"There are houses in certain provincial towns whose aspect inspires melancholy, akin to that called forth by sombre cloisters, dreary moorlands, or the desolation of ruins. Within these houses there is, perhaps, the silence of the cloister, the barrenness of moors, the skeleton of ruins; life and movement are so stagnant there that a stranger might think them uninhabited, were it not that he encounters suddenly the pale, cold glance of a motionless person, whose half-monastic face peers beyond the window-casing at the sound of an unaccustomed step."
Book quotes
Book
21K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
Explore further
Topics related to Book
Browse quotes that often appear alongside book — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
Quote collection
Book quotes (page 277 of 1049)
Follow a thought to its author, or read the full quote page.
"One day, about the middle of July 1838, one of the carriages, lately introduced to Paris cabstands, and known as Milords, was driving down the Rue de l'Universite, conveying a stout man of middle height in the uniform of a captain of the National Guard."
"That [Louisiana culture] was all very new to me. I read books and watched documentaries, just trying to immerse myself."
"I grew up with comic books and cartoons and action movies. To find myself in the position to do work in these mediums is just an opportunity I couldn't have even asked for. It's just pure luck, really."
"Had I the power, I would scatter libraries over the whole land as the sower sows his wheatfield."
"A house without books is like a room without windows. No man has a right to bring up his children without surrounding them with books, if he has the means to buy them."
"Give me a house furnished with books rather than furniture! Both, if you can, but books at any rate!"
"Good books are to the young mind what the warming sun and the refreshing rain of spring are to the seeds which have lain dormant in the frosts of winter. They are more, for they may save from that which is worse than death, as well as bless with that which is better than life."
"When I finished the book [The Dissemblers], I sent it to one billion agents, and got one billion rejections."
"At the end, I cobbled scenes all together and smoothed out the transitions as much as possible. Incidentally, I would not recommend this approach to writing a book, and will probably not write that way again!"
"At the beginning of the book [The Dissemblers], Ivy [Wilkes] has a long way to go in order to achieve self-sufficiency. Although she is very independent, even somewhat of a loner, she is very affected by other peoples' opinions. At the opening of the book, her ideas of success and achievement are largely defined by the approval of others; over the arc of the story, I think that begins to change a little."
"I think the Internet gives too much for a young artist to compare themselves too. I'm not sure that "notes" or "likes" are what we should be aspiring to, but the Internet means something different to me because I've always been primarily interested in publishing physical books."
"Writing a book set in New Mexico was partially a way to express my own love for the state, and partially a way to prudently follow the advice to write what you know."
"Now I am as big of an [ Georgia] O'Keeffe admirer as Ivy [Wilkes] is, but that came through writing the book."
"I was only loosely aware of [Georgia] O'Keeffe's work. Primarily, I had seen her famous paintings of skulls with flowers, which are not my favorite. I didn't really become familiar with her work until after I started writing the book, but the more I learned about her the more I admired her."
"The book [The Dissemblers] officially came out two weeks after my thirtieth birthday...am I still young?"
"I did take one drawing class in school, but for this book I spent a lot of time talking to painters and asking them silly questions."
"Books can truly change our lives: the lives of those who read them, the lives of those who write them. Readers and writers alike discover things they never knew about the world and about themselves."
"If writers learn more from their books than do readers, perhaps I may have begun to learn."
"I can't single out one of my books or characters as a favorite. In the same way that I don't have a favorite kidney, my books are organically all part of myself. I might even say that put all together, the books are one ongoing, developing story - which, not coincidentally, happens to be my own lifestory."