Quotes from Ancient Light

John Banville ·  256 pages

Rating: (2.5K votes)


“I guard my memories of my lost one jealously, keep them securely under wraps, like a folio of delicate watercolours that must be protected from the harsh light of day.”
― John Banville, quote from Ancient Light


“These things that were between us, these and a myriad others, a myriad myriad, these remain of her, but what will become of them when I am gone, I who am their repository and sole preserver?”
― John Banville, quote from Ancient Light


“¿Recordáis cómo era abril cuando éramos jóvenes, esa sensación de líquida impetuosidad y el viento extrayendo cucharadas azules del aire y los pájaros fuera de sí en los árboles que ya habían echado brotes?”
― John Banville, quote from Ancient Light


“Yes, another April; in a way, in this story, it is always April.”
― John Banville, quote from Ancient Light


“Sleep is uncanny, I have always found it so, a nightly dress-rehearsal for being dead.”
― John Banville, quote from Ancient Light



“Imágenes del pasado remoto se agolpan en mi cabeza, y la mitad de las veces soy incapaz de distinguir si son recuerdos o invenciones. Tampoco es que haya mucha diferencia, si es que hay alguna. Hay quien afirma que, sin darnos cuenta, nos lo vamos inventando todo, adornándolo y embelleciéndolo, y me inclino a creerlo, pues Madame Memoria es una gran y sutil fingidora. Los pecios que elijo salvar del naufragio general —¿y qué es la vida, sino un naufragio gradual?— a veces asumen un aspecto de inevitabilidad cuando los exhibo en sus vitrinas, pero son azarosos; quizá representativos, quizá de manera convincente, pero sin embargo azarosos.”
― John Banville, quote from Ancient Light


“Remember what April was like when we were young, that sense of liquid rushing and the wind taking blue scoops out of the air and the birds beside themselves in the budding trees?”
― John Banville, quote from Ancient Light


“Yet even without saying, each knew what the other was thinking, and, more acutely, what the other was feeling -- this is a further effect of our shared sorrow, this empathy, this mournful telepathy.”
― John Banville, quote from Ancient Light


“Whom now would I love, and who would love me?”
― John Banville, quote from Ancient Light


“of her blood. Oh, I do not say these are”
― John Banville, quote from Ancient Light



“What did I brood on, sitting there in the classic pose with my elbows on my knees and my chin on my hands? We do not need to go to the Greeks, our tragic predicament is written out on rolls of lavatory paper.”
― John Banville, quote from Ancient Light


“… убеждението, което ние всички храним на тази възраст, че семействата на нашите приятели са много симпатични, по-приятни и интересни – с една дума, по-желани, – отколкото нашите собствени?”
― John Banville, quote from Ancient Light


About the author

John Banville
Born place: in Wexford, Ireland
Born date December 8, 1945
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“Sometimes you just have to pick a direction and make mistakes. Then you use what you learn from your failure to pick new, better directions so you can make more mistakes and keep learning.”
― Matthew Quick, quote from Every Exquisite Thing


“Don’t let your good nature cloud your critical eye. The critical eye should always be cold and clear.”
― Stephen King, quote from Finders Keepers


“I read an article in the September 2014 edition of The Atlantic titled “The Law School Scam.” It’s a fine investigative piece by Paul Campos.”
― John Grisham, quote from The Rooster Bar


“When his father asked why A wasn't apple or B wasn't bird or C wasn't cat, young Ambrose explained that things didn't always have to be the way you'd expect. Everybody does apples and birds and cats, he said, and it's boring to do what everybody else does.”
― C.S. Richardson, quote from The End of the Alphabet


“The moral of the story, Son," Pun would say, "is Don't take more on your heart than you can shake off on your heels."
Of all lessons, that one I never learned and I hope I never do. My heart daily grows new foliage, always adding people, picking up new heartaches like a wool coat collects cockleburs and beggar's-lice seeds. It gets fuller and fuller as I walk slow as a sloth, carrying all the pain Pun and Frank and so many others tried to walk from. Especially the pain of the lost forest. Sometimes there is no leaving, no looking westward for another promised land. We have to nail our shoes to the kitchen floor and unload the burden of our heart. We have to set to the task of repairing the damage done by and to us.”
― Janisse Ray, quote from Ecology of a Cracker Childhood


Interesting books

Monument 14
(19.8K)
Monument 14
by Emmy Laybourne
The Miserable Mill
(116.4K)
The Miserable Mill
by Lemony Snicket
Love & Misadventure
(35.2K)
Love & Misadventure
by Lang Leav
The Outlaw Demon Wails
(49K)
The Outlaw Demon Wai...
by Kim Harrison
How to Kill a Rock Star
(13.7K)
How to Kill a Rock S...
by Tiffanie DeBartolo
Backstage Pass
(53.9K)
Backstage Pass
by Olivia Cunning

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.