|

|

Advertisements

Michael Cunningham Quotes

Here’s a secret. Many novelists, if they are pressed and if they are being honest, will admit that the finished book is a rather rough translation of the book they’d intended to write Picture Quote #1

I suspect any serious reader has a first great book, just the way anybody has a first kiss Picture Quote #1

What do you do when you’re no longer the hero of your own story? Picture Quote #1

A stray fact: insects are not drawn to candle flames, they are drawn to the light on the far side of the flame, they go into the flame and sizzle to nothingness because they’re so eager to get to the light on the other side Picture Quote #1

What she wants to say has to do not only with joy but with the penetrating, constant fear that is joy’s other half Picture Quote #1

Take me with you. I want a doomed love. I want streets at night, wind and rain, no one wondering where I am Picture Quote #1

Advertisements

You want to give him the book of his own life, the book that will locate him, parent him, arm him for the changes Picture Quote #1

We’d hoped for love of a different kind, love that knew and forgave our human frailty but did not miniaturize our grander ideas of ourselves Picture Quote #1

I am beginning to understand the true difference between youth and age. Young people have time to make plans and think of new ideas. Older people need their whole energy to keep up with what’s already been set in motion Picture Quote #1

Accept that, like many men, you have a streak of the homoerotic in you. Why would you, why would anyone, want to be that straight? Picture Quote #1

She thinks how much more space a being occupies in life than it does in death; how much illusion of size is contained in gestures and movements, in breathing. Dead, we are revealed in our true dimensions, and they are surprisingly modest Picture Quote #1

That is what we do. That is what people do. They stay alive for each other Picture Quote #1

Advertisements

There’s just this for consolation: an hour here or there when our lives seem, against all odds and expectations, to burst open and give us everything we’ve ever imagined Picture Quote #1

People are more than you think they are. And they’re less, as well. The trick lies in negotiating your way between the two Picture Quote #1

I think of the people who commit these acts as children. They’re in their 20s, but like certain children, they have been told only one story, over and over. Like most children, they believe in an easily identifiable good and evil, and like most children, they are capable of unthinkable cruelty Picture Quote #1

A certain slightly cruel disregard for the feelings of living people is simply part of the package. I think a writer, if hes any good, is not an entirely benign entity in the world Picture Quote #1

She is, above all else, tired; she wants more than anything to return to her bed and her book. The world, this world, feels suddenly stunned and stunted, far from everything Picture Quote #1

I feel like there’s something terrible and wonderful and amazing that’s just beyond my grasp. I have dreams about it. I do dream, by the way. It hovers over me at odd moments. And then it’s gone. I feel like I’m always on the brink of something that never arrives. I want to either have it or be free of it Picture Quote #1

Advertisements

I don’t have any regrets, really, except that one. I wanted to write about you, about us, really. Do you know what I mean? I wanted to write about everything, the life we’re having and the lives we might have had. I wanted to write about all the ways we might have died Picture Quote #1

He wanted to tell her that he was inspired and vigilant and recklessly alone, that his body contained his unsteady heart and something else, something he felt but could not describe: porous and spiky, shifting with flecks of thought, with urge and memory; salted with brightness, flickerings of white and green and pale gold; something that loved stars because it was made of the same substance Picture Quote #1

I know, speaking for myself, no matter what I’m able to do, no matter what book comes out and ends up on paper, I always had something bigger and grander in my head Picture Quote #1

At the risk, then, of being shunned by some of my gloomier peers, I venture to tell you that writers work like demons, suffer greatly, and are also happy, in unmistakable ways, some of the time. If we had no knowledge of happiness, our novels wouldn’t sufficiently resemble real life. Some of us are even made a little bit happy, on occasion, by the writing process itself. I mean, really, if there wasn’t some sort of enjoyment to be derived, would any of us keep doing it? Picture Quote #1

You grow weary of being treated as the enemy simply because you are not young anymore; because you dress unexceptionally Picture Quote #1

Here is the world, and you live in it, and are grateful. You try to be grateful Picture Quote #1

Advertisements

Silly humans. Banging on a tub to make a bear dance when we would move the stars to pity Picture Quote #1

Oh, all you immigrants and visionaries, what do you hope to find here, who do you hope to become? Picture Quote #1

