Quotes from The Four Swans

Winston Graham ·  443 pages

Rating: (4.2K votes)


“There's no paradise in love! It's--you're thinking in the wrong way. Love--the sort you're asking me for--is of the earth, earthy. Beautiful, maybe--sometimes it be like a gold mine that one digs into. But of the earth--earthy. Tis all wrong to speak of paradise. Love may be the nearest human beings can get--but it is still outside the gates--for it is human--easily lost--animal in the way it work, though more, much more than animal. Oftentimes it--uplifts, transports...but--but it should not be mistaken. It is a--a terrible mistake to pretend it is something quite different.”
― Winston Graham, quote from The Four Swans


“Tenderness is not like money: the more you give to one, the more you have for others.”
― Winston Graham, quote from The Four Swans


“No man wants his wife to be a woman that other men don't desire....But every man wants his wife to be a woman that other men don't get.”
― Winston Graham, quote from The Four Swans


“Love is not a possession to hoard. You give it away. It's a blessing and a balm.”
― Winston Graham, quote from The Four Swans


“Not for the first time he was conscious of emotional lights and shades in his wife that could not be categorized, could not be named as sensuous or emotional as such, perhaps derived from each and gave to each but in essence grew out of a deeper fund of temperament that he still could not altogether apprehend. The simple miner's daughter was not simple in character at all.”
― Winston Graham, quote from The Four Swans



“Either you trust a man and give him authority to carry out his treatment or you do not. When it goes well you are happy that you did so. When it goes ill you think, if only . . .”
― Winston Graham, quote from The Four Swans


“[When men were ill, they] liked the importance, the confidence, the attack of a demi-god, whose voice was already echoing through the house as he mounted the stairs, who had the maids scurrying for water or blankets and the patient's relatives hanging on every word. Behenna was such a man. His very appearance made the heart beat faster even if, as often happened, it later stopped beating altogether. Failure did not depress him. If one of his patients died, it was not the fault of his remedies, it was the fault of the patient.”
― Winston Graham, quote from The Four Swans


“down. Below this the water was”
― Winston Graham, quote from The Four Swans


“His parents should be here soon. I shall feel happier when they are able to take the responsibility.”
― Winston Graham, quote from The Four Swans


“That reminds me of when you used to call and see us before Christmas, the year before last. Somehow–somehow life was all dark and secret and beautiful then.”
― Winston Graham, quote from The Four Swans



About the author

Winston Graham
Born place: in Manchester, The United Kingdom
Born date June 30, 1908
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“Even though she only used the dagger Jerin gave her for chopping meat and vegetables, Ethan still insisted she keep it on her at all times. That way, she mused, if anyone did attack her, she could make them a salad or something.”
― Jackie Castle, quote from Emanate


“It was a color I didn't realize the earth could make without the help of human beings. I knew the water would be blue, but I had in mind a tamer, more pastel blue: a light color through which all the sand and fish underneath would be clearly visible. This water was like super-wavy, lit up turquoise, and so beautiful I could hardly take my eyes off it. The moment I was spellbound by the color of the water was the moment I knew I had been in New York for to long and my decision to leave was a good one.”
― Margot Berwin, quote from Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire


“Kids are supposed to grow up and cut the apron strings. I just never dreamed those sharp scissors would leave so many wounds.”
― Lisa Wingate, quote from The Prayer Box


“Variety is overrated, honey. Regardless of what your country club friends say, most women just want to find a decent guy who can inspire lust now and again.”
― Donna McDonald, quote from Dating a Cougar


“Para conocer los efectos de largo alcance del sistema de género/sexo, primero se debe desmantelar la hipótesis fálica en relación con el inconsciente.”
― Karin Slaughter, quote from Criminal


Interesting books

The House of Mirth
(70.7K)
The House of Mirth
by Edith Wharton
The Horse Whisperer
(45.1K)
The Horse Whisperer
by Nicholas Evans
The Razor's Edge
(30.3K)
The Razor's Edge
by W. Somerset Maugham
Around the World in Eighty Days
(148.9K)
Around the World in...
by Jules Verne
Holy Bible: New International Version
(52.3K)
Pale Fire
(32.8K)
Pale Fire
by Vladimir Nabokov

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.