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John Banville Quotes

The sentence is the greatest human invention of civilization Picture Quote #1

Where I went, no one could follow. Yet someone managed to hold my hand Picture Quote #1

There are times, they occur with increasing frequency nowadays, when I seem to know nothing, when everything I know seems to have fallen out of my mind like a shower of rain, and I am gripped for a moment in paralysed dismay, waiting for it all to come back but with no certainty that it will Picture Quote #1

In order really to write one has to sink deep into the self and become lost there Picture Quote #1

Perhaps all of life is no more than a long preparation for the leaving of it Picture Quote #1

Art is amoral, whether we accept this or not; it does not take sides. The finest fictions are cold at heart Picture Quote #1

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We carry the dead with us only until we die too, and then it is we who are borne along for a little while, and then our bearers in their turn drop, and so on into the unimaginable generations Picture Quote #1

A man is not much if he can’t depend on himself, and nothing if others can’t depend on him Picture Quote #1

To take possession of a city of which you are not a native you must first fall in love there Picture Quote #1

The telephone ringing gave me a dreadful start. I have never got used to this machine, the way it crouches so malevolently, ready to start clamouring for attention when you least expect it, like a mad baby Picture Quote #1

Yes, this is what I thought adulthood would be, a kind of long indian summer, a state of tranquility, of calm incuriousness, with nothing left of the barely bearable raw immediacy of childhood, all the things solved that had puzzled me when I was small, all mysteries settled, all questions answered, and the moments dripping away, unnoticed almost, drip by golden drip, toward the final, almost unnoticed, quietus Picture Quote #1

These days I must take the world in small and carefully measured doses. It is a sort of homeopathic cure I am undergoing, though I am not certain what this cure is meant to mend. Perhaps I am learning to live amongst the living again. Practising, I mean. But no, that is not it. Being here is just a way of not being anywhere Picture Quote #1

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I don’t make a distinction between men and women. To me they are just people Picture Quote #1

I had never liked, even feared a little, this wild reach of marsh and mud flats where everything seemed turned away from the land, looking off desperately toward the horizon as if in mute search for a sign of rescue Picture Quote #1

The world is not real for me until it has been pushed through the mesh of language Picture Quote #1

I have never really got used to being on this earth. Sometimes I think our presence here is due to a cosmic blunder, that we were meant for another planet altogether, with other arrangements, and other laws, and other, grimmer skies. I try to imagine it, our true place, off on the far side of the galaxy, whirling and whirling. And the ones who were meant for here, are they out there, baffled and homesick, like us? No, they would have become extinct long ago. How could they survive, these gentle earthlings, in a world that was made to contain us Picture Quote #1

... being alone with him was like being in a room which someone had just violently left Picture Quote #1

How flat all sounds are at the seaside, flat and yet emphatic, like the sound of gunshots heard at a distance Picture Quote #1

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I would be far more critical than any reviewer could be of my own work. So I simply don’t read them Picture Quote #1

I’ve always been fascinated by physics and cosmology. It gets more and more scary the older you get Picture Quote #1

If I was asked to say what was the greatest invention of human beings, I would say the sentence Picture Quote #1

In my books you have to concentrate, but I work hard to make it that, when you do, the rewards are quite high Picture Quote #1

For memory, we use our imagination. We take a few strands of real time and carry them with us, then like an oyster we create a pearl around them Picture Quote #1

Doing what you do well is death. Your duty is to keep trying to do things that you don’t do well, in the hope of learning Picture Quote #1

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We artists love to talk tough, but we’re just as sentimental as everyone else when it comes down to it Picture Quote #1

We think we’re living in the present, but we’re really living in the past Picture Quote #1

Fictional characters are made of words, not flesh; they do not have free will, they do not exercise volition. They are easily born, and as easily killed off Picture Quote #1

Writing keeps me at my desk, constantly trying to write a perfect sentence. It is a great privilege to make one’s living from writing sentences. The sentence is the greatest invention of civilization. To sit all day long assembling these extraordinary strings of words is a marvelous thing. I couldn’t ask for anything better. It’s as near to godliness as I can get Picture Quote #1

Enormous morning, ponderous, meticulous; gray light streaking each bare branch, each single twig, along one side, making another tree, of glassy veins Picture Quote #1

If they give me the bloody prize, why can’t they say nice things about me? Picture Quote #1

