Muriel Spark Quotes and Sayings - Page 1
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“I see no reason to keep silent about my enjoyment of the sound of my own voice as I work.”
-- Muriel SparkSource : Muriel Spark (2001). “Loitering with Intent”, p.80, New Directions Publishing
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“To me education is a leading out of what is already there in the pupil's soul.”
-- Muriel SparkSource : 'The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie' (1961) ch. 2
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“It is one of the secrets of Nature in its mood of mockery that fine weather lays heavier weight on the mind and hearts of the depressed and the inwardly tormented than does a really bad day with dark rain sniveling continuously and sympathetically from a dirty sky.”
-- Muriel SparkSource : Muriel Spark (2012). “Territorial Rights: A Novel”, p.46, Open Road Media
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“The true novelist is one who understands the work as a continuous poem, is a myth-maker, and the wonder of the art resides in the endless different ways of telling a story.”
-- Muriel SparkSource : FaceBook post by Muriel Spark from Oct 28, 2014
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“It is impossible to persuade a man who does not disagree, but smiles.”
-- Muriel SparkSource : Muriel Spark (2015). “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie”, p.68, Canongate Books
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“If you're going to do a thing, you should do it thoroughly. If you're going to be a Christian, you may as well be a Catholic.”
-- Muriel Spark -
“The sacrifice of pleasures is of course itself a pleasure.”
-- Muriel SparkSource : Muriel Spark (2014). “Loitering with Intent”, p.42, New Directions Publishing
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“For those who like that sort of thing," said Miss Brodie in her best Edinburgh voice, "That is the sort of thing they like.”
-- Muriel Spark -
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“Parents learn a lot from their children about coping with life.”
-- Muriel Spark -
“The sparkle and morning-freshness of the shop, and the butter-conjuring girl, formed a mind-picture which accompanied the whole of my youth.(about the Buttercup Dairy)”
-- Muriel Spark -
“How wonderful it feels to be an artist and a woman in the twentieth century,”
-- Muriel Spark -
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“I wouldn't take the Pope too seriously. He's a Pole first, a pope second, and maybe a Christian third.”
-- Muriel Spark -
“If you want to concentrate deeply on some problem, and especially some piece of writing or paper-work, you should acquire a cat . . .”
-- Muriel Spark -
“Frankness is usually a euphemism for rudeness.”
-- Muriel Spark -
“Death, when it approaches, ought not to take one by surprise. It should be part of the full expectancy of life. Without an ever-present sense of death life is insipid.”
-- Muriel Spark -
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“The words of the double-tongued are as if they were harmless, but they reach even to the inner part of the bowels. Praise be to the Lord, who distinguishes our cause and delivers us from the unjust and deceitful man.”
-- Muriel Spark -
“I am a hoarder of two things: documents and trusted friends.”
-- Muriel Spark -
“Neurotics are awfully quick to notice other people's mentalities ...”
-- Muriel Spark -
“A rebellion against a tyrant is only immoral when it hasn't got a chance.”
-- Muriel SparkSource : Muriel Spark (2015). “The Abbess of Crewe”, p.26, Canongate Books
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“There was altogether too much candor in married life; it was an indelicate modern idea, and frequently led to upsets in a household, if not divorce ...”
-- Muriel Spark -
“I was just as anxious to prevent injustice as to cause justice.”
-- Muriel Spark -
“I have a great desire to make people smile - not laugh. Laughter is too aggressive. People bare their teeth.”
-- Muriel Spark -
“The letters of famous people can be placed into two categories: there is the type of letter which becomes itself a valuable contribution to literature through its wit, style or wisdom; another kind is that whose main importance lies in the provision of a background to their author's life. Especially in the correspondence of great writers and poets, these two factors are very often combined ...”
-- Muriel Spark -
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“Ridicule is the only honorable weapon we have left.”
-- Muriel SparkSource : Muriel Spark (2018). “A Good Comb: The Sayings of Muriel Spark”, p.21, New Directions Publishing
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“It isn't necessarily the great and famous beauty spots we fall in love with. As with people, so with places. Love is unforeseen, and we can all find ourselves affectionately attached to the minor and the less obvious.”
-- Muriel Spark -
“So great was the noise during the day that I used to lie awake at night listening to silence.”
-- Muriel Spark -
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“Fiction to me is a kind of parable. You have got to make up your mind it's not true. Some kind of truth emerges from it, but it's not fact.”
-- Muriel Spark -
“everything happens to an artist; time is always redeemed, nothing is lost and wonders never cease.”
-- Muriel SparkSource : Muriel Spark (2001). “Loitering with Intent”, p.116, New Directions Publishing
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