In the rich tapestry of American literature, certain novels stand out as luminous gems, each bearing a unique narrative that captures the essence of the human experience. One such literary masterpiece is "Their Eyes Were Watching God," a novel by Zora Neale Hurston that has left an indelible mark on the literary landscape. Within the pages of this iconic work, we find a profound exploration of identity, love, and self-discovery set against the backdrop of the American South in the early 20th century.
As we embark on a journey through the evocative world of "Their Eyes Were Watching God," we are transported to the vivid and intricate lives of its characters. Join us as we delve deeper into the wisdom and beauty encapsulated in the words of this remarkable novel.
Quotes From Their Eyes Were Watching God (2024)
Delve into the profound and poetic world of "Their Eyes Were Watching God" with these unique and evocative quotes from Zora Neale Hurston's timeless masterpiece:
"Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board."
"There are years that ask questions and years that answer."
"Love is lak de sea. It's uh movin' thing, but still and all, it takes its shape from de shore it meets, and it's different with every shore."
"Two things everybody's got tuh do fuh theyselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin' fuh theyselves."
"She was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree, fervently waiting for something to happen."
"So the beginning of this was a woman and she had come back from burying the dead."
"It was the meanest moment of eternity."
"You got tuh go there tuh know there."
"Janie looked down on him and felt a self-crushing love."
"Ah done been to the horizon and back and now Ah kin set heah in mah house and live by comparisons."
"People don't die till dey time come, no matter if it's bitter medicine or sweet candy."
"She had waited all her life for something, and it had killed her when it found her."
"If you kin see de light at daybreak, you don't keer if you die at dusk. It's so many people never seen de light at all."
"The thing to do after you have it made is to see that you still have it."
"Some people could look at a mud-puddle and see an ocean with ships."
"He drifted off into sleep and Janie looked down on him and felt a self-crushing love."
"Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board."
"She was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree, soaking in the alto chant of the visiting bees."
"Janie saw her life like a great tree in leaf with the things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone."
"Love is lak de sea. It’s uh movin’ thing, but still and all, it takes its shape from de shore it meets, and it’s different with every shore."
"Sometimes God gits familiar wid us womenfolks too and talks His inside business."
"Two things everybody’s got tuh do fuh theyselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin’ fuh theyselves."
"De minute people knowed you wasn’t gonna show up, they talked freely about you right in yo’ face."
"There is a basin in the mind where words float around on thought and thought on sound and sight."
"Her old thoughts were going to come in handy now, but new words would have to be made and said to fit them."
"A woman's love is like a wind. It lifts the man up, but lets him lose the reins."
"She didn’t read books so she didn’t know that she was the world and the heavens boiled down to a drop."
"She was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree, much she had felt about it before, but now it was too much to bear."
"The sun was gone, but he had left his footprints in the sky."
"Oh to be a pear tree—any tree in bloom! With kissing bees singing of the beginning of the world!"
"She was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree, wondering where her life was, and where it was going."
"But she would wait for him. The years might pile up and become the proverbial ‘lean and slippered pantaloon,’ but she would wait."
"Then they pulled in their horizons and settled down to pouter-pigeon chest and jook-bouncing."
"She had an inside and an outside now and suddenly she knew how not to mix them."
"People’s tongues and thoughts were always tongueing and never thought."
"She knew now that marriage did not make love. Janie’s first dream was dead, so she became a woman."
"The things inside him had been gone and done. Even his grief was dust."
"The young girl was gone, but a handsome woman had taken her place."
"The beginning of things, the making of the world, gave the right of way to the new life, and so it was."
"It’s uh known fact, Pheoby, you got tuh go there tuh know there."
"If you kin see de light at daybreak, you don’t keer if you die at dusk."
"Naw, Pheoby, Tea Cake ain’t draggin’ me off nowhere Ah don’t want tuh go."
"It’s funny how a man is so jealous and he don’t even know he is."
"She was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree, trying to picture the world in a drop of dew."
"She was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree, drifting down deep into the bloom of things."
"She was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree, waiting for the January sun to rise."
"She was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree, conscious of her flesh."
"She was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree, feeling the pull of the earth."
"She was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree, feeling cold and smarting all over."
"She was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree, conscious of her clothes."
"She was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree, a citizen of the world."
"She was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree, seeing her life hit everywhere at once."
"He looked like the love thoughts of women."
"She was the world and the heavens boiled down to a drop."
"There is nothing to make you like other human beings so much as doing things for them."
"You got tuh go there to know there."
