Quotes by Novelist | Beyond Motive

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Quotes by Novelist

"Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy."

"Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy."

Franz Kafka, Austrian Novelist

Politics, Bureaucracy, Revolution

411

"What's the book like?""Well, some of it's twaddle, but mostly it's just piffle. Cheers!"

"What's the book like?""Well, some of it's twaddle, but mostly it's just piffle. Cheers!"

David Mitchell, British Novelist

Communication, Criticism, Opinion, Truth, Humor

279

"To live without Hope is to Cease to live."

"To live without Hope is to Cease to live."

Fyodor Dostoevsky, Russian Novelist

265

"The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity."

"The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity."

Leo Tolstoy, Russian Novelist

Life, Humanity, Meaning

237

"The heart, like the stomach, wants a varied diet."

"The heart, like the stomach, wants a varied diet."

Gustave Flaubert, French Novelist

Dieting, Diet, Heart

182

"If you were to destroy the belief in immortality in mankind, not only love but every living force on which the continuation of all life in the world depended, would dry up at once."

"If you were to destroy the belief in immortality in mankind, not only love but every living force on which the continuation of all life in the world depended, would dry up at once."

Fyodor Dostoevsky, Russian Novelist

Life, Love, Belief, Force

181

"War is not an adventure. It is a disease. It is like typhus."

"War is not an adventure. It is a disease. It is like typhus."

Antoine de Saint-Exupery, French Novelist

War, Adventure, Disease

166

"It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation."

"It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation."

Herman Melville, American Novelist

Wisdom, Imitation, Originality, Succeed

161

"For every expert there is an equal and opposite expert."

"For every expert there is an equal and opposite expert."

Jasper Fforde, British Novelist

Relativity, Expertise, Opposition, Knowledge

160

"I have the true feeling of myself only when I am unbearably unhappy."

"I have the true feeling of myself only when I am unbearably unhappy."

Franz Kafka, Austrian Novelist

Emotional, Feeling

152

"Suffering is the sole origin of consciousness."

"Suffering is the sole origin of consciousness."

Fyodor Dostoevsky, Russian Novelist

Suffering, Consciousness, Origin, Pain

142

"Fate and character are different names for the same idea."

"Fate and character are different names for the same idea."

Hermann Hesse, German Novelist

Fate, Character, Destiny, Identity

133

"A good man can be stupid and still be good. But a bad man must have brains."

"A good man can be stupid and still be good. But a bad man must have brains."

Maxim Gorky, Russian Novelist

129

"My countrymen have the right to shake my hand and talk to me if they so wish. Don't forget that their support and their reading of my works is what brought me the Nobel prize."

"My countrymen have the right to shake my hand and talk to me if they so wish. Don't forget that their support and their reading of my works is what brought me the Nobel prize."

Naguib Mahfouz, Egyptian Novelist

Reading, Forget, Right, Support

128

"Finance is a gun. Politics is knowing when to pull the trigger."

"Finance is a gun. Politics is knowing when to pull the trigger."

Mario Puzo, American Novelist

Finance, Politics

128

"One of the first conditions of happiness is that the link between Man and Nature shall not be broken."

"One of the first conditions of happiness is that the link between Man and Nature shall not be broken."

Leo Tolstoy, Russian Novelist

Happiness, Nature, First, Man

127

"To know ourselves, is agreed by all to be the most useful Learning; the first Lessons, therefore, given us ought to be on that Subject."

"To know ourselves, is agreed by all to be the most useful Learning; the first Lessons, therefore, given us ought to be on that Subject."

Eliza Haywood, British Novelist

Learning, First

127

"The work of art assumes the existence of the perfect spectator, and is indifferent to the fact that no such person exists."

"The work of art assumes the existence of the perfect spectator, and is indifferent to the fact that no such person exists."

E. M. Forster, English Novelist

Art, Work, Existence, Fact

127

"Love can consign us to hell or to paradise, but it always takes us somewhere."

"Love can consign us to hell or to paradise, but it always takes us somewhere."

