The Purple Swamp Hen and Other Stories QUOTES

1 " And this is the most provocative situation, is it not? It invites abuse, manipulation, tyranny, subjection. A person is supposed to accommodate herself--himself--absolutely to another person. It is unnatural. OK, but it's nature that sets it up in the first place. Of course, of course.

It is unnatural and provocative and precarious and challenging. It demands forbearance and stamina and abnormal powers of empathy and perception.

It is also... And yes, it is also all those other things. The opposite. The converse. The place you want to be. "

― Penelope Lively , The Purple Swamp Hen and Other Stories

3 " But the point was to be carefree, independent. Artists can't be hampered by the dailiness of ordinary life--Tony felt strongly about that. Doing the same things every day, forever bothered about money. Art has to be freed from all that. "

― Penelope Lively , The Purple Swamp Hen and Other Stories

5 " Life is a mess - a random muddle. Which is exactly why one is drawn to improving on it. "

― Penelope Lively , The Purple Swamp Hen and Other Stories

7 " When I was her age, thought Pauline, the options were confusing. They always are. Who'd be young? Everything wide open, which means that the not chosen is discarded. Junked. "

― Penelope Lively , The Purple Swamp Hen and Other Stories