Jackson Parr

“Sometimes, when Chapuys has finished digging up Walter’s bones and making his own life unfamiliar to him, he feels almost impelled to speak in defense of his father, his childhood. But it is no use to justify yourself. It is no good to explain. It is weak to be anecdotal. It is wise to conceal the past even if there is nothing to conceal. A man’s power is in the half-light, in the half-seen movements of his hand and the unguessed-at expression of his face. It is the absence of facts that frightens people: the gap you open, into which they pour their fears, fantasies, desires.”
― Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall

“It's only our faith in illusions that makes life possible. It's believing in reality that does us in every time.”
― Richard Flanagan, The Narrow Road to the Deep North

“The more people I am with, Dorrigo thought, the more alone I feel.”
― Richard Flanagan, The Narrow Road to the Deep North

“Adversity brings out the best in us ... It's everyday living that does us in.”
― Richard Flanagan, The Narrow Road to the Deep North