Amor Towles quotes: wise famous quotes, sayings and quotations by Amor Towles

Amor Towles Famous Quotes & Sayings

Discover top inspirational quotes from Amor Towles on Wise Famous Quotes.

Just a few weeks before, no detail of my life had been big enough to merit my attention.

the Count bounced twice on his new mattress to identify the key of the bedsprings (G-sharp),

Vyshinsky: And your occupation?

I assure you, my dear, were you to play the piano on the moon, I would hear every chord.

You could just tell that if Rosie couldn't romance her way to the top of the Empire State Building, she was prepared to climb it like King Kong.

There are no more sympathetic souls than strangers. So,

Katey's the hottest bookworm you'll ever meet. If you took all the books that she's read and piled them in a stack, you could climb to the Milky Way.

on a map: There it

But experience is less likely to teach us how to bid our dearest possessions adieu. And

if a man does not master his circumstances then he is bound to be mastered by them.

6th Sleep not when others Speak, Sit not when others stand, Speak not when you Should hold your Peace, walk not on when others Stop. 7th

end of a page. "Surely, by now,

Well, if getting to the bottom is what is called for, I am sure there is no man better for the job.

He looked like a man who had gained confidence through exposure to a hostile environment; like one who no longer owed anything to anyone.

the manner of Prince Tetrakov, was now touring the room, shaking

But imagining what might happen if one's circumstances were different was the only sure route to madness. Sitting

If only I were there and she were here," she sighed. And there, thought the Count, was a suitable plaint for all mankind.

An act of generosity rarely ends a man's responsibilities toward another; it tends instead to begin them.

Having acknowledged that a man must master his circumstances or otherwise be mastered by them, the

For better or worse, there are few things so disarming as one who laughs well at her own expense.

always was and would be a serious soul in search of serious ideas to be serious about. Nina

What was your favorite day of the year? The summer solstice. June twenty-first. The longest day of the year.

History has shown charm to be the final ambition of the leisure class.

Really. Is there anything nice to be said about other people's vacations?

Slurring is the cursive of speech...

Stuart Davises he

Here, indeed, was a formidable sentence--one that was on intimate terms with a comma, and that held the period in healthy disregard.

From bells to cannons and back again, from now until the end of time. Such is the fate of iron ore.

If patience wasn't so easily tested, then it would hardly be a virtue. . . . "Yes,

That's how quickly New York City comes about - like a weather wane - or the head of a cobra. Time tells which.

end of every question.

As the sign over the cash register made clear, the three ways you could get your coffee at Chester's were sweetened, unsweetened, and somewhere else.

To what end, he wondered, had the Divine created the stars in heaven to fill a man with feelings of inspiration one day and insignificance the next?

If you could relive one year in your life, which one would it be? [ ... ] The upcoming one.

the best-bred dogs belong in the surest hands.

A king fortifies himself with a castle," observed the Count, "a gentleman with a desk." As

It is of interest of times to change, Mr. Helecki. And it is the business of gentlemen to change with them.

But Fate would not have the reputation it has if it simply did what it seemed it would do.

For pomp is a tenacious force. And a wily one too. How

The lights flickered. The bands laid down their instruments and the crowds made quiety for the door.

For as it turns out, one can revisit the past quite pleasantly, as long as one does so expecting nearly every aspect of it to have changed.

Here they resided, two worldviews separated only by Fifth Avenue, facing off until the end of time or the end of Manhattan, whichever came first.

If we only fell in love with people who were perfect for us ... then there wouldn't be so much fuss about love in the first place.

Well," replied the Count, rising from his chair, "if getting to the bottom is what is called for, I am sure there is no man better suited for the job.

If a number's individual digits sum to a number that is divisible by three, then it too is divisible by three.

In a state of self-pity, one may retreat from the world in which one has been blessed to live.

And as she talked, the Count had to acknowledge once again the virtues of withholding judgment.

FRONTA NULLA FIDES. Place no trust in appearances.

It was a marriage of two minds, of two ... spirits tilting as gently and inescapably toward the future as paper whites tilt toward the sun.

