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Top 280 Diane Setterfield Quotes (2026 Update)
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Diane Setterfield Quote: “So much science has at its root the ability to see afresh what has been seen and thought to be understood for centuries.”

151. “So much science has at its root the ability to see afresh what has been seen and thought to be understood for centuries.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “For the first time in a lifetime by the river he noticed – really noticed – that under a moonless sky the river makes its own mercurial light. Light that is also darkness, darkness that is also light.”

152. “For the first time in a lifetime by the river he noticed – really noticed – that under a moonless sky the river makes its own mercurial light. Light that is also darkness, darkness that is also light.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “For it looked as if the walls were simply dissolving in the rain; those stones still standing, pale and insubstantial as rice paper, seemed ready to melt away under my very eyes if I just stood there long enough.”

153. “For it looked as if the walls were simply dissolving in the rain; those stones still standing, pale and insubstantial as rice paper, seemed ready to melt away under my very eyes if I just stood there long enough.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “In speech he stretched out his vowel sounds to give his mouth a rest before the next consonant.”

154. “In speech he stretched out his vowel sounds to give his mouth a rest before the next consonant.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “But perhaps the answer is to stop writing altogether, for when I do write, even now as I write this very sentence, this very word, I am aware of a ghost reader who leans over my shoulder watching my pen, who twists my words and perverts my meaning, and makes me uncomfortable in the privacy of my own thoughts. It is very aggravating to be presented to oneself in a light so different from the familiar one, even when it is clearly a false light. I will not write any more.”

155. “But perhaps the answer is to stop writing altogether, for when I do write, even now as I write this very sentence, this very word, I am aware of a ghost reader who leans over my shoulder watching my pen, who twists my words and perverts my meaning, and makes me uncomfortable in the privacy of my own thoughts. It is very aggravating to be presented to oneself in a light so different from the familiar one, even when it is clearly a false light. I will not write any more.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “Death did not frighten her. In those years she had tended the dying, witnessed their demise, and laid out the dead. Death by sickness. Death in childbirth. Death by accident. Death by malice, once or twice. Death as the welcome visitor to great age.”

156. “Death did not frighten her. In those years she had tended the dying, witnessed their demise, and laid out the dead. Death by sickness. Death in childbirth. Death by accident. Death by malice, once or twice. Death as the welcome visitor to great age.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “Usually the walk home from the Swan was a time for regret – regret that his joints ached so badly, that he had drunk too much, that the best of life had passed him by and he had only aches and pains ahead of him now, a gradual decline till at the end he would sink into the grave.”

157. “Usually the walk home from the Swan was a time for regret – regret that his joints ached so badly, that he had drunk too much, that the best of life had passed him by and he had only aches and pains ahead of him now, a gradual decline till at the end he would sink into the grave.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “No hay una vieja casa que no tenga sus historias; no existe una vieja casa que no tenga sus fantasmas.”

158. “No hay una vieja casa que no tenga sus historias; no existe una vieja casa que no tenga sus fantasmas.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “Emmeline and Adeline. Unmistakable. Two manes of red hair, two pairs of black shoes; one child in the navy poplin that the Missus had put Emmeline in that morning, the other in green.”

159. “Emmeline and Adeline. Unmistakable. Two manes of red hair, two pairs of black shoes; one child in the navy poplin that the Missus had put Emmeline in that morning, the other in green.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “Once you said a thing, it could never be taken back and would be taken up and repeated and altered and told again, no matter how misshapen and out of true. Better to say nothing.”

160. “Once you said a thing, it could never be taken back and would be taken up and repeated and altered and told again, no matter how misshapen and out of true. Better to say nothing.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “Half a year – maybe.” “Something like that.” Rita did not look away. Part of her job was to help people look at what was coming. Dying could be lonely. A nurse was often an easier person to talk to than family. She held his gaze with hers.”

161. “Half a year – maybe.” “Something like that.” Rita did not look away. Part of her job was to help people look at what was coming. Dying could be lonely. A nurse was often an easier person to talk to than family. She held his gaze with hers.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “The steps were flanked by a pair of low pedestals, on which were mounted two giant cats carved out of some dark, polished material. The undulations of their anatomy were so persuasively carved that, running my fingers over one, I half expected fur, was startled by the cool hardness of the stone.”

162. “The steps were flanked by a pair of low pedestals, on which were mounted two giant cats carved out of some dark, polished material. The undulations of their anatomy were so persuasively carved that, running my fingers over one, I half expected fur, was startled by the cool hardness of the stone.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “We had reached tipping point. It was no longer possible to call it a demolition site. Tomorrow, today perhaps, the workers would return and it would become a construction site. The past demolished, it was time for them to start building the future.”

