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A Burnt-Out Case QUOTES

A Burnt-Out Case QUOTES

1 " The more bare a life is, the more we fear change. "

― Graham Greene , A Burnt-Out Case

2 " The pouches under his eyes were like purses that contained the smuggled memories of a disappointing life. "

― Graham Greene , A Burnt-Out Case

3 " I think I have always liked my fellow men. Liking is a great deal safer than love. It doesn't demand victims. Who is your victim, Querry? "

― Graham Greene , A Burnt-Out Case

4 " You try to draw everything into the net of your faith, father, but you can't steal all the virtues. Gentleness isn't Christian, self-sacrifice isn't Christian, charity isn't, remorse isn't. I expect the cavemen wept to see another's tears. "

― Graham Greene , A Burnt-Out Case

5 " There is a time in life when a man with a little acting ability is able to deceive even himself. "

― Graham Greene , A Burnt-Out Case

6 " The cabin-passenger wrote in his diary a parody of Descartes: 'I feel discomfort, therefore I am alive. "

― Graham Greene , A Burnt-Out Case

7 " ...What strange ideas people have about leprosy, doctor.'
    'They learn it from the Bible. Like sex.'
    'It's a pity people pick and choose what they learn from the Bible "

― Graham Greene , A Burnt-Out Case

8 " While he washed his hands in spirits he took a look at Querry over his shoulder. The dispenser was shepherding the lepers out and they were alone. He said, ‘Are you wanted by the police? You needn’t be afraid of telling me–or any of us. You’ll find a leproserie just as safe as the Foreign Legion.’ ‘No. I’ve committed no crime. I assure you there’s nothing of interest in my case. I have retired, that’s all. If the fathers don’t want me here, I can always go on.’ ‘You’ve said it yourself–the boat goes no farther.’ ‘There’s the road.’ ‘Yes. In one direction. The way you came. It’s not often open though. This is the season of rains.’ ‘There are always my feet,’ Querry said. Colin looked for a smile, but there was none on Querry’s face. "

― Graham Greene , A Burnt-Out Case

9 " Doctor Colin came into sight of the funnel where it stuck up between the long avenue of logs that had been cut ready for fuel. A man was walking up the avenue towards him. He raised his hat, a man of his own age, in the late fifties with a grizzled morning stubble, wearing a crumpled tropical suit. ‘My name is Querry,’ he introduced himself, speaking in an accent which Colin could not quite place as French or Flemish any more than he could immediately identify the nationality of the name. ‘Doctor Colin,’ he said. ‘Are you stopping here?’ ‘The boat goes no farther,’ the man answered, as if that were indeed the only explanation. "

― Graham Greene , A Burnt-Out Case

10 " Why did you give Querry Deo Gratias?’ ‘He’s cured, but he’s a burnt-out case, and I don’t want to send him away. He can sweep a floor and make a bed without fingers or toes.’ ‘Our visitors are sometimes fastidious.’ ‘I assure you Querry doesn’t mind. In fact he asked for him. "

― Graham Greene , A Burnt-Out Case

11 " quatre cent vingt et un "

― Graham Greene , A Burnt-Out Case

12 " As usual there was no silence. Silence belonged to cities. He dreamt of a girl whom he had once known and thought he loved. She came to him in tears because she had broken a vase which she valued, and she became angry with him because he didn’t share her suffering. She struck him in the face, but he felt the blow no more than a dab of butter against his cheek. He said, ‘I am sorry, I am too far gone, I can’t feel at all, I am a leper.’ As he explained his sickness to her he awoke. "

― Graham Greene , A Burnt-Out Case

13 " Discomfort irritates our ego like a mosquito-bite. We become aware of ourselves, the more uncomfortable we are "

― Graham Greene , A Burnt-Out Case

14 " Don't be too sorry for those who die after some pain. It makes them ready to go. Think of how a death sentence must sound when you are full of health and vigour. "

― Graham Greene , A Burnt-Out Case

15 " Are you a happy man?' Querry asked.
'I suppose I am. It's not a question that I've ever asked myself. Does a happy man ever ask it? I go on from day to day. "

― Graham Greene , A Burnt-Out Case

16 " He said, 'You don't have to make conversation with me.'
'My husband says that I am too silent.'
'Silence is not a bad thing.'
'It is when you are unhappy. "

― Graham Greene , A Burnt-Out Case

17 " He looked around the church, at the altar, the tabernacle, the brass candles, and the European saints, pale like albinos in the dark continent. "

― Graham Greene , A Burnt-Out Case

18 " Of course I shall respect your incognito. I will say nothing. You can trust me not to betray a guest. You’ll be far safer at my place than at the hotel. Only myself and my wife. As a matter of fact it was my wife who said to me, “Do you suppose he can possibly be the Querry?”’ ‘You’ve made a mistake.’ ‘Oh no, I haven’t. I can show you a photograph when you come to my house–in one of the papers that lie around in case they may prove useful. Useful! This one certainly has, hasn’t it, because otherwise we would have thought you were only a relation of Querry’s or that the name was pure coincidence, for who would expect to find the Querry holed up in a leproserie in the bush? I have to admit I am somewhat curious. But you can trust me, trust me all the way. I have serious enough problems of my own, so I can sympathize with those of another man. I’ve buried myself too. We’d better go outside, for in a little town like this even the walls have ears.’ ‘I’m afraid . . . they are expecting me to return . . .’ ‘God rules the weather. I assure you, M. Querry, you have no choice. "

― Graham Greene , A Burnt-Out Case

19 " Those doubts you have. I can assure you I know them too. But couldn’t we perhaps go over together the philosophical arguments ... to help us both? "

― Graham Greene , A Burnt-Out Case

20 " This marriage like the world’s marriages was held together by habits and tastes shared in common between God and themselves—it was God’s taste to be worshipped and their taste to worship, but only at stated hours like a suburban embrace on a Saturday night. "

― Graham Greene , A Burnt-Out Case