Quotes by Novelist | Beyond Motive

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Quotes by Novelist

"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

437

"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

421

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

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

Fyodor Dostoevsky, Russian Novelist

316

"If there is a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, you must be the one to write it."

"If there is a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, you must be the one to write it."

Toni Morrison, American Novelist

Creativity, Want

297

"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

276

"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

215

"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

206

"...reality, however utopian, is something from which people feel the need of taking pretty frequent holidays...."

"...reality, however utopian, is something from which people feel the need of taking pretty frequent holidays...."

Aldous Huxley, English Novelist

Escape, Reality, Holiday, Needs

205

"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

191

"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

188

"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

174

"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

170

"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

168

"Without literature my life would be miserable."

"Without literature my life would be miserable."

Naguib Mahfouz, Egyptian Novelist

Life, Literature

166

"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

166

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

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

Walter Scott, Scottish Novelist

161

"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

159

"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

158

"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

158

"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

155

"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

153

"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

150

"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

150

"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

148

"Suffering is the sole origin of consciousness."

"Suffering is the sole origin of consciousness."

Fyodor Dostoevsky, Russian Novelist

Suffering, Consciousness, Origin, Pain

148

"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

147

"A word after a word after a word is power."

"A word after a word after a word is power."

Margaret Atwood, Canadian Novelist

146

"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

144

"The problem with marriage is that it ends every night after making love, and it must be rebuilt every morning before breakfast."

"The problem with marriage is that it ends every night after making love, and it must be rebuilt every morning before breakfast."

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Colombian Novelist

Marriage, Love, Night

142

"Beauty is the greatest seducer of man."

"Beauty is the greatest seducer of man."

Paulo Coelho, Brazilian Novelist

141

"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

141

"The house a woman creates is a Utopia. She can't help it - can't help trying to interest her nearest and dearest not in happiness itself but in the search for it."

"The house a woman creates is a Utopia. She can't help it - can't help trying to interest her nearest and dearest not in happiness itself but in the search for it."

Marguerite Duras, French Novelist

Happiness, Help, Interest, Trying

141

"The world is always in movement."

"The world is always in movement."

V. S. Naipaul, Trinidadian Novelist

141

"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

141

"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

138

"All one's inventions are true, you can be sure of that. Poetry is as exact a science as geometry."

"All one's inventions are true, you can be sure of that. Poetry is as exact a science as geometry."

Gustave Flaubert, French Novelist

Poetry, Science, Geometry, Inventions

138

"We are like a woman with a difficult pregnancy. We have to rebuild the social classes in Egypt, and we must change the way things were."

"We are like a woman with a difficult pregnancy. We have to rebuild the social classes in Egypt, and we must change the way things were."

Naguib Mahfouz, Egyptian Novelist

Change, Pregnancy, Woman

138

"Great things are not accomplished by those who yield to trends and fads and popular opinion."

"Great things are not accomplished by those who yield to trends and fads and popular opinion."

Jack Kerouac, American Novelist

Leadership, Opinion, Popular, Yield

138

"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

136

"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

136

"To be a poet is a condition rather than a profession."

"To be a poet is a condition rather than a profession."

Robert Graves, Irish Novelist

Art, Profession

135

"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

135

"The hero of the book does long to experience God. But his conception of God is very western."

"The hero of the book does long to experience God. But his conception of God is very western."

Orhan Pamuk, Turkish Novelist

Experience, God

134

"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

134

"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

132

"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

132

"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

131

"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

131

"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

131

"Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy."

"Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy."

Guillaume Apollinaire, French Novelist

Happiness, Now, Pursuit

130

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