Gerald Durrell · 248 pages
Rating: (4.7K votes)
“It was my birthday. I lay there savouring the feeling of having a whole day to myself when people would give me presents and the family would be forced to accede to any reasonable requests.”
― Gerald Durrell, quote from Birds, Beasts and Relatives
“Per tutta risposta Mosè smise di bere quel nettare russo per guardarlo bene in faccia.
"Ciao vecchio finocchio", lo salutò. E poi ricominciò a bere e ad ubriacarsi.”
― Gerald Durrell, quote from Birds, Beasts and Relatives
“The bear, I decided, had got to become mine. The dogs and my other animals would soon get used to it and together we could go waltzing over the hillsides.”
― Gerald Durrell, quote from Birds, Beasts and Relatives
“«Secondo me, bisogna trovargli un nuovo istitutore», disse Larry. «Ti allontani da casa cinque minuti, e quando torni, lo trovi che sta sbudellando Moby Dick nel portico.»”
― Gerald Durrell, quote from Birds, Beasts and Relatives
“«Secondo me», stava dicendo Larry, «è un poltergeist maledettamente grosso.»
«Non puo essere un poltergeist, caro», disse mamma. «I poltergeist sono quelli che fanno volare le cose.»
«Be', qualsiasi cosa sia, se ne sta lassù a trascinare le sue catene facendo un fracasso dell'accidente», disse Larry, «e io esigo che venga esorcizzata. Tu e Margo siete le esperte del paranormale. Dovete pensarci voi, andate lassù e procedete.»”
― Gerald Durrell, quote from Birds, Beasts and Relatives
“Roger and I would squat in the heavily scented shade of the myrtle bushes and watch the array of creatures that passed us; at certain times of the day the branches were as busy as the main street of a town.”
― Gerald Durrell, quote from Birds, Beasts and Relatives
“I visualized myself walking proudly through the olive groves, preceded by the dogs, Ulysses, and my two magpies, and trotting at my heels, four tame hedgehogs, all of which I would have taught to do tricks.”
― Gerald Durrell, quote from Birds, Beasts and Relatives
“Adult ant-lions come in a variety of sizes and, for the most part, rather drab colouring. They look like extremely untidy and demented dragon-flies. They have wings that seem out of all proportion to their bodies and these they flap with a desperate air, as though it required the maximum amount of energy to prevent them from crashing to the earth.”
― Gerald Durrell, quote from Birds, Beasts and Relatives
“Surely you're joking Theodore?' he protested. 'You mean to say that each snail is both a male and a female?'
'Yes indeed,' said Theodore, adding with masterly understatement, 'it's very curious.'
'Good God,' cried Larry. 'I think it's unfair. All those damned slimy things wandering about seducing each other like mad all over the bushes, and having the pleasures of both sensations. Why couldn't such a gift be given to the human race? That's what I want to know.”
― Gerald Durrell, quote from Birds, Beasts and Relatives
“Humanity seemed to have a singular ability to find destructive uses for any constructive technology. Invent the computer, and you could be certain someone would invent computer viruses and other ways to attack it. Invent the Internet, an unimaginable treasure trove of information, and you could bet it would be used as a recruiting tool for hate mongers and instantly turned into a venue for child pornographers, sexual predators, and scam artists. Humanity never failed to find a way to become its own worst enemy. “I”
― Douglas E. Richards, quote from Wired
“And what shoulder, & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain,
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp,
Dare its deadly terrors clasp!
When the stars threw down their spears
And water'd heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?”
― William Blake, quote from The Complete Illuminated Books
“Nie było to miasto Smutku; było to miasto, w którym nigdy nie gościła Radość.”
― Gustaw Herling-Grudziński, quote from A World Apart
“On the whole, it is difficult to think of another government agency that has failed more consistently on more of its key missions than the Fed.”
― James Rickards, quote from Currency Wars: The Making of the Next Global Crisis
“It was Aldous Huxley who observed, “Every man’s memory is his private literature.”
― Chris Bohjalian, quote from The Sandcastle Girls
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