John Banville Quotes

Top 95 wise famous quotes and sayings by John Banville

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John Banville Famous Quotes & Sayings

Discover top inspirational quotes from John Banville on Wise Famous Quotes.

John Banville quotes: Given the world that he created, it would be an impiety against God to believe in him. Given the world that he created, it would be an impiety against God to believe in him.
John Banville quotes: And indeed nothing had happened, a momentous nothing, just another of the great world's shrugs of indifference. And indeed nothing had happened, a momentous nothing, just another of the great world's shrugs of indifference.
John Banville quotes: The world is always ready to be amazed, but the self, that lynx-eyed monitor, sees all the subterfuges, all the cut corners, and is not deceived. The world is always ready to be amazed, but the self, that lynx-eyed monitor, sees all the subterfuges, all the cut corners, and is not deceived.
John Banville quotes: The past, I mean the real past, matters less than we pretend. The past, I mean the real past, matters less than we pretend.
John Banville quotes: It seems to me a work of art is the evidence offered by a fantastically observant witness It seems to me a work of art is the evidence offered by a fantastically observant witness
John Banville quotes: If they give me the bloody prize, why can't they say nice things about me? If they give me the bloody prize, why can't they say nice things about me?
John Banville quotes: Perhaps all of life is no more than a long preparation for the leaving of it. Perhaps all of life is no more than a long preparation for the leaving of it.
John Banville quotes: Everything we do is tinged with the knowledge that this may be the last time that we will do this, and that makes what we're doing incredibly sweet. Everything we do is tinged with the knowledge that this may be the last time that we will do this, and that makes what we're doing incredibly sweet.
John Banville quotes: The Booker Prize is a big, popular prize for big, popular books, and that's the way it should be. The Booker Prize is a big, popular prize for big, popular books, and that's the way it should be.
John Banville quotes: Art is amoral, whether we accept this or not; it does not take sides. The finest fictions are cold at heart. Art is amoral, whether we accept this or not; it does not take sides. The finest fictions are cold at heart.
John Banville quotes: We're constantly losing - we're losing time, we're losing ourselves. I don't feel for the things I lost. We're constantly losing - we're losing time, we're losing ourselves. I don't feel for the things I lost.
John Banville quotes: The white May blossom swooned slowly into the open mouth of the grave. The white May blossom swooned slowly into the open mouth of the grave.
John Banville quotes: I've always been fascinated by physics and cosmology. It gets more and more scary the older you get. I've always been fascinated by physics and cosmology. It gets more and more scary the older you get.
John Banville quotes: Dostoevsky is such a bad writer it is hard to take him seriously as a novelist, though he is a wonderful philosopher. Dostoevsky is such a bad writer it is hard to take him seriously as a novelist, though he is a wonderful philosopher.
John Banville quotes: To take possession of a city of which you are not a native you must first fall in love there. To take possession of a city of which you are not a native you must first fall in love there.
John Banville quotes: Doing what you do well is death. Your duty is to keep trying to do things that you don't do well, in the hope of learning. Doing what you do well is death. Your duty is to keep trying to do things that you don't do well, in the hope of learning.
John Banville quotes: I never went to university. I'm self-educated. I didn't go because I was too impatient, too arrogant. I never went to university. I'm self-educated. I didn't go because I was too impatient, too arrogant.
John Banville quotes: Yes, another April; in a way, in this story, it is always April. Yes, another April; in a way, in this story, it is always April.
John Banville quotes: I have this fantasy. I'm walking past a bookshop and I click my fingers and all my books go blank. So I can start again and get it right. I have this fantasy. I'm walking past a bookshop and I click my fingers and all my books go blank. So I can start again and get it right.
John Banville quotes: The steel kettle shone, a slow furl of steam at its spout, vaguely suggestive of genie and lamp. Oh, grant me a wish, just the one. The steel kettle shone, a slow furl of steam at its spout, vaguely suggestive of genie and lamp. Oh, grant me a wish, just the one.
