Quotes from Across the Nightingale Floor

Lian Hearn ·  305 pages

Rating: (30.4K votes)


“The less people think of you, the more they will reveal to you or in your presence.”
― Lian Hearn, quote from Across the Nightingale Floor


“How was it possible for the world to be so beautiful and so cruel at the same time?”
― Lian Hearn, quote from Across the Nightingale Floor


“I believe the test of government is the contentment of the people.”
― Lian Hearn, quote from Across the Nightingale Floor


“But just as the river is always at the door, so is the world always outside. And it is in the world that we have to live.”
― Lian Hearn, quote from Across the Nightingale Floor


“When illusions are shattered by truth, talent is set free.”
― Lian Hearn, quote from Across the Nightingale Floor



“The painter had achieved what we would all like to do: capture time and make it stand still”
― Lian Hearn, quote from Across the Nightingale Floor


“It's what you do to yourself when you go mad with rage. You have no idea how much you can hurt yourself with your own strength.”
― Lian Hearn, quote from Across the Nightingale Floor


“Don't you know the man whose life you spare will always hate you?”
― Lian Hearn, quote from Across the Nightingale Floor


“I learned embroidery," Kaede said, "But you can't kill anyone with a needle."

"You can," Shizuka said offhandedly. "I'll show you one day.”
― Lian Hearn, quote from Across the Nightingale Floor


“Shame, however, was what I felt seeping through me as though it stained my white bones black.”
― Lian Hearn, quote from Across the Nightingale Floor



“The world is always outside. And it is in the world that we must live.”
― Lian Hearn, quote from Across the Nightingale Floor


“They reminded me of the people of my village, their indomitable spirit in the face of disaster, their unshakable belief that no matter what might befall them, life was basically good and the world benign.”
― Lian Hearn, quote from Across the Nightingale Floor


“Cuando era niño, solía llevar a casa animales del bosque (…) Nunca logré domesticarlos, porque lo único que querían, ciega e irracionalmente, era escapar.”
― Lian Hearn, quote from Across the Nightingale Floor


About the author

Lian Hearn
Born place: in Potten End, Hertfordshire, The United Kingdom
Born date August 29, 1942
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