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Friendship Quotes

Motivational Quotes

Inspirational Quotes

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Text Quotes

The sentence is the greatest human invention of civilization (John Banville Quotes) Where I went, no one could follow. Yet someone managed to hold my hand (John Banville Quotes) There are times, they occur with increasing frequency nowadays, when I seem to know nothing, when everything I know seems to have fallen out of my mind like a shower of rain, and I am gripped for a moment in paralysed dismay, waiting for it all to come back but with no certainty that it will (John Banville Quotes) In order really to write one has to sink deep into the self and become lost there (John Banville Quotes) Perhaps all of life is no more than a long preparation for the leaving of it (John Banville Quotes) Art is amoral, whether we accept this or not; it does not take sides. The finest fictions are cold at heart (John Banville Quotes) We carry the dead with us only until we die too, and then it is we who are borne along for a little while, and then our bearers in their turn drop, and so on into the unimaginable generations (John Banville Quotes) A man is not much if he can’t depend on himself, and nothing if others can’t depend on him (John Banville Quotes) To take possession of a city of which you are not a native you must first fall in love there (John Banville Quotes) The telephone ringing gave me a dreadful start. I have never got used to this machine, the way it crouches so malevolently, ready to start clamouring for attention when you least expect it, like a mad baby (John Banville Quotes) Yes, this is what I thought adulthood would be, a kind of long indian summer, a state of tranquility, of calm incuriousness, with nothing left of the barely bearable raw immediacy of childhood, all the things solved that had puzzled me when I was small, all mysteries settled, all questions answered, and the moments dripping away, unnoticed almost, drip by golden drip, toward the final, almost unnoticed, quietus (John Banville Quotes) These days I must take the world in small and carefully measured doses. It is a sort of homeopathic cure I am undergoing, though I am not certain what this cure is meant to mend. Perhaps I am learning to live amongst the living again. Practising, I mean. But no, that is not it. Being here is just a way of not being anywhere (John Banville Quotes) I don’t make a distinction between men and women. To me they are just people (John Banville Quotes) I had never liked, even feared a little, this wild reach of marsh and mud flats where everything seemed turned away from the land, looking off desperately toward the horizon as if in mute search for a sign of rescue (John Banville Quotes) The world is not real for me until it has been pushed through the mesh of language (John Banville Quotes) I have never really got used to being on this earth. Sometimes I think our presence here is due to a cosmic blunder, that we were meant for another planet altogether, with other arrangements, and other laws, and other, grimmer skies. I try to imagine it, our true place, off on the far side of the galaxy, whirling and whirling. And the ones who were meant for here, are they out there, baffled and homesick, like us? No, they would have become extinct long ago. How could they survive, these gentle earthlings, in a world that was made to contain us (John Banville Quotes) ... being alone with him was like being in a room which someone had just violently left (John Banville Quotes) How flat all sounds are at the seaside, flat and yet emphatic, like the sound of gunshots heard at a distance (John Banville Quotes) I would be far more critical than any reviewer could be of my own work. So I simply don’t read them (John Banville Quotes) I’ve always been fascinated by physics and cosmology. It gets more and more scary the older you get (John Banville Quotes) If I was asked to say what was the greatest invention of human beings, I would say the sentence (John Banville Quotes) In my books you have to concentrate, but I work hard to make it that, when you do, the rewards are quite high (John Banville Quotes) For memory, we use our imagination. We take a few strands of real time and carry them with us, then like an oyster we create a pearl around them (John Banville Quotes) Doing what you do well is death. Your duty is to keep trying to do things that you don’t do well, in the hope of learning (John Banville Quotes) We artists love to talk tough, but we’re just as sentimental as everyone else when it comes down to it (John Banville Quotes) We think we’re living in the present, but we’re really living in the past (John Banville Quotes) Fictional characters are made of words, not flesh; they do not have free will, they do not exercise volition. They are easily born, and as easily killed off (John Banville Quotes) Writing keeps me at my desk, constantly trying to write a perfect sentence. It is a great privilege to make one’s living from writing sentences. The sentence is the greatest invention of civilization. To sit all day long assembling these extraordinary strings of words is a marvelous thing. I couldn’t ask for anything better. It’s as near to godliness as I can get (John Banville Quotes) Enormous morning, ponderous, meticulous; gray light streaking each bare branch, each single twig, along one side, making another tree, of glassy veins (John Banville Quotes) If they give me the bloody prize, why can’t they say nice things about me? (John Banville Quotes)

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