Quotes and great writing that hit the mark

Tim Winton – The Shepherd’s Hut

Page 233 – From Fintan, the old timer

‘I suspect God is what you do, not what or who you believe in…

… when you do right, Jaxie, when you make good – well, then you are an instrument of God. Then you are joined to the divine, to the life force, to life itself…

Think of it this way – when somebody does me a kindness, it enlarges me, adds to my life, you see? And not only mine – it adds to all life. Which is why I wanted to thank you. For coming here’.

Mario Vargas Lhosa – The Feast of the Goat

Page 277 – The Generalissimo speaking to the ‘puppet president’

‘You, President Balaguer, have the good fortune to be concerned only with the best part of politics’, he said icily. ‘Laws, reforms, diplomatic negotiations, social transformations. That’s what you’ve done for 31 years. You have been involved in the pleasant, enjoyable acts of governing. I envy you! I would like to have been only a stateman, a reformer. But governing has a dirty side, and without it what you do would be impossible. What about order? Stability? Security? I’ve tried to keep you away from unpleasant things. But don’t tell me you don’t know how peace is achieved. With how much sacrifice and how much blood. Be grateful that I’ve allowed you to see the other side and devote yourself to the good, while I, Abbes, Lieutenant Pena Rivera, and others kept the country in order so you could write your poems and your speeches. I’m sure with your acute intelligence, you understand me perfectly.’

A mural on a wall in Barcelona, August 2019 – The caption beside it read:

‘The sound of a kiss is not as loud as that of a cannon but its echo lasts a great deal longer’

- Oliver Wendell Holmes

Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside a dog it’s too dark to read’

-          Groucho Marx