“The monster—if there was one—never revealed itself to me again. But what I had learned over the past year was that monsters abound, usually in plain sight.”
― Sara Gruen, quote from At the Water's Edge
“It seems there’s nothing so good or pure it can’t be taken without a moment’s notice. And then in the end, it all gets taken anyway.”
― Sara Gruen, quote from At the Water's Edge
“I paused beneath the arched entrance, where the drawbridge had once been, imagining all the people who had passed in and out over the centuries, every one of them carrying a combination of desire, hope, jealousy, despair, grief, love, and every other human emotion; a combination that made each one as unique as a snowflake, yet linked all of them inextricably to every other human being from the dawn of time to the end of it.”
― Sara Gruen, quote from At the Water's Edge
“Life. There it was. In all its beautiful, tragic fragility, there was still life, and those of us who’d been lucky enough to survive opened our arms wide and embraced it.”
― Sara Gruen, quote from At the Water's Edge
“Always carry a large flagon of whiskey in case of snakebite, and further, always carry a small snake.”
― Sara Gruen, quote from At the Water's Edge
“I stared at him for a long time. If he wanted to end his search for the beast, he need look no further than a mirror.”
― Sara Gruen, quote from At the Water's Edge
“I want to knit socks for the soldiers."
"It's not as easy as that," she said, looking at me strangely. "It's difficult to turn a good heel. There are competitions over it.”
― Sara Gruen, quote from At the Water's Edge
“She blamed the lack of real flowers on both weather and the war, and instead put four or five pieces of coal in glass bowls, added water, salt, and ammonia, before finally pouring a mixture of violet and blue ink over them. It was a complete mystery to me how this alchemy would result in anything resembling flowers, but they were “blooming” within the hour.”
― Sara Gruen, quote from At the Water's Edge
“And you know what they say. Always carry a large flagon of whiskey in case of snakebite, and further, always carry a small snake.”
― Sara Gruen, quote from At the Water's Edge
“Violet was nothing if not sensible. She didn’t even approve when we pulled entirely harmless pranks, like hiding someone’s yacht in the wrong slip, or turning the racquet club’s pool water purple.”
― Sara Gruen, quote from At the Water's Edge
“For the rest of the night, all I could think about was how many heads had lain on those pillows before my own.”
― Sara Gruen, quote from At the Water's Edge
“Beneath it was a photograph of Hank alone, standing shirtless on the deck of a sailboat with his hands on his hips.”
― Sara Gruen, quote from At the Water's Edge
“game?—but I wasn’t shocked, as I once might”
― Sara Gruen, quote from At the Water's Edge
“comparison. His eyes were hazel, and his arms ended in white bandages just below the elbows.”
― Sara Gruen, quote from At the Water's Edge
“I sat in silence, absorbing this. They’d wagered that Mr. Ross wouldn’t throw me out if I was on my own, and no thanks to them, they were right. I wasn’t just their plaything, their pretty, fake wife. I was their unwitting pawn, theirs to strategically play.”
― Sara Gruen, quote from At the Water's Edge
“One Crow for sorrow, Two Crows for mirth, Three Crows for a wedding, Four Crows for a birth, Five Crows for silver, Six Crows for gold, Seven for a secret, never to be told.”
― Sara Gruen, quote from At the Water's Edge
“It was full of luxurious trappings and shiny baubles, and that had blinded me to the fact that nothing about it was real.”
― Sara Gruen, quote from At the Water's Edge
“She had been warned away from it her entire life, for its depth came quickly, its coldness was fierce, and the Kelpie lay in wait.”
― Sara Gruen, quote from At the Water's Edge
“Anna’s parents were staunch Wee Frees, and she wasn’t even allowed to wear face powder, never mind attend a dance. Music itself was not allowed, except on Sundays, and then it had to be for the sake of worship only, and sung unadorned. The senior McKenzies were so strict they confined their cockerel under a bushel basket on the Sabbath so he wouldn’t get up to anything untoward with the hens.”
― Sara Gruen, quote from At the Water's Edge
“I stepped forward, as Màiri once had, until my feet were at the water’s edge. I took another step, just a little one, so that the soles of my shoes were submerged. I watched the water swirl around them, then looked up at the loch itself, black and rolling, endlessly deep.”
― Sara Gruen, quote from At the Water's Edge
“exactly what she was really doing. It took but”
― Sara Gruen, quote from At the Water's Edge
“and Flying Changes. Her works have been translated into forty-three languages and have”
― Sara Gruen, quote from At the Water's Edge
“laughter, I noticed a footman in old-fashioned knee breeches perched near the top of a”
― Sara Gruen, quote from At the Water's Edge
“It seems there's nothing so good or pure it cant be taken without a moment's notice. And then in the end, it all gets taken anyway.”
― Sara Gruen, quote from At the Water's Edge
“His mother was exacting revenge because he’d dared to marry me, and his father—well, we weren’t exactly sure. Either”
― Sara Gruen, quote from At the Water's Edge
“She’s not your friend. She’s a barmaid.”
― Sara Gruen, quote from At the Water's Edge
“At home, she sulked with extravagance, and I learned early that silence was anything but peaceful. She was always upset about some slight, real or imagined, and more than capable of creating a full-blown crisis out of thin air.”
