Kate Chopin Quotes & Sayings

Every step which she took toward relieving herself from obligations added to her strength and expansion as an individual. — Kate Chopin

He could see plainly that she was not herself. That is, he could not see that she was becoming herself [ ... ]. — Kate Chopin

She went and stood at an open window and looked out upon the deep tangle of the garden below. All the mystery and witchery of the night seemed to have gathered there amid the perfumes and the dusky and torturous outlines of flowers and foliage. She was seeking herself and finding herself in just such sweet, half-darkness which met her moods. But the voices were not soothing that came to her from the darkness and the sky above and the stars. They jeered and sounded mournful notes without promise, devoid even of hope. — Kate Chopin

She felt as if a mist had been lifted from her eyes, enabling her to look upon and comprehend the significance of life, that monster made up of beauty and brutality. — Kate Chopin

A person can't have everything in this world; and it was a little unreasonable of her to expect it. — Kate Chopin

Her husband seemed to her now like a person whom she had married without love as an excuse. — Kate Chopin

She was rather handsome than beautiful. Her face was captivating by reason of a certain frankness of expression and a contradictory subtle play of features. — Kate Chopin

The eyes alone in the baby suggested the man. And — Kate Chopin

She reminded him of some beautiful, sleek animal waking up in the sun. — Kate Chopin

A general air of surprise and genuine satisfaction fell upon everyone as they saw the pianist enter. — Kate Chopin

Daisies, just starting to close their petals, littered the grass like fallen stars. — Kate Chopin

It must always have been God's day on that low, drowsy island, Edna thought. They — Kate Chopin

She had all her life long been accustomed to harbor thoughts and emotions which never voiced themselves. — Kate Chopin

And the ladies, selecting with dainty and discriminating fingers and a little greedily, all declared that Mr. Pontellier was the best husband in the world. Mrs. Pontellier was forced to admit that she knew of none better. — Kate Chopin

Feeling secure regarding their happiness and welfare, she did not miss them except with an occasional, intense longing. — Kate Chopin

A tangle of sea smell and of weeds and damp, new-plowed earth, mingled with the heavy perfumes of white blossoms somewhere near, but the night sat lightly upon the sea and the land. there was no weight of darkness, there were no shadows. the white light of the moon had fallen upon the world like the mystery and the softness of sleep. — Kate Chopin

Perhaps it is better to wake up after all, even to suffer, rather than to remain a dupe to illusions all one's life. — Kate Chopin

One of these days," she said, "I'm going to pull myself together for a while and think - try to determine what character of a woman I am, for, candidly, I do not know. By all the codes which I am acquainted with, I am a devilishly wicked specimen of the sex. But some way I can't convince myself that I am. I must think about it. — Kate Chopin

The voice of the sea speaks to the soul. — Kate Chopin

She was still under the spell of her infatuation. She had tried to forget him, realizing the inutility of remembering. But the thought of him was like an obsession, ever pressing itself upon her. It was not that she dwelt upon details of their acquaintance, or recalled in any special or peculiar way his personality; it was his being, his existence, which dominated her thought, fading sometimes as if it would melt into the mist of the forgotten, reviving again with an intensity which filled her with an incomprehensible longing. — Kate Chopin

Good night. I adore you. Sleep well. — Kate Chopin

She looked into the distance, and the old terror flamed up for an instant, then sank again. Edna heard her father's voice and her sister Margaret's. She heard the barking of an old dog that was chained to the sycamore tree. The spurs of the cavalry officer clanged as he walked across the porch. There was the hum of bees, and the musky odor of pinks filled the air. (last lines) — Kate Chopin

I couldn't help loving you if you were ten times his wife; but so long as I went away from you and kept away I could help telling you so. — Kate Chopin

Her marriage to Leonce Pontellier was purely an accident, in this respect resembling many other marriages which masquerade as the decrees of Fate. — Kate Chopin

She was just having a good cry all to herself. — Kate Chopin

I am no longer one of Mr. Pontellier's possessions to dispose of or not. — Kate Chopin

