Jane Bowles QUOTES

1 " This did not in any way alter her intention of accomplishing her mission; on the contrary; it seemed to her all the more desperately important now that she was almost certain, in her innermost heart, that her trip was a failure. Her attitude was not an astonishing one, since like many others she conceived of her life as separate from herself; the road was laid out always a little ahead of her by scared hands, and she walked down it without a question. This road, which was her life, would go on existing after her death, even as her death existed while she still lived. "

― Jane Bowles , My Sister's Hand in Mine: The Collected Works of Jane Bowles

2 " I am so wily and feminine that I could live by your side for a lifetime and deceive you afresh each day. "

― Jane Bowles

3 " True enough,” said Mrs. Copperfield, bringing her fist down on the table and looking very mean. “I have gone to pieces, which is a thing I’ve wanted to do for years. I know I am as guilty as I can be, but I have my happiness, which I guard like a wolf, and I have authority now and a certain amount of daring, which, if you remember correctly, I never had before. "

― Jane Bowles , Two Serious Ladies

4 " ..it is against my entire code, but then, I have never even begun to use my code, although I judge everything by it. "

― Jane Bowles , Two Serious Ladies

5 " My father predicted everything when he said I would procrastinate until I died. "

― Jane Bowles

6 " What makes me happy I seem to catch out of the sky with both hands; I only hold whatever it is that I love because that is all I can really see. "

― Jane Bowles , Two Serious Ladies

7 " Houses! I hate houses. I like public places. Houses break your heart. "

― Jane Bowles

8 " Even then she wore the look of certain fanatics who think of themselves as leaders without once having gained the respect of a single human being. "

― Jane Bowles , Two Serious Ladies

9 " I am a writer and I want to write. "

― Jane Bowles

10 " I am less morose. I am just showing the results of the terrific fight that I have waged inside of myself, and you know that the face of victory often resembles the face of defeat. "

― Jane Bowles , Two Serious Ladies

11 " I wanted to be a religious leader when I was young and now I just reside in my house and try not to be too unhappy. I have a friend living with me, which makes it easier. "

― Jane Bowles , Two Serious Ladies

12 " I don't judge people by their bodies. Even when I was a young girl I liked men for their minds. Now that I'm middle-aged I see how right I was. "

― Jane Bowles , Two Serious Ladies

13 " One must allow that a certain amount of carelessness in one's nature often accomplishes what the will is incapable of doing "

― Jane Bowles

14 " The world and all the people in it had suddenly slipped beyond her comprehension and she felt in great danger of losing the whole world once and for all--a feeling that is difficult to explain. "

― Jane Bowles , Two Serious Ladies

15 " ...You see, in the morning I always practice imagination for an hour or two. It does me lots of good. "

― Jane Bowles , Everything Is Nice: Collected Stories, Fragments and Plays

16 " Well," said Miss Goering, "perhaps my maneuvers do seem a little strange, but I have thought for a long time now that often, so very often, heroes who believe themselves to be monsters because they are so far removed from other men turn around much later and see really monstrous acts being committed in the name of something mediocre. "

― Jane Bowles

17 " But do you know," said Andy, "how beautiful and delicate a man's heart is when he is happy for the first time? It is like the thin ice that has imprisoned those beautiful young plants that are released when the ice thaws. "

― Jane Bowles , Two Serious Ladies

18 " Mrs. Copperfield started to tremble after the girl had closed the door behind her. She trembled so violently that she shook the bed. She was suffering as much as she had ever suffered before, because she was going to do what she wanted to do. But it would not make her happy. She did not have the courage to stop from doing what she wanted to do. She knew that it would not make her happy, because only the dreams of crazy people come true. She thought that she was only interested in duplicating a dream, but in doing so she necessarily became the complete victim of a nightmare. "

― Jane Bowles , Two Serious Ladies

19 " I always thought I should meet you. My cousin used to tell me how queer you were. I think, though, that you can make friends more quickly with queer people. Or else you don’t make friends with them at all—one way or the other. "

― Jane Bowles , Two Serious Ladies

20 " I believe sincerely that only those men who reach the stage where it is possible for them to combat a second tragedy within themselves, and not the first over again, are worthy of being called mature. "

― Jane Bowles , Two Serious Ladies

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