Quotes from Oral History

Lee Smith ·  286 pages

Rating: (3.3K votes)


“They say experience is the best teacher, but I'll be damned if I know what it teaches you.”
― Lee Smith, quote from Oral History


“For once I am living my life rather than watching it pass in review.”
― Lee Smith, quote from Oral History


“Away acrost his valley he sees Black Mountain rising jagged to the sky...and if he looks to the left on past it, he sees all the furtherest ranges, line on line. Purple and blue and blue again and smoky until you can't tell the mountains apart from the sky. Lord, it'll make a man think something, seeing that. It'll make a man think deep.”
― Lee Smith, quote from Oral History


“Nothing is ever over, nothing is ever ended, and worlds open up within the world we know.”
― Lee Smith, quote from Oral History


“...for they was never a young man yet who don't want to go out and right a wrong, or kill a man, or have to do something to earn his right to what is there for the taking, all along. Only he don't think he can ask, nor take, without earning it. Without no pain. Oftener than not, a young man's a regular fool.”
― Lee Smith, quote from Oral History



“I had before me an object lesson, I thought: two ways to face the world. One way as embodied by this old woman—simple, unassuming, a kind of peasant dignity, a naturalness inherent in her every move. The other, exemplified by the girl—smartness, sophistication, veneer without substance. I was conscious that I have now opted for the old woman’s way, have thrown in my lot with a creature I would have jeered at a year ago. My present trip to the mountains is indeed a trip to that wellspring of naturalness she symbolized. And I admired my choice: the correct choice, the only choice for a sensitive and moral man in my dilemma.”
― Lee Smith, quote from Oral History


“Pearl is the only person I ever knew who said things like “paths in life” out loud.”
― Lee Smith, quote from Oral History


About the author

Lee Smith
Born place: in Grundy, Virginia, The United States
Born date November 1, 1944
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“-“Why do men like you do the job you do? It can’t be for the medals. And it’s certainly not the money.”
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“Tell me something, Noah. Which is more important: freedom or happiness?'

What was this, a game? But Nijinsky wasn't smiling.

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― Michael Grant, quote from BZRK


“Посвящаю эти строки
Тем, кто мне устроит гроб.
Приоткроют мой высокий,
Ненавистный лоб.
Измененная без нужды,
С венчиком на лбу,-
Собственному сердцу чуждой
Буду я в гробу.
Не увидят на лице:
"Все мне слышно! Все мне видно!
Мне в гробу еще обидно
Быть как все".
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Идешь, на меня похожий,
Глаза устремляя вниз.
Я их опускала – тоже!
Прохожий, остановись!
[...]
Не думай, что здесь – могила,
Что я появлюсь, грозя...
Я слишком сама любила
Смеяться, когда нельзя!
И кровь приливала к коже,
И кудри мои вились...
Я тоже была, прохожий!
Прохожий, остановись!
[...]
Но только не стой угрюмо,
Главу опустив на грудь.
Легко обо мне подумай,
Легко обо мне забудь.
Как луч тебя освещает!
Ты весь в золотой пыли...
- И пусть тебя не смущает
Мой голос из-под земли.”
― Marina Tsvetaeva, quote from Selected Poems


“Lois. Oh… no. Lois. Dinner. His name … be it Clark Kent or Superman …was mud. –Clark Kent”
― C.J. Cherryh, quote from Lois & Clark: A Superman Novel


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