John Banville quotes: And anyway, who's to say that what we see when we're drunk is not reality, and the sober world a bleared phantasmagoria And anyway, who's to say that what we see when we're drunk is not reality, and the sober world a bleared phantasmagoria
John Banville quotes: The true workers all die in a fidget of frustration. So much to do, and so much left undone. The true workers all die in a fidget of frustration. So much to do, and so much left undone.
John Banville quotes: Dogs are dim creatures, do not speak to me of their good sensehave you ever heard of a team of tomcats hauling a sled across the frozen wastes? Dogs are dim creatures, do not speak to me of their good sense
have you ever heard of a team of tomcats hauling a sled across the frozen wastes?
John Banville quotes: No two things the same, the equals sign a scandal. No two things the same, the equals sign a scandal.
John Banville quotes: Halfway up the drive there wasGod these tedious details.Halfway up there was a ... Halfway up the drive there was
God these tedious details.
Halfway up there was a ...
John Banville quotes: A man is not much if he can't depend on himself, and nothing if others can't depend on him. A man is not much if he can't depend on himself, and nothing if others can't depend on him.
John Banville quotes: Life is tragic but it's equally comic. Life is tragic but it's equally comic.
John Banville quotes: I don't own a Kindle, no. I love books, they are beautiful objects. I don't own a Kindle, no. I love books, they are beautiful objects.
John Banville quotes: The past beats inside me like a second heart. The past beats inside me like a second heart.
John Banville quotes: , her mouth working mutely like the valve of an undersea creature , her mouth working mutely like the valve of an undersea creature
John Banville quotes: At thee seaside all is narrow horizontals, the world reduced to a few long straight lines pressed between earth and sky. At thee seaside all is narrow horizontals, the world reduced to a few long straight lines pressed between earth and sky.
John Banville quotes: With the crime novels, it's delightful to have protagonists I can revisit in book after book. It's like having a fictitious family. With the crime novels, it's delightful to have protagonists I can revisit in book after book. It's like having a fictitious family.
John Banville quotes: If I was asked to say what was the greatest invention of human beings, I would say the sentence. If I was asked to say what was the greatest invention of human beings, I would say the sentence.
John Banville quotes: How deceptively light they are, the truly decisive steps we take in life. How deceptively light they are, the truly decisive steps we take in life.
John Banville quotes: I think I'm less the writer than I'm the written. I think I'm less the writer than I'm the written.
John Banville quotes: Do other people, remembering their parents, feel, as I do, a sense of having inadvertently done a small though significant, irreversible wrong? Do other people, remembering their parents, feel, as I do, a sense of having inadvertently done a small though significant, irreversible wrong?
John Banville quotes: Most crime fiction, no matter how 'hard-boiled' or bloodily forensic, is essentially sentimental, for most crime writers are disappointed romantics. Most crime fiction, no matter how 'hard-boiled' or bloodily forensic, is essentially sentimental, for most crime writers are disappointed romantics.
John Banville quotes: That's one of the many things I hate about life, that it's a hideously cliched business. That's one of the many things I hate about life, that it's a hideously cliched business.
John Banville quotes: Everything in the room seemed turned away from me in sullen resistance, averthing itself from my unwelcome return. Everything in the room seemed turned away from me in sullen resistance, averthing itself from my unwelcome return.
John Banville quotes: ... a thief's heart is an impetuous organ, and while inwardly he throbs for absolution, at the same time he can't keep from bragging. ... a thief's heart is an impetuous organ, and while inwardly he throbs for absolution, at the same time he can't keep from bragging.
John Banville quotes: The novel is a kind of elephant. But I like to make that elephant dance on a quarter. The novel is a kind of elephant. But I like to make that elephant dance on a quarter.
John Banville quotes: In this new life I am condemned to, is there nothing that is not open to doubt? In this new life I am condemned to, is there nothing that is not open to doubt?
John Banville quotes: This is the way it is with me, always looking in or looking out, a chilly pane of glass between me and a remote and longed-for world. This is the way it is with me, always looking in or looking out, a chilly pane of glass between me and a remote and longed-for world.
