Quote: A man of such obvious and exemplary charm must be a liar. [Anita Brookner]
Quote: No blame should attach to telling the truth. But it does, it does. [Anita Brookner]
Quote: Writing novels preserves you in a state of innocence -- a lot passes you by -- simply because your attention is otherwise diverted. [Anita Brookner]
Quote: Accountability in friendship is the equivalent of love without strategy. [Anita Brookner]
Quote: What is interesting about self-analysis is that it leads nowhere -- it is an art form in itself. [Anita Brookner]
Quote: A man can go from being a lover to being a stranger in three moves flat but a woman under the guise of friendship will engage in acts of duplicity which come to light very much later. There are different species of self-justification. [Anita Brookner]
Quote: Real love is a pilgrimage. It happens when there is no strategy, but it is very rare because most people are strategists. [Anita Brookner]
Quote: Existentialism is about being a saint without God; being your own hero, without all the sanction and support of religion or society. [Anita Brookner]
Quote: The essence of romantic love is that wonderful beginning, after which sadness and impossibility may become the rule. [Anita Brookner]
Quote: Romanticism is not just a mode; it literally eats into every life. Women will never get rid of just waiting for the right man. [Anita Brookner]
Quote: Like many rich men, he thought in anecdotes; like many simple women, she thought in terms of biography. [Anita Brookner]
Quote: The lessons taught in great books are misleading. The commerce in life is rarely so simple and never so just. [Anita Brookner]
Quote: She was a handsome woman of forty-five and would remain so for many years. [Anita Brookner]
Quote: Time misspent in youth is sometimes all the freedom one ever has. [Anita Brookner]
Quote: A complete woman is probably not a very admirable creature. She is manipulative, uses other people to get her own way, and works within whatever system she is in. [Anita Brookner]
Quote: Good women always think it is their fault when someone else is being offensive. Bad women never take the blame for anything. [Anita Brookner]
Quote: Great writers are the saints for the godless. [Anita Brookner]
Quote: It will be a pity if women in the more conventional mould are to be phased out, for there will never be anyone to go home to. [Anita Brookner]