“Of course it would cost something, but he was an expert in cutting corners; and when there were no more corners left he would make circles rounder.”
― Bernard Malamud, quote from The Magic Barrel
“Her face deeply moved him. Why, he could at first not say. It gave him the impression of youth--spring flowers, yet age--a sense of having been used to the bone, wasted; this came from the eyes, which were hauntingly familiar, yet absolutely strange. He had a vivid impression that he had met her before, but try as he might he could not place her although he could almost recall her name, as he had read it in her own handwriting. No, this couldn't be; he would have remembered her. It was not, he affirmed, that she had an extraordinary beauty--no, though her face was attractive enough; it was that something about her moved him. Feature for feature, even some of the ladies of the photographs could do better; but she lapsed forth to this heart--had lived, or wanted to--more than just wanted, perhaps regretted how she had lived--had somehow deeply suffered: it could be seen in the depths of those reluctant eyes, and from the way the light enclosed and shone from her, and within her, opening realms of possibility: this was her own. Her he desired. His head ached and eyes narrowed with the intensity of his gazing, then as if an obscure fog had blown up in the mind, he experienced fear of her and was aware that he had received an impression, somehow, of evil. He shuddered, saying softly, it is thus with us all. Leo brewed some tea in a small pot and sat sipping it without sugar, to calm himself. But before he had finished drinking, again with excitement he examined the face and found it good: good for Leo Finkle. Only such a one could understand him and help him seek whatever he was seeking. She might, perhaps, love him. How she had happened to be among the discards in Salzman's barrel he could never guess, but he knew he must urgently go find her.”
― Bernard Malamud, quote from The Magic Barrel
“She is not for you. She is a wild one--wild, without shame. This is not a bride for a rabbi".”
― Bernard Malamud, quote from The Magic Barrel
“Leo hurried up to bed and hid under the covers. Under the covers he thought his life through. Although he soon fell asleep he could not sleep her out of his mind. He woke, beating his breast. Though he prayed to be rid of her, his prayers went unanswered. Through days of torment he endlessly struggled not to love her; fearing success, he escaped it. He then concluded to convert her to goodness, himself to God. The idea alternately nauseated and exalted him.”
― Bernard Malamud, quote from The Magic Barrel
“But that’s what happened, Freeman, who had often been in love, told himself. Until you were lovers you were strangers.”
― Bernard Malamud, quote from The Magic Barrel
Bernard Malamud
Born place: in Brooklyn, New York, The United States
Born date April 28, 1914
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“No. Your thoughts are what make you. But your body isn't a meaningless thing either. Call me strange, but I think only the person you love the most should see you like that. And not here--in an ugly, dirty place--when you haven't even thought about it.”
― Emm Cole, quote from Keeping Merminia
“the moral worth of an action consists not in the consequences that flow from it, but in the intention from which the act is done. What matters is the motive, and the motive must be of a certain kind. What matters is doing the right thing because it’s right, not for some ulterior motive.”
― Michael J. Sandel, quote from Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do?
“She could neither conform nor be happy in her unconformity. This she saw clearly now, and with cold anger at all the past futile effort. What a waste!”
― Nella Larsen, quote from Quicksand
“no matter how many wrong choices we’ve made in the past, we can always decide to make the right ones today. The past need not determine one moment of the future. The”
― Lisa Wingate, quote from The Story Keeper
“If something or someone is presented to us once, we will often dismiss it as being nothing more than happenstance. If that person or situation is presented twice, it is God slapping us in the face and telling us to pay attention. It is fate.”
― Scott Hildreth, quote from Undefeated
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The Storied Life of...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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