Quotes from Penelope Fitzgerald

You're either a child or a woman, and neither of them have any idea how to relax.

No debo preocuparme —dijo ella—. Mientras hay vida, hay esperanza. —Qué idea tan terrible

La valentía de ella, al fin y al cabo, no era otra cosa que su determinación por sobrevivir.

Will-power is useless without a sense of direction.

Annie - although she also knew that those who don't speak have to pay it off in thinking - was resolved on silence. Whatever happened, and after all she was obliged to see Mr brooks two or three times every day, though she by no means looked forward to it, feeling herself more truly alive when she could picture him steadily without seeing him - whatever happened, he needn't know how daft she was.

What's to become of us? We can't go on like this." "Yes, we can go on like this," said Cesare. "We can go on exactly like this for the rest of our lives.

Opportunity, after all, is only another word for temptation.

I think one should never be too busy to teach those who are anxious to learn.

Her feeling for Mr Brooks was so much the most important part of her life that it seemed like something which did not belong to her, but which she had to carry about with her, at work or in her room, there was no difference. She had a kind of affection, too, for the love itself, which was so strong, but maintained itself on so little. There had been a time, not at all long ago, when she hadn't had this responsibility, but it was hard for her to remember how she had felt then.

Algebra, like laudanum, deadens pain, Fritz wrote.

They started with Big Ben. It's always got to be relayed direct from Westminster, the real thing, never from disc. That's got to be firmly fixed in the listeners' minds. Then, if Big Ben is silent, the public will know that the war has taken a distinctly unpleasant turn.

They were all kind to their hostess, because it made life easier.

Florence tenía buen corazón, aunque eso sirve de bien poco cuando de lo que se trata es de sobrevivir.

Sink, he told his hopes, with a kind of satisfaction, sink like a corpse dropped into the river. I am rejected, not for being unwelcome, not even for being ridiculous, but for being nothing.

At that precise moment, while the juniors were eating their dessert at Prunier's, Annie fell in love with RPD absolutely, and hers must have been the last generation to fall in love without hope in such an unproductive way. After the war the species no longer found it biologically useful, and indeed it was not useful to Annie. Love without hope grows in its own atmosphere, and should encourage the imagination, but Annie's grew narrower.

Not an unbeliever, sir, a free-thinker. Perhaps you've never thought about the difference. As a free-thinker I can believe what I like, when I like. I can commit you, in your sad situation, to the protection of God this evening, even though tomorrow morning I shan't believe he exists. As an unbeliever I should be obliged not to believe, and that's an unwarrantable restriction on my thoughts.

La antigüedad no es lo mismo que el interés histórico —dijo—. De lo contrario, nosotros dos seríamos más interesantes de lo que somos.

Un buen libro es la preciosa savia del alma de un maestro, embalsamada y atesorada intencionadamente para una vida más allá de la vida.

Hojear libros es parte de la tradición de una librería —le dijo Florence—. Debes dejar que se queden y toquen los libros.

Igual que seguía considerando que la gravedad es una fuerza que atrae las cosas hacia sí, y no una simple cuestión que se encarga de las que menos resistencia opongan a ella, estaba segura de que el carácter era una lucha entre las buenas y las malas intenciones.

Ninguna de las dos estaba preparada para reconocer que le gustaría proteger a la otra. Habría sido como permitir que el miedo entrara en la habitación.

I don't know that men are better judges than women, said Florence, but they spend much less time regretting their decisions.

Es un buen libro y, por lo tanto, debería intentar vendérselo a los habitantes de Hardborough. No lo entenderán, pero será mejor así. Entender las cosas hace que la mente se vuelva perezosa.

All Fitzgerald's books are the product of maturity, reflection, the quickly touched depth of accumulated knowledge and long experience. Their creation reflects the new sense of opportunity that may come with the bereavements and displacements of later life.