Quotes from The City and the Pillar

Gore Vidal ·  207 pages

Rating: (5.6K votes)


“We affect one another quite enough merely by existing. Whenever the stars cross, or is it comets? fragments pass briefly from one orbit to another. On rare occasions there is total collision, but most often the two simply continue without incident, neither losing more than a particle to the other, in passing.”
― Gore Vidal, quote from The City and the Pillar


“Ideally, of course, a relationship is best, but then how many people are capable of deep feeling? Practically none.”
― Gore Vidal, quote from The City and the Pillar


“Americans tend to play different roles, hoping that somehow they’ll stumble on the right one.”
― Gore Vidal, quote from The City and the Pillar


“Nothing that ever was changes. Yet nothing that is can ever be the same as what went before.”
― Gore Vidal, quote from The City and the Pillar


“عاد وحيداً و سعيداً ، مع ثلاثة كؤوسٍ موضوعةٍ أمامه على الطاوله : اثنان فارغان ، وواحد نصف مملوء و عليه آثار أحمر شفاه . رتَّبَ الكؤوس لتُشكِّلَ مثلثاً ، لكنه حين حاولَ ان يرتِّبها على شكلِ مربِّعٍ فشل . لماذا ؟ لأنَّ ثلاثة كؤوس يجب أن تكون قادرةً على تشكيلِ مربَّع . و شعر بالحزن .”
― Gore Vidal, quote from The City and the Pillar



“يبدو أن كثيرين من الجنوبيين يكتبون . ربما بسبب الحرب الأهلية . يجب الحصول على مأساة لكي نحصل على أدب .”
― Gore Vidal, quote from The City and the Pillar


“As the late afternoon sun shone in Shaw's face and a soft flower-scented wind cooled him, his unhappiness turned to a detachment that was not at all unpleasant. He was utterly alone in the world. This knowledge thrilled him.”
― Gore Vidal, quote from The City and the Pillar


About the author

Gore Vidal
Born place: in West Point, New York, The United States
Born date October 3, 1925
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“I know that I'm not the easiest person to live with. The challenge I put on myself is so great that the person I live with feels himself challenged. I bring a lot to bear, and I don't know how not to.”
― Maya Angelou, quote from Phenomenal Woman: Four Poems Celebrating Women


“When Jesus defines the relationship he wants with us he makes it clear that being a fan who believes without making any real commitment to follow isn’t an option.”
― Kyle Idleman, quote from Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus


“Glynis no sólo trabajaba (o había trabajado) con metal; era metal. Rígida, poco dispuesta a cooperar e inflexible. Dura, refractaria y de una radiante rebeldía. El cuerpo largo, estilizado y anguloso como las joyas y la cubertería que una vez diseñó; en la escuela de artes y oficios no había elegido su medio por casualidad. Se identificaba naturalmente con cualquier material que se negara encarnizadamente a hacer lo que uno quería, cuya forma fuese resistente al cambio y sólo respondiera al trato violento. El metal era un escándalo. Si alguna vez se lo maltrataba, sus abolladuras y arañazos captaban la luz como rencores ocultos.”
― Lionel Shriver, quote from So Much for That


“Careful, even now, not to thank the wights, she added, "You have all been most kind.”
― Cecilia Dart-Thornton, quote from The Battle of Evernight


“There's so much you thought you could never face. The decision not to try to control your power, to let it be your demon. Too shameful to remember, so you let it eat your life up instead. But you're past it now, Scott. And all you had to defeat, all you had to let go of...was you. You're free, my love. You're free.”
― Joss Whedon, quote from Astonishing X-Men, Volume 3: Torn


Interesting books

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
(96.6K)
The Murder of Roger...
by Agatha Christie
Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders
(101.8K)
Helter Skelter: The...
by Vincent Bugliosi
Bloodfever
(82.4K)
Bloodfever
by Karen Marie Moning
Memnoch the Devil
(69.7K)
Memnoch the Devil
by Anne Rice
Let the Right One In
(71.2K)
Let the Right One In
by John Ajvide Lindqvist
Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair
(39.7K)
Twenty Love Poems an...
by Pablo Neruda

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.