163. “We had reached tipping point. It was no longer possible to call it a demolition site. Tomorrow, today perhaps, the workers would return and it would become a construction site. The past demolished, it was time for them to start building the future.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “What unnerved me more than all the rest were her sunglasses. I could not see her eyes but, as I remembered the inhuman green irises from the poster, her dark lenses seemed to develop the force of a searchlight; I had the impression that from behind them she was looking through my skin and into my very soul. I drew a veil over myself, masked myself in neutrality, hid behind my appearance.”

164. “What unnerved me more than all the rest were her sunglasses. I could not see her eyes but, as I remembered the inhuman green irises from the poster, her dark lenses seemed to develop the force of a searchlight; I had the impression that from behind them she was looking through my skin and into my very soul. I drew a veil over myself, masked myself in neutrality, hid behind my appearance.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “Six months ago a miraculous story had burst wildly and messily into the Swan; today it was neatened, pressed, and put away without a crease in it.”

165. “Six months ago a miraculous story had burst wildly and messily into the Swan; today it was neatened, pressed, and put away without a crease in it.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “What is it that allows human beings to see through each other’s pretendings? For I understood quite clearly in that moment that she was anxious. Perhaps emotions have a smell or a taste; perhaps we transmit them unknowingly by vibrations in the air. Whatever the means, I knew just as surely that it was nothing about me in particular that alarmed her, but only the fact that I had come and was a stranger.”

166. “What is it that allows human beings to see through each other’s pretendings? For I understood quite clearly in that moment that she was anxious. Perhaps emotions have a smell or a taste; perhaps we transmit them unknowingly by vibrations in the air. Whatever the means, I knew just as surely that it was nothing about me in particular that alarmed her, but only the fact that I had come and was a stranger.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “There was no rational explanation for what she had seen. It was unscientific. And Hester knew the world was totally and profoundly scientific. There could be only one explanation. “I must be mad,” she whispered. Her pupils dilated and her nostrils quivered. “I have seen a ghost!”

167. “There was no rational explanation for what she had seen. It was unscientific. And Hester knew the world was totally and profoundly scientific. There could be only one explanation. “I must be mad,” she whispered. Her pupils dilated and her nostrils quivered. “I have seen a ghost!”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “I have always been a reader; I have read at every stage of my life and there has never been a time when reading was not my greatest joy. And yet I cannot pretend that the reading I have done in my adult years matches in its impact on my soul the reading I did as a child.”

168. “I have always been a reader; I have read at every stage of my life and there has never been a time when reading was not my greatest joy. And yet I cannot pretend that the reading I have done in my adult years matches in its impact on my soul the reading I did as a child.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “Upstairs I peered into the bathroom mirror. It was for reassurance, to see what I looked like as a grown-up girl. Head tilted to the left, then to the right, I studied my reflection from all angles, willing myself to see someone different. But it was only me looking back at my myself.”

169. “Upstairs I peered into the bathroom mirror. It was for reassurance, to see what I looked like as a grown-up girl. Head tilted to the left, then to the right, I studied my reflection from all angles, willing myself to see someone different. But it was only me looking back at my myself.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “As is well known, when the moon hours lenghten, human beings come adrift from the regularity of their mechanical clocks. They nod at noon, dream in waking hours, open their eyes wide to the pitch-black night. It is a time of magic. And as the borders between night and day stretch to their thinnest, so too do the borders between worlds.”

170. “As is well known, when the moon hours lenghten, human beings come adrift from the regularity of their mechanical clocks. They nod at noon, dream in waking hours, open their eyes wide to the pitch-black night. It is a time of magic. And as the borders between night and day stretch to their thinnest, so too do the borders between worlds.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “Not even a ghost could survive here.”

171. “Not even a ghost could survive here.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “I needed a lost language. One in which I could communicate with the lost.”

172. “I needed a lost language. One in which I could communicate with the lost.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “Margaret Lea.” “The biographer.”

173. “Margaret Lea.” “The biographer.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “I did not see the wolf when he came. I did not hear him. There was only this: A little before dawn I became aware of a hush, and I realized that the only breathing to be heard in the room was my own.”

174. “I did not see the wolf when he came. I did not hear him. There was only this: A little before dawn I became aware of a hush, and I realized that the only breathing to be heard in the room was my own.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “I’m a storyteller.” “I am a biographer.”

