the quiet florilegium

I'm constantly starring quotes when I read. So I've decided to chronicle them here.

[quietflorilegium]

“There was no question of forgiving them. She had not, in any case, a forgiving nature; and the injury they had done her was not done by them. If she were to start forgiving she must needs forgive Society, the Law, the Church, the History of Europe, the Old Testament, great-great-aunt Salome and her prayer-book, the Bank of England, Prostitution, the Architect of Apsley Terrace, and half a dozen other useful props of civilization.”

Sylvia Townsend Warner, "Lolly Willowes"

[quietflorilegium]

“The weight of all her unhappy years seemed for a moment to weigh her bosom down to the earth; she trembled, understanding for the first time how miserable she had been; and in another moment she was released. It was all gone, it could never be again, and never had been. Tears of thankfulness ran down her face. With every breath she drew, the scent of the cowslips flowed in and absolved her.”

Sylvia Townsend Warner, "Lolly Willowes"

[quietflorilegium]

“Laura had brought her sensitive conscience into the country with her, just as she had brought her umbrella, though so far she had not remembered to use either.”

Sylvia Townsend Warner, "Lolly Willowes"

[quietflorilegium]

“Men cannot grieve as dogs do. But we grieve for many years.”

FitzChivalry Farseer, Robin Hobb, "Assassin's Apprentice"

[quietflorilegium]

“Don’t do what you can’t undo, until you’ve considered what you can’t do once you’ve done it.”

King Shrewd, Robin Hobb, "Assassin's Apprentice"

[quietflorilegium]

“Sometimes luck belongs to children and madmen. That night I felt we were both.”

FitzChivalry Farseer, Robin Hobb, "Assassin's Apprentice"

[quietflorilegium]

“I must be alert to signs of encroaching softness. I need a new morning routine: clean teeth, wash face, check heart for signs of dry rot. Replace it with good mahogany planking, as we did the Windcuffer. It’ll last a long time.”

Corinna Stonewall, Franny Billingsley, "The Folk Keeper"

[quietflorilegium]

“Vera said: “Why do you feel you have to turn everything into a story?” So I told her why: Because if I tell the story, I control the version. Because if I tell the story, I can make you laugh, and I would rather have you laugh at me than feel sorry for me. Because if I tell the story, it doesn’t hurt as much. Because if I tell the story, I can get on with it.”

Rachel Samstat, Nora Ephron, "Heartburn"

[quietflorilegium]

“That’s the catch about betrayal, of course: that it feels good, that there’s something immensely pleasurable about moving from a complicated relationship which involves minor atrocities on both sides to a nice, neat, simple one where one person has done something so horrible and unforgivable that the other person is immediately absolved of all the low-grade sins of sloth, envy, gluttony, avarice and I forget the other three.”

Rachel Samstat, Nora Ephron, "Heartburn"

[quietflorilegium]

“Helen is one of those people who never say anything, not because she’s shy but because she’s learned—in a way I always mean to—that if you don’t say anything, you make people far more nervous and self-conscious and careful around you than if you do. People like me, we just rush into the vacuum of silence people like Helen float around in; we blather and dither and yakyakyak, and people like Helen just sit there and smile into the wind.”

Rachel Samstat, Nora Ephron, "Heartburn"

[quietflorilegium]

“Well, thought Winnie, crossing her arms on the windowsill, she was different. Things had happened to her that were hers alone, and had nothing to do with them. It was the first time. And no amount of telling about it could help them understand or share what she felt. It was satisfying and lonely, both at once.”

Natalie Babbitt, "Tuck Everlasting"

[quietflorilegium]

“The way I see it,” Miles went on, “it’s no good hiding yourself away, like Pa and lots of other people. And it’s no good just thinking of your own pleasure, either. People got to do something useful if they’re going to take up space in the world.”

Natalie Babbitt, "Tuck Everlasting"

[quietflorilegium]

“But dying’s part of the wheel, right there next to being born. You can’t pick out the pieces you like and leave the rest. Being part of the whole thing, that’s the blessing.”

Angus Tuck, Natalie Babbit, "Tuck Everlasting"

[quietflorilegium]

“The ownership of land is an odd thing when you come to think of it. How deep, after all, can it go? If a person owns a piece of land, does he own it all the way down, in ever narrowing dimensions, till it meets all other pieces at the center of the earth? Or does ownership consist only of a thin crust under which the friendly worms have never heard of trespassing?”

Natalie Babbitt, "Tuck Everlasting"

[quietflorilegium]

“The world, as you see it, is not real. And the way you imagine it—it does not even come close. Certain things seem obvious to you, but they simply do not exist.” “And you, do you not exist?” Sasha couldn’t help herself. “Are you not real?” Portnov removed the scarf from her face. Under his gaze, she blinked confusedly. “I exist,” he said seriously. “But I am not at all what you think.”

Marina and Sergey Dyachenko, "Vita Nostra"

[quietflorilegium]

“To live is to be vulnerable. A thin membrane of a soap bubble separates one from impenetrable hell. Ice on the road. The unlucky division of an aging cell. A child picks up a pill from the floor. Words stick to each other, line up, obedient to the great harmony of speech…”

Marina and Sergey Dyachenko, "Vita Nostra"

[quietflorilegium]

“Man’s inability to get out of bed in the morning is a curious thing. One may reason with oneself clearly and forcibly without the slightest effect. One knows that delay means inconvenience. Perhaps it may spoil one’s whole day. And one also knows that a single resolute heave will do the trick. But logic is of no use. One simply lies there.”

P.G. Wodehouse, "Mike at Wrykyn"