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Geraldine Brooks Quotes

We look at the Ark of the Covenant and remember who we are Picture Quote #1

One thing I believe completely is that the human heart remains the human heart, no matter how our material circumstances change as we move together through time Picture Quote #1

Even the classics that we read to our young children are full of wolves’ fangs and burning ovens and bloody feet and ice shards piercing hearts. Even the New Testament climaxes with an act of unspeakable torture. Might as well just read to our kids from the Amnesty Annual Report and be done with it Picture Quote #1

I do believe that our modern English usage has become way too clipped and austere. I have been reading excerpts from the journals of 18th-century seafarers lately, and even the lowliest press-ganged deck-swabber turns a finer phrase than I do most days Picture Quote #1

I think probably the scaredest I’ve ever been was in Somalia. I arrived there when the episode that became known as ‘Black Hawk Down’ was still taking place. The Americans were still pinned down under fire. And everybody else was basically going the other way, and I was the only one putting my hand up for a flight in Picture Quote #1

If screenwriters have to kill off a female character, they love to give her cancer. We’ve seen so many great actresses go down to the Big C: Ali MacGraw, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Debra Winger, Susan Sarandon Picture Quote #1

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Sydney in the 1960s wasn’t the exuberant multicultural metropolis it is today. Out in the city’s western reaches, days passed in a sun-struck stupor. In the evenings, families gathered on their verandas waiting for the ‘southerly buster’ - the thunderstorm that would break the heat and leave the air cool enough to allow sleep Picture Quote #1

When I write a word in English, a simple one, such as, say, ‘chief,’ I have unwittingly ushered a querulous horde into the room. The Roman legionary is there, shaking his cap, or head, and Andy Capp is there, slouching in his signature working man’s headgear Picture Quote #1

I’m a praying atheist. When I hear an ambulance siren, I ask for a blessing for those people in trouble, knowing that no one’s listening. I think it’s just a habit of mindfulness Picture Quote #1

I’d gotten myself into a kind of journalism that wasn’t really compatible with rearing an infant. I’d been a foreign correspondent for a long time and had this subspecialty in covering catastrophes. It had spoiled me a little because you have a tremendous amount of autonomy, and I couldn’t really see being an editor in an office Picture Quote #1

I loved being away from school. I didn’t really fancy school that much when I was little; it wasn’t until I was in third or fourth grade that I really settled down at school and I was much happier at home with my mum and she was very creative and sort of fostered all my interests Picture Quote #1

Sometimes I want to have a mental book burning that would scour my mind clean of all the filthy visions literature has conjured there. But how to do without ‘The Illiad?’ How to do without ‘Macbeth? Picture Quote #1

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The brave man, the real hero, quakes with terror, sweats, feels his very bowels betray him, and in spite of this moves forward to do the act he dreads Picture Quote #1

Jewish prayers are mostly about daily things - the sliver of a new moon, dew on the grass, the bread and the wine Picture Quote #1

The dirty little secret of foreign correspondents is that 90 per cent of it is showing up. If you can find a way to get there, the story, the reporting, it’s the easiest you’ll ever do. ‘Cause the drama’s everywhere Picture Quote #1

And when I’d be reporting in Israel, Palestinians would say, the Jews they’re not like us, and the Jews would say the same things about the Palestinians, they don’t want what we want. And I never bought it as a reporter and I don’t buy it as a novelist. I think, you know, the sound of somebody crying for their lost child sounds the same Picture Quote #1

I’m very, very leery of nonfiction books where they change timeframes and use - what do they call those things? - composite characters. I don’t think that’s right Picture Quote #1

Yes, the small village that we live in, in Virginia, is a very interesting place, in terms of its Civil War history, because it was a town that was founded by Quakers in 1733 Picture Quote #1

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While I love to read contemporary fiction, I’m not drawn to writing it. Perhaps it’s because the former journalist in me is too inhibited by the press of reality; when I think about writing of my own time I always think about nonfiction narratives. Or perhaps it’s just that I find the present too confounding Picture Quote #1

They say the Lord’s Day is a day of rest, but those who preach this generally are not women Picture Quote #1

We were too intelligent, too cynical for war. Of course, you don’t have to be stupid and primitive to die a stupid, primitive death Picture Quote #1

