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Quartet QUOTES

Quartet QUOTES

1 " Not that she objected to solitude. Quite the contrary. She had books, thank Heaven, quantities of books. All sorts of books. "

― Jean Rhys , Quartet

2 " She spent the foggy day in endless, aimless walking, for it seemed to her that if she moved quickly enough she would escape the fear that hunted her. It was a vague and shadowy fear of something cruel and stupid that had caught her and would never let her go. She had always known that it was there - hidden under the more of less pleasant surface of things. Always. Ever since she was a child.
You could argue about hunger or cold or loneliness, but with that fear you couldn't argue. It went too deep. You were too mysteriously sure of its terror. You could only walk very fast and try to leave it behind you. "

― Jean Rhys , Quartet

3 " Stephan was secretive and a liar, but he was a very gentle and expert lover. She was the petted, cherished child, the desired mistress, the worshipped, perfumed goddess. She was all these things to Stephan - or so he made her believe. "

― Jean Rhys , Quartet

4 " One realized all sorts of things. The value of an illusion, for instance, and that the shadow can be more important than the substance. All sorts of things. "

― Jean Rhys , Quartet

5 " ...poverty is the cause of many compromises. "

― Jean Rhys , Quartet

6 " ...she had ignored the Heidlers because she realized that she could afford to display coldness, and that no good ever comes from being too polite. "

― Jean Rhys , Quartet

7 " She watched through a slight mist a party of people who had just come into the restaurant, the movements of arms taking off overcoats, of legs in light-coloured stockings and fee in low-heeled shoes walking over the wooden floor to hide themselves under the tablecloths. "

― Jean Rhys , Quartet

8 " ...her waist goes in , her hips come out, her long black hair is coiled into a smooth bun on the top of her round head. She is very restful to the tired eye. "

― Jean Rhys , Quartet

9 " THe room was large and low-ceilinged, the striped wallpaper faded to inoffensiveness. A huge dark wardrobe faced a huge dark bed. The rest of the furniture shrank away into corners, battered and apologetic. "

― Jean Rhys , Quartet

10 " The Place Blanche, Paris, Life itself. One realized all sorts of things. The value of an illusion, for instance, and that the shadow can be more important than the substance. All sorts of things. "

― Jean Rhys , Quartet

11 " We'll put Mado on the joy wheel, and watch her being banged about a bit. Well, she ought to amuse us sometimes; she ought to sing for her supper; that's what she's here for, isn't it? "

― Jean Rhys , Quartet

12 " He was still looking steadily at her. His eyes were clear, cool and hard, but something in the depths of them flickered and shifted. She thought: 'He'd take any advantage he could -- fair or unfair. Caddish he is.' Then as she stared back at him she felt a great longing to put her head on his knees and shut her eyes. To stop thinking. Stop the little wheels in her head that worked incessantly. To give in and have a little peace. The unutterably sweet peace of giving in. "

― Jean Rhys , Quartet

13 " A vague procession of towns all exactly alike, a vague procession of men also exactly alike. One can drift like that for a long time, she found, carefully hiding the fact that this wasn't what one had expected of life. Not in the very least. "

― Jean Rhys , Quartet

14 " Why are you sad? "

― Jean Rhys , Quartet

15 " They touch life with gloves on. They're pretending about something all the time. Pretending quite nice and decent things, of course. But still...'
'Everybody pretends,' Marya was thinking. 'French people pretend every bit as much, only about different things and not so obviously. She'll know that when she's been here as long as I have. "

― Jean Rhys , Quartet

16 " Lois doesn't want to be given away; she doesn't want anybody to know, and I assure you that that's all she cares about. Of course, she'll be furious if anybody knows, and that's why if you go off in a hurry you will make things difficult for me.'
She felt hypnotized as she listened to him, impotent. "

― Jean Rhys , Quartet