175. “I’m a storyteller.” “I am a biographer.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “What makes it noteworthy is that a striking coincidence has made it a cleverer trick than they could have known. For the book is a rather silly story about a governess and two haunted children. I am afraid that in it Mr. James exposes the extent of his ignorance. He knows little about children and nothing at all about governesses.”

176. “What makes it noteworthy is that a striking coincidence has made it a cleverer trick than they could have known. For the book is a rather silly story about a governess and two haunted children. I am afraid that in it Mr. James exposes the extent of his ignorance. He knows little about children and nothing at all about governesses.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “Pigs are remarkable creatures and, though most men are too blind to see it, have intelligence that they show in their eyes.”

177. “Pigs are remarkable creatures and, though most men are too blind to see it, have intelligence that they show in their eyes.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “Her knowledge of her own mind was what he admired about her. To expect her to bend to his wishes would be to expect her to be other than herself.”

178. “Her knowledge of her own mind was what he admired about her. To expect her to bend to his wishes would be to expect her to be other than herself.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “But you know it was here? In this house?” Aurelius shoved his hands into the depths of his pockets. His shoulders tightened. “I wouldn’t expect other people to understand. I haven’t got any proof. But I do know.” He sent me a quick glance, and I encouraged him, with my eyes, to continue. “Sometimes you can know things. Things about yourself. Things from before you can remember. I can’t explain it.”

179. “But you know it was here? In this house?” Aurelius shoved his hands into the depths of his pockets. His shoulders tightened. “I wouldn’t expect other people to understand. I haven’t got any proof. But I do know.” He sent me a quick glance, and I encouraged him, with my eyes, to continue. “Sometimes you can know things. Things about yourself. Things from before you can remember. I can’t explain it.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “We cannot know what entering sleep feels like, for by the time it is complete the ability to register it to memory is lost. But we all know the gently plummeting feeling that precedes falling asleep and gives it its name.”

180. “We cannot know what entering sleep feels like, for by the time it is complete the ability to register it to memory is lost. But we all know the gently plummeting feeling that precedes falling asleep and gives it its name.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “Rita knew better than most that doctors can be reluctant to admit it when they do not have the answer to a question. If no good answer presents itself, some will sooner give a bad answer than no answer at all. She did not tell Mrs. Vaughan this.”

181. “Rita knew better than most that doctors can be reluctant to admit it when they do not have the answer to a question. If no good answer presents itself, some will sooner give a bad answer than no answer at all. She did not tell Mrs. Vaughan this.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “My gripe is not with lovers of the truth but with truth herself. What succor, what consolation is there in truth, compared to a story? What good is truth, at midnight, in the dark, when the wind is roaring like a bear in the chimney? What you need are the plump comforts of a story. The soothing, rocking safety of a lie.”

182. “My gripe is not with lovers of the truth but with truth herself. What succor, what consolation is there in truth, compared to a story? What good is truth, at midnight, in the dark, when the wind is roaring like a bear in the chimney? What you need are the plump comforts of a story. The soothing, rocking safety of a lie.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “Helena was very quiet these days. She seemed pleased about the baby, talked from time to time about plans for their lives to come, but her liveliness had gone. Future life and past losses coexisted in her, two halves of a single experience, and she bore her grief and her hope in a subdued manner.”

183. “Helena was very quiet these days. She seemed pleased about the baby, talked from time to time about plans for their lives to come, but her liveliness had gone. Future life and past losses coexisted in her, two halves of a single experience, and she bore her grief and her hope in a subdued manner.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “I thought nothing. The surface of my mind was perfectly still. But under the surface there was a shifting and a stirring. I felt the great swell of the undercurrent. For years a wreck had sat in the depths, a rusting vessel with its cargo of bones. Now it shifted. I had disturbed it, and it created a turbulence that lifted clouds of sand from the seabed, motes of grit swirling wildly in the dark disturbed water.”

184. “I thought nothing. The surface of my mind was perfectly still. But under the surface there was a shifting and a stirring. I felt the great swell of the undercurrent. For years a wreck had sat in the depths, a rusting vessel with its cargo of bones. Now it shifted. I had disturbed it, and it created a turbulence that lifted clouds of sand from the seabed, motes of grit swirling wildly in the dark disturbed water.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “The key that sits in the lock, unused since the days of Hester, is hot. It burns my palm as I turn it.”

