Quotes from The Paper Garden: Mrs. Delany Begins Her Life's Work at 72

Molly Peacock ·  416 pages

Rating: (865 votes)


“Is being burnt a requisite for the making of art? Personally, I don't think it is. But art is poultice for a burn. It is a privilege to have, somewhere within you, a capacity for making something speak from your own seared experience.”
― Molly Peacock, quote from The Paper Garden: Mrs. Delany Begins Her Life's Work at 72


“But if a role model in her seventies isn't layered with contradictions - as we all come to be - then what good is she? Why bother to cut the silhouette of another's existence and place it against our own if it isn't as incongruous, ambiguous, inconsistent, and paradoxical as our own lives are?”
― Molly Peacock, quote from The Paper Garden: Mrs. Delany Begins Her Life's Work at 72


“The secret of marriage is thinking that your partner is better than yourself.”
― Molly Peacock, quote from The Paper Garden: Mrs. Delany Begins Her Life's Work at 72


“Having a collection, taking it out, looking at it, reordering it, and putting it away is creative in itself. It doesn't yield a product, like the results of an art, but is stops time, as making art does.”
― Molly Peacock, quote from The Paper Garden: Mrs. Delany Begins Her Life's Work at 72


“Robert Phelps, a biographer of Colette, said about watching, 'Along with love and work, this is the third great salvation. For whenever someone is seriously watching, a form of lost innocence is restored. It will not last, but during those minutes his self-consciousness is relieved.' Noticing keeps you alive.”
― Molly Peacock, quote from The Paper Garden: Mrs. Delany Begins Her Life's Work at 72



About the author

Molly Peacock
Born place: in Buffalo, New York, The United States
Born date June 30, 2018
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“Resigned that those surrounding him had no idea who he was, and invariably kind to his social and intellectual inferiors, he sometimes felt doubly hurt that those who ought to have understood him really had less respect for him than his most casual acquaintances.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche, quote from The Portable Nietzsche


“THE BLUE GLACIER SALOON was part general store, part restaurant, part bar. It was my fantasy come true, a Stuckey’s that served shots.”
― Molly Harper, quote from How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf


“Just remember, Sergeant Grabowski. You may be able to order me around, but we both know who makes your privates stand at attention.”
― quote from I'll Be Your Drill, Soldier


“Years later I was in the Sudan on a conservation project when I heard an incredible story on good authority that sounded similar to my own. During the twenty-year war between northern and southern Sudan elephants were being slaughtered both for ivory and meat and so large numbers migrated to Kenya for safety. Within days of the final ceasefire being signed, the elephants left their adopted residence en masse and trekked the hundreds of miles back home to Sudan. How they knew that their home range was now safe is just another indication of the incredible abilities of these amazing creatures.”
― Lawrence Anthony, quote from The Elephant Whisperer


“What you feel, Cerise? I feel it, too. Fuck, Mia, I feel everything for you.”
― Christina Lauren, quote from Sweet Filthy Boy


Interesting books

The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God
(8.9K)
The Divine Conspirac...
by Dallas Willard
The Ascent of Man
(5K)
The Ascent of Man
by Jacob Bronowski
Double Standards
(10.2K)
Double Standards
by Judith McNaught
Debt: The First 5,000 Years
(8.1K)
Debt: The First 5,00...
by David Graeber
America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction
(82.3K)
America (The Book):...
by Jon Stewart
Fallen Crest Public
(19.4K)
Fallen Crest Public
by Tijan

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.