Quotes from Travels in the Scriptorium

Paul Auster ·  145 pages

Rating: (7.7K votes)


“I walk around the world like a ghost, and sometimes I question
whether I even exist. Whether I've ever existed at all.”
― Paul Auster, quote from Travels in the Scriptorium


“The pictures do not lie, but neither do they tell the whole story. They are merely a record of time passing, the outward evidence.”
― Paul Auster, quote from Travels in the Scriptorium


“Would it not be better to learn the truth once and for all instead of living in a state of perpetual uncertainty?”
― Paul Auster, quote from Travels in the Scriptorium


“So it goes as I work my way down the page, and each cluster of marks is a
word, and each word is a sound in my head, and each time I write another
word, I hear the sound of my own voice, even though my lips are silent.”
― Paul Auster, quote from Travels in the Scriptorium


“Aus den fernsten Weiten des Weltraums betrachtet, ist die Erde nicht größer als ein Staubkorn. Bedenke das, wenn du das nächste Mal das Wort "Menschheit" schreibst.”
― Paul Auster, quote from Travels in the Scriptorium



“Without him, we are nothing, but the paradox is that we, the figments of another mind, will outlive the mind that made us, for once we are thrown into the world, we continue to exist forever, and our stories go on being told, even after we are dead.”
― Paul Auster, quote from Travels in the Scriptorium


“I am a man, not an angel, and if the grief that overtook me occasionally blurred my vision and led to certain lapses of conduct, that in no way should cast doubt on the truth of my story. Before anyone tries to discredit me by pointing to those stains on my record, I come forward of my own free will and openly pronounce my guilt to the world. These are treacherous times, and I know how easily perceptions can be twisted by a single word spoken into the wrong ear.”
― Paul Auster, quote from Travels in the Scriptorium


“Mr. Blank's old friend is acting up again, and because our hero is no longer wearing the cotton trousers and underpants and is quite naked under the pajama bottoms, there is no barrier to prevent Mr. Bigshot from bounding out through the slit and poking his head into the light of day.”
― Paul Auster, quote from Travels in the Scriptorium


“In spite of his physical efforts, he understands that he is afraid to go on reading the typescript. Why this fear should have taken hold of him is something he cannot account for. It’s only words, he tells himself, and since when have words had the power to frighten a man half to death?”
― Paul Auster, quote from Travels in the Scriptorium


“(...) je sais avec quelle facilité les perceptions peuvent être déformées par un seul mot glissé dans la mauvaise oreille. ”
― Paul Auster, quote from Travels in the Scriptorium



“These are treacherous times, and I know how easily perceptions can be twisted by a single word spoken into the wrong ear. Impugn a man's character, and everything that man does is made to seem underhanded, suspect, fraught with double motives.”
― Paul Auster, quote from Travels in the Scriptorium


About the author

Paul Auster
Born place: in Newark, New Jersey, The United States
Born date February 3, 1947
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