“ For instance, a man generally doesn't even know how small a woman is until he holds an article of her clothing up in front of him, one of her nightgowns, say, and sees how small and flimsy it is and h… Russell Banks
“ A tattoo does that, it makes you think about your body like it's this special suit that you can put on or take off whenever you want and a new name if it's cool enough does the same thing. To have bot… Russell Banks
“ Mourning can be very selfish. When someone you love has died, you tend to recall best those few moments and incidents that helped clarify your sense, not of the person who has died, but of your own se… Russell Banks
“ When you are a long way from where you think you belong, you will attach yourself to people you would otherwise ignore or even dislike. Russell Banks
“ All those happy, pretty, successful people- he hated them because he knew they didn't really exist, and he hated even more the magazine that glorified them and in a way that made them exist, actors, r… Russell Banks
“ Public libraries are the sole community centers left in America. The degree to which a branch of the local library is connected to the larger culture is a reflection of the degree to which the communi… Russell Banks
“ We are the planet, fully as much as water, earth, fire and air are the planet, and if the planet survives, it will only be through heroism. Not occasional heroism, a remarkable instance of it here and… Russell Banks
“ It's a way of living with tragedy, I guess, to claim after it happens that you saw it coming, as if somehow you had already made the necessary adjustments beforehand. Russell Banks
“ He said, "Yeah, well, artists are a lot like gangsters. They both know that the official version, the one everyone else believes, is a lie. Russell Banks
“ What you believe matters, however. It’s all anyone has to act on. And since what you do is who you are, your actions define you. If you don’t believe anything is true simply because you can’t logicall… Russell Banks
“ It was like a dream, a beautiful, soothing dream of late autumn: low, gray skies, smell of woodsmoke, fallen leaves crackling beneath my feet, and somewhere out there, in the farmsteads and plantation… Russell Banks
“ In some countries, I said to myself, the only life you can properly desire is that of destroyer. Russell Banks
“ Father argued that society as a whole must come to be organized on a different basis than greed, for while material interests gained somewhat by the institutionalized deification of pure selfishness,… Russell Banks
“ You must not obey a majority, no matter how large, if it opposes your principles and opinions.' He said this to each new volunteer and repeated it over and over to him, until it was engraved on his mi… Russell Banks
“ They were the only three people I'd chosen on my own to love, and they were gone. But still, that morning in Mobay when I saw Russ for the last time, I saw clearly for the first time that loving Siste… Russell Banks
“ He can’t quite picture God except as a huge ball of light with an old man’s deep voice like in the pickup truck ads on TV coming out of the ball of light dictating the way everything in Eden is suppos… Russell Banks
“ Car, si je considérais l'homme surtout en termes psychologiques, Smith l'évaluait en termes sociaux et Terron en termes mythiques. Ce qui provoquait en moi une quête irritée de certitude, une insécuri… Russell Banks
“ It's like a crime is an act that when you've committed one the act is over and you haven't changed inside. But when you commit a sin it's like you create a condition that you have to live in. Russell Banks
