Anne Hébert > Quotes

“That’s what it means to be out of your mind. To let yourself be carried away by a dream. To give it room, let it grow wild and thick, until it overruns you.”
― Anne Hébert, Kamouraska

“I clap my hands together. (Where do I get the strength, the burst of energy?) To chase away the ghosts. Dispel my fears. Arrange the dream. Maintain a kind of balance”
― Anne Hébert, Kamouraska

“My love, I'm here. I'll wait my whole life through until you're done, there in the cove at Kamouraska. Until you wash your blood-soaked hands and make your way back to me”
― Anne Hébert, Kamouraska

“Ici, je me cache quand je veux. Je puis me cacher des jours et des jours, sans qu’on sache si j’existe ou non, et, sans que je le sache bien moi-même. Je m’enferme là-haut. Je lis, je dors, je rêve. Je ne bouge plus.”
― Anne Hébert, Le Temps Sauvage ; Suivi De La Mercière Assassinée ; Et Les Invités Au Procès

“My God, can it be that nothing inside of us ever gets washed away? We go on living as if nothing at all had happened, then suddenly the poison deep in our hearts comes rising up to the surface.”
― Anne Hébert, Kamouraska

“And now the bride begins to move. Little mechanical doll, clinging to her husband’s arm, climbing into the carriage. Her white silk stocking, her elegant shoe.”
― Anne Hébert, Kamouraska

“Both of us, together in the same delirium, yoked up together for the selfsame chore. Dragging the waters, together. Our huge nets scraping the ocean floor for its meager treasures. Infallible, a madman's memory drags up details like mussel shells.”
― Anne Hébert, Kamouraska

“Le monde est en ordre
Les morts dessous
Les vivants dessus”
― Anne Hébert, Poèmes : Le tombeau des rois

“I steal a glance when no one is looking. Especially at his neck, when he turns to say something to my mother. That slender neck, with its air of determination, brisk and bold…”
― Anne Hébert, Kamouraska