Quotes from Irene Nemirovsky

There were so many! Silently, cautiously, people came out on to their doorsteps again. They tried in vain to count the flood of soldiers. Germans were coming from all directions. They filled the squares and streets—more and more of them, endlessly.

Beware: forget the reworking of characters. Obviously, the time-span is short. The first three parts, in any case, will only cover a period of three years. As for the last two, well that's God's secret and what I wouldn't give to know it.

Sonrieron. Se entendían bien. No sólo los unía la carne, el pensamiento, el amor; además, habían nacido en el mismo puerto de Crimea, hablaban la misma lengua, se sentían hermanos. Habían bebido en la misma fuente, compartido un pan amargo.

Hun likte å le, og hun syntes synd på folk - Dickens-siden ved deg, vesle mor, pleide han å si.

Sie arbeiteten, lasen, gingen herum, aßen, organisierten Spiele, Darbietungen, aber nur ein Teil ihrer selbst handelte; der andere schlief einen schmerzhaften Schlaf und würde erst an dem gesegneten Tag (doch wann würde er kommen? Wann?) erwachen, an dem man ihnen sagte: «Jetzt ist es soweit, es ist vorbei».

There had been no men in the village for so long that even these soldiers, the invaders, seemed in their rightful place. The invaders felt it too; they stretched out in the sunshine. The mothers of prisoners or soldiers killed in the war looked at them and begged God to curse them, but the young women just looked at them.

They felt a strange happiness, an urgent need to reveal their hearts to each other-the urgency of lovers, which is already a gift, the very first one, the gift of the soul before the body surrenders

Genius cannot simply float in the clouds, it must also operate down on earth.

Ya no creo en las catástrofes, puesto que la última ha fracasado. Ya no creo en la desgracia, ni en la muerte. La humanidad entera se encuentra en el estado mental del niño que le ha perdido el miedo al coco.

She thought of the past that was both near and distant at the same time, undoubtedly because of the grim intrusion of the war. She pictured her husband, a heavy, bored man, interested only in money, land and local politics. She had never loved him; she had married him because her father wished it. Born and brought up in the countryside, she had little experience of the outside world, with the exception of a few brief trips to Paris to visit an elderly relative.

The sense of despair has to remove those barriers one by one, and only then does despair penetrate to the heart of man who gradually recognises the enemy, calls it by name, and is horrified.

Evenimentele grave, fericite sau nefericite, nu schimb? sufletul unui om, ci îl contureaz? mai bine, la fel cum o pal? de vânt care ridic? brusc frunzele moarte scoate la iveal? forma unui copac. Ele scot la lumin? ceea ce era l?sat la umbr?. Înclin? spiritul în direcÈ›ia în care va creÈ™te de atunci înainte.

AparÈ›ineau acelei clase din marea burghezie francez? care prefera s?-È™i vad? copiii f?r? pâine, f?r? carne È™i aer decât f?r? diplome...

Madame Péricand thought reproachfully. She was one of those middle-class women who generally trust the lower classes. "They're not so bad if you know how to deal with them," she would say in the same condescending and slightly sad tone she used to talk of a caged animal. She was proud that she kept her servants for a long time. She insisted on looking after them when they were ill.

Nel cuore di ogni uomo e di ogni donna resta una specie di Eden dove non ci sono né morte né guerre, dove le belve e le cerbiatte giocano in pace. Si tratta solo di ritrovare quel paradiso, rifiutando di vedere tutto il resto

The sound of his boots Ã¢â'¬Â¦ It would pass. The occupation would end. There would be peace, blessed peace. The war and the tragedy of 1940 would be no more than a memory, a page in history, the names of battles and treaties children would recite in school, but as for me, for as long as I live, I will never forget the low, regular sound of those boots pacing across the floorboards.

Dio mio, aiutami!», mormorò. Mai, dalla sua infanzia, aveva pregato. Fulminea lo attraversò l'idea di fermarsi nell'androne di una chiesa che aveva scorto sulla strada. Sì, tornare indietro, inginocchiarsi sui gradini di quella chiesa, implorare Dio!... Ma no, era impossibile, bisognava fare in fretta, fare in fretta!

Quanto bisogna aver vissuto, per poter scoprire tratti umani nei nostri genitori o insegnanti! E, probabilmente, pensava, l'intera esistenza consiste in questo lento cambiamento di prospettiva.

Not as long as you are here, Monsieur Corte," the manager replied warmly, as he had a great number of times since the Fall of France. Corte was, in the list of celebrities, the fourteenth to arrive from Paris since the sad events began and the fifth writer to seek refuge at the luxury hotel.

In a word, I desperately want this tragedy to be over and for us to try to survive it, that's all. What's important is to live: Primum vivere. One day at a time. To survive, to wait, to hope.

He was lost in thought, vividly imagining scenes of battle and victory. He was a Boy Scout. He and his friends would form a group of volunteers, sharpshooters who would defend their country to the end. In a flash, his mind raced through time and space. He and his friends: a small group bound by honour and loyalty. They would fight, they would fight all night long; they would save their bombed-out, burning Paris.

Could you please find out if it would be possible for me to be exchanged for my wife—I would perhaps be more useful in her place and she would be better off here. If this is impossible, maybe I could be taken to her—we would be better off together.

En el fondo, todos juzgamos a los demás según nuestro propio corazón. El avaro cree que a todo el mundo lo mueve el interés; el lujurioso, el deseo, y así sucesivamente.

Everyone was saying that Europe, civilisation, the entire world was collapsing, that the century was destined to end in catastrophe, that everything would perish, drowned in blood. But she still hoped for a husband, a home, children, and she instinctively felt that the destruction of everything was a mirage, a lie, while she, she lived the truth.