Neil > Neil's Quotes

“He had, in fact, already begun to sink into that creeping dry rot of pedagogy which is the worst and ultimate pitfall of the profession; giving the same lessons year after year had formed a groove into which the other affairs of his life adjusted themselves with insidious ease. He worked well; he was conscientious; he was a fixture that gave service, satisfaction, confidence, everything except inspiration.”
― James Hilton, Good-Bye, Mr. Chips

“In the slanting light of late autumn, the gestures and bodies of people are more expressive the less meaning they have. Men stand on street corners staring at the emptiness of the day. They spit on the sidewalk and smoke cigarettes. That's the present. ...Time, approaching from afar, is like the air that someone else has already breathed.”
― Andrzej Stasiuk

“it gives me no rest, my wish to know the fate of all these scenes that entered my eyes and have remained in my thoughts. What happens to them when I am no longer there?”
― Andrzej Stasiuk, On The Road To Babadag: Travels in the Other Europe

“Учителите губят много време, за да открият основни истини.”
― Andrzej Stasiuk, Tales of Galicia

“That's why I drove there in the middle of February, patches of snow still on the fields. I had the strong feeling that somewhere between Sluejow, Wygwizdow, and Solec time had ground to a halt or simply evaporated or melted like a dream and no longer separated us from our childhood.”
― Andrzej Stasiuk, On The Road To Babadag: Travels in the Other Europe

“Писането не е наказание, то е божия благословия, подарък, пиршество на мисълта, бал на асоциациите... В писането е светът - малкият и големият, вътрешният и външният, истинският и измисленият... От писането човек пораства, сетивата му стават разстояния и години, деянията му стават маршрути на успеха или неуспеха, чувствата му се приравняват към едно същество с милиарди тела и чувства - човечеството...”
― Петя Караколева, Седем живи Марии

“Книгата е светата обител на думите, а думите са светата обител на мислите, които по такъв начин могат да бъдат посетени. Човек, ако не чете, тоя човек я кара с петстотин думи, останалата част от езика за него е тера инкогнита, където дори на екскурзия не е ходил...”
― Петя Караколева, Къщата сутрин

“What are you looking at, grandfather?" he asked with curiosity.
The old man raised his head and smiled sadly. "At my life flowing and disappearing, son, flowing and disappearing."
"Don't worry, grandfather, it knows where it is going–toward the sea, everyone's life flows toward the sea."
The old man sighed. "Yes, my son, that is why the sea is salty—from the many tears."
He turned back to the flowing stream and did not speak again.”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, The Fratricides

“Look, one day I had gone to a little village. An old grandfather of ninety was busy planting an almond tree. ‘What, grandfather!’ I exclaimed. ‘Planting an almond tree?’ And he, bent as he was, turned around and said: ‘My son, I carry on as if I should never die.’ I replied: ‘And I carry on as if I was going to die any minute.’

Which of us was right, boss?”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek