Quotes by Novelist | Beyond Motive 3/277

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Quotes by Novelist

"The progress of science is strewn, like an ancient desert trail, with the bleached skeleton of discarded theories which once seemed to possess eternal life."

"The progress of science is strewn, like an ancient desert trail, with the bleached skeleton of discarded theories which once seemed to possess eternal life."

Arthur Koestler, Hungarian Novelist

Life, Science, Progress, Theories

28

"The biography of a writer - or even the autobiography - will always have this incompleteness."

"The biography of a writer - or even the autobiography - will always have this incompleteness."

V. S. Naipaul, Trinidadian Novelist

Literature, Autobiography, Will, Writer

28

"But every single damn thing matters! Only we don't realize. We just tell ourselves that art runs on one track and life, our lives, on another, and we don't realize that's a lie."

"But every single damn thing matters! Only we don't realize. We just tell ourselves that art runs on one track and life, our lives, on another, and we don't realize that's a lie."

Roberto Bolano, Chilean Novelist

28

"What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it."

"What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it."

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Colombian Novelist

28

"In all my novels, I deal with the many problems and prejudices which exist for Black people in Britain today."

"In all my novels, I deal with the many problems and prejudices which exist for Black people in Britain today."

Buchi Emecheta, Nigerian Novelist

People, Problems, Today

27

"How some of the writers I come across get through their books without dying of boredom is beyond me."

"How some of the writers I come across get through their books without dying of boredom is beyond me."

William Gaddis, American Novelist

Books, Boredom, Dying, Writers

27

"I'm the kind of writer that people think other people are reading."

"I'm the kind of writer that people think other people are reading."

V. S. Naipaul, Trinidadian Novelist

People, Reading, Writer

27

"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

27

"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

27

"First, to be able to love, then to learn that body and spirit are one."

"First, to be able to love, then to learn that body and spirit are one."

Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Austrian Novelist

Love, Body, First, Spirit

26

"Winning Nobel imposed on me a lifestyle to which I am not used and which I would not have preferred."

"Winning Nobel imposed on me a lifestyle to which I am not used and which I would not have preferred."

Naguib Mahfouz, Egyptian Novelist

26

"Argentine political life is like the life of an ant community or an African forest tribe: full of events, full of crisis and deaths, but life is always cyclical, and the year ends as it begins."

"Argentine political life is like the life of an ant community or an African forest tribe: full of events, full of crisis and deaths, but life is always cyclical, and the year ends as it begins."

V. S. Naipaul, Trinidadian Novelist

Life, African, Community, Crisis

26

"At my age it is unseemly to be pessimistic."

"At my age it is unseemly to be pessimistic."

Naguib Mahfouz, Egyptian Novelist

26

"The will is never free - it is always attached to an object, a purpose. It is simply the engine in the car - it can't steer."

"The will is never free - it is always attached to an object, a purpose. It is simply the engine in the car - it can't steer."

Joyce Cary, Irish Novelist

Car, Purpose, Will

26

"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

26

"If I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country."

"If I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country."

E. M. Forster, English Novelist

Friendship, Friend, Hope, Country

26

"Pear Drops were exciting because they had a dangerous taste. All of us were warned against eating them, and the result was that we ate them more than ever."

"Pear Drops were exciting because they had a dangerous taste. All of us were warned against eating them, and the result was that we ate them more than ever."

Roald Dahl, British Novelist

Childhood, Eating, Result, Taste

26

"It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old, they grow old because they stop pursuing dreams."

"It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old, they grow old because they stop pursuing dreams."

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Colombian Novelist

Dream, Dreams, People, Old

26

"In all nations an exceptional man exists that compensates the deficiencies of the remainder. In those moments, when humanity is found collectively in a state of decadence, there always remain those exceptional beings as point of reference."

"In all nations an exceptional man exists that compensates the deficiencies of the remainder. In those moments, when humanity is found collectively in a state of decadence, there always remain those exceptional beings as point of reference."

Augusto Roa Bastos, Paraguayan Novelist

Humanity, Moments, Nations, State

26

"I came to London. It had become the center of my world and I had worked hard to come to it. And I was lost."

"I came to London. It had become the center of my world and I had worked hard to come to it. And I was lost."

V. S. Naipaul, Trinidadian Novelist

Experience, London, World

25

"Science and literature give me answers. And they ask me questions I will never be able to answer."

"Science and literature give me answers. And they ask me questions I will never be able to answer."

Mark Haddon, English Novelist

Science, Answers, Literature, Questions

25

"The secret story is the one we'll never know, although we're living it from day to day, thinking we're alive, thinking we've got it all under control and the stuff we overlook doesn't matter."

"The secret story is the one we'll never know, although we're living it from day to day, thinking we're alive, thinking we've got it all under control and the stuff we overlook doesn't matter."

Roberto Bolano, Chilean Novelist

Control, Day, Living, Thinking

25

"I just don't want to die without a few scars."

"I just don't want to die without a few scars."

Chuck Palahniuk, American Novelist

25

"To be fully seen by somebody, then, and be loved anyhow - this is a human offering that can border on miraculous."

"To be fully seen by somebody, then, and be loved anyhow - this is a human offering that can border on miraculous."

