“Tell me, he said, "What is this thing about time? Why is it better to be late than early? People are always saying, we must wait, we must wait. what are they waiting for?"
"Well […] I guess people wait in order to make sure of what they feel."
"And when you have waited—-has it made you sure?”
― Giovanni’s Room
"Well […] I guess people wait in order to make sure of what they feel."
"And when you have waited—-has it made you sure?”
― Giovanni’s Room
“You can't go back home to your family, back home to your childhood, back home to romantic love, back home to a young man's dreams of glory and of fame, back home to exile, to escape to Europe and some foreign land, back home to lyricism, to singing just for singing's sake, back home to aestheticism, to one's youthful idea of 'the artist' and the all-sufficiency of 'art' and 'beauty' and 'love,' back home to the ivory tower, back home to places in the country, to the cottage in Bermude, away from all the strife and conflict of the world, back home to the father you have lost and have been looking for, back home to someone who can help you, save you, ease the burden for you, back home to the old forms and systems of things which once seemed everlasting but which are changing all the time--back home to the escapes of Time and Memory.”
―
―
“You don’t have a home until you leave it and then, when you have left it, you never can go back.”
― Giovanni’s Room
― Giovanni’s Room
“People can't, unhappily, invent their mooring posts, their lovers and their friends, anymore than they can invent their parents. Life gives these and also takes them away and the great difficulty is to say Yes to life.”
― Giovanni’s Room
― Giovanni’s Room
“I have to see a thing a thousand times before I see it once.”
― You Can't Go Home Again
― You Can't Go Home Again
Ryan’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Ryan’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Art, Biography, Business, Classics, Gay and Lesbian, History, Humor and Comedy, Memoir, Music, Non-fiction, Philosophy, Poetry, Psychology, Romance, Science, Self help, Spirituality, Sports, and gay
Polls voted on by Ryan
Lists liked by Ryan





















