Kate Chopin Quotes

Kate Chopin (1851-1904) starting writing short stories and novels after the death of her husband, Oscar, in 1882. She was able to dramatically depict the people (Creoles and 'Cadians) and places of Louisiana with careful and unforgettable detail. Kate Chopin never wrote another novel (that we know of) after "The Awakening" was such a scandal in 1899. Here, you'll find a few famous quotes from the works of 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
  
  
• "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
  
  
• "But the beginning of things, of a world especially, is necessarily vague, tangled, chaotic, and exceedingly disturbing. How few of us ever emerge from such beginning! How many souls perish in its tumult!"
  - Kate Chopin - The Awakening - Chapter 6
  
  
• "She missed him the days when some pretext served to take him away from her, just as one misses the sun on a cloudy day without having thought much about the sun when it was shining."
  - Kate Chopin - The Awakening - Chapter 10
  
  
• "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 Awakening - Chapter 17
  
  
• "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 Awakening - Chapter 21
  
  
• "The bird that would soar above the plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings."
  - Kate Chopin - The Awakening - Chapter 27
  
  
• "There are some people who leave impressions not so lasting as the imprint of an oar upon the water."
  - Kate Chopin - The Awakening - Chapter 34
  
  
• "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." - Kate Chopin - The Awakening - Chapter 39