Quotes from In the Country of Last Things

“إنَّ الذاكرة , كما تعلم , هي الفخُّ الأكبر .”
― Paul Auster, quote from In the Country of Last Things

“Nothing lasts, you see, not even the thoughts inside you. And you musn't
waste your time looking for them. Once a thing is gone, that is the end of it.”
― Paul Auster, quote from In the Country of Last Things

“عندما يغيب الأمل ، عندما يجد المرء أنه تخّلى عن الأمل حتى في احتمال وجود أمل ،
يميل إلى ملء المساحات الفارغة بالأحلام ، بأفكار وقصص صغيرة طفولية لكي يحث نفسه على الاستمرار .”
― Paul Auster, quote from In the Country of Last Things

“I've been trying to fit everything in, trying to get to the end before it's too late, but I see now how badly I've deceived myself. Words do not allow such things. The closer you come to the end, the more there is to say. The end is only imaginary, a destination you invent to keep yourself going, but a point comes when you realize you will never get there. You might have to stop, but that is only because you have run out of time. You stop, but that does not mean you have come to an end.”
― Paul Auster, quote from In the Country of Last Things

“you can survive only if nothing is necessary to you”
― Paul Auster, quote from In the Country of Last Things

“إنَّ الكلمات لا تأتي إلا عندما أعتقد أني لن أتمكَّن من العثور عليها بعد الآن , في اللحظة التي أيأسُ من إيجادها مرةً أخرى .”
― Paul Auster, quote from In the Country of Last Things

“على المرء أن يتعود على الإكتفاء بأقل قدرٍ ممكن ، فكلما قل ما يُريده رضي بالقليل و قلت حاجته ، و أصبح في حالٍ أفضل .
هذا ما تفعله المدينة بك ؛ إنها تقلب أفكارك رأساً على عقب ، تجعلك ترغب بالحياة ، و في الوقت نفسه تحاول أن تنزع منك الحياة ، ولا مفر من هذا .
فإما أن تفعل أو لا تفعل . و إذا فعلت ، لن تستطيع أن تتأكد من قدرتك على القيام به في المرة التالية . و إذا لم تفعل ، فلن تفعل أبداً .”
― Paul Auster, quote from In the Country of Last Things

“الناس يتمسّكون بالاعتقاد بأنه مهما كانت الأشياء في الماضي سيئة، فإنها أفضل من الأشياء الآن. وما كانت عليه قبل يومين هو أفضل مما كانت عليه حتى في الأمس القريب. وكلما أوغلتُ في الماضي، يُصبح العالم أجمل ومرغوباً أكثر”
― Paul Auster, quote from In the Country of Last Things

“لأن كل شيء ينتمي بصورة ما إليك ،
يشكِّلُ جزءاً من القصة المطوية داخلك. وأعتقد أن من الجيد أن تجعل نفسك قاسيًا جداً
بحيث لا شيء يستطيع أن يؤثر عليك بعد ذلك . لكنك ستصبح وحيداً ،
منفصلاً تماماً عن كل شخص آخر بحيث تصبح الحياة مستحيلة.”
― Paul Auster, quote from In the Country of Last Things

“أحياناً أعتقد أن الموت هو الشيء الوحيد الذي نكن له أي مشاعر. إنه شكلنا الفني، الطريقة الوحيدة التي نستطيع بها أن نعبر عن أن أنفسنا.”
― Paul Auster, quote from In the Country of Last Things

“إنني أضع قدمًا أمام الأخرى، ومن ثَم القَدم الأخرى أمام الأولى، ومن ثَم آمل في أن
أتمكَّن من فعل ذلك من جديد. لا أكثر.”
― Paul Auster, quote from In the Country of Last Things

“إن الكلمات لا تأتي إلا عندما أعتقد أني لن أتمكَّن من العثور عليها بعد الآن ، في اللحظة التي
أيأس من إيجادها مرة أخرى . إن كل يوم يجلب معه الصراع نفسه ، الخواء نفسه
، الرغبة نفسها في النسيان وفي عدم النسيان . عندما يبدأ الأمر ، فإنه لا يبدأ إلا
هنا ، لا يبدأ إلا عند هذا الخط الذي يبدأ قلم الرصاص برسمه . وتبدأ القصة
وتنتهي ، وتتقدم ومن ثم تضيع ، وبين كل كلمة وأخرى كم من فترة صمت ،
وكلمات تهرب وتتلاشى ، ولا تعود أبدًا .
* بول أوستر - في بلاد الأشياء الأخيرة”
― Paul Auster, quote from In the Country of Last Things

“هناك أناسٌ نحيلون جداً .أحياناً تذروهم الريح”
― Paul Auster, quote from In the Country of Last Things

“In the end, the problem is not so much that people forget, but that they do not always forget the same thing. What still exists as a memory for one person can be irretrievably lost for another, and this creates difficulties, insuperable barriers against understanding.”
― Paul Auster, quote from In the Country of Last Things