John Banville quotes: With crime fiction, you have to write a half-dozen before they catch on. With crime fiction, you have to write a half-dozen before they catch on.
John Banville quotes: How flat all sounds are at the seaside, flat and yet emphatic, like the sound of gunshots heard at a distance. How flat all sounds are at the seaside, flat and yet emphatic, like the sound of gunshots heard at a distance.
John Banville quotes: We think we're living in the present, but we're really living in the past. We think we're living in the present, but we're really living in the past.
John Banville quotes: Chaos is nothing but an infinite number of ordered things. Chaos is nothing but an infinite number of ordered things.
John Banville quotes: I like ideas. I find them more exciting than human behavior for the most part. I like ideas. I find them more exciting than human behavior for the most part.
John Banville quotes: I'm full of self-doubt. I doubt everything I do. Everything I do is a failure. I'm full of self-doubt. I doubt everything I do. Everything I do is a failure.
John Banville quotes: This is the only way another creature can be known: on the surface, that's where there is depth. This is the only way another creature can be known: on the surface, that's where there is depth.
John Banville quotes: I am the worst judge of my books. I am the worst judge of my books.
John Banville quotes: All a work of art can do is present the surface. I can't know the insides of people. I know very little about the inside of myself. All a work of art can do is present the surface. I can't know the insides of people. I know very little about the inside of myself.
John Banville quotes: Sleep is uncanny, I have always found it so, a nightly dress-rehearsal for being dead. Sleep is uncanny, I have always found it so, a nightly dress-rehearsal for being dead.
John Banville quotes: The dead are my dark matter, filling up impalpably the empty spaces of the world. The dead are my dark matter, filling up impalpably the empty spaces of the world.
John Banville quotes: The world is not real for me until it has been pushed through the mesh of language. The world is not real for me until it has been pushed through the mesh of language.
John Banville quotes: Whom now would I love, and who would love me? Whom now would I love, and who would love me?
John Banville quotes: What is money, after all? Almost nothing, when one has a sufficiency of it. What is money, after all? Almost nothing, when one has a sufficiency of it.
John Banville quotes: I shall be delivered, like a noble closing speech. I shall be, in a word, said. I shall be delivered, like a noble closing speech. I shall be, in a word, said.
John Banville quotes: We artists love to talk tough, but we're just as sentimental as everyone else when it comes down to it. We artists love to talk tough, but we're just as sentimental as everyone else when it comes down to it.
John Banville quotes: It was not a wave but a smooth rolling swell that seemed to come up from the deeps, as if something vast down there had stirred itself. It was not a wave but a smooth rolling swell that seemed to come up from the deeps, as if something vast down there had stirred itself.
John Banville quotes: You know, artists don't really have all that much experience of life. We make a huge amount out of the small experience that we do have. You know, artists don't really have all that much experience of life. We make a huge amount out of the small experience that we do have.
John Banville quotes: He had scores to settle with the world, and she, at that moment, was world enough for him. He had scores to settle with the world, and she, at that moment, was world enough for him.
John Banville quotes: All art at a certain level is entertainment. We go to a tragedy by Sophocles to be entertained. All art at a certain level is entertainment. We go to a tragedy by Sophocles to be entertained.
John Banville quotes: You can't write about fantasy without being ridiculous. You can't write about fantasy without being ridiculous.
John Banville quotes: I would be far more critical than any reviewer could be of my own work. So I simply don't read them. I would be far more critical than any reviewer could be of my own work. So I simply don't read them.
John Banville quotes: In order really to write one has to sink deep into the self and become lost there. In order really to write one has to sink deep into the self and become lost there.
John Banville quotes: In my books you have to concentrate, but I work hard to make it that, when you do, the rewards are quite high. In my books you have to concentrate, but I work hard to make it that, when you do, the rewards are quite high.
John Banville quotes: I am not all sneers and scathings, you see, I have my gentler side. I am not all sneers and scathings, you see, I have my gentler side.
John Banville quotes: It's great people still care about books, and it's great you can still fashion a life from literature. It's great people still care about books, and it's great you can still fashion a life from literature.
