty-good-job-not-revealing-our-emotions-right/) [Joanna Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-rakoff/) > [“It gets easier once you’re no longer graded, once you have to assess your actions for yourself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-rakoff/it-gets-easier-once-you-re-no-longer-graded-once-you-have-to-assess/) [Joanna Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-rakoff/) > [“Writing makes you a writer,” he’d told me. “If you get up every morning and write, then you’re a writer. Publishing doesn’t make you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-rakoff/writing-makes-you-a-writer-he-d-told-me-if-you-get-up-every-morning/) [Joanna Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-rakoff/) > [“On Madison, the sun shone in jagged beams and the air held the promise, the hint, of warmth,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-rakoff/on-madison-the-sun-shone-in-jagged-beams-and-the-air-held-the-promise/) [Joanna Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-rakoff/) > [“Reading manuscripts was the exact opposite of reading for grad school: it was pure instinct, with some emotion and intelligence thrown in.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-rakoff/reading-manuscripts-was-the-exact-opposite-of-reading-for-grad-school/) [Joanna Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-rakoff/) > [“Don’s European friends occasionally came up in conversation, but they’d yet to materialize in real life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-rakoff/don-s-european-friends-occasionally-came-up-in-conversation-but-they/) [Joanna Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-rakoff/) > [“I’d known, of course, that a blizzard was coming, or I suppose I’d known, for I didn’t own a television or a radio, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-rakoff/i-d-known-of-course-that-a-blizzard-was-coming-or-i-suppose-i-d-known/) [Joanna Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-rakoff/) > [“He surrounded himself with fools - the broken, the failed or failing, the sad and confused - so that he might be their king.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-rakoff/he-surrounded-himself-with-fools-the-broken-the-failed-or-failing-the/) [Joanna Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-rakoff/) [Explore all 16 Joanna Rakoff quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-rakoff/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“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/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“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. 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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/) > [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/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“She’d never spent entire days lying on her bed reading, entire nights making up complicated stories in her head. She’d not dreamed of willing herself into Anne of Green Gables and Jane Eyre so that she might have real friends, friends who understood her thorny desires and dreams. 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