“ Existentialism is about being a saint without God being your own hero, without all the sanction and support of religion or society. Anita Brookner
“ All good fortune is a gift of the gods and ... you don't win the favor of the ancient gods by being good but by being bold. Anita Brookner
“ The essence of romantic love is that wonderful beginning, after which sadness and impossibility may become the rule. Anita Brookner
“ Not everyone is born to fulfill an heroic role. The only realistic ambition is to live in the present. And sometimes, quite often in fact, this is more than enough to keep one busy. Time, which was on… Anita Brookner
“ Good women always think it is their fault when someone else is being offensive. Bad women never take the blame for anything. Anita Brookner
“ Women share their sadness, thought Edith. Their joy they like to show off to one another. Victory, triumph over the odds, calls for an audience. And that air of bustle and exigence sometimes affected… Anita Brookner
“ Life... is not simply a series of exciting new ventures. The future is not always a whole new ball game. There tends to be unfinished business. One trails all sorts of things around with one, things t… Anita Brookner
“ I was a teacher most of my life, which I loved. I had a very happy working life, and when I retired, I thought I must do something, and I've always read a lot of fiction - you learn so much from ficti… Anita Brookner
“ As a devil's advocate Mr Neville was faultless. And yet, she knew, there was a flaw in his reasoning, just as there was a flaw in his ability to feel. Anita Brookner
“ I reflected how easy it is for a man to reduce women of a certain age to imbecility. All he has to do is give an impersonation of desire, or better still, of secret knowledge, for a woman to feel hers… Anita Brookner
“ They had waited for too long, and the result was this hiatus, and the reflection that time and patience may bring poor rewards, that time itself, if not confronted at the appropriate juncture, can pla… Anita Brookner
“ I remember at that time I went to the hairdresser's. I did this regularly, but I remember that visit for two particular reasons. The first was that next to me was a young mother with a little girl age… Anita Brookner
