"Now I felt the long-forgotten urgency of lovemaking, when it seems one's human selves leave, to be replaced by hungry beasts bolting their food. Gone are the civilized beings who talk of manners and journeys and letters; in their places are two bodies straining to give birth to a burst of inhuman pleasure followed by a great, floating nothingness. An explosion of life followed by death - in this we live, and in this we foreshadow our own sweet deaths."

3 likes

Source: Margaret George (2011). “The Memoirs of Cleopatra”, p.262, Pan Macmillan

About the author

Margaret George

Author

Margaret George is a historical novelist known for her immersive storytelling and deep character exploration, particularly in works like 'The Autobiography of Henry VIII.'

All quotes by Margaret George →

Same author

More quotes by Margaret George

See all →

"I had a desire to see something besides my own shores, if only to be content to return to them someday. If I wish to live in my native land and love her, it should not be out of ignorance."

Read quote

"One always imagines that the days that change one’s life must be marked with something extraordinary in nature—storms and lightning, darkness at noon, and so on. In truth they are indistinguishable from any other, which is one reason we feel mocked, as if the world is telling us we are inconsequential."

Read quote

"It is only when our fate hangs in the balance, when our very life depends on something, that we see whether or not we trust that the rope to which we are clinging will support us. If we do not, then we let of of the ledge and swing on it with our full weight."

Read quote