my favorite quotes from literature

Okay, it’s not “literature” but it is a quote from a book:

“Introspection is the accomplice of self-distrust and the enemy of action.”

This was a bit of a slap in the face because I’m introspective as all-get-out. And while introspection has its place, there is truth in this quote and evidence in my life.

“Romantic love is a rarified product of century after century of Christian influence, and everything about its substance and development can be explained to the unenlightened by comparing it to a suit fashioned by the soul or the imagination and used to clothe those whom the mind thinks it fits, when they happen along.

But every suit, since it isn’t eternal, lasts as long as it lasts; and soon, under the fraying clothes of the ideal we’ve formed, the real body of the person we dressed it in shows through.

Romantic love is thus a path to disillusion, unless this disillusion, accepted from the start, decides to vary the ideal constantly, constantly sewing new suits in the soul’s workshops so as to constantly renew the appearance of the person they clothe.”

From, “The Book of Disquiet”, a book I’ve recently discovered and am loving! “The Book of Disquiet” (I love even the name!) isn’t even a story – just a bunch of disjointed ramblings, many of which are highly quotable.

“You can always count on a murderer for a fancy prose style.”

I read “Lolita” for the first time this year and loved it; I’m reading it again. Though the subject matter may be disturbing, the poetic language and wit is just awe-inspiring. I may eventually have 100 quotes from this book. “Look at this tangle of thorns…”