“When you live in the city, you learn to take nothing for granted. Close your eyes for a moment, turn around to look at something else, and the thing that was before you is suddenly gone. Nothing lasts, you see, not even the thoughts inside you. And you mustn't waste your time looking for them. Once a thing is gone, that is the end of it.”
― Paul Auster, quote from In the Country of Last Things

“But suddenly, after all this time, I feel there is something to say, and if I don't
quickly write it down, my head will burst. It doesn't matter if you read it. It
doesn't even matter if I send it - assuming that could be done. Perhaps it comes
down to this. I am writing to you because you know nothing. Because you are far
away from me and know nothing.”
― Paul Auster, quote from In the Country of Last Things

“There is no escape from this. Either you do or you don't. And if
you do, you can't be sure of doing it the next time. And if you
don't, you never will again.”
― Paul Auster, quote from In the Country of Last Things

“كلما إعتقدت أنك تعرف جواب السؤال , تكتشف أن السؤال لا معنى له”
― Paul Auster, quote from In the Country of Last Things

“على الرغم مما قد تفترض، فإنَّ الحقائق لا يمكن عكسها. ومجرّد كونكَ قادراْ على الدخول، لا يعني أنَّ في استطاعتك أن تخرج. فالمداخل لا تتحول إلى مخارج، ولا شيء يضمن أن يبقى الباب الذي اجتزته قبل برهة في مكانه عندما تستدير لتبحث عنه من جديد.”
― Paul Auster, quote from In the Country of Last Things

“بمقدورك أن تتصور، كم من الأشياء تصبح منسية على مر الوقت”
― Paul Auster, quote from In the Country of Last Things

“نحن دائماً موجودون في النهاية , دائماً نقف على حافة اللحظة الأخيرة , ولماذا ينبغي أن نتوقع أن نكون مختلفين الآن ؟”
― Paul Auster, quote from In the Country of Last Things

“You must get used to doing with as little as you can. By wanting
less, you are content with less, and the less you need, the better
off you are.”
― Paul Auster, quote from In the Country of Last Things

“تتشكل في العقل مناطق مظلمة , وإذا لم تبذل ,جهداً متواصلاً لإستدعاء الأشياء التي اختفت, فسرعان ما ستضيع بالنسبة إليك إلى الأبد”
― Paul Auster, quote from In the Country of Last Things

“Words tend to last a big longer than things, but eventually they fade too, along with the pictures they once evoked. Entire categories of objects disappear - flowerpots, for example, or cigarette filters, or rubber bands - and for a time you will be able to recognize those words, even if you cannot recall what they mean. But then, little by little, the words become only sounds, a random collection of glottals and fricatives, a storm of whirling phonemes, and finally the whole thing just collapses into gibberish.”
― Paul Auster, quote from In the Country of Last Things

“Better to wait quietly in their corner, they think, than to be dashed
against the stones.”
― Paul Auster, quote from In the Country of Last Things

“وشيئاً فشيئاً.. تسرب العالم بأكمله منها”
― Paul Auster, quote from In the Country of Last Things

“I couldn't imagine myself doing it anymore. It was part of my life that had ended for me, and here was my chance to set out on a fresh course”
― Paul Auster, quote from In the Country of Last Things

“Pero cuando la fe desaparece, cuando comprendes que ni siquiera te queda las esperanza de recuperar la esperanza, entonces tiendes a llenar los espacios vacíos con sueños, pequeña fantasías y cuentos infantiles que te ayuden a sobrevivir.”
― Paul Auster, quote from In the Country of Last Things

“Our lives are no more than the sum of manifold contingencies, and no matter how diverse they might be in their details, they all share an essential randomness in their design: this then that, and because of that, this.”
― Paul Auster, quote from In the Country of Last Things

“كان رجلاً من الصنف الذي لا يمكن توقعُ ردات فعله، مُرتفع المعنويات في دقيقة ما، ومُحطماً في الدقيقة التالية”
― Paul Auster, quote from In the Country of Last Things

About the author

Popular quotes

“It’s rather like your voice. You put up with your voice and speak with it because you haven’t any choice. But it’s what you say that counts. It’s what distinguishes all great art from the other kind.”
― John Fowles, quote from The Collector

“This hill, though high, I covet to ascend;
The difficulty will not me offend.
For I perceive the way to life lies here.
Come, pluck up, heart; let's neither faint nor fear.
Better, though difficult, the right way to go,
Than wrong, though easy, where the end is woe.”
― John Bunyan, quote from The Pilgrim's Progress

“This time I did not have to question the source of his snarls and hisses, and of the fear which made him sink his claws into my ankle, unconscious of their effect; for on every side of the chamber the walls were alive with nauseous sound - the verminous slithering of ravenous, gigantic rats.”
― H.P. Lovecraft, quote from Tales of H.P. Lovecraft

“I don’t care how hard being together is, nothing is worse than being apart.”
― Josephine Angelini, quote from Starcrossed

“Sometimes it seemed like the truth was a bandy-legged soul who dashed from one side of the world to the other and I could never find him.”
― James McBride, quote from The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother

Interesting books

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.