Paulo Coelho, Brazilian Novelist

Love, Paradise, Hell

122

"Without literature my life would be miserable."

"Without literature my life would be miserable."

Naguib Mahfouz, Egyptian Novelist

Life, Literature

122

"O, what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive!"

"O, what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive!"

Walter Scott, Scottish Novelist

Behavior, First

122

"I never yet heard man or woman much abused that I was not inclined to think the better of them, and to transfer the suspicion or dislike to the one who found pleasure in pointing out the defects of another."

"I never yet heard man or woman much abused that I was not inclined to think the better of them, and to transfer the suspicion or dislike to the one who found pleasure in pointing out the defects of another."

Jane Porter, Irish Novelist

Man, Pleasure, Suspicion, Woman

121

"When thinking about companions gone, we feel ourselves doubly alone."

"When thinking about companions gone, we feel ourselves doubly alone."

Walter Scott, Scottish Novelist

121

"If the infinity of the sea may call out thus, perhaps when a man is growing old, calls come to him, too, from another infinity still darker and more deeply mysterious; and the more he is wearied by life the dearer are those calls to him."

"If the infinity of the sea may call out thus, perhaps when a man is growing old, calls come to him, too, from another infinity still darker and more deeply mysterious; and the more he is wearied by life the dearer are those calls to him."

Henryk Sienkiewicz, Polish Novelist

Life, Infinity, Man, May

121

"Beauty is the greatest seducer of man."

"Beauty is the greatest seducer of man."

Paulo Coelho, Brazilian Novelist

121

"Realists do not fear the results of their study."

"Realists do not fear the results of their study."

Fyodor Dostoevsky, Russian Novelist

Fear, Results, Study

119

"The world is always in movement."

"The world is always in movement."

V. S. Naipaul, Trinidadian Novelist

118

"What happens is that your wretched memory remembers the words and forgets what's behind them."

"What happens is that your wretched memory remembers the words and forgets what's behind them."

Augusto Roa Bastos, Paraguayan Novelist

117

"The relationship to one's fellow man is the relationship of prayer, the relationship to oneself is the relationship of striving; it is from prayer that one draws the strength for one's striving."

"The relationship to one's fellow man is the relationship of prayer, the relationship to oneself is the relationship of striving; it is from prayer that one draws the strength for one's striving."

Franz Kafka, Austrian Novelist

Strength, Man, Prayer

116

"It was a good place for getting lost in, a city no one ever knew, a city explored from the neutral heart outward, until after many years, it defined itself into a jumble of clearings separated by stretches of the unknown, through which the narrowest of paths had been cut."

"It was a good place for getting lost in, a city no one ever knew, a city explored from the neutral heart outward, until after many years, it defined itself into a jumble of clearings separated by stretches of the unknown, through which the narrowest of paths had been cut."

V. S. Naipaul, Trinidadian Novelist

116

"There are very honest people who do not think that they have had a bargain unless they have cheated a merchant."

"There are very honest people who do not think that they have had a bargain unless they have cheated a merchant."

Anatole France, French Novelist

People, Bargain

116

"A voice is a human gift; it should be cherished and used, to utter fully human speech as possible. Powerlessness and silence go together."

"A voice is a human gift; it should be cherished and used, to utter fully human speech as possible. Powerlessness and silence go together."

Margaret Atwood, Canadian Novelist

Silence, Speech, Voice

116

"The aeroplane has unveiled for us the true face of the earth."

"The aeroplane has unveiled for us the true face of the earth."

Antoine de Saint-Exupery, French Novelist

115

"Autumn arrives in early morning, but spring at the close of a winter day."

"Autumn arrives in early morning, but spring at the close of a winter day."

Elizabeth Bowen, Irish Novelist

Change, Autumn, Day, Spring, Winter

114

"Man only likes to count his troubles, but he does not count his joys."

"Man only likes to count his troubles, but he does not count his joys."