John Banville quotes: Lots of water under that bridge, let's not drown ourselves in it. Lots of water under that bridge, let's not drown ourselves in it.
John Banville quotes: We writers are shy, nocturnal creatures. Push us into the light and the light blinds us. We writers are shy, nocturnal creatures. Push us into the light and the light blinds us.
John Banville quotes: We did our best, Anna and I. We forgave each other for all we were not. We did our best, Anna and I. We forgave each other for all we were not.
John Banville quotes: Of the things we fashioned for them that they might be comforted, dawn is the one that works. Of the things we fashioned for them that they might be comforted, dawn is the one that works.
John Banville quotes: The novel is resilient, and so are novelists. The novel is resilient, and so are novelists.
John Banville quotes: I was always a distinct no-one, whose fiercest wish was to be an indistinct someone. I was always a distinct no-one, whose fiercest wish was to be an indistinct someone.
John Banville quotes: But why at least? What a business it is, the human discourse. I But why at least? What a business it is, the human discourse. I
John Banville quotes: For memory, we use our imagination. We take a few strands of real time and carry them with us, then like an oyster we create a pearl around them. For memory, we use our imagination. We take a few strands of real time and carry them with us, then like an oyster we create a pearl around them.
John Banville quotes: The secret of survival is a defective imagination. The secret of survival is a defective imagination.
John Banville quotes: When I say I don't like my own work, that doesn't mean it isn't better than everyone else's. When I say I don't like my own work, that doesn't mean it isn't better than everyone else's.
John Banville quotes: But then, at what moment, of all our moments, is life not utterly, utterly changed, until the final, most momentous change of all? We But then, at what moment, of all our moments, is life not utterly, utterly changed, until the final, most momentous change of all? We
John Banville quotes: When fans of mine meet me, I can see the disappointment in their eyes. Every artist knows of this phenomenon. When fans of mine meet me, I can see the disappointment in their eyes. Every artist knows of this phenomenon.
John Banville quotes: Adam senses a large weariness in him, the weariness of an old actor in the middle of a long run in an old part. Adam senses a large weariness in him, the weariness of an old actor in the middle of a long run in an old part.
John Banville quotes: Being alone with him was like being in a room which someone had just violently left Being alone with him was like being in a room which someone had just violently left
John Banville quotes: I don't make a distinction between men and women. To me they are just people. I don't make a distinction between men and women. To me they are just people.
John Banville quotes: Writers are just like other people, except slightly more obsessed. Writers are just like other people, except slightly more obsessed.
John Banville quotes: Ian McEwan is a very good writer; the first half of Atonement alone would ensure him a lasting place in English letters. Ian McEwan is a very good writer; the first half of Atonement alone would ensure him a lasting place in English letters.
John Banville quotes: Her mouth tasted of smoke and toothpaste and something feety that made my blood flare Her mouth tasted of smoke and toothpaste and something feety that made my blood flare
John Banville quotes: He liked to bewilder his pupils, it was a form of tyranny. He liked to bewilder his pupils, it was a form of tyranny.
John Banville quotes: I think I am becoming my own ghost. I think I am becoming my own ghost.
John Banville quotes: The trouble with you, Vic," he said, "is that you think of the world as a sort of huge museum with too many visitors allowed in. The trouble with you, Vic," he said, "is that you think of the world as a sort of huge museum with too many visitors allowed in.
John Banville quotes: The sentence is the greatest human invention of civilization. The sentence is the greatest human invention of civilization.
John Banville quotes: Where I went, no one could follow. Yet someone managed to hold my hand. Where I went, no one could follow. Yet someone managed to hold my hand.
John Banville quotes: Of her blood. Oh, I do not say these are Of her blood. Oh, I do not say these are
John Banville quotes: Inhabiting a place that could not be home, they were like actors compelled to play themselves. Inhabiting a place that could not be home, they were like actors compelled to play themselves.
John Banville quotes: I'm a hopeless 19th-century romantic. I'm a hopeless 19th-century romantic.

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