John Banville Quotes
born 1945 Ireland
John Banville (born 8 December 1945) is an Irish novelist and journalist. He is recognised for his precise, cold, forensic prose style, Nabokovian inventiveness, and for the dark humour of his generally arch narrators.
- Ireland
- Journalists
- Novelists
48 quotes
The past beats inside me like a second heart.
The white May blossom swooned slowly into the open mouth of the grave.
If they give me the bloody prize, why can't they say nice things about me?
Man is only lovable in the multitude, and at a good distance.
I like to dress conservatively because then the outrageous things you say are even more outrageous.
I suspect that significant first encounters only take on their aura of significance in retrospect.
One must try to keep a sensible perspective and not take oneself too seriously.
Summoned, one shuffles guiltily into the department of trivia.
Ambiguity is the essence of Irish writing, I think.
Every artist has a Dorian Gray slaving away in the attic.
Let's not despise story-telling. Like all novelists, I have this low desire to tell people stories.
Wodehouse is very interesting. There must be all kinds of darknesses in that man's life.
Attribution
Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: John Banville (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.