You can’t write about the past and ignore religion. It was such a fundamental, mind-shaping, driving force for pre-modern societies. I’m very interested in what religion does to us - its capacity to create love and empathy or hatred and violence Picture Quote #1

So, you know, Nathaniel was my first child, born when I was 40, so, uh... And then in due course, he wanted a brother, and then I thought, ‘Oh, that’ll be bloody lucky!’ So, we ended up adopting a beautiful boy who was then five years old, from Ethiopia Picture Quote #1

The structure of ‘March’ was laid down for me before the first line was written, because my character has to exist within Louisa May Alcott’s ‘Little Women’ plotline Picture Quote #1

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I think I’m still chewing on my years as a foreign correspondent. I found myself covering catastrophes - war, uprising, famine, refugee crises - and witnessing how people were affected by dire situations. When I find a story from the past, I bring some of those lessons to bear on the narrative Picture Quote #1

I was a news reporter for 16 years, seven of them a foreign correspondent in the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. Perhaps the most useful equipment I acquired in that time is a lack of preciousness about the act of writing. A reporter must write. There must be a story. The mot juste unarriving? Tell that to your desk Picture Quote #1

I write while my son is at school. At about 7:45 A.M., I walk him there, with the dogs, then walk them for another forty minutes or so, go home and chain myself to the desk a little before 9 A.M., and try not to be distracted until I hear my son plunge through the front door at about 3 P.M Picture Quote #1

Writing is like bricklaying; you put down one word after another. Sometimes the wall goes up straight and true and sometimes it doesn’t and you have to push it down and start again, but you don’t stop; it’s your trade Picture Quote #1

I had this story that had been banging around in my head and I thought, ‘I’ll just see if there’s anything there.’ So I wrote a few chapters of the book that became ‘Year of Wonders,’ and lucky for me it found its readers Picture Quote #1

The Sarajevans have a very particular world view - a mordant wit coupled with this unbearable sadness and... truckloads of guts, you know Picture Quote #1