― Sara Gruen, quote from At the Water's Edge
“Ellis had slept through the entire thing. That, or he was dead, but I saw no reason to check. If he was dead, he’d still be dead in the morning.”
― Sara Gruen, quote from At the Water's Edge
“stared at him for a long time. If he wanted to end his search for the beast, he need look no further than a mirror.”
― Sara Gruen, quote from At the Water's Edge
Sara Gruen
Born place: Vancouver, Canada
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“I had grown up. I had learned that being a woman was knowing when to stand firm and when to compromise. I had learned to laugh and weep; I had learned that I was weak as well as strong. I had learned to love. I was no longer a rigid, upright tree that would not flex and bow, even though the gale threatened to snap it in two; I was the willow that bends and shivers and sways, and yet remains strong.”
― Juliet Marillier, quote from Seer of Sevenwaters
“Sin is cosmic treason. Sin is treason against a perfectly pure Sovereign. It is an act of supreme ingratitude toward the One to whom we owe everything, to the One who has given us life itself. Have you ever considered the deeper implications of the slightest sin, of the most minute peccadillo? What are we saying to our Creator when we disobey Him at the slightest point? We are saying no to the righteousness of God. We are saying, “God, Your law is not good. My judgement is better than Yours. Your authority does not apply to me. I am above and beyond Your jurisdiction. I have the right to do what I want to do, not what You command me to do.”
― R.C. Sproul, quote from The Holiness of God
“He’d given her his word—when he was soused and under duress from needing to tup her—but still his word.”
― Kresley Cole, quote from If You Dare
“Con quale velocità, pensò l'ingegnere, la natura si riprende ciò che ha dovuto cedere: pioggia e gelo sbriciolano la muratura, le strade sono sepolte da strati verdi di erbaccia, gli acquedotti sono ostruiti dalla stessa acqua per portare la quale sono stati costruiti. Quella della civiltà è un'incessante guerra che l'uomo è destinato a perdere.”
― Robert Harris, quote from Pompeii
“В быстролётные годы расцвета женской красоты она отлично служит притворству, к которому вынуждает женщину её природная слабость и законы нашего общества. Чудесный, свежий цвет лица, блеск глаз, изящный рисунок тонких черт, богатство линий, резких или округлых, но чистых и совершенно законченных, — завеса для всех её сокровенных волнений; если она покраснеет, это не выдаст движения её души, а только оживит и без того яркие краски; огонь её глаз, горящих жизнью, в ту пору скрадывает все внутренние вспышки, и пламя страданий, вырываясь на миг, делает её ещё пленительнее. Итак, нет ничего более непроницаемого, чем молодое лицо, ибо нет ничего неподвижнее. Лицо молодой женщины безмятежно, гладко, ясно, как поверхность дремлющего озера. Своеобразие начинает появляться в женском лице лишь к тридцати годам. До этого возраста художнику не найти в нём ничего, кроме бело-розовых красок, улыбок и выражения, которое повторяет одну и ту же мысль, — мысль о радостях молодости и любви, мысль однообразную и неглубокую; но в старости, когда женщина всё уже испытала, следы страстей словно врезаются в лицо её; она была любовницей, супругой, матерью; самые сильные проявления счастья и горя в конце концов меняют облик человека, искажают черты, бороздя лицо неисчислимыми морщинами, наделяя каждую из них своим языком; и женщина становится тогда величественной в своём страдании, прекрасной в печали своей, великолепной в своей невозмутимости, и если нам позволено будет развить наше необычайное сравнение, то в высохшем озере станут тогда видны следы всех родников, питавших его; тогда лицо женщины уже не привлечёт внимания света, ибо в легкомыслии своём свет будет напуган тем, что разрушены его привычные понятия о красоте; не привлечёт оно и посредственного, ничего не смыслящего художника, зато вдохновит истинного поэта, того, кто наделён чувством прекрасного, кто свободен от всех условностей, на которых зиждется столько ложных понятий об искусстве и красоте.
Люди несчастные, привыкшие взывать к небу с мольбой об утешении в горестях жизни, сразу бы распознали по взгляду этой женщины, что и для неё молитва является единственным прибежищем в повседневных страданиях и что у неё ещё кровоточат те тайные раны, от которых гибнут все цветы души, вплоть до материнских чувств. У живописца есть краски для таких портретов, но никакими словами не передать их; сущность лица, его выражение — само по себе явление необъяснимое, и лишь зрение помогает нам уловить его; у писателя есть только один способ дать представление о страшных переменах, происшедших во внешности его героев: он должен рассказать о тех событиях, из-за которых они появились. Всё в этой женщине говорило о бесшумной ледяной грозе, о тайной борьбе между героизмом страдающей матери и убожеством наших чувств, недолговечных, как и мы сами, в которых нет ничего вечного.
Люди хорошо воспитанные, и особенно женщины, скрытны в проявлении своих чувств, и о волнении их сердца догадается лишь тот, кому довелось испытать в жизни всё, что испытывала исстрадавшаяся мать.”
― Honoré de Balzac, quote from A Woman Of Thirty
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