Anita Brookner Quotes & Sayings (Page 2)

“Like many rich men, he thought in anecdotes; like many simple women, she thought in terms of biography.”

“The essence of romantic love is that wonderful beginning, after which sadness and impossibility may become the rule.”

“In real life, of course, it is the hare that wins. Every time. Look around you.”

“I was a teacher most of my life, which I loved. I had a very happy working life, and when I retired, I thought I must do something, and I've always read a lot of fiction - you learn so much from fiction. My sentimental education came mostly from fiction, I should say, so I thought I'd try.”

“You can never betray the people who are dead, so you go on being a public Jew; the dead can't answer slurs, but I'm here. I would love to think that Jesus wants me for a sunbeam, but he doesn't.”

“No blame should attach to telling the truth. But it does, it does.”

“Great writers are the saints for the godless.”

“Old men should have more care to end life well than to live long.”

“The lessons taught in great books are misleading. The commerce in life is rarely so simple and never so just.”

“All good fortune is a gift of the gods, and you don't win the favor of the ancient gods by being good, but by being bold.”