Quotes from Johnno

David Malouf ·  256 pages

Rating: (723 votes)


“Brisbane is so sleepy, so slatternly, so sprawlingly unlovely… It is simply the most ordinary place in the world…It was so shabby and makeshift … a place where poetry could never occur.”
― David Malouf, quote from Johnno


“Still the fact remains, he had me hooked. As he had, of course, from the beginning. I had been writing my book about Johnno from the moment we met.”
― David Malouf, quote from Johnno


“I might grow old in Brisbane, but I would never grow up.”
― David Malouf, quote from Johnno


“The hundred possibilities a situation contains may be more significant than the occurrence of any of them, and metaphor truer in the long run than fact.”
― David Malouf, quote from Johnno


“Now as I began to sort through his “effects” it occurred to me how little I had really known him … I had forced upon my father the character that fitted most easily with my image of myself; to have had to admit to any complexity in him would have compromised my own.”
― David Malouf, quote from Johnno



About the author

David Malouf
Born place: in Brisbane, Australia
Born date March 20, 1934
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“If you consider your mind like a garden,' he began earnestly, `a garden needs to be tended regularly to prevent weeds from springing and suffocating other flowers and plants, to keep the garden tidy and clear, if you like. The mind works in the same way. Negative thoughts spring up and you must be aware of them, but do not attach yourself to them. Simply, you must discard them like a weed, cast them aside so that positive thoughts are given the space to dazzle in the sunlight.”
― Tami Egonu, quote from Bird


“I never got over the horror of watching their graduation ceremonies, performed before their parents. After a demonstration of ‘military prowess’ and personal courage the ceremony ended with their biting off the heads of snakes. As the blood dripped down their chins, they roasted the dead animals for a victory feast. Other schools had the children strangle puppies and drink their blood.”
― Leon Uris, quote from The Haj


“Heaven itself is just a little less than perfect: for perfection, by self-definition, is a static condition, and anything truly static has deceased its purpose.”
― Gabriel Brunsdon, quote from Azlander: Second Nature


“I never realised before that when someone says ‘see you at lunch’ it feels like sunshine.”
― Cecily Anne Paterson, quote from Invisible


“All things, even the deepest sorrow or the most profound happiness are all temporary. Hope is fuel for the soul, without hope, forward motion ceases.”
― quote from First Night of Summer


Interesting books

The Kindly Ones
(37.5K)
The Kindly Ones
by Neil Gaiman
Lord of the Fading Lands
(14.4K)
Lord of the Fading L...
by C.L. Wilson
Still Life With Crows
(26.5K)
Still Life With Crow...
by Douglas Preston
Princess in the Spotlight
(47K)
Princess in the Spot...
by Meg Cabot
Taken at Dusk
(39.9K)
Taken at Dusk
by C.C. Hunter
The Winter Rose
(16.8K)
The Winter Rose
by Jennifer Donnelly

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.