She was growing accustomed to like shocks, but she could not keep the mounting color back from her cheeks. — Kate Chopin

But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. — Kate Chopin

Time doesn't concern me. — Kate Chopin

She liked then to wander alone into strange and unfamiliar places. She discovered many a sunny, sleepy corner, fashioned to dream in. — Kate Chopin

There was with her a feeling of having descended in the social scale, with a corresponding sense of having risen in the spiritual. Every step which she took toward relieving herself from obligations added to her strength and expansion as an individual. She began to look with her own eyes; to see and to apprehend the deeper undercurrents of life. No longer was she content to "feed upon opinion" when her own soul had invited her. — Kate Chopin

The children appeared before her like antagonists who had overcome her; who had overpowered and sought to drag her into the soul's slavery for the rest of her days. — Kate Chopin

Don't stir all the warmth out of your coffee; drink it. — Kate Chopin

There were days when she was unhappy, she did not know why,
when it did not seem worthwhile to be glad or sorry, to be alive or dead; when life appeared to her like a grotesque pandemonium and humanity like worms struggling blindly toward inevitable annihilation. — Kate Chopin

It was the first kiss of her life to which her nature had really responded. It was a flaming torch that kindled desire. — Kate Chopin

I don't mind walking. I always feel so sorry for women who don't like to walk; they miss so much
so many rare little glimpses of life; and we women learn so little of life on the whole. — Kate Chopin

She perceived that her will had blazed up, stubborn and resistant. She could not at that moment have done other than denied and resisted. She wondered if her husband had ever spoken to her like that before. and if she had submitted to his command. Of course she had; she remembered that she had. But she could not realise why or how she should have yielded, feeling as she then did. — Kate Chopin

The lovers were just entering the grounds of the pension. They were leaning toward each other as the water oaks bent from the sea. There was not a particle of earth beneath their feet. Their heads might have been turned upside down, so absolutely did they tread upon blue ether. — Kate Chopin

He reproached his wife with her inattention, her habitual neglect of the children. If it was not a mother's place to look after children, whose on earth was it? He himself had his hands full with his brokerage business. — Kate Chopin

The heart jealous of the soul! — Kate Chopin

Great matter to have one's hand kissed. She was provoked at his having written the apology. She answered in as light and bantering a spirit as she fancied it deserved, and — Kate Chopin

She had resolved to never take another step backward. — Kate Chopin

Or else she stayed in and nursed a mood with which she was becoming too familiar for her own comfort and peace of mind. It was not despair; but it seemed to her as if life were passing by, leaving its promise broken and unfulfilled. — Kate Chopin

She grew fond of her husband, realizing with some unaccountable satisfaction that no trace of passion or excessive and fictitious warmth colored her affection, thereby threatening its dissolution. — Kate Chopin

You have been a very foolish boy, wasting your time dreaming of impossible things when you speak of Mr. Pontellier setting me free! I am no longer one of Mr. Pontelliere's possessions to dispose of or not. I give myself where I choose. If he were to say, 'Here Robert, take her and be happy; she is yours,' I should laugh at you both. — Kate Chopin

I should never deem a man of ordinary caliber worthy of my devotion. — Kate Chopin

She felt moved to read the book in secret and solitude, though none of the others had done so, - to hide it from view at the sound of approaching footsteps. — Kate Chopin

The Doctor ... told the old ever-new and curious story of the waning of a woman's love, seeking strange, new channels, only to return to its legitimate source after days of fierce unrest. — Kate Chopin

And you have eyes the colour of beech leaves in October. Yet no one is ever allowed to look into them. — Kate Chopin

I wonder if anyone else has an ear so tuned and sharpened as I have, to detect the music, not of the spheres, but of earth, subtleties of major and minor chord that the wind strikes upon the tree branches. Have you ever heard the earth breathe? — Kate Chopin

