Quotes from Voss

Patrick White ·  448 pages

Rating: (2K votes)


“If truth is not acceptable, it becomes the imagination of others.”
― Patrick White, quote from Voss


“To understand the stars would spoil their appearance.”
― Patrick White, quote from Voss


“The map? I will first make it.”
― Patrick White, quote from Voss


“She would have liked to sit upon a rock and listen to words, not of any man, but detached, mysterious, poetic words that she alone would interpret through some sense inherited from sleep.”
― Patrick White, quote from Voss


“To make yourself, it is also necessary to destroy yourself.”
― Patrick White, quote from Voss



“Human relationships are vast as deserts: they demand all daring, she seemed to suggest. ”
― Patrick White, quote from Voss


“I am compelled into this country.”
― Patrick White, quote from Voss


“His legend will be written down, eventually, by those who are troubled by it.”
― Patrick White, quote from Voss


“At times his arrogance did resolve itself into simplicity, though it was difficult, especially for strangers, to distinguish these occasions.”
― Patrick White, quote from Voss


“He himself, he realized, had always been most abominably frightened, even at the height of his divine power, a frail god upon a rickety throne, afraid of opening letters, of making decisions, afraid of the instinctive knowledge in the eyes of mules, of the innocent eyes of good men, of the elastic nature of the passions, even of the devotion he had received from some men, and one woman, and dogs.”
― Patrick White, quote from Voss



“To kiss and to kill are similar words to eyes that focus with difficulty.”
― Patrick White, quote from Voss


“Such was the texture of her marble.

[In a description of Laura Trevelyan.]”
― Patrick White, quote from Voss


“In general,' Voss replied, 'it is necessary to communicate without knowledge of the language.”
― Patrick White, quote from Voss


“—Los ateos, por lo general, lo son por razones mezquinas —aseveró Voss—. La más mezquina de todas ellas estriba en su propia falta de grandeza espiritual, que les impide concebir la idea de un Poder Divino. Al”
― Patrick White, quote from Voss


“You have taken the important, essential core of the apple, including (one must not forget) the nasty pips, and scales (I do not know what you call those little things) which must be spat out.”
― Patrick White, quote from Voss



“But the purpose and nature are never clearly revealed. Human behaviour is a series of lunges, of which, it is sometimes sensed, the direction is inevitable.”
― Patrick White, quote from Voss


“Voss could always, if necessary, fail to understand. But wounds will wince, especially in the salt air. He was smiling and screwing up his eyes at the great theatre of light and water. Some pitied him. Some despised him for his funny appearance of a foreigner. None, he realized with a tremor of anger, was conscious of his strength. Mediocre, animal men never do guess at the power of rock or fire, until the last moment before those elements reduce them to - nothing. This, the palest, the most transparent of words, yet comes closest to being complete.”
― Patrick White, quote from Voss


About the author

Patrick White
Born place: in Knightsbridge, London, England, The United Kingdom
Born date May 28, 1912
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