“No man leaves where he is and seeks a distant place unless he is in some respect a failure.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii
“This is the greatest evil that grows out of a wrong act. Somebody always remembers it … in an evil way.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii
“Why is it, Reverend Hale, that we must always laugh at our book, but always revere yours?”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii
“The chance emergence of the was nothing. Remember this. But its persistence and patient accumulation of stature were everything. Only by relentless effort did it establish its right to exist.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii
“wherever a human being goes, there is a challenge. Be the best man you can, and your gods will look with favor upon you.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii
“Therefore, men of Polynesia and Boston and China and Mount Fuji and the barrios of the Philippines, do not come to these islands empty-handed, or craven in spirit, or afraid to starve. There is no food here. In these islands there is no certainty. Bring your own food, your own gods, your own flowers and fruits and concepts. For if you come without resources to these islands you will perish... On these harsh terms the islands waited.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii
“I live for the few minutes I can talk with a sensible human being, but every time I do, I feel worse than before.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii
“how small he was and how wormy in manner,”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii
“Only a mind steeped in true love can write irony. The others write satire.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii
“If you try it,” Whip said, “you’ll be thrown out on your inalienable ass.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii
“Sometimes when the Japanese maids, in crisp white uniforms, had withdrawn, a Roosevelt appointee would ask timorously, “These Japanese, can they be trusted?” And The Fort invariably replied, “We’ve had Sumiko for eighteen years, and we’ve never known a better or more loyal maid.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii
“in 1954 it looked as if a deep schism had been driven down the middle of our community, pitting Japanese against haole, but the Sakagawa boys had the courage to back away from that tempting, perilous course. They reconciled haole and Japanese, and it is to their credit that they did so.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii
“the fundamental fact that law directs the ongoing of society. It is rooted in the past, determines the present, and protects the future.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii
“John Whipple did not allow his anger at such treatment to obscure his judgment. In years of trading around the Pacific he had often met obstinate men and the cruel situations which they produce, and he had learned that in such confrontations his only chance of winning lay in doing exactly what in conscience ought to be done. It was by reliance upon this conviction that he had quietly made his way in such disparate jungles as Valparaiso, Batavia, Singapore and Honolulu.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii
“When you are a citizen, the earth feels different.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii
“during the forthcoming even emptier years, she would still be there, a haunting vision of the other half of life, the womanliness, the caretaking symbol, the majestic, lovely, receptive other half.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii
“Patriotism is not a matter of the skin’s color. It is a matter of the heart.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii
“when the moderates were driven out, the radicals moved in,”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii
“The opening sentence alone contained thirty-six words—monstrous”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii
“there were many ways to judge the acts of an institution, and the pragmatic way was not the worst, by any means.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii
“Because a boy who could read would sooner or later come upon some book that would give him an idea, and a boy with an idea could accomplish almost anything.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii
“You will have to live among Americans, and they despise most freedoms, so conform.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii
“he could look at the evidence planted in the universe and from it derive a new concept, and a greater thing than this no mind can accomplish”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii
“but she possessed what was better than beauty: an absolutely realistic evaluation of life.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii
James A. Michener
Born place: in New York, New York, The United States
Born date February 3, 1907
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“Yes," I said, "for the love of God!”
― Edgar Allan Poe, quote from The Cask of Amontillado
“Love scrubs the worst stains clean. Anyway, there can be no retreat in the face of evil, only resistance. And commitment.”
― Dean Koontz, quote from The Husband
“Without contraries there is no progression.”
― William Blake, quote from The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
“Dr. Pym,” Emma huffed, “what happened back there? What’s going on?” “I told you that we are here to see a man. What I did not say was that I have been searching for this individual for nearly a decade. Only recently did I finally track him to this village. You heard me asking the signora how to find his house.” “That’s it? That’s what made her drop the plate?” “Yes, it appears that he is regarded by the locals as something of a devil. Or perhaps the Devil. The signora was a bit flustered.” “Is he dangerous?” Michael asked. Then he added, “Because I’m the oldest now, and I’m responsible for Emma’s safety.” “Oh, please,” Emma groaned. “I wouldn’t say he’s dangerous,” the wizard said. “At least, not very.” They hiked on, following a narrow, twisting trail. They could hear goats bleating in the distance, the bells around their necks clanking dully in the still air. Stalks of dry grass scratched at the children’s ankles. The light was dying, and soon Michael could no longer see the town behind them. The trail ended at a badly maintained rock wall. Affixed to the wall was a piece of wood bearing a message scrawled in black paint. “What’s it say?” Emma asked. The wizard bent forward to translate. “It says, ‘Dear Moron’—oh my, what a beginning—‘you are about to enter private property. Trespassers will be shot, hanged, beaten with clubs, shot again; their eyeballs will be pecked out by crows, their livers roasted’—dear, this is disgusting, and it goes on for quite a while.…” He skipped to the bottom. “ ‘So turn around now, you blithering idiot. Sincerely, the Devil of Castel del Monte.’ ” Dr. Pym straightened up. “Not very inviting, is it? Well, come along.” And he climbed over the wall. Michael”
― John Stephens, quote from The Fire Chronicle
“كان ذهني قد صفا حينئذ، وتحددت علاقتي بالنهر، إنني طاف فوق الماء ولكنني لست جزءا منه، فكرت أنني إذا مت في تلك اللحظة فإنني أكون قد مت كما ولدت، دون إرادتي. طول حياتي لم أختر ولم أقرر. إنني أقرر الآن أنني أختار الحياة. سأحيا لأن ثمة أناس قليلون أحب أن أبقى معهم أطول وقت ممكن، ولأن علي واجبات يجب أن أؤديها، لا يهمني إن كان للحياة معنا أو لم يكن لها معنى. وإذا كنت لا أستطيع أن أغفر فسأحاول أن أنسى.”
― Tayeb Salih, quote from Season of Migration to the North
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