Jeanette Winterson Quotes

A collection of quotes by Jeanette Winterson.

Jeanette Winterson is a renowned British author known for her innovative and thought-provoking works. Born on August 27, 1959, in Manchester, England, her childhood was marked by a strong connection to literature, with her adoptive mother fostering a love for storytelling. Winterson's unique upbringing as an adopted child and her experiences growing up in an industrial town significantly influenced her writing.

In 1985, Winterson published her debut novel, "Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit," a semi-autobiographical work that garnered critical acclaim and earned her the Whitbread Prize for First Novel. This breakthrough novel, exploring themes of sexuality, religion, and identity, established Winterson as a bold and distinctive voice in contemporary literature.

Throughout her career, Winterson has written a wide range of works that blur the boundaries between genres, including novels, short stories, essays, and children's books. Her writing often explores themes of love, gender, desire, and the complexities of human relationships.

Winterson's literary prowess has been recognized with numerous awards, including the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, the E.M. Forster Award, and the Order of the British Empire (OBE). Her works continue to captivate readers worldwide, and she remains an influential figure in literature for her unapologetic exploration of identity and her skillful use of language to question societal norms.

The tamer my love, the farther away it is from love. In fier

The tamer my love, the farther away it is from love. In fierceness, in heat, in longing, in risk, I find something of love's nature. In my desire for you, I burn at the right temperature to walk through love's fire. So when you ask me why I cannot love you more calmly, I answer that to love you calmly is not to love you at all.

Jeanette Winterson

As your lover describes you, so you are.

As your lover describes you, so you are.

Jeanette Winterson

Your weak point is the open, vulnerable place where you can

Your weak point is the open, vulnerable place where you can always be hurt. Love, in all its aspects, opens the self so fully.

Jeanette Winterson

I am a writer who happens to love women. I am not a lesbian

I am a writer who happens to love women. I am not a lesbian who happens to write.

Jeanette Winterson

I like to look at how people work together when they are put

I like to look at how people work together when they are put into stressful situations, when life stops being cozy.

Jeanette Winterson

Life Work People

I think heterosexuality and homosexuality are a kind of psyc

I think heterosexuality and homosexuality are a kind of psychosis, and the truth is somewhere in the middle.

Jeanette Winterson

Why is the measure of love loss?

Why is the measure of love loss?

Jeanette Winterson

Passion out of passion's obstacles.

Passion out of passion's obstacles.

Jeanette Winterson

Love Passion Obsession

Sometimes you have to live in precarious and temporary place

Sometimes you have to live in precarious and temporary places. Unsuitable places. Wrong places. Sometimes the safe place won't help you.

Jeanette Winterson

Inspirational Living

No. Take the heart first. Then you don't feel the cold so mu

No. Take the heart first. Then you don't feel the cold so much. The pain so much. With the heart gone, there's no reason to stay your hand. Your eyes can look on death and not tremble. It's the heart that betrays us, makes us weep, makes us bury our friends when we should be marching ahead. It's the heart that sickens us at night and makes us hate who we are. It's the heart that sings old songs and brings memories of warm days.

Jeanette Winterson

Love Passion The Heart

You are a pool of clear water where the light plays

You are a pool of clear water where the light plays

Jeanette Winterson

Ordinary professionalism and 20 years' experience can accomp

Ordinary professionalism and 20 years' experience can accomplish a lot, but it can't access the hidden places.

Jeanette Winterson

They were letting off fireworks down at the waterfront, the

They were letting off fireworks down at the waterfront, the sky exploding in grenades of colour. Whatever it is that pulls the pin, that hurls you past the boundaries of your own life into a brief and total beauty - even for a moment - it is enough.

Jeanette Winterson

The continuous narrative of existence is a lie. There is no

The continuous narrative of existence is a lie. There is no continuous narrative, there are lit-up moments, and the rest is dark.

Jeanette Winterson

What should I do about the wild and the tame? The wild heart

What should I do about the wild and the tame? The wild heart that wants to be free, and the tame heart that wants to come home. I want to be held. I don't want you to come too close. I want you to scoop me up and bring me home at nights. I don't want to tell you where I am. I want to keep a place among the rocks where no one can find me. I want to be with you.

Jeanette Winterson

Love Heart Contradiction

I can't believe that we have reached the end of everything.

I can't believe that we have reached the end of everything. The red dust is frightening. The carbon dioxide is real. Water is expensive. Bio-tech has created as many problems as it has fixed, but we're here, we're alive, we're the human race, we have survived wars and terrorism and scarcity and global famine, and we have made it back from the brink, not once but many times. History is not a suicide note - it's a record of our survival.

Jeanette Winterson

Humanity Survival Inspirational Apocalypse

Language always betrays us, tells the truth when we want to

Language always betrays us, tells the truth when we want to lie, and dissolves into formlessness when we would most like to be precise.

Jeanette Winterson

Truth Language Lie Jeanette Winterson Sexing The Cherry

What it means to be human is to bring up your children in sa

What it means to be human is to bring up your children in safety, educate them, keep them healthy, teach them how to care for themselves and others, allow them to develop in their own way among adults who are sane and responsibile, who know the value of the world and not its economic potential. It means art, it means time, it means all the invisibles never counted by the GDP and the census figures. It means knowing that life has an inside as well as an outside. And I think it means love.

Jeanette Winterson

Education Humanity Love Children

What to say? That the end of love is a haunting. A haunting

What to say? That the end of love is a haunting. A haunting of dreams. A haunting of silence. Haunted by ghosts it is easy to become a ghost. Life ebbs. The pulse is too faint. Nothing stirs you. Some people approve of this and call it healing. It is not healing. A dead body feels no pain.

Jeanette Winterson

Life Love Dreams People Pain Silence Theend

...there are two kinds of writing: the one you write and the

...there are two kinds of writing: the one you write and the one that writes you.

Jeanette Winterson

Attitude Inspirational Writing