There have been books that inspired me to learn and broaden my knowledge, and books that have inspired me to cook, but Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus is the first book that has inspired me to do a bit of both.
quotes from lessons in chemistry
As stated often in the book, cooking is chemistry, but this book is about so much more than either cooking or chemistry. It’s a love story steeped in the importance of self-love and the basic human need for identity––to leave behind a legacy we choose for ourselves, and not what someone else has predetermined for us.
For those out there wondering if the book has a happy ending, I feel it’s safe to say the ending is happy enough. There is a feeling of satisfaction at the close of the book that won’t leave you feeling hollow. And on that note, I hope you enjoy these quotes from Lessons in Chemistry.
23 Top Quotes from Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (with page numbers)
quotes from lessons in chemistry
1. “Because while musical prodigies are always celebrated, early readers aren’t. And that’s because early readers are only good at something others will eventually be good at, too. So being first isn’t special––it’s just annoying.” pg. 2, Chapter 1: November 1961, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
2. “…while we may be born into families, it doesn’t necessarily mean we belong to them.” pg. 38, Chapter 5: Family Values, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
3. “One thing I’ve learned, Calvin: people will always yearn for a simple solution to their complicated problems. It’s a lot easier to have faith in something you can’t see, can’t touch, can’t explain, and can’t change, rather than to have faith in something you actually can.” She sighed. “One’s self, I mean.” Pg. 39, Chapter 5: Family Values, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
4. “Cooking is serious science. In fact, it’s chemistry.” Pg. 45, Chapter 6: The Hastings Cafeteria, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
5. “Physical suffering, he’d long ago learned, bonds people in a way that everyday life can’t.” Pg. 46, Chapter 6: The Hastings Cafeteria, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
6. “And then there was the illogical art of female friendship itself, the way it seemed to demand an ability to both keep and reveal secrets using precise timing.” Pg. 48, Chapter 6: The Hastings Cafeteria, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
7. “I’ve never understood why when women marry, they’re expected to trade in their old names like used cars, losing their last and sometimes even their first—Mrs. John Adams! Mrs. Abe Lincoln!—as if their previous identities had just been twenty-odd-year placeholders before they became actual people.” Pg. 50, Chapter 6: The Hastings Cafeteria, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
8. “Many people go to breeders to find a dog, and others to the pound, but sometimes, especially when it’s really meant to be, the right dog finds you.” Pg. 56, Chapter 7: Six-Thirty, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
9. “Humans were strange, Six-Thirty thought, the way they constantly battled dirt in their aboveground world, but after death willingly entombed themselves in it.” Pg. 102, Chapter 12: Calvin’s Parting Gift, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
10. “But when he couldn’t back up any of his assertions with meaningful scientific explanation, they realized they were in the presence of a scientific idiot. Hastings was rife with them. No surprise. Idiots make it into every company. They tend to interview well.” Pg. 111, Chapter 13: Idiots, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
11. “Besides, even if he knew every word in the English language, he still wouldn’t have any idea what to say. Because what does one say to someone who’s lost everything?” Pg. 122, Chapter 14: Grief, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
12. “Not every woman wants to be a mother,” he agreed, surprising her. “More to the point, not every woman should be.” Pg. 130, Chapter 15: Unsolicited Advice, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
13. “No wonder people didn’t understand animals. They could barely understand each other.” Pg. 134, Chapter 16: Labor, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
14. “…it was his low-grade stupidity she abhorred—his dull, opinionated, know-nothing charmless complexion; his ignorance, bigotry, vulgarity, insensitivity; and above all, his wholly undeserved faith in himself. Like most stupid people, Mr. Sloane wasn’t smart enough to know just how stupid he was.” Pg. 150, Chapter 18: Legally Mad, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
15. “Because while stupid people may not know they’re stupid because they’re stupid, surely unattractive people must know they’re unattractive because of mirrors. Not that there was anything wrong with being unattractive.” Pg. 150, Chapter 18: Legally Mad, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
16. “…names mattered more than the gender, more than tradition, more than whatever sounded nice. A name defined a person—or in his case, a dog. It was a personal flag one waved the rest of one’s life; it had to be right. Like his name, which he’d had to wait more than a year to receive.” Pg. 153, Chapter 18: Legally Mad, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
17. “Life’s a mystery, isn’t it? People who try and plan it inevitably end up disappointed.” Pg. 210, Chapter 24: The Afternoon Depression Zone, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
18. “She didn’t understand why they couldn’t just treat her as a fellow human being, as a colleague, a friend, an equal, or even a stranger on the street, someone to whom one is automatically respectful until you find out they’ve buried a bunch of bodies in the backyard.” Pg. 237, Chapter 27: All About Me, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
19. “In short, the reduction of women to something less than men, and the elevation of men to something more than women, is not biological: it’s cultural. And it starts with two words: pink and blue. Everything skyrockets out of control from there.” Pg. 237, Chapter 27: All About Me, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
20. “Often the best way to deal with the bad,” she said, feeling for her pencil, “is to turn it on end—use it as a strength, refuse to allow the bad thing to define you. Fight it.” Pg. 264, Chapter 30: 99 Percent, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
21. “She shook her head in wonder. She had no idea why men believed women found male genitalia impressive or scary.” Pg. 275, Chapter 30: 99 Percent, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
22. “Nature works on a higher intellectual plane. We can learn more, we can go further, but to accomplish this, we must throw open the doors. Too many brilliant minds are kept from scientific research thanks to ignorant biases like gender and race. It infuriates me and it should infuriate you. Science has big problems to solve: famine, disease, extinction. And those who purposefully close the door to others using self-serving, outdated cultural notions are not only dishonest, they’re knowingly lazy.” Pg. 331, Chapter 37: Sold Out, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
23. “Courage is the root of change—and change is what we’re chemically designed to do. So when you wake up tomorrow, make this pledge. No more holding yourself back. No more subscribing to others’ opinions of what you can and cannot achieve. And no more allowing anyone to pigeonhole you into useless categories of sex, race, economic status, and religion.” Pg. 360, Chapter 41: Recommit, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
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