185. “The key that sits in the lock, unused since the days of Hester, is hot. It burns my palm as I turn it.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “I felt a strange sensation inside. Like the past coming to life. The watery stirring of a previous life turning in my belly, creating a tide that rose in my veins and sent cool wavelets to lap at my temples. The ghastly excitement of it.”

186. “I felt a strange sensation inside. Like the past coming to life. The watery stirring of a previous life turning in my belly, creating a tide that rose in my veins and sent cool wavelets to lap at my temples. The ghastly excitement of it.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “There were some for whom the world was such a tricky thing that they marvelled at it without feeling any need to puzzle it out.”

187. “There were some for whom the world was such a tricky thing that they marvelled at it without feeling any need to puzzle it out.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “Time was of the essence. For at eight o’clock the world came to an end. It was reading time.”

188. “Time was of the essence. For at eight o’clock the world came to an end. It was reading time.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “Have you got a birthday?” Aurelius asked. “Yes. I’ve got a birthday.” All my unsaid words went back to wherever they had been all these years. “I’ll make a note of it, shall I?” he said brightly. “Then I can send you a card.” I feigned a smile. “It’s coming up soon, actually. “ Aurelius opened a little blue notebook divided into months. “The nineteenth,” I told him, and he wrote it down with a pencil so small it looked like a toothpick in his huge hand.”

189. “Have you got a birthday?” Aurelius asked. “Yes. I’ve got a birthday.” All my unsaid words went back to wherever they had been all these years. “I’ll make a note of it, shall I?” he said brightly. “Then I can send you a card.” I feigned a smile. “It’s coming up soon, actually. “ Aurelius opened a little blue notebook divided into months. “The nineteenth,” I told him, and he wrote it down with a pencil so small it looked like a toothpick in his huge hand.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “Then nobody spoke, and they breathed the minutes in and out till they made an hour.”

190. “Then nobody spoke, and they breathed the minutes in and out till they made an hour.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “You may not want to be my son, but I cannot help but be your father.”

191. “You may not want to be my son, but I cannot help but be your father.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “He raised his head to work out whether the memory was genuine or whether it was some reverse echo by which the present seems to duplicate itself in the past.”

192. “He raised his head to work out whether the memory was genuine or whether it was some reverse echo by which the present seems to duplicate itself in the past.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “He has described in precise, measured words the beautiful desolation he feels at the close of novels where the message is that there is no end to human suffering, only endurance. He has spoken of endings that are muted, but which echo longer in the memory than louder, more explosive denouements. He has explained why it is that ambiguity touches his heart more nearly than the death and marriage style of finish that I prefer.”

193. “He has described in precise, measured words the beautiful desolation he feels at the close of novels where the message is that there is no end to human suffering, only endurance. He has spoken of endings that are muted, but which echo longer in the memory than louder, more explosive denouements. He has explained why it is that ambiguity touches his heart more nearly than the death and marriage style of finish that I prefer.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “I believe you,” I repeated, my tongue thick with all the waiting words. “I’ve had that feeling, too. Knowing things you can’t know. From before you can remember.” And there it was again! A sudden movement in the corner of my eye, there and gone in the same instant.”

194. “I believe you,” I repeated, my tongue thick with all the waiting words. “I’ve had that feeling, too. Knowing things you can’t know. From before you can remember.” And there it was again! A sudden movement in the corner of my eye, there and gone in the same instant.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “The hours between eight in the evening and one or two in the morning have always been my magic hours.”

195. “The hours between eight in the evening and one or two in the morning have always been my magic hours.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “I was at a loss to explain to myself the bitterness of my disappointment.”

196. “I was at a loss to explain to myself the bitterness of my disappointment.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “William Henry Cadwalladr.”

197. “William Henry Cadwalladr.”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “Do you know the feeling when you start reading a new book before the membrane of the last one has had time to close behind you?”

198. “Do you know the feeling when you start reading a new book before the membrane of the last one has had time to close behind you?”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “Remember, this person burns books. Does he really deserve to live?”

199. “Remember, this person burns books. Does he really deserve to live?”

— Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield Quote: “A man like me gets used to recognizing himself from the inside. The inside is what I am familiar with. Nor am I much given to studying my outward appearance in the looking glass. It is a curious thing, to see oneself in a photograph. It is a meeting with the outer man.”

200. “A man like me gets used to recognizing himself from the inside. The inside is what I am familiar with. Nor am I much given to studying my outward appearance in the looking glass. It is a curious thing, to see oneself in a photograph. It is a meeting with the outer man.”

— Diane Setterfield

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