1 2 3

Friendship Quotes

Motivational Quotes

Inspirational Quotes

Advertisements

Text Quotes

Here’s a secret. Many novelists, if they are pressed and if they are being honest, will admit that the finished book is a rather rough translation of the book they’d intended to write (Michael Cunningham Quotes) I suspect any serious reader has a first great book, just the way anybody has a first kiss (Michael Cunningham Quotes) What do you do when you’re no longer the hero of your own story? (Michael Cunningham Quotes) A stray fact: insects are not drawn to candle flames, they are drawn to the light on the far side of the flame, they go into the flame and sizzle to nothingness because they’re so eager to get to the light on the other side (Michael Cunningham Quotes) What she wants to say has to do not only with joy but with the penetrating, constant fear that is joy’s other half (Michael Cunningham Quotes) Take me with you. I want a doomed love. I want streets at night, wind and rain, no one wondering where I am (Michael Cunningham Quotes) You want to give him the book of his own life, the book that will locate him, parent him, arm him for the changes (Michael Cunningham Quotes) We’d hoped for love of a different kind, love that knew and forgave our human frailty but did not miniaturize our grander ideas of ourselves (Michael Cunningham Quotes) I am beginning to understand the true difference between youth and age. Young people have time to make plans and think of new ideas. Older people need their whole energy to keep up with what’s already been set in motion (Michael Cunningham Quotes) Accept that, like many men, you have a streak of the homoerotic in you. Why would you, why would anyone, want to be that straight? (Michael Cunningham Quotes) She thinks how much more space a being occupies in life than it does in death; how much illusion of size is contained in gestures and movements, in breathing. Dead, we are revealed in our true dimensions, and they are surprisingly modest (Michael Cunningham Quotes) That is what we do. That is what people do. They stay alive for each other (Michael Cunningham Quotes) There’s just this for consolation: an hour here or there when our lives seem, against all odds and expectations, to burst open and give us everything we’ve ever imagined (Michael Cunningham Quotes) People are more than you think they are. And they’re less, as well. The trick lies in negotiating your way between the two (Michael Cunningham Quotes) I think of the people who commit these acts as children. They’re in their 20s, but like certain children, they have been told only one story, over and over. Like most children, they believe in an easily identifiable good and evil, and like most children, they are capable of unthinkable cruelty (Michael Cunningham Quotes) A certain slightly cruel disregard for the feelings of living people is simply part of the package. I think a writer, if hes any good, is not an entirely benign entity in the world (Michael Cunningham Quotes) She is, above all else, tired; she wants more than anything to return to her bed and her book. The world, this world, feels suddenly stunned and stunted, far from everything (Michael Cunningham Quotes) I feel like there’s something terrible and wonderful and amazing that’s just beyond my grasp. I have dreams about it. I do dream, by the way. It hovers over me at odd moments. And then it’s gone. I feel like I’m always on the brink of something that never arrives. I want to either have it or be free of it (Michael Cunningham Quotes) I don’t have any regrets, really, except that one. I wanted to write about you, about us, really. Do you know what I mean? I wanted to write about everything, the life we’re having and the lives we might have had. I wanted to write about all the ways we might have died (Michael Cunningham Quotes) He wanted to tell her that he was inspired and vigilant and recklessly alone, that his body contained his unsteady heart and something else, something he felt but could not describe: porous and spiky, shifting with flecks of thought, with urge and memory; salted with brightness, flickerings of white and green and pale gold; something that loved stars because it was made of the same substance (Michael Cunningham Quotes) I know, speaking for myself, no matter what I’m able to do, no matter what book comes out and ends up on paper, I always had something bigger and grander in my head (Michael Cunningham Quotes) At the risk, then, of being shunned by some of my gloomier peers, I venture to tell you that writers work like demons, suffer greatly, and are also happy, in unmistakable ways, some of the time. If we had no knowledge of happiness, our novels wouldn’t sufficiently resemble real life. Some of us are even made a little bit happy, on occasion, by the writing process itself. I mean, really, if there wasn’t some sort of enjoyment to be derived, would any of us keep doing it? (Michael Cunningham Quotes) You grow weary of being treated as the enemy simply because you are not young anymore; because you dress unexceptionally (Michael Cunningham Quotes) Here is the world, and you live in it, and are grateful. You try to be grateful (Michael Cunningham Quotes) Silly humans. Banging on a tub to make a bear dance when we would move the stars to pity (Michael Cunningham Quotes) Oh, all you immigrants and visionaries, what do you hope to find here, who do you hope to become? (Michael Cunningham Quotes)

1 2 3