11 quotes
It is the nature of the writer to question the validity of his world and yet rely on his senses to describe it. From what other tension can great literature be born?
City of Saints and Madmen (2001)
They’ll never forget, never forgive, no matter who the enemy is, son. Better just to start a new life. Be someone else.
Finch (2009)
An inordinate love of ritual can be harmful to the soul, unless, of course, in times of great crisis, when ritual can protect the soul from fracture.
City of Saints and Madmen (2001)
I had learned so much about the world that I had decided to withdraw from it.
Finch (2009)
When they give you things, ask yourself why. When you're grateful to them for giving you the things you should have anyway, ask yourself why.
Finch (2009)
A fresh river in a beautiful meadow
Imagined in his mind
The good Painter, who would some day paint it
City of Saints and Madmen (2001)
Who had the bigger burden? The one who had to watch the other person endure or the one who endured?
Finch (2009)
It looked like lively abstract art. Symbols in search of context.
Finch (2009)
I could not move or speak for several minutes, frozen in the belief that the book itself had changed and was now writing me.
City of Saints and Madmen (2001)
But the fact is I don’t care. I haven’t cared since I came here, and I will continue not to care until I leave. With as much of Ambergris smoldering behind me as I can manage.
Finch (2009)
It closely resembles the situation that exists within a mental institution: in tight quarters, in similar garb, dissimilar minds attempt to build a consensus reality that, with a monumental effort of empathy, cannot—can never!—take concrete form.
City of Saints and Madmen (2001)