Fyodor Dostoevsky, Russian Novelist

114

"I was sent to a school because my father was already aware that his days were numbered, and he was anxious for me to acquire a good education and follow in his footsteps."

"I was sent to a school because my father was already aware that his days were numbered, and he was anxious for me to acquire a good education and follow in his footsteps."

Sigrid Undset, Norwegian Novelist

Education, Father, Footsteps, School

112

"All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love."

"All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love."

Leo Tolstoy, Russian Novelist

111

"Heretics are the only bitter remedy against the entropy of human thought."

"Heretics are the only bitter remedy against the entropy of human thought."

Yevgeny Zamyatin, Russian Novelist

111

"The Bristol Channel was always my guide, and I was always able to draw an imaginary line from my bed to our house over in Wales. It was a great comfort."

"The Bristol Channel was always my guide, and I was always able to draw an imaginary line from my bed to our house over in Wales. It was a great comfort."

Roald Dahl, British Novelist

Childhood, Bed, Comfort

111

"I don't like work... but I like what is in work - the chance to find yourself. Your own reality - for yourself, not for others - which no other man can ever know."

"I don't like work... but I like what is in work - the chance to find yourself. Your own reality - for yourself, not for others - which no other man can ever know."

Joseph Conrad, Polish Novelist

Work, Chance, Man, Reality

109

"The clever men at Oxford, know all that there is to be knowed. But they none of them know one half as much, as intelligent Mr. Toad."

"The clever men at Oxford, know all that there is to be knowed. But they none of them know one half as much, as intelligent Mr. Toad."

Kenneth Grahame, Scottish Novelist

108

"We used the Western style to express our own themes and stories. But don't forget that our heritage includes The Thousand and One Nights."

"We used the Western style to express our own themes and stories. But don't forget that our heritage includes The Thousand and One Nights."

Naguib Mahfouz, Egyptian Novelist

Cultural, Forget, Style

108

"The first moments of sleep are an image of death; a hazy torpor grips our thoughts and it becomes impossible for us to determine the exact instant when the "I," under another form, continues the task of existence."

"The first moments of sleep are an image of death; a hazy torpor grips our thoughts and it becomes impossible for us to determine the exact instant when the "I," under another form, continues the task of existence."

Gerard De Nerval, French Novelist

Death, Thoughts, Existence, First

108

"If you shut up truth, and bury it underground, it will but grow."

"If you shut up truth, and bury it underground, it will but grow."

Emile Zola, French Novelist

107

"So long as you have food in your mouth, you have solved all questions for the time being."

"So long as you have food in your mouth, you have solved all questions for the time being."

Franz Kafka, Austrian Novelist

Food, Time, Being, Questions

107

"You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet."

"You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet."

Franz Kafka, Austrian Novelist

Choice, Ecstasy, Feet, Quiet

106

"In order to move others deeply we must deliberately allow ourselves to be carried away beyond the bounds of our normal sensibility."

"In order to move others deeply we must deliberately allow ourselves to be carried away beyond the bounds of our normal sensibility."

Joseph Conrad, Polish Novelist

Empathy, Order, Sensibility

106

"I read the Odyssey because it was the story of a man who returned home after being absent for more than twenty years and was recognized only by his dog."

"I read the Odyssey because it was the story of a man who returned home after being absent for more than twenty years and was recognized only by his dog."

Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Cuban Novelist

Home, Being, Man, Years

106

"Every gift from a friend is a wish for your happiness."

"Every gift from a friend is a wish for your happiness."

Richard Bach, American Novelist

Friendship, Happiness, Friend

106

"I have known a vast quantity of nonsense talked about bad men not looking you in the face. Don't trust that conventional idea. Dishonesty will stare honesty out of countenance any day in the week, if there is anything to be got by it."

"I have known a vast quantity of nonsense talked about bad men not looking you in the face. Don't trust that conventional idea. Dishonesty will stare honesty out of countenance any day in the week, if there is anything to be got by it."

Charles Dickens, English Novelist

Trust, Men, Idea, Honesty

106

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