Book Quotes to Inspire You - The Garden Eatery

Book Quotes to Inspire You

@heatherr_.g

I thought I’d change it up for this post and write about something non-food, but equally feel-good, and as it’s my final semester as an English student, reading seems the perfect topic (and one I inevitably can’t escape!). I am a big believer in the soothing power of a cup of coffee and a good book; get your fluffy socks on, your mug filled, and a couple of lines from a book you love can provide that needed shot of inspiration. I keep a journal of quotes I’ve read that have really stuck with me, and after flicking through, I’ve come up with my 4 favourites:

Fiction is the lie that helps us understand the truth
- The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien

I read this book last year and have been telling everyone about it since. O’Brien’s reflections on truth and fiction remind me of why I love reading so much: escaping to a ‘fake’ world can help us to understand, and be more present in the real one.

No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody but one’s self – A Room of One’s Own, Virginia Woolf

This classic quote undoubtably had to be included. There are few things more soothing in today’s accelerated world than to be told it’s okay to slow down. For anyone whose perfectionism is becoming problematic, a reminder that you don’t have to ‘sparkle’ 24/7 is very much needed.

Maybe Forgetfulness, like a kind of snow, would numb and cover them. But they were part of me. They were my landscape.
Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

This book is notoriously sad, but weaved in it are some really positive gems, this quote being one of them. It’s a reminder to own and embrace everything that makes you, you.

My truth wasn’t their truth. My path wasn’t their path. I needed to create my own map’
Rebecca Pacheco, Do your om thing

I could go on about this book for days. Pacheco’s look at how western modern life, and ancient eastern philosophy, are not worlds apart or radically different, but actually can work side-by-side, has really changed my outlook. I like this quote especially, she’s essentially saying that you don’t have to just do what everyone else is doing if it doesn’t feel right to you, and it’s okay to take time to figure out your own way.

Happy reading 😊

Heather xxx

Heather is a final year English student at Leeds university who loves to write just as much as she loves coffee – as well as her studies, she is a faculty wellbeing representative, a member of the uni yoga committee, and a lover of cooking colourful vegan food and keeping fit 😊

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