“If you say the same word a million times will it lose its meaning?”
― Nancy Huston, quote from Fault Lines
“You should always play with and not according to the rules, because a life with no danger in it is no life at all.”
― Nancy Huston, quote from Fault Lines
“Когато бях малък често се къпех заедно с мама и тя изобщо не си криеше гърдите от мен, дори можех да си играя с тях, но от няколко месеца тя реши, че вече ми е забранено и сега само татко има право да ги вижда, освен самата мама, разбира се. Странно нещо са женските гърди: в началото на живота носът ти постоянно е заврян в тях, а после малко по малко се отдръпват и идва един ден, в който дори нямаш право да ги виждаш. Но по телевизията и във филмите жените показват гърдите си пред всички, целите освен зърното, сякаш зърното съдържа някаква свещена тайна, а пък не е така. Най-често дори нямат мляко.”
― Nancy Huston, quote from Fault Lines
“Много обичам да се държа за ръката на татко, когато пресичаме улицата. След една или две години ще съм прекалено голям за това и сега искам да се възползвам колкото се може повече.”
― Nancy Huston, quote from Fault Lines
“Цялата сутрин гледам телевизия. Знам, че това би вбесило мама, но татко ми дава. Той казва, че умните хора имат нужда да опознаят тъпотата на света, и това ми разрешава да гледам телевизия, но това си остава между нас.”
― Nancy Huston, quote from Fault Lines
“Тази пролет за пръв път сетих цикъла на една година. Когато листата започнаха да поникват по дърветата, аз си спомних как те бяха поникнали миналата пролет, и смаян си казах: „Значи това е една година.”
― Nancy Huston, quote from Fault Lines
“Щастлива съм, че най-после живея с някого, който ме слуша и ме взема насериозно, вместо постоянно да ми казва да си оправя леглото или да разчистя масата.”
― Nancy Huston, quote from Fault Lines
“След няколко кратки ноти, акцентирани в стакато, следва акорд, гласът на мама се промъква сред нотите му, превзема една от тях и отскача до небето: започва се. В накъсан ритъм тя слиза от високите ноти, изпети с разчувстваща нежност, до дълбоките и тъмни води на ниските тонове, които изпява като стенание, сякаш животът я напуска, капка по капка. Понякога прави един шум с устните си, сякаш се отваря капачка, на други места се удря по гърдите с длан, за да подчертае музиката, която се лее от гърлото ѝ. Сякаш гласът ѝ разказва някаква история – не само историята на живота ѝ, но и тази на цялото човечество – войните и глада, битките и изпитанията, победите и пораженията. А понякога гласът ѝ бушува в заплашителни вълни, като океана по време на буря, друг път е като водопад, който се спуска по скалата, подскача по камъните и се втурва разпенен надолу към пищната тъмна долина. Гласът ѝ рисува около главата ми златни кръгове като Сатурнови пръстени, люлее се лудешки отгоре надолу, сякаш танцува френски канкан, жалее и потръпва, увива се около някое е ниско фа като бръшлян около ствол на дърво, след като се гмурва в кристалносините води на акорда в сол мажор, който Питър повтаря неколкократно с лявата си ръка… Във възторг съм. Мама е права: никой никога не е използвал гласа си така.”
― Nancy Huston, quote from Fault Lines
“Усещам, че татко въздъхна с облекчение, въпреки че не се чува никакъв шум. Истината е, че атмосферата се разведрява винаги когато майка ми излезе от някоя стая, и се напряга всеки път, когато влезе някъде – така е. Майка ми е страхотен човек, обожавам я и бих дал всичко, за да е щастлива и спокойна, и ми се струва, че татко мисли абсолютно същото. Очите ни се срещат за миг над масата, на която сме закусили, си го казват. После татко става и започва да раздига масата, като си подсвирква, а аз се връщам в стаята си, да се облека.”
― Nancy Huston, quote from Fault Lines
“I grabbed some sani-wipes from Tracy and cleaned off my hands as best I could, and then drizzled whiskey over them. If it didn’t kill the germs, at least it would get them drunk enough to be cooperative.”
― Mark Tufo, quote from A Plague Upon Your Family
“If you want help for your dream, start by helping someone else with their dream. If you want support for your hope, start by giving support to someone else’s hope. If you want encouragement as you work on your calling, start by encouraging other people. Giving support is often the best way to get it.”
― Jon Acuff, quote from Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work that Matters
“The creative act of the artist lifts him above himself by demanding full surrender. No one puts words on paper or paint on canvas, doubting. If one doubts, one does so five minutes later...”
― Czesław Miłosz, quote from Native Realm: A Search for Self-Definition
“In truth, laws are always useful to those with possessions and harmful to those who have nothing; from which it follows that the social state is advantageous to men only when all possess something and none has too much.”
― Jean-Jacques Rousseau, quote from The Social Contract
“Sylphid was beginning to play professionally, and she was subbing as second harpist in the orchestra at Radio City Music Hall. She was called pretty regularly, once or twice a week, and she’d also got a job playing at a fancy restaurant in the East Sixties on Friday night. Ira would drive her from the Village up to the restaurant with her harp and then go and pick her and the harp up when she finished. He had the station wagon, and he’d pull up in front of the house and go inside and have to carry it down the stairs. The harp is in its felt cover, and Ira puts one hand on the column and one hand in the sound hole at the back and he lifts it up, lays the harp on a mattress they keep in the station wagon, and drives Sylphid and the harp uptown to the restaurant. At the restaurant he takes the harp out of the car and, big radio star that he is, he carries it inside. At ten-thirty, when the restaurant is finished serving dinner and Sylphid’s ready to come back to the Village, he goes around to pick her up and the whole operation is repeated. Every Friday. He hated the physical imposition that it was—those things weigh about eighty pounds—but he did it. I remember that in the hospital, when he had cracked up, he said to me, ‘She married me to carry her daughter’s harp! That’s why the woman married me! To haul that fucking harp!’ “On those Friday night trips, Ira found he could talk to Sylphid in ways he couldn’t when Eve was around. He’d ask her about being a movie star’s child. He’d say to her, ‘When you were a little girl, when did it dawn on you that something was up, that this wasn’t the way everyone grew up?’ She told him it was when the tour buses went up and down their street in Beverly Hills. She said she never saw her parents’ movies until she was a teenager. Her parents were trying to keep her normal and so they downplayed those movies around the house. Even the rich kid’s life in Beverly Hills with the other movie stars’ kids seemed normal enough until the tour buses stopped in front of her house and she could hear the tour guide saying, ‘This is Carlton Pennington’s house, where he lives with his wife, Eve Frame.’ “She told him about the production that birthday parties were for the movie stars’ kids—clowns, magicians, ponies, puppet shows, and every child attended by a nanny in a white nurse’s uniform. At the dining table, behind every child would be a nanny. The Penningtons had their own screening room and they ran movies. Kids would come over. Fifteen, twenty kids.”
― Philip Roth, quote from I Married a Communist
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