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I'm a little surprised that commercial success has arrived. I used to think that it was hopeless, that it would never happen.

— John Banville Once More Admired Than Bought, A Writer Finally Basks in Success (1990)

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More quotes by John Banville

The world is a dark place, and I find it endlessly funny.

John Banville, The Art of Fiction No. 200 (2009)

Ian McEwan is a very good writer; the first half of Atonement alone would ensure him a lasting place in English letters.

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?

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We spend our lives fighting to get people very slightly more stupid than ourselves to accept truths that the great men have always known.

Doris Lessing The Golden Notebook (1962)

To rank the effort above the prize may be called love.

Confucius

Greatness by nature includes a power, but not a will to power.

Martin Buber Between Man and Man (1965)

The weak shows his strength and hides his weaknesses; the magnificent exhibits his weaknesses like ornaments.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: John Banville (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.