Elizabeth Gilbert, American Novelist

Love, Acceptance, Humanity, Relationship

25

"That is what I define as a novel: something that has a beginning, a middle and an end, with characters and a plot that sustain interest from the first sentence to the last. But that is not what I do at all."

"That is what I define as a novel: something that has a beginning, a middle and an end, with characters and a plot that sustain interest from the first sentence to the last. But that is not what I do at all."

Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Cuban Novelist

Beginning, End, First, Interest

24

"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

24

"I am the kind of writer that people think other people are reading."

"I am the kind of writer that people think other people are reading."

V. S. Naipaul, Trinidadian Novelist

People, Reading, Writer

24

"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

24

"Better to sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunken Christian."

"Better to sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunken Christian."

Herman Melville, American Novelist

Humor, Christian, Sleep

24

"Memory in youth is active and easily impressible; in old age it is comparatively callous to new impressions, but still retains vividly those of earlier years."

"Memory in youth is active and easily impressible; in old age it is comparatively callous to new impressions, but still retains vividly those of earlier years."

Charlotte Bronte, British Novelist

Age, Memory, Old, Years

24

"We made no inquiries about India or about the families people had left behind. When our ways of thinking had changed, and we wished to know, it was too late. I know nothing of the people on my father's side; I know only that some of them came from Nepal."

"We made no inquiries about India or about the families people had left behind. When our ways of thinking had changed, and we wished to know, it was too late. I know nothing of the people on my father's side; I know only that some of them came from Nepal."

V. S. Naipaul, Trinidadian Novelist

Family, Father, People, Nothing, Thinking

24

"Even the strongest man needs friends."

"Even the strongest man needs friends."

Mario Puzo, American Novelist

Friendship, Friends, Man, Needs

24

"The tendency of democracies is, in all things, to mediocrity."

"The tendency of democracies is, in all things, to mediocrity."

James F. Cooper, American Novelist

Democracy, Mediocrity

24

"In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt."

"In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt."

Margaret Atwood, Canadian Novelist

Nature, Day, End, Spring

24

"The planned sit-down reception is an artificial forum where one is presented with a limited number of persons with whom he can hold a conversation."

"The planned sit-down reception is an artificial forum where one is presented with a limited number of persons with whom he can hold a conversation."

Jerzy Kosinski, Polish Novelist

23

"There is a condition worse than blindness, and that is, seeing something that isn't there."

"There is a condition worse than blindness, and that is, seeing something that isn't there."

Thomas Hardy, English Novelist

Appearance, Blindness

23

"The author, in his work, must be like God in the Universe, present everywhere and visible nowhere."

"The author, in his work, must be like God in the Universe, present everywhere and visible nowhere."

Gustave Flaubert, French Novelist

God, Work, Present, Universe

23

"We never stop reading, although every book comes to an end, just as we never stop living, although death is certain."

"We never stop reading, although every book comes to an end, just as we never stop living, although death is certain."

Roberto Bolano, Chilean Novelist

Reading, Death, End, Living

23

"Boredom: the desire for desires."

"Boredom: the desire for desires."

Leo Tolstoy, Russian Novelist

23

"Make them laugh, make them cry, make them wait."

"Make them laugh, make them cry, make them wait."

Charles Dickens, English Novelist

Storytelling, Emotion, Drama, Patience

23

"An early-rising man is a good spouse but a bad husband."

"An early-rising man is a good spouse but a bad husband."

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Colombian Novelist

Morning, Husband, Man

23

"I don't believe in God, but I'm afraid of Him."

"I don't believe in God, but I'm afraid of Him."

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Colombian Novelist

23

"Life is so constructed, that the event does not, cannot, will not, match the expectation."

"Life is so constructed, that the event does not, cannot, will not, match the expectation."

Charlotte Bronte, British Novelist

Life, Expectation, Will

22

"The human crisis is always a crisis of understanding: what we genuinely understand we can do."

"The human crisis is always a crisis of understanding: what we genuinely understand we can do."

Raymond Williams, Welsh Novelist

22

"Time is change; we measure its passing by how much things alter."

"Time is change; we measure its passing by how much things alter."

Nadine Gordimer, South African Novelist

Time, Change, Measure

22

"There are no heroes in most of my stories. I look at our society with a critical eye and find nothing extraordinary in the people I see."

"There are no heroes in most of my stories. I look at our society with a critical eye and find nothing extraordinary in the people I see."

Naguib Mahfouz, Egyptian Novelist

Society, People, Eye, Heroes

22

"Truly amazing, what people can get used to, as long as there are a few compensations."

"Truly amazing, what people can get used to, as long as there are a few compensations."

Margaret Atwood, Canadian Novelist

Survival, Adaptation, Suffering, Compensation, Habits

22

"Scientists dream about doing great things. Engineers do them."

"Scientists dream about doing great things. Engineers do them."

James A. Michener, American Novelist

Dream, Scientists

22

"People who act like angels ought to have angels to deal with."

"People who act like angels ought to have angels to deal with."

Samuel Richardson, English Novelist

People, Act, Angels

22

"Oh the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are."

"Oh the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are."

Dinah Maria Mulock, English Novelist

Thought, Thoughts, Comfort, Feeling, Measure

22

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