Anita Brookner Quotes & Sayings

“In real life, it is the hare who wins. Every time. Look around you. And in any case it is my contention that Aesop was writing for the tortoise market. Hares have no time to read. They are too busy winning the game.”

“Real love is a pilgrimage. It happens when there is no strategy, but it is very rare because most people are strategists.”

“Good women always think it is their fault when someone else is being offensive. Bad women never take the blame for anything.”

“A man of such obvious and exemplary charm must be a liar.”

“Time misspent in youth is sometimes all the freedom one ever has.”

“Accountability in friendship is the equivalent of love without strategy.”

“Life... is not simply a series of exciting new ventures. The future is not always a whole new ball game. There tends to be unfinished business. One trails all sorts of things around with one, things that simply won't be got rid of.”

“Existentialism is about being a saint without God; being your own hero, without all the sanction and support of religion or society.”

“Writing novels preserves you in a state of innocence - a lot passes you by - simply because your attention is otherwise diverted.”

“A complete woman is probably not a very admirable creature. She is manipulative, uses other people to get her own way, and works within whatever system she is in.”