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Jacqueline Harpman Quotes

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Famous Jacqueline Harpman Quotes

“Nothing was ordinary, since nothing had ever happened to me.”

Philosophy Science Fiction

Book:I Who Have Never Known Men

Source: I Who Have Never Known Men

“Sometimes, I used to sit under the sky, on a clear night, and gaze at the stars, saying, in my croaky voice: “Lord, if you’re up there somewhere, and you aren’t too busy, come and say a few words to me, because I’m very lonely and it would make me so happy.” Nothing happened. So I reckon that humanity— which I wonder whether I belong to —really had a very vivid imagination.”

God Existentialism

Book:I Who Have Never Known Men

Source: I Who Have Never Known Men

“Animula vagula blandula, each one of us, little wandering souls seeking a share of happiness and always disappointed, as we go from dawn to dawn, our hearts torn, brave and pathetic, desperately trying to behave with the dignity required by our human condition.”

Soul Identity Human Condition Jaqueline Harpman Orlanda

Book:Orlanda

Source: Orlanda

“They bustled around chatting. It was the first time I listened closely, and I was astonished at how much they had to say, the passion with which they repeated the same thing in ten different ways so as to avoid noticing, in fact, that they had absolutely nothing to say to each other for ages, but human beings need to speak, otherwise they lose their humanity”

Humanity Conversation Interpersonal Relationships

Book:I Who Have Never Known Men

Source: I Who Have Never Known Men

“Even now, I like to look in the mirror. Over the years, I’ve followed the progress of the wrinkles furrowing my brow. My cheeks have grown thinner and my lips have become pale, but it’s all me and I feel a sort of fondness for the reflection in the mirror. [...] I was just over forty. That was twenty-two years ago. I suppose I am an old woman, but I still love looking at my face. I don’t know if it’s beautiful or ugly, but it is the only human face I ever see. I smile at it and receive a friendly smile back.”

Humanity Loneliness Vanity

Book:I Who Have Never Known Men

Source: I Who Have Never Known Men

“Because I want to know! Sometimes, you can use what you know, but that's not what counts most. I want to know everything there is to know. Not because it's any use, but for the pleasure of knowing, and now I demand that you teach me everything you know, even if I will never be able to use it.”

Education Knowledge Learning Right To Education Right To Information

Book:I Who Have Never Known Men

Source: I Who Have Never Known Men

“She wondered when it had dawned on us that we where as much prisoners out in the open as we had been behind bars.”

Inspirational Science Fiction Deep Prisoner

Book:I Who Have Never Known Men

Source: I Who Have Never Known Men

“Soy el retoño estéril de una raza de la que no sé nada, ni siquiera si ha desaparecido”

Fiction Fantasy Feminism Science Fiction Literary Fiction Dystopia Adult Classics Book Club Audiobook

Book:I Who Have Never Known Men

Source: I Who Have Never Known Men

“I knew nothing about him, but I knew nothing about myself, except that, one day, I too would die and that, like him, I would prop myself up and remain upright, looking straight ahead until the last, and, when death triumphed over my gaze, I would be like a proud monument raised with hatred in the face of silence.”

Death Feminism Tragedy Resilience

Book:I Who Have Never Known Men

Source: I Who Have Never Known Men

“No life is ordinary. No life is without hope, without light, even during the unimaginable.”

Life Inspirational Hope

Book:I Who Have Never Known Men

Source: I Who Have Never Known Men

“The destiny of daughters burdened with an impossible mother is tragic. When they manage to develop a healthy indifference, people say they are heartless, and when they are devoted, people say they are masochists.”

Daughter And Mother Mommy Issues

Book:Orlanda

Source: Orlanda

“Je m'assis devant Laurette, j'aurais sincèrement voulu lui dire des paroles utiles, qui la renourrissent, mais, en vérité, sur cette terre stérile, dans le silence et la solitude, ignorante et stérile moi même, que pouvais je lui donner ? Pourquoi aurait elle souhaité vivre ? Nous ne faisions rien, nous n'allions nulle part, nous n'étions personne.”

