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The Crimson Petal and the White QUOTES

The Crimson Petal and the White QUOTES

1 " But miracles are not for the asking; they come only when the stern eyes of God droop shut for a moment, and Our Lady takes advantage of His inattention to grant an illicit mercy. God...is an Anglican, whereas Our Lady is of the True Faith; the two of Them have an uneasy relationship, unable to agree on anything, except that if They divorce, the Devil will leap gleefully into the breach. "

― Michel Faber , The Crimson Petal and the White

2 " A single day spent doing things which fail to nourish the soul is a day stolen, mutilated, and discarded in the gutter of destiny. "

― Michel Faber , The Crimson Petal and the White

3 " A person who is worth nothing must introduce you to a person worth next-to-nothing, and that person to another, and so on and so forth until finally you can step across the threshold, almost one of the family. "

― Michel Faber , The Crimson Petal and the White

4 " Participating in Society in not a thing one can do naturally; one has to rehearse for it. "

― Michel Faber , The Crimson Petal and the White

5 " History indulges strange whims in the way it dresses its women. "

― Michel Faber , The Crimson Petal and the White

6 " Isn't Heaven reward enough, without needing to see the damned punished? "

― Michel Faber , The Crimson Petal and the White

7 " Yes, seven years old she was, when she finally plucked up the courage to ask her mother what Christmas was all about, and Mrs Castaway replied (once only, after which the subject was forever forbidden): ‘It’s the day Jesus Christ died for our sins. Evidently unsuccessfully, since we’re still paying for them. "

― Michel Faber , The Crimson Petal and the White

8 " Sunlight is bad,' he wheezes. 'It's the exact same stuff as breeds maggots in wounded soldiers' legs. And when there's no war on, it fades wallpaper. "

― Michel Faber , The Crimson Petal and the White

9 " She holds her head as high as if she were beautiful, and holds her body as if she were strong. "

― Michel Faber , The Crimson Petal and the White

10 " A truly modern man, William Rackham is what might be called a superstitious atheist Christian; that is, he believes in a God who, while He may no longer be responsible for the sun rising, the saving of the Queen or the provision of daily bread, is still the prime suspect when anything goes wrong. "

― Michel Faber , The Crimson Petal and the White

11 " Because I must do something while I still can. Each soul is still incalculably precious. "

― Michel Faber , The Crimson Petal and the White

12 " This is a street where the weaker souls crawl into bed as soon as the sun sets and lie awake listening to the rats. "

― Michel Faber , The Crimson Petal and the White

13 " ...to her, all familiar responses smell of entrapment. Sharing an old joke, singing an old song - these are admissions of defeat, of being satisfied with one's lot. In the sky, the Fates are watching, and when they hear such things, they murmur amongst themselves: Ah yes, that one is quite content as she is; changing her lot would only confuse her. "

― Michel Faber , The Crimson Petal and the White

14 " God damn God and all His horrible filthy Creation. "

― Michel Faber , The Crimson Petal and the White

15 " Few know what year it is, or even that eighteen and a half centuries are supposed to have passed since a Jewish troublemaker was hauled away to the gallows for disturbing the peace "

― Michel Faber , The Crimson Petal and the White

16 " All along the street, keys rattle in key-holes as each shop's ornate metal clothing is stripped away...It's as if, having unlocked the chastity of shutters and doors, they can't see the point in maintaining any shred of modesty. "

― Michel Faber , The Crimson Petal and the White

17 " if she were its leader. Not that she ever would be: she was born to be a dissenter within a larger certainty, she knows that. "

― Michel Faber , The Crimson Petal and the White

18 " A simple fuck is one thing, but let a man sleep with you just once and he thinks he can bring his dog and his pigeons. "

― Michel Faber , The Crimson Petal and the White

19 " She sings on and on, while the house is discreetly dusted all around her and, in the concealed and subterranean kitchen, a naked duck, limp and faintly steaming, spreads its pimpled legs on a draining board. "

― Michel Faber , The Crimson Petal and the White

20 " God, Agnes has decided, is an Anglican, whereas Our Lady is of the True Faith; the two of Them have an uneasy relationship, unable to agree on anything, except that if They divorce, the Devil will leap gleefully into the breach. So, They tolerate each other, and take care of the world as best They can. Moving "

― Michel Faber , The Crimson Petal and the White