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Graham Greene

Graham Greene Quotes

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Famous Graham Greene Quotes

“Direi che anche lei penserebbe a un miracolo, la prima volta che le capitasse di vedere un uomo resuscitare. [...] Buffo, no? Non è che i miracoli non avvengano, è solo che gli viene dato un nome diverso. Immagini la scena: tutti i dottori a consulto intorno a un morto; l'uomo non respira più, il polso è assente, il cuore non batte: insomma, è morto. Poi arriva qualcuno che gli ridà la vita, e i dottori - com'è che si usa dire? - sospendono il giudizio. Se accade di nuovo, più volte (perché Dio è presente sulla terra), diranno: questi non sono miracoli, significano soltanto che il nostro concetto di che cosa sia la vita si è ampliato; ora sappiamo che si può essere vivi senza polso, senza respiro, senza battiti del cuore. E inventano una nuova parola per descrivere quello stato di vita e dichiarano che, ancora una volta, la scienza ha confutato un miracolo. [...] L'ultima parola sarà sempre la loro.”

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Book:The Power and the Glory
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“It was the hour of prayer. Black-beetles exploded against the walls like crackers. More than a dozen crawled over the tiles with injured wings. It infuriated him to think that there were still people in the state who believed in a loving and merciful God. There are mystics who are said to have experienced God directly. He was a mystic, too, and what he had experienced was vacancy — a complete certainty in the existence of a dying, cooling world, of human beings who had evolved from animals for no purpose at all. He knew.”

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Book:The Power and the Glory
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“Did you find anything special?' Blackie asked. T. nodded. 'Come over here,' he said, 'and look.' Out of both pockets he drew bundles of pound notes. 'Old Misery's savings,' he said. 'Mike ripped out the mattress, but he missed them.' 'What are you going to do? Share them?' 'We aren't thieves,' T. said. 'Nobody's going to steal anything from this house. I kept these for you and me - a celebration.' He knelt down on the floor and counted them out - there were seventy in all. 'We'll burn them,' he said, 'one by one,' and taking it in turns they held a note upwards and lit the top corner, so that the flame burnt slowly towards their fingers. The grey ash floated above them and fell on their heads like age. 'I'd like to see Old Misery's face when we are through,' T. said. 'You hate him a lot?' Blackie asked. 'Of course I don't hate him,' T. said. 'There'd be no fun if I hated him.' The last burning note illuminated his brooding face. 'All this hate and love,' he said, 'it's soft, it's hooey. There's only things, Blackie,' and he looked round the room crowded with the unfamiliar shadows of half things, broken things, former things. 'I'll race you home, Blackie,' he said. ("The Destructors")”

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Book:Shock!
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“Champagne, if you are seeking the truth, is better than a lie detector. It encourages a man to be expansive, even reckless, while lie detectors are only a challenge to tell lies successfully.”

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Book:Travels With My Aunt
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