Who can tell what metals the gods use in forging the subtle bond which we call sympathy, which we might as well call love. — Kate Chopin

She waited for the material pictures which she thought would gather and blaze before her imagination. She waited in vain. She saw no pictures of solitude, of hope, of longing, or of despair. But the very passions themselves were aroused within her soul, swaying it, lashing it, as the waves daily beat upon her splendid body. She trembled, she was choking, and the tears blinded her. — Kate Chopin

An indescribable oppression, which seemed to generate in some unfamiliar part of her consciousness, filled her whole being with a vague anguish. — Kate Chopin

I've been working like a machine, and feeling like a lost soul. — Kate Chopin

She had tried to forget him, realizing the inutility of remembering. — Kate Chopin

It would have been a difficult matter for Mr. Pontellier to define to his own satisfaction or any one else's wherein his wife failed in her duty toward their children. It was something which he felt rather than perceived, and he never voiced the feeling without subsequent regret and ample atonement. — Kate Chopin

The peace and beauty of a spring day had descended upon the earth like a benediction. — Kate Chopin

He greatly valued his possessions, chiefly because they were his, and derived genuine pleasure from contemplating a painting, a statuette, a rare lace curtain - no matter what - after he had bought it and placed it among his household gods. — Kate Chopin

The city atmosphere certainly has improved her. Some way she doesn't seem like the same woman. — Kate Chopin

Does he write to you? Never a line. Does he send you a message? Never a word. It is because he loves you, poor fool, and is trying to forget you, since you are not free to listen to him or to belong to him. — Kate Chopin

Do you suppose a woman knows why she loves? Does she select? Does she say to herself, 'Go to! here is a distinguished statesman with presidential possibilities; I shall proceed to fall in love with him.' or, 'I shall set my heart upon this musician, whose fame is on every tongue?' or 'this financier, who controls the world's money markets? — Kate Chopin

I hope you won't completely forget me. — Kate Chopin

It was not despair, but it seemed to her as if life were passing by, leaving its promises broken and unfulfilled. Yet there were other days when she listened, was led on and deceived by fresh promises which her youth had held out to her. — Kate Chopin

The past was nothing to her; offered no lesson which she was willing to heed. The future was a mystery which she never attempted to penetrate. The present alone was significant. — Kate Chopin

She put her arms around me and felt my shoulder blades to see if my wings were strong. — Kate Chopin

It was going to be a beautiful morning, I remember thinking, as I left the house; soft and close, bursting with whispered promises, as only a daybreak in early summer can be. — Kate Chopin

The delicious breath of rain was in the air. — Kate Chopin

The children were sent to bed. Some went submissively; others with shrieks and protests as they were dragged away. They had been permitted to sit up till after the ice-cream, which naturally marked the limit of human indulgence. — Kate Chopin

To be an artist includes much; one must possess many gifts - absolute gifts - which have not been acquired by one's own effort. And, moreover, to succeed, the artist much possess the courageous soul. — Kate Chopin

The Ratignolles understood each other perfectly. If ever the fusion of two human beings into one has been accomplished on this sphere it was surely in their union. — Kate Chopin

She says a wedding is one of the most lamentable spectacles on earth. — Kate Chopin

I don't want to part in any ill-humor. But can't you understand? I've grown used to seeing you, to having you with me all the time, and your action seems unfriendly, even unkind. You don't even offer an excuse for it. Why, I was planning to be together. — Kate Chopin

Most women are moody and whimsical. — Kate Chopin

... there would be no powerful will binding hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature ... And yet she had loved him- sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter! What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being. — Kate Chopin

She grew daring and reckless, overestimating her strength. She wanted to swim far out, where no woman had swum before. — Kate Chopin

How long will you be gone?"
"Forever, perhaps. I don't know. It depends upon a good many things. — Kate Chopin

She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength. But now there was a dull stare in her eyes, whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of those blue patches of sky. It was not a glance of reflection, but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought. — Kate Chopin

