Francine du Plessix Gray > Quotes

“I shall never cease to marvel at the way we beg for love and tyranny.”
― Francine du Plessix Gray, Lovers and Tyrants

“We write out of revenge against reality, to dream and enter the lives of others.”
― Francine du Plessix Gray

“A heart of fire in a shell of ice.”
― Francine du Plessix Gray, The Queen's Lover

“...in Aristotle...leisure is a far more noble, spiritual goal than work...leisure is pursued solely for its own sake...: the pleasures of music and poetry, ... conversation with friends, and ...gratuitous, playful speculation. In Latin, the ultimate good is otium — the opposite is negotium, or gainful work.
We have sought too much counsel in the proto-Calvinist work ethic preached by St Paul...during the cessation of work we nurture family, educate, nourish friendships....in loafing, most of our innovations come...the routine of daily work has too often served as...sleep...a refuge from two crucial states — awakedness to the needs of others, and to the transcendent, which only comes...loitering, dallying, tarrying, goofing off.”
― Francine du Plessix Gray

“Oh, save me God, but not quite yet.”
― Francine du Plessix Gray, The Queen's Lover

“Ah women, women, my life's plague and chief delight!”
― Francine du Plessix Gray, The Queen's Lover

“Exploring any tormented parental past—a process through which, as if trapped in a maze of distorting mirrors, we often confront our own past sorrows, our own sins and dreadful choices—can be a painful, even dangerous form of seeking information.”
― Francine du Plessix Gray, Them: A Memoir of Parents