“The art of happiness is being content with what you have,' she would say, looking with apparent satisfaction out of the dusty windows at the garden, yellowing like an uncut hayfield in the October sunshine.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Favored Child
“Don't be afraid of the future, little Julia. Take your present life and live it.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Favored Child
“They were all wrong and the dreams and seeings were right. And there was nothing wrong with me. I felt my shoulders go back and my head come up, and I smiled at the doctor and promised to be prompt at his house in the morning; and as I smiled I sensed all the familiar strength - the strength which I named as the Lacey strength, Beatrice strength - come back to me, and I looked him in his pale blue eyes and thought to myself: you and I are enemies while you try to change me, for I will never change.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Favored Child
“For a moment I felt the terror. The deep primeval terror of something one does not understand, something which is against nature or, at the least, against everything one has ever seen or known before.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Favored Child
“The scene had been a nightmare, one of those insane nightmares where the most normal objects become infinitely menacing.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Favored Child
“She poured me a cup of coffee and I drank it standing by the back door, looking out of the back garden. I felt it scald my tongue but it did not warm me. It was heavy with sugar but it did not taste sweet. I gave a little sigh. There are some days when nothing seems right.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Favored Child
“Don't waste your courage on hating him. Keep yourself to yourself. And keep up your courage.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Favored Child
“We are joint heirs,' I said in a sharp undertone. 'The land will always be partly mine.'
Richard smiled, a smile like midsummer skies. 'I shan't regard it.' He said sweetly. 'And you don't know the law, my clever little cousin. If they commit you to an asylum, you are disinherited at once. Did you not know that, my dear? If you go on with your seeings and your dreamings, you will lose everything.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Favored Child
“Funny sky,' he said, squinting up at the thick-bellied white clouds and the sun shining so hot on them but not breaking through.
'It feels as if there should be a storm,' I said 'but it was like this at haymaking and the weather never properly broke then.'
'If I was at sea I should run for a port,' Ralph said. He was looking towards the horizon where there was a yellow tinge to the sky over the top of the downs.”
― Philippa Gregory, quote from The Favored Child
“I've never lost a duel to the death. Not one.”
― Jim Butcher, quote from Captain's Fury
“It was a damned awkward undertaking, trying to think of loving words, and he had absolutely no experience in this area, but he was still determined not to muck it up. Even with his men watching, he wanted the words to be right, his declaration to be one she would always remember.
The moment needed to be perfect for her. "Judith," he began.
"Yes, Iain?"
"I'm keeping you.”
― Julie Garwood, quote from The Secret
“Happiness was different in childhood. It was so much more than a matter simply of accumulation, of taking things - new experiences, new emotions - and applying them like so many polished tiles to what would someday be the marvellously finished pavilion of the self.”
― John Banville, quote from The Sea
“I lacked some essential skill for attracting people, for giving and receiving love easily. It meant too much to me. I seemed to be driving away the people I most wanted. Finally I had realized that getting someone to love you was like trying to coax a bird to perch on your finger . . . it wouldn't happen unless you stopped trying so hard.”
― Lisa Kleypas, quote from Blue-Eyed Devil
“Ritengo di essere capace di leggere un poco nell'animo delle persone che mi circondano. Forse non è così. Nelle mie giornate migliori ho l'impressione di scrutare in fondo all'animo altrui, anche se non sono poi una gran testa. Siamo seduti in una stanza, qualche uomo, qualche donna e io. e mi sembra di vedere quel che accade dentro queste persone, e cosa pensano di me. Attribuisco un significato ad ogni cenno che appare nei loro occhi, a volte il sangue sale alle loro guance e le fa arrossire, altre volte fingono di guardare da un'altra parte e invece mi tengono d'occhio di nascosto. E io sto li e osservo tutto questo e nessuno sospetta che metto a nudo ogni anima.”
― Knut Hamsun, quote from Pan
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.
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