Quotes from The Towers of Trebizond

Rose Macaulay ·  277 pages

Rating: (1.2K votes)


“Take my camel, dear,' said my aunt Dot, climbing down from that animal on her return from high Mass.”
― Rose Macaulay, quote from The Towers of Trebizond


“...when the years have all passed, there will gape the uncomfortable and unpredictable dark void of death, and into this I shall at last fall headlong, down and down and down, and the prospect of that fall, that uprooting, that rending apart of body and spirit, that taking off into so blank an unknown, drowns me in mortal fear and mortal grief. After all, life, for all its agonies of despair and loss and guilt, is exciting and beautiful, amusing and artful and endearing, full of liking and of love, at times a poem and a high adventure, at times noble and at times very gay; and whatever (if anything) is to come after it, we shall not have this life again.”
― Rose Macaulay, quote from The Towers of Trebizond


“The boats were filled mostly with steerage passengers who lived in Trebizond or were visiting relations there, and the women carried great bundles and sacks full of things, but the men carried suit-cases with sharp, square corners, which helped them very much in the struggle to get on and stay on the boats, for this was very violent and intense. More than one woman got shoved overboard into the sea during the struggle, and had to be dragged out by husbands and acquaintances, but one sank too deep and had to be left, for the boat-hooks could not reach her; all we saw were the apples out of her basket bobbing on the waves. I thought that women would not stand much chance in a shipwreck, and in the struggle for the boats many might fall in the sea and be forgotten, but the children would be saved all right, for Turks love their children, even the girls.”
― Rose Macaulay, quote from The Towers of Trebizond


“...One keeps remembering what Lynch says about
Turkish women in his book-'they appear conscious of
some immense and inexpiable sin'."
Father Chantry·Pigg said nothing, but he looked as if
he thought the Turkish women, and indeed all women,
did well to be conscious of this, for they had committed it in Eden, and had been committing it ever since merely by existing. He did not dare, however, to say this to aunt Dot and Halide, who erroneously believed men to be equally sinful, and even (in Turkey) more.”
― Rose Macaulay, quote from The Towers of Trebizond


“Every one had had the idea of starting for home early, so as to miss the crawl, but, since every one had had the idea, no one missed the crawl.”
― Rose Macaulay, quote from The Towers of Trebizond



About the author

Rose Macaulay
Born place: in Rugby, The United Kingdom
Born date August 1, 1881
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“He sighs. "I miss the days when females could be ordered around and they'd have no choice."

"Sure that wasn't just a myth? I'm pretty sure nobody ever ordered my mom around - ever."

"You're probably right. The unruliness of the women in your family must go back for generations. You're like a plague upon the land.”
― Susan Ee, quote from World After


“It was not polite for a Temujai general to allow his emotions to show.”
― John Flanagan, quote from The Battle for Skandia


“The clamor of 'What have I gotten myself into?' was a mighty shout. It could not be drowned out. The only possible distraction was my vigilant search for rattlesnakes. I expected one around every bend, ready to strike. The landscape was made for them, it seemed. And also for mountain lions and wilderness-savvy serial killers.

But I wasn't thinking of them.

It was a deal I'd made with myself months before and the only thing that allowed me to hike alone. I knew that if I allowed fear to overtake me, my journey was doomed. Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we tell ourselves, and so I chose to tell myself a different story from the one women are told. I decided I was safe. I was strong. I was brave. Nothing could vanquish me. Insisting on this story was a form of mind control, but for the most part, it worked. Every time I heard a sound of unknown origin or felt something horrible cohering in my imagination, I pushed it away. I simply did not let myself become afraid. Fear begets fear. Power begets power. I willed myself to beget power. And it wasn't long before I actually wasn't afraid.”
― Cheryl Strayed, quote from Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail


“You don't have to destroy me. Do you? ...”
― Ernest Hemingway, quote from The Complete Short Stories


“..no matter how much one reads, the whole story can never be told.”
― Lemony Snicket, quote from The End


Interesting books

The Five People You Meet in Heaven
(488.9K)
The Five People You...
by Mitch Albom
The Godfather
(281.2K)
The Godfather
by Mario Puzo
In Cold Blood
(427.6K)
In Cold Blood
by Truman Capote
Lonesome Dove
(122.8K)
Lonesome Dove
by Larry McMurtry
The Cat in the Hat
(331.2K)
The Cat in the Hat
by Dr. Seuss
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
(1.9M)
Harry Potter and the...
by J.K. Rowling

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.