I told him I'd always found the description a little too long on adjectives and a little too short on specifics.

The Count commenced to cough into his napkin, as he had determined long ago that this was the most effective means of removing wine from his windpipe.

was ten and eleven

I'm willing to be under anything, she said, as long as it isn't somebody's thumb.

- Did Eve know? About you and Anne, I mean.
He shook his head wanly. The very definition of wanly. The apotheosis of wanly.

I sutured split infinitives and hoisted dangling modifiers and wore out the seam of my best flannel skirt.

But every period has its virtues, even a time of turmoil. . . . When

That's the problem with living in New York. You've got no New York to run away to.

Be careful when choosing what you're proud of
because the world has every intention of using it against you.

I suppose Anne was right when she observed that at any given moment we're all seeking someone's forgiveness.

One must be prepared to fight for one's simple pleasures and to defend them against elegance and erudition and all manner of glamorous enticements.

Arriving late, thought the Count with a sigh. What a delicacy of youth. Then

There are many reasons for ordering a particular bottle of wine. And memories of home are among the best." "Then

- I probably shouldn't tell you this, I said.
- Kay-Kay, those are my six favorite words in the English language.

Life is every bit as devious as Death. It too can wear a hooded coat. It too can slip into town, lurk in an alley, or wait in the back of a tavern.

as we age, we are bound to find comfort from the notion that it takes generations for a way of life to fade.

In fact, if Paris had not been seated next to Helen when he dined in the court of Menelaus, there never would have been a Trojan War." A

It is a lovely oddity of human nature that a person is more inclined to interrupt two people in conversation than one person alone with a book.

That's the problem with being born in New York, the old newsman observed a little sadly. You've got no New York to run away to.

sometimes everybody tells you something because it is true." "sometimes," nina clarified, "everybody tells you something because they are everybody...

Emily Post says that talking about oneself isn't very polite.' 'I'm sure Miss Post is perfectly correct, but that doesn't seem to stop the rest of us.

Hollywood is the single most dangerous force in the history of class struggle." Or

ennui - that dreaded mire of the human emotions.

It is the business of the times to change, Mr. Halecki. And it is the business of gentlemen to change with them." The

Returning to his quarters, he opened the window (though it was only the size of a postage stamp),

She could have made a favourable impression on someone if she hadn't acted as though at any moment the city was going to step on her

If only someone had told me about the confidence-boosting nature of guns, I'd have been shooting them all my life.

that if a man does not master his circumstances then he is bound to be mastered by them. The

The principle here is that a new generation owes a measure of thanks to every member of the previous generation. Our

Learning dance steps was the sorry Saturday night pursuit of every boardinghouse girl in America

How little imagination and courage we show in our hatreds.

Old times, as my father used to say: If you're not careful, they'll gut you like a fish.

- Bucky dear, his wife warned, you're slurring your words. - Slurring is the cursive of speech, I observed.

the wise man celebrates what he can.

coffee can energize the industrious at dawn, calm the reflective at noon, or raise the spirits of the beleagured in the middle of the night. "It's

For when life makes it impossible for a man to pursue his dreams, he will connive to pursue them anyway.

Dark, cold, and snowbound, Russia has the sort of climate in which the spirit of Christmas burns brightest.

Stalin himself declared: Life has improved, comrades. Life is more joyous. . . .

the only things that came from the practice were foolhardy acts, ill-advised liaisons, and gambling debts.

By Diverse Means We Arrive at the Same End The

The only difference between everybody and nobody is all the shoes.

will-o'-the-wisp

Does a banquet really need an asparagus server?" "Does an orchestra need a bassoon?

But, Audrius, I have never taken the lift in my life!

I found myself intent on keeping the memories of the year to myself.
[ ... ]
I didn't want to share them. Because I didn't want to dilute them

The designs of men are notoriously subservient to happenstance, hesitation, and haste; but

I'm willing to be under anything...as long as it isn't somebody's thumb.

...but the tenure of friendships has never been governed by the passage of time.