Vivre Mourir

Book:Moi qui n'ai pas connu les hommes - Nouvelle édition

Source: Moi qui n'ai pas connu les hommes - Nouvelle édition

“Don't we all go through life in the same ignorance of who we are, ready to rush at any description of ourselves that would give us the illusion of having a simple identity that can be summed up in a few words?”

Existentialism Jaqueline Harpman Orlanda

Book:Orlanda

Source: Orlanda

“The things I have never told anyone absolutely define me and isolate me, the things that I alone know about myself guarantee my boundaries. Here, this is me, there, is everybody else, the people who do not know the things I have never confessed.”

Identity Boundaries Jaqueline Harpman Orlanda

Book:Orlanda

Source: Orlanda

“Between the day that has just ended and the one that is about to begin there is a moment of absolute suspense. I awaken and perhaps I no longer know who I am nor who is asleep beside me, so I quickly invent a name, a story in which to pour my anguish. I construct an identity, but how can I be sure that today's is truly the same as yesterday's, or that the world exists?”

Existentialism Jaqueline Harpman Orlanda

Book:Orlanda

Source: Orlanda

“I am everything mummy didn't want you to be. Each time you sensed her disapproval, you were afraid and you gave up, you wanted to remove whatever displeased her from yourself.”

Split Personality Jaqueline Harpman Orlanda

Book:Orlanda

Source: Orlanda

“Her thick, unruly hair was tamed by excellent hairdressers, she learned to handle objects without breaking her nails and ideas without causing ructions. She liked to please, and that is what kills the boy within the girl.”

Gender Roles Jaqueline Harpman Orlanda

Book:Orlanda

Source: Orlanda

“Is it possible to be so unaware of what drives us? Or is it tremendously naive to believe that we know where we are going?”

Existentialism Jaqueline Harpman Orlanda

Book:Orlanda

Source: Orlanda

“It was I who drank the chocolate that had been made for my little cousin, broke the jug, finished off the jar [...] I wanted to create a barrier between myself and others, define my territory, say here, in this place, the only place in the world where it is known with absolute certainty who drank the chocolate. Here, is me.”

Identity Boundaries Secrets Jaqueline Harpman Orlanda

Book:Orlanda

Source: Orlanda

“Our century abounds in intense, lengthy discussions on the question of identity, a name and surname are not enough. The debate reaches such remarkable levels of subtlety that it is sometimes difficult to follow. When we say I, who do we mean? If someone else can say that he is me, where is me, here or there? Each of us is absolutely convinced that we are ourselves, and we rely on that assurance for our stability.”

Identity Existentialism Jaqueline Harpman Orlanda

Book:Orlanda

Source: Orlanda

“Orlanda contained everything her mother had disapproved of when she was twelve. Today, she is her own judge. On leaving, Orlanda had taken away the terrible You're such a tomboy! which had torn her and which he had made his identity.”

Identity Lgbtqia Androgyny Jaqueline Harpman Orlanda

Book:Orlanda

Source: Orlanda

“Her father had laughed, but Marie Berger wondered whether it was proper to make fun of Victor Hugo. Hadn't he been a member of the Académie Française?”

Victor Hugo Jaqueline Harpman Orlanda Académie Française

Book:Orlanda

Source: Orlanda

“They’d been custodians of the absurd, carrying out orders whose purpose they were unaware of, themselves having to submit to incomprehensible rules, and perhaps they had no more idea of our identity than we did of theirs.”

Prison Camps Jailor

Book:I Who Have Never Known Men

Source: I Who Have Never Known Men

“Only now, I tell myself that what I'd felt for her, the trust that slowly built up, the constant preference for her company and the joy each time I was reunited with her after an expedition were probably what the women called love.”

Love Friendship Sisterhood

Book:I Who Have Never Known Men

Source: I Who Have Never Known Men

About the Author

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Quotes: 24

Books & Sources

OrlandaRelated source material

I Who Have Never Known MenRelated source material

Moi qui n'ai pas connu les hommes - Nouvelle éditionRelated source material