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Quotes from The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks — Robertson Davies

1913–1995 Canada

← All quotes by Robertson Davies

10 quotes

Every man and woman is a mystery, built like those Chinese puzzles which consist of one box inside another, so that ten or twelve boxes have to be opened before the final solution is found.

The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks (1947)

Today I live in the gray, muffled, smelless, puffy, tasteless half-world of those who have colds.

The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks (1947)

It seems to me that most of us get all the adventure we are capable of digesting.

The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks (1947)

The world does so well without me, that I am moved to wish that I could do equally well without the world.

The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks (1947)

If I tended toward frivolity as a boy, I am incorrigibly settled in it now.

The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks (1947)

I suppose everybody has these softheaded spells, when they think it would be fun to live in a small town. They pass quickly, of course.

The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks (1947)

The life of Man is a struggle with Nature and a struggle with the Machine; when Nature and the Machine link forces against him, Man hasn't a chance.

The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks (1947)

It would be nice to be unfailingly, perpetually, remorselessly funny, day in and day out, year in and year out until somebody murdered you, now wouldn't it?

The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks (1947)

Though thousands of people indulge themselves in it regularly, and even develop a taste for it, there is no doubt in my mind (and that of scientists whom I employ to prove it) that Work is a dangerous and destructive drug, and should be called by its right name, which is Fatigue.

The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks (1947)

I don't really care how time is reckoned so long as there is some agreement about it, but I object to being told that I am saving daylight when my reason tells me that I am doing nothing of the kind.

The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks (1947)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Robertson Davies (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.