Quotes by Novelist | Beyond Motive 4/312

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Quotes by Novelist

"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

34

"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

34

"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

34

"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

34

"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

33

"Remake the world, a little at a time, each in your own corner of the world."

"Remake the world, a little at a time, each in your own corner of the world."

Rick Riordan, American Novelist

Impact, Change, Truth, Life, Power

33

"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

33

"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

33

"Remember that there is onlyone important time and is Now. The present moment isthe only time over which we have dominion. The mostimportant person is always the person with whom youare, who is right before you, for who knows if you willhave dealings with any other person in the future. Themost important pursuit is making that person, the onestanding at you side, happy, for that alone is the pursuitof life."

"Remember that there is onlyone important time and is Now. The present moment isthe only time over which we have dominion. The mostimportant person is always the person with whom youare, who is right before you, for who knows if you willhave dealings with any other person in the future. Themost important pursuit is making that person, the onestanding at you side, happy, for that alone is the pursuitof life."

Leo Tolstoy, Russian Novelist

Present, Now, Time, Happiness

33

"When work is a pleasure, life is a joy! When work is a duty, life is slavery."

"When work is a pleasure, life is a joy! When work is a duty, life is slavery."

Maxim Gorky, Russian Novelist

Life, Work, Duty, Pleasure

32

"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

32

"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

32

"Life is a great sunrise. I do not see why death should not be an even greater one."

"Life is a great sunrise. I do not see why death should not be an even greater one."

Vladimir Nabokov, American Novelist

32

"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

32

"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

32

"Elegance is usually confused with superficiality, fashion, lack of depth. This is a serious mistake: human beings need to have elegance in their actions and in their posture because this word is synonymous with good taste, amiability, equilibrium and harmony."

"Elegance is usually confused with superficiality, fashion, lack of depth. This is a serious mistake: human beings need to have elegance in their actions and in their posture because this word is synonymous with good taste, amiability, equilibrium and harmony."

Paulo Coelho, Brazilian Novelist

Elegance, Behavior, Balance, Harmony

32

"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

32

"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

31

"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

31

"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

31

"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

31

"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

31

"Even the strongest man needs friends."

"Even the strongest man needs friends."

Mario Puzo, American Novelist

Friendship, Friends, Man, Needs

31

"As you enter positions of trust and power, dream a little before you think."

"As you enter positions of trust and power, dream a little before you think."

Toni Morrison, American Novelist

Wisdom, Trust, Power, Dream

31

"I feel like a wet seed wild in the hot blind earth."

"I feel like a wet seed wild in the hot blind earth."

William Faulkner, American Novelist

Existence, Blind, Earth

31

"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

31

"We all long for Eden, and we are constantly glimpsing it: our whole nature at its best and least corrupted, its gentlest and most human, is still soaked with the sense of exile."

"We all long for Eden, and we are constantly glimpsing it: our whole nature at its best and least corrupted, its gentlest and most human, is still soaked with the sense of exile."

J. R. R. Tolkien, English Novelist

Spiritual, Longing, Nature, Humanity

31

"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away."

"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away."

Antoine de Saint-Exupery, French Novelist

Nothing, Perfection

30

"Speed provides the one genuinely modern pleasure."

"Speed provides the one genuinely modern pleasure."

Aldous Huxley, English Novelist

30

"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

30

"I hate everything which is not in myself."

"I hate everything which is not in myself."

Norman Mailer, American Novelist

30

"I am tomorrow, or some future day, what I establish today. I am today what I established yesterday or some previous day."

"I am tomorrow, or some future day, what I establish today. I am today what I established yesterday or some previous day."

James Joyce, Irish Novelist

Determinism, Day, Future, Today, Tomorrow

30

"If life's lessons could be reduced to single sentences, there would be no need for fiction."

"If life's lessons could be reduced to single sentences, there would be no need for fiction."

Scott Turow, American Novelist

30

"Man survives earthquakes, epidemics, the horrors of disease, and agonies of the soul, but all the time his most tormenting tragedy has been, is, and will always be, the tragedy of the bedroom."

"Man survives earthquakes, epidemics, the horrors of disease, and agonies of the soul, but all the time his most tormenting tragedy has been, is, and will always be, the tragedy of the bedroom."

Leo Tolstoy, Russian Novelist

Reality, Survival, Truth, Humanity, Struggle

30

"A man can be destroyed but not defeated."

"A man can be destroyed but not defeated."

Ernest Hemingway, American Novelist

29

"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

29

"I prefer the folly of enthusiasm to the indifference of wisdom."

"I prefer the folly of enthusiasm to the indifference of wisdom."

Anatole France, French Novelist

Wisdom, Enthusiasm, Folly, Indifference

29

"When facism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross."

"When facism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross."

Sinclair Lewis, American Novelist

Fascism, America, Will

29

"Sarcasm: the last refuge of modest and chaste-souled people when the privacy of their soul is coarsely and intrusively invaded."

"Sarcasm: the last refuge of modest and chaste-souled people when the privacy of their soul is coarsely and intrusively invaded."

Fyodor Dostoevsky, Russian Novelist

Soul, People, Privacy

29

"No man for any considerable period can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true."

"No man for any considerable period can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true."

Nathaniel Hawthorne, American Novelist

29

"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

28

"Fairness does not mean everyone gets the same. Fairness means everyone gets what they need."

"Fairness does not mean everyone gets the same. Fairness means everyone gets what they need."

Rick Riordan, American Novelist

Justice, Fairness, Truth, Wisdom, Power

28

"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

28

"An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don't."

"An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don't."

Anatole France, French Novelist

Education, Being, Memory

28

"We cannot tear out a single page of our life, but we can throw the whole book in the fire."

"We cannot tear out a single page of our life, but we can throw the whole book in the fire."

George Sand, French Novelist

28

"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

28

"I was very pleased, obviously, to have outsold such great writers. But I'm not insane - I do realize that I am a popular writer who people buy to take on vacation."

"I was very pleased, obviously, to have outsold such great writers. But I'm not insane - I do realize that I am a popular writer who people buy to take on vacation."

Maeve Binchy, Irish Novelist

People, Popular, Vacation, Writer

28

"To give up the task of reforming society is to give up one's responsibility as a free man."

"To give up the task of reforming society is to give up one's responsibility as a free man."

Alan Paton, South African Novelist

Society, Man, Responsibility, Southafrican

28

"Why should human females become sterile in their forties while female crocodiles continue to lay eggs into their third century?"

"Why should human females become sterile in their forties while female crocodiles continue to lay eggs into their third century?"

Aldous Huxley, English Novelist

Aging, Nature, Life, Time

28

"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

28

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