Quotes from Postcards from No Man's Land

“He thought: How difficult it is to explain yourself to yourself. Sometimes there only is, and no knowing.”
― Aidan Chambers, quote from Postcards from No Man's Land

“Is it better to go with the flow or let the flow go?”
― Aidan Chambers, quote from Postcards from No Man's Land

“He thought: How difficult it is to explain yourself to yourself. Sometimes there only is, and no knowing.”
― Aidan Chambers, quote from Postcards from No Man's Land

“What a need we humans have for confession. To a priest, to a friend, to a psychoanalyst, to a relative, to an enemy, even to a torturer when there is no one else, it doesn't matter so long as we speak out what moves within us. Even the most secretive of us do it, if no more than writing in a private diary. And I have often thought as I read stories and novels and poems, especially poems, that they are no more than authors' confessions transformed by their art into something that confesses for us all. Indeed, looking back on my life-long passion for reading, the one activity that has kept me going and given me the most and only lasting pleasure, I think this is the reason that explains why it means so much to me. The books, the authors who matter the most are those who speak to me and speak for me all those things about life I most need to hear as the confession of myself.”
― Aidan Chambers, quote from Postcards from No Man's Land

“Maybe we should always start everything from the inside and work to the outside, and not from the outside to the inside. What d'you think?”
― Aidan Chambers, quote from Postcards from No Man's Land

“Ah, clever clogs, but it will have happened in one of my alternative lives. You know--the lives hot-shot scientists tell us we are living at the same time as this one we know about. Which being so, how do you know that what happens in one of your alternative lives doesn't sometimes leak through into your consciousness in this life, and make you sad that you aren't living that particular alternative life instead of this one? Don't you sometimes feel depressed for no reason you can think of? I do. And maybe that's why. We've had a leak from an alternative life and want that life now. Like wanting an ice cream when you were little, which you knew was in the freezer, but your mom wouldn't let you have it.”
― Aidan Chambers, quote from Postcards from No Man's Land

“And the price for being a homo-hater should be as high as anyone can pay.”
― Aidan Chambers, quote from Postcards from No Man's Land

“It is not growing like a tree
In bulk, doth make Man better be;
Or standing long an oak, three hundred year,
To fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sere:
A lily of a day
Is fairer far in May
Although it fall and die that night;
It was the plant and flower of Light.
In small proportions we just beauties see;
And in short measures life may perfect be (Ben Jonson)”
― Aidan Chambers, quote from Postcards from No Man's Land

“Yes, even in your mouse moods you only play with the idea of not being." She cleared her throat again. "Biology, you see. It’s because of biology that we want to live and not to die. And it is because of biology that we come to a time when we want to die and not to live.”
― Aidan Chambers, quote from Postcards from No Man's Land

“L'amore appena nato ha una visione a tunnel della realtà, la sua retina è uno schermo cinematografico, vede il mondo rifatto secondo la sua utopistica interpretazione.”
― Aidan Chambers, quote from Postcards from No Man's Land

“«Tu non credi che certe persone dimostrino più coraggio di altre, che siano più valorose e tutto il resto?»
«Tu sì?»
«Be, sì, io penso di sì. Quando leggi di quello che alcuni uomini hanno fatto in questa battaglia, per esempio. Non solo combattendo, ma salvando la vita di altri soldati a rischio della propria. Sono stati capaci di cose che altri non avrebbero mai osato.»
«E che cosa hanno fatto quando sono tornati a casa?»
«Eh?»
«Cosa hanno fatto a casa loro? Come trattavano le loro mogli o le innamorate? Come si comportavano coi colleghi di lavoro?»
[...]
«... lo sai dove voglio arrivare. Non è che io non creda al coraggio o al valore o a cose del genere. Solo che credo che la maggior parte delle persone sia coraggiosa e valorosa ma in modi diversi e in diverse... come si dice? gelegenheden... occasioni.»”
― Aidan Chambers, quote from Postcards from No Man's Land

“And in short measures life may perfect be”
― Aidan Chambers, quote from Postcards from No Man's Land

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Popular quotes

“It is as great an error to speak well of a worthless man as to speak ill of a good man.”
― Leonardo da Vinci, quote from Leonardo's Notebooks

“Needs? I guess that is what bothers so many folks. They keep expanding their needs until they are dependent on too many things and too many other people... I wonder how many things in the average American home could be eliminated if the question were asked, "Must I really have this?" I guess most of the extras are chalked up to comfort or saving time.

Funny thing about comfort - one man's comfort is another man's misery. Most people do't work hard enough physically anymore, and comfort is not easy to find. It is surprising how comfortable a hard bunk can be after you come down off a mountain.”
― quote from One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey

“Plantie is a very strong Protestant, that is to say, he's against all churches, especially the Protestant: and he thinks a lot of Buddha, Karma and Confucius. He is also a bit of an anarchist and three or four years ago he took up Einstein and vitamins.”
― Joyce Cary, quote from The Horse's Mouth

“Many people are partial to the notion that . . . all writers are somehow mere vessels for Truth and Beauty when they compose. That we are not really in control. This is a variation on that twee little fable that writers like to pass off on gullible readers, that a character can develop a will of his own and 'take over a book.' This makes writing sound supernatural and mysterious, like possession by faeries. The reality tends to involve a spare room, a pirated copy of MS Word, and a table bought on sale at Target. A character can no more take over your novel than an eggplant and a jar of cumin can take over your kitchen.”
― Paul Collins, quote from Sixpence House: Lost in a Town of Books

“Ay, cómo trabajaban las chicas entonces; antes del amanecer ya estaban en pie, muertas de sueño, para disponer veinte o treinta fuegos. Barrer, fregar, limpiar y pulir se hacía sólo para volver a hacerlo. Lavar montañas de vajilla y cubertería, corretear escaleras arriba y abajo; y aquellas campanillas irascibles que empezaban a resonar como en una rabieta… Justo cuando lograbas sentarte un instante.”
― Laurie Lee, quote from Cider With Rosie

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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.

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