L > L's Quotes

“There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book.
Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.”
― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

“There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.”
― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

“Does such a thing as 'the fatal flaw,' that showy dark crack running down the middle of a life, exist outside literature? I used to think it didn't. Now I think it does. And I think that mine is this: a morbid longing for the picturesque at all costs.”
― Donna Tartt, The Secret History

“It is fate that I am here,' George persisted, 'but you can call it Italy if it makes you less unhappy.”
― E. M. Forster, A Room with a View

“We think we have many desires, but in fact we have only one. What is it?” “To live,” said Camilla. “To live forever,”
― Donna Tartt, The Secret History

“You will always be fond of me. I represent to you all the sins you never had the courage to commit.”
― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

“Let yourself go. Pull out from the depths those thoughts that you do not understand, and spread them out in the sunlight and know the meaning of them.”
― E.M. Forster, A Room with a View

“The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.”
― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

“You - you alone will have the stars as no one else has them...In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night...You - only you - will have stars that can laugh.”
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, El Principito

“Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp’d towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.”
― William Shakespeare, The Tempest

“I felt that there was no irony, it was a real compliment. Then she added with sudden harshness: “I don’t want to read anything else that you write.” “Why?” She thought about it. “Because it hurts me,” and she struck her forehead with her hand and burst out laughing.”
― Elena Ferrante, My Brilliant Friend

“There are such things as ghosts. People everywhere have always known that. And we believe in them every bit as much as Homer did. Only now, we call them by different names. Memory. The unconscious.”
― Donna Tartt, The Secret History

“At that moment I knew what the plebs were, much more clearly than when, years earlier, she had asked me. The plebs were us. The plebs were that fight for food and wine, that quarrel over who should be served first and better, that dirty floor on which the waiters clattered back and forth, those increasingly vulgar toasts. The plebs were my mother, who had drunk wine and now was leaning against my father’s shoulder, while he, serious, laughed, his mouth gaping, at the sexual allusions of the metal dealer. They were all laughing, even Lila, with the expression of one who has a role and will play it to the utmost.”
― Elena Ferrante, My Brilliant Friend

“It is much more difficult to judge oneself than to judge others. If you succeed in judging yourself rightly, then you are indeed a man of true wisdom.

"What matters most are the simple pleasures so abundant that we can all enjoy them...Happiness doesn't lie in the objects we gather around us. To find it, all we need to do is open our eyes.”
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

“The proof that the little prince existed is that he was charming, that he laughed, and that he was looking for a sheep. If anybody wants a sheep, that is a proof that he exists.”
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

“سجِّل! أنا عربي
ورقمُ بطاقتي خمسونَ ألفْ
وأطفالي ثمانيةٌ
وتاسعهُم.. سيأتي بعدَ صيفْ!
فهلْ تغضبْ؟
سجِّلْ!
أنا عربي
وأعملُ مع رفاقِ الكدحِ في محجرْ
وأطفالي ثمانيةٌ
أسلُّ لهمْ رغيفَ الخبزِ،
والأثوابَ والدفترْ
من الصخرِ
ولا أتوسَّلُ الصدقاتِ من بابِكْ
ولا أصغرْ
أمامَ بلاطِ أعتابكْ
فهل تغضب؟
سجل
أنا عربي
أنا اسم بلا لقبِ
صبورٌ في بلادٍ كلُّ ما فيها
يعيشُ بفورةِ الغضبِ
جذوري...
قبلَ ميلادِ الزمانِ رستْ
وقبلَ تفتّحِ الحقبِ
وقبلَ السّروِ والزيتونِ
.. وقبلَ ترعرعِ العشبِ
أبي.. من أسرةِ المحراثِ
لا من سادةٍ نجبِ
وجدّي كانَ فلاحاً
بلا حسبٍ.. ولا نسبِ!
يعلّمني شموخَ الشمسِ قبلَ قراءةِ الكتبِ
وبيتي كوخُ ناطورٍ
منَ الأعوادِ والقصبِ
فهل ترضيكَ منزلتي؟
أنا اسم بلا لقبِ
سجل
أنا عربي
ولونُ الشعرِ.. فحميٌّ
ولونُ العينِ.. بنيٌّ
وميزاتي:
على رأسي عقالٌ فوقَ كوفيّه
وكفّي صلبةٌ كالصخرِ
تخمشُ من يلامسَها
وعنواني:
أنا من قريةٍ عزلاءَ منسيّهْ
شوارعُها بلا أسماء
وكلُّ رجالها في الحقلِ والمحجرْ
فهل تغضبْ؟
سجِّل
أنا عربي
سلبتَ كرومَ أجدادي
وأرضاً كنتُ أفلحُها
أنا وجميعُ أولادي
ولم تتركْ لنا.. ولكلِّ أحفادي
سوى هذي الصخورِ..
فهل ستأخذُها
حكومتكمْ.. كما قيلا؟
إذن
سجِّل.. برأسِ الصفحةِ الأولى
أنا لا أكرهُ الناسَ
ولا أسطو على أحدٍ
ولكنّي.. إذا ما جعتُ
آكلُ لحمَ مغتصبي
حذارِ.. حذارِ.. من جوعي
ومن غضبي”
― محمود درويش, الأعمال الشعرية الكاملة