"She stood there until something fell off the shelf inside her."
"Janie saw her life like a great tree in leaf with the things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone. Dawn and doom was in the branches."
"She knew now that marriage did not make love."
"Janie's first dream was dead, so she became a woman."
"The sun and the moon always meet in their passing."
"She had been getting ready for her great journey to the horizons in search of people."
"It was beautiful, but it was too much for her."
"She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace."
"She knew that God tore down the old world every evening and built a new one by sun-up."
"He could be a bee to a blossom—a pear tree blossom in the spring."
"She was saving up feelings for some man she had never seen."
"She pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net."
"Janie did what she had never done before, that is, thrust herself into the conversation."
"She knew that when she married him she had been kissed by every thirsty ray of light in the sky."
"It was hard to love a woman that always made you feel so wishful."
"She had an endless capacity for dissembling."
"Love ain’t somethin’ lak uh grindstone dat’s de same thing everywhere and do de same thing tuh everything it touch."
"She starched and ironed her face, forming it into just what people wanted to see."
"The very spirit of the sun—the bossman of the sky."
"She had found a jewel down inside herself and she had wanted to walk where people could see her and gleam it around."
"Now, women forget all those things they don't want to remember, and remember everything they don't want to forget."
"If you kin see de light at daybreak, you don't keer if you die at dusk."
"He drifted into sleep and Janie looked down on him and felt a self-crushing love."
"Somebody got to think for women and chillun and chickens and cows."
"You can't beat a woman. They got a way of talking that'll get around you."
"To my thinkin' mourning oughtn't tuh last no longer'n grief."
"She was full of that oldest human longing—self-revelation."
"He could be a bee to her blossom. A pear tree blossom in the spring."
"It was not death she feared. It was misunderstanding."
"She saw her life like a great tree in leaf with the things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone."
"She had been making the horizon her goal and now she was being beaten to it."
"It is so easy to be hopeful in the daytime when you can see the things you wish on."
"But it was always nice to see people."
"If you don't want my kisses, you'll have to stop me from giving them."
"She was seeking confirmation of the voice and vision, and everywhere she found and acknowledged answers."
"The very spirit of harmony is embodied in the proportions of the Parthenon."
"There are two things everybody got to find out for themselves. They got to find out about love and they got to find out about living."
“Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board.”
“There are years that ask questions and years that answer.”
“She was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree soaking in the alto chant of the visiting bees, the gold of the sun and the panting breath of the breeze when the inaudible voice of it all came to her.”
“She had waited all her life for something, and it had killed her when it found her.”
“Janie saw her life like a great tree in leaf with the things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone. Dawn and doom was in the branches.”
“There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside you.”
“Love is lak de sea. It's uh movin' thing, but still and all, it takes its shape from the shore it meets, and it's different with every shore.”
“She had an inside and an outside now and suddenly she knew how not to mix them.”
“He looked like the love thoughts of women.”
“She was a rut in the road. Plenty of life beneath the surface but it was kept beaten down by the wheels.”
“She had been getting ready for her great journey to the horizons in search of people; it was important to all the world that she should find them and they find her.”
“But any man who walks in the way of power and property is bound to meet hate.”
“She stood there until something fell off the shelf inside her.”
“When one is too old for love, one finds great comfort in good dinners.”
“The sun and the moon, the Lord has pitched high in the sky; that they won't get tired and they won't need to rest.”
“Two things everybody's got tuh do fuh theyselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin' fuh theyselves.”
“Pheoby, we been kissin'-friends for twenty years, so Ah depend on you for a good thought. And Ah'm talking to you from dat standpoint.”
“She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace.”
“They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God.”
“Now, women forget all those things they don’t want to remember, and remember everything they don’t want to forget.”
“It was the time to hear things and talk. These sitters had been tongueless, earless, eyeless conveniences all day long. Mules and other brutes had occupied their skins.”
“So the beginning of this was a woman and she had come back from burying the dead.”
"Quotes From Their Eyes Were Watching God" serve as poignant reminders of the novel's enduring significance. They encapsulate the essence of Janie's journey and the universal themes it explores. These quotes speak to the resilience of the human spirit, the importance of forging one's own path, and the pursuit of love that transcends societal norms. Through Hurston's lyrical prose and Janie's compelling voice, readers are given the opportunity to witness the profound impact of self-discovery and the realization of one's own dreams. In doing so, "Their Eyes Were Watching God" not only tells a captivating story but also provides a timeless commentary on the human condition, reminding us all to find our own voice and seek our own horizon.