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Friendship Quotes

Motivational Quotes

Inspirational Quotes

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Text Quotes

We look at the Ark of the Covenant and remember who we are (Geraldine Brooks Quotes) One thing I believe completely is that the human heart remains the human heart, no matter how our material circumstances change as we move together through time. (Geraldine Brooks Quotes) Even the classics that we read to our young children are full of wolves’ fangs and burning ovens and bloody feet and ice shards piercing hearts. Even the New Testament climaxes with an act of unspeakable torture. Might as well just read to our kids from the Amnesty Annual Report and be done with it (Geraldine Brooks Quotes) I do believe that our modern English usage has become way too clipped and austere. I have been reading excerpts from the journals of 18th-century seafarers lately, and even the lowliest press-ganged deck-swabber turns a finer phrase than I do most days (Geraldine Brooks Quotes) I think probably the scaredest I’ve ever been was in Somalia. I arrived there when the episode that became known as ‘Black Hawk Down’ was still taking place. The Americans were still pinned down under fire. And everybody else was basically going the other way, and I was the only one putting my hand up for a flight in (Geraldine Brooks Quotes) If screenwriters have to kill off a female character, they love to give her cancer. We’ve seen so many great actresses go down to the Big C: Ali MacGraw, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Debra Winger, Susan Sarandon (Geraldine Brooks Quotes) Sydney in the 1960s wasn’t the exuberant multicultural metropolis it is today. Out in the city’s western reaches, days passed in a sun-struck stupor. In the evenings, families gathered on their verandas waiting for the ‘southerly buster’ - the thunderstorm that would break the heat and leave the air cool enough to allow sleep (Geraldine Brooks Quotes) When I write a word in English, a simple one, such as, say, ‘chief,’ I have unwittingly ushered a querulous horde into the room. The Roman legionary is there, shaking his cap, or head, and Andy Capp is there, slouching in his signature working man’s headgear (Geraldine Brooks Quotes) I’m a praying atheist. When I hear an ambulance siren, I ask for a blessing for those people in trouble, knowing that no one’s listening. I think it’s just a habit of mindfulness. (Geraldine Brooks Quotes) I’d gotten myself into a kind of journalism that wasn’t really compatible with rearing an infant. I’d been a foreign correspondent for a long time and had this subspecialty in covering catastrophes. It had spoiled me a little because you have a tremendous amount of autonomy, and I couldn’t really see being an editor in an office. (Geraldine Brooks Quotes) I loved being away from school. I didn’t really fancy school that much when I was little; it wasn’t until I was in third or fourth grade that I really settled down at school and I was much happier at home with my mum and she was very creative and sort of fostered all my interests. (Geraldine Brooks Quotes) Sometimes I want to have a mental book burning that would scour my mind clean of all the filthy visions literature has conjured there. But how to do without ‘The Illiad?’ How to do without ‘Macbeth? (Geraldine Brooks Quotes) The brave man, the real hero, quakes with terror, sweats, feels his very bowels betray him, and in spite of this moves forward to do the act he dreads. (Geraldine Brooks Quotes) Jewish prayers are mostly about daily things - the sliver of a new moon, dew on the grass, the bread and the wine. (Geraldine Brooks Quotes) The dirty little secret of foreign correspondents is that 90 per cent of it is showing up. If you can find a way to get there, the story, the reporting, it’s the easiest you’ll ever do. ‘Cause the drama’s everywhere. (Geraldine Brooks Quotes) And when I’d be reporting in Israel, Palestinians would say, the Jews they’re not like us, and the Jews would say the same things about the Palestinians, they don’t want what we want. And I never bought it as a reporter and I don’t buy it as a novelist. I think, you know, the sound of somebody crying for their lost child sounds the same (Geraldine Brooks Quotes) I’m very, very leery of nonfiction books where they change timeframes and use - what do they call those things? - composite characters. I don’t think that’s right. (Geraldine Brooks Quotes) Yes, the small village that we live in, in Virginia, is a very interesting place, in terms of its Civil War history, because it was a town that was founded by Quakers in 1733. (Geraldine Brooks Quotes) While I love to read contemporary fiction, I’m not drawn to writing it. Perhaps it’s because the former journalist in me is too inhibited by the press of reality; when I think about writing of my own time I always think about nonfiction narratives. Or perhaps it’s just that I find the present too confounding. (Geraldine Brooks Quotes) They say the Lord’s Day is a day of rest, but those who preach this generally are not women (Geraldine Brooks Quotes) We were too intelligent, too cynical for war. Of course, you don’t have to be stupid and primitive to die a stupid, primitive death. (Geraldine Brooks Quotes) You can’t write about the past and ignore religion. It was such a fundamental, mind-shaping, driving force for pre-modern societies. I’m very interested in what religion does to us - its capacity to create love and empathy or hatred and violence. (Geraldine Brooks Quotes) So, you know, Nathaniel was my first child, born when I was 40, so, uh... And then in due course, he wanted a brother, and then I thought, ‘Oh, that’ll be bloody lucky!’ So, we ended up adopting a beautiful boy who was then five years old, from Ethiopia. (Geraldine Brooks Quotes) The structure of ‘March’ was laid down for me before the first line was written, because my character has to exist within Louisa May Alcott’s ‘Little Women’ plotline. (Geraldine Brooks Quotes) I think I’m still chewing on my years as a foreign correspondent. I found myself covering catastrophes - war, uprising, famine, refugee crises - and witnessing how people were affected by dire situations. When I find a story from the past, I bring some of those lessons to bear on the narrative. (Geraldine Brooks Quotes) I was a news reporter for 16 years, seven of them a foreign correspondent in the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. Perhaps the most useful equipment I acquired in that time is a lack of preciousness about the act of writing. A reporter must write. There must be a story. The mot juste unarriving? Tell that to your desk. (Geraldine Brooks Quotes) I write while my son is at school. At about 7:45 A.M., I walk him there, with the dogs, then walk them for another forty minutes or so, go home and chain myself to the desk a little before 9 A.M., and try not to be distracted until I hear my son plunge through the front door at about 3 P.M. (Geraldine Brooks Quotes) Writing is like bricklaying; you put down one word after another. Sometimes the wall goes up straight and true and sometimes it doesn’t and you have to push it down and start again, but you don’t stop; it’s your trade. (Geraldine Brooks Quotes) I had this story that had been banging around in my head and I thought, ‘I’ll just see if there’s anything there.’ So I wrote a few chapters of the book that became ‘Year of Wonders,’ and lucky for me it found its readers. (Geraldine Brooks Quotes) The Sarajevans have a very particular world view - a mordant wit coupled with this unbearable sadness and... truckloads of guts, you know (Geraldine Brooks Quotes)

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