QuoteProject
As a reader I loathe introductions...Introductions inhibit pleasure, they kill the joy of anticipation, they frustrate curiosity.
Harper Lee
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Introductions can spoil the excitement of discovering a story.

Harper Lee expresses her disdain for introductions in literature, suggesting that they can dampen the reader's enjoyment and curiosity. She believes that a well-crafted story should allow readers to enter without the predetermined notions or spoilers that introductions often provide, thereby enhancing the joy of discovering the narrative on their own terms.

Themes

IntroductionsJoyCuriosityAnticipationReading

In practice

Example use cases

Discussing the role of introductions in a book club meeting.

More from Harper Lee

They're ugly, but those are the facts of life.
Harper LeeRead
It's better to be silent than to be a fool.
Harper LeeRead
Don’t talk like that, Dill,” said Aunt Alexandra. “It’s not becoming to a child. It’s – cynical.” “I ain’t cynical, Miss Alexandra. Tellin’ the truth’s not cynical, is it?” “The way you tell it, it is.
Harper LeeRead
With him, life was routine; without him, life was unbearable.
Harper LeeRead
He turned out the light and went into Jem's room. He would be there all night, and he would be there when Jem waked up in the morning.
Harper LeeRead
You can choose your friends but you sho' can't choose your family, an' they're still kin to you no matter whether you acknowledge 'em or not, and it makes you look right silly when you don't.
Harper LeeRead

Similar quotes

If the heroine of one novel be not patronized by the heroine of another, from whom can she expect protection and regard?
Jane AustenRead
The poet can only write the poems; it takes the reader to complete the meaning.
Nikki GiovanniRead
I'm aware that many of my friends will be saddened and shocked, or shock-saddened, over some of the chapters in 'The Catcher In the Rye.' Some of my best friends are children. In fact, all my best friends are children. It's almost unbearable for me to realize that my book will be kept on a shelf out of their reach.
J. D. SalingerRead
There is hardly a pioneer's hut which does not contain a few odd volumes of Shakespeare. I remember reading the feudal drama of Henry V for the first time in a log cabin.
Alexis De TocquevilleRead
A book… it’s a world all on its own too. A world made of words, where you live for a while.
Patrick NessRead
Not every novel that wants to be a tragedy gets to be one.
Jane SmileyRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.