By accessing or using this site you accept and agree to our Terms and Conditions | As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases
Flaubert's Parrot
Julian Barnes
Top 10 Best Quotes
“Books say: She did this because. Life says: She did this. Books are where things are explained to you; life is where things aren't. I'm not surprised some people prefer books.”
“Books say: She did this because. Life says: She did this. Books are where things are explained to you; life is where things aren't. I'm not surprised some people prefer books. Books make sense of life. The only problem is that the lives they make sense of are other people's lives, never your own.”
“Women scheme when they are weak, they lie out of fear. Men scheme when they are strong, they lie out of arrogance.”
“To be stupid, and selfish, and to have good health are the three requirements for happiness - though if stupidity is lacking, the others are useless.”
“The greatest patriotism is to tell your country when it is behaving dishonorably, foolishly, viciously.”
“(on grief) And you do come out of it, that’s true. After a year, after five. But you don’t come out of it like a train coming out of a tunnel, bursting through the downs into sunshine and that swift, rattling descent to the Channel; you come out of it as a gull comes out of an oil-slick. You are tarred and feathered for life.”
“He feared me as many men fear women: because their mistresses (or their wives) understand them. They are scarcely adult, some men: they wish women to understand them, and to that end they tell them all their secrets; and then, when they are properly understood, they hate their women for understanding them.”
“The writer must be universal in sympathy and an outcast by nature: only then can he see clearly.”
“A pier is a disappointed bridge; yet stare at it for long enough and you can dream it to the other side of the Channel.”
“When you’re young you prefer the vulgar months, the fullness of the seasons. As you grow older you learn to like the in-between times, the months that can’t make up their minds. Perhaps it’s a way of admitting that things can’t ever bear the same certainty again.”
Except where otherwise noted, all rights reserved to the author(s) of this book (mentioned above). The content of this page serves as promotional material only. If you enjoyed these quotes, you can support the author(s) by acquiring the full book from Amazon.
Book Keywords:
grief, happiness, men, arrogance, fear, love, life, relationships, seasons, patriotism, writing, disappointment, creativity, women, writers, stupidity, books, age, politics, government