Quotes from Penelope Fitzgerald

If they don't depend on true evidence, scientists are no better than gossips.

However, no two people see the external world in exactly the same way. To every separate person a thing is what he thinks it is - in other words, not a thing, but a think.

But time given to wishing for what can't be is not only spent, but wasted, and for all that we waste we shall be accountable.

A word of advice. If, as a young man, student, you are tormented by a desire for women, it is best to get out into the fresh air as much as possible.

Not to succeed in one thing is to fail in all.' Far more frightening than any poltergeist is the spectre of loneliness in old age.

The body, then, has a mind of its own. It must follow, then, that the Mind has a body of its own, even if it's like nothing that we can see around us, or have ever seen.

Would you consider what I call the "inner eye" which opens for some of us, though not always when we want it or expect it – would you consider the inner eye as one of the sensory nerves?

Broadcasting House was in fact dedicated to the strangest project of the war, or of any war, that is, telling the truth. Without prompting, the BBC had decided that truth was more important than consolation, and, in the long run, would be more effective. And yet there was no guarantee of this. Truth ensures trust, but not victory, or even happiness.

A good book is the precious life-blood of a masterspirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life, and as such it must surely be a necessary commodity.

Opening the shop gave her, every morning, the same feeling of promise and opportunity. The books stood as neatly ranged as Gipping's vegetables, ready for all comers.

Um bom livro é o precioso sangue vital de um espírito mestre, embalsamado e entesourado de propósito para uma vida para lá da vida.

Her view of the world was that it divided into 'exterminators' and 'exterminatees'. She would say: 'I am drawn to people who seem to have been born defeated or even profoundly lost.' She was a humorous writer with a tragic sense of life.

It's a peculiar thing to take a step forward in middle age, but having done it I don't intend to retreat.

If you can't face living your life day by day, you must live it minute by minute.

He said, aloud, 'The external world is the world of shadows. It throws its shadows into the kingdom of light. How different they will appear when this darkness is gone and the shadow-body has passed away. The universe, after all, is within us. The way leads inward, always inwards.

Por qué cree que abrir una librería es inverosímil?-. ¿La gente de Hardborough no quiere comprar libros? -Han perdido el deseo por las cosas raras-dijo (...). (...) Y no me diga usted que los libros no constituyen una rareza en sí mismos.

The barge anchors were unrecognisable as such, more like crustaceans, specimens of some giant type long since discarded by Nature, but still clinging to their old habitat, sunk in the deep pits they had made in the foreshore. But under the ground they were half rusted away. Dreadnought's anchor had come up easily enough when the salvage tug came to dispose of her. The mud which held so tenaciously could also give way in a moment, if conditions altered.

Let's say that matters hadn't gone quite right with you, I mean personal matters, would you be able to find words to say exactly what was wrong?' 'I'm afraid so, yes, I would.' 'That might be useful, of course.' 'Like manufacturers' instructions. In case of failure, try words.

se había engañado a sí misma al dejarse convencer, por un momento, de que los seres humanos no se dividen en exterminadores y exterminados, y que los exterminadores tienden a colocarse en la situación dominante en cuanto pueden. La fuerza de voluntad es inútil si no se va a algún lado.

Mathematics is human reason itself in a form everyone can recognise. Why should poetry, reason and religion not be higher forms of Mathematics? All that is needed is a grammar of their common language.

I'm afraid I'm not accustomed to the poor light, Mrs James.' 'Look at the sky, father. Keep your eyes on the lightest part of the sky and they'll adapt little by little.

Yes, the irreplaceables, the things you never use--those are what really matters. I've got a damask table-cloth, you know, and napkins to match for 24 people. I've heard it said that a woman's possessions are part of herself. If she loses her things, her personality undergoes a change

She ought to go down to the beach. It was Thursday, early closing, and it seemed ungrateful to live so close to the sea and never look at it for weeks on end.

La fuerza de voluntad es inútil si no se va a algún lado