Step by step she lived over every instant of the time she had been with Robert ... She recalled his words, his looks. How few and meager they had been for her hungry heart! ... She wondered when he would come back. He had not said he would come back. She had been with him had heard his voice and touched his hand. But some way he had seemed nearer to her off there in Mexico. — Kate Chopin

Has she," asked the Doctor, with a smile, "has she been associating of late with a circle of pseudo-intellectual women - super-spiritual superior beings? My wife has been telling me about them. — Kate Chopin

A certain light was beginning to dawn dimly within her, - the light which, showing the way, forbids it. — Kate Chopin

Don't go; don't go! Oh! Edna, stay with me. — Kate Chopin

If one of the little Pontellier boys took a tumble whilst at play, he was not apt to rush crying to his mother's arms for comfort; he would more likely pick himself up, wipe the water out of his eyes and the sand out of his mouth, and go on playing. — Kate Chopin

He was always intending to go to Mexico, but some way never got there. Meanwhile he held on to his modest position in a mercantile house in New Orleans, where an equal familiarity with English, French and Spanish gave him no small value as a clerk and correspondent. — Kate Chopin

Many had predicted that Robert would devote himself to Mrs. Pontellier when he arrived. Since the age of fifteen, which was eleven years before, Robert each summer at Grand Isle had constituted himself the devoted attendant of some fair dame or damsel. Sometimes it was a young girl, again a widow; but as often as not it was some interesting married woman. — Kate Chopin

She's got some sort of notion in her head concerning the eternal rights of women. — Kate Chopin

Don't part from me in any ill humor. I never knew you to be out of patience with me before. — Kate Chopin

There were days when she was very happy without knowing why. She was happy to be alive and breathing, when her whole being seemed to be one with the sunlight, the color, the odors, the luxuriant warmth of some perfect Southern day. She liked then to wander alone into strange and unfamiliar places. She discovered many a sunny, sleepy corner, fashioned to dream in. And she found it good to dream and to be alone and unmolested. There were days when she was unhappy, she did not know why, - when it did not seem worth while to be glad or sorry, to be alive or dead; when life appeared to her like a grotesque pandemonium and humanity like worms struggling blindly toward inevitable annihilation. She could not work on such a day, nor weave fancies to stir her pulses and warm her blood. — Kate Chopin

When Doctor Mandelet dined with the Pontelliers on Thursday he could discern in Mrs. Pontellier no trace of that morbid condition which her husband had reported to him. She was excited and in a manner radiant. — Kate Chopin

The artist must possess the courageous soul that dares and defies — Kate Chopin

Have you ever heard the earth breath? — Kate Chopin

Par exemple! I never had to ask. You were always there under my feet, like a troublesome cat." "You mean like an adoring dog. And just as soon as Ratignolle appeared on the scene, then it WAS like a dog. 'Passez! Adieu! Allez vous-en! — Kate Chopin

The delicous breath of rain was in the air. — Kate Chopin

When he possessed her, they seemed to swoon together at the very borderland of life's mystery. — Kate Chopin

There would be no one there to live for her during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistance with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature. A kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination. — Kate Chopin

I trust it will not be giving away professional secrets to say that many readers would be surprised, perhaps shocked, at the questions which some newspaper editors will put to a defenseless woman under the guise of flattery. — Kate Chopin

Well, for instance, when I left her today, she put her arms around me and felt my shoulder blades, to see if my wings were strong, she said. — Kate Chopin

Sometimes I feel this summer as if I were walking through the green meadow again, idly, aimlessly, unthinking and unguided. — Kate Chopin

It is bizarre to treat all differences as oppositions, — Kate Chopin

No, I only think you cruel, as I said the other day. Maybe not intentionally cruel; but you seem to be forcing me into disclosures which can result in nothing; as if you would have me bare a wound for the pleasure of looking at it, without the intention or power of healing it. — Kate Chopin

A bird with a broken wing was beating the air above, reeling, fluttering, circling disabled, down, down to the water — Kate Chopin