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Robertson Davies

Robertson Davies Quotes

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Famous Robertson Davies Quotes

“That's the nub of the thing, you see seriousness of spirit. It doesn't mean heaviness of heart, or a lack of fantasy, but it does mean an awareness of influences that touch our lives, sometimes in ways that seem cruel and unfeeling, and sometimes in ways that open up a glory which can never be forgotten.”

WayHeartMeanDoeSometimesSeemsSpiritFantasyOur LivesInfluenceAwarenessGloryForgottenSeriousnessHeavinessUnfeeling
Book:Happy Alchemy: On the Pleasures of Music and the Theatre
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“My curiosity was in no way cruel. Deviations from the commonplace attracted me strongly, as they still do; and to me the hermaphrodite and the living skeleton were interesting for the same reason as was Creatore, or the resplendent Guardsmen of the bands - because such people did not often come my way, and I hoped that they might impart some great revelation to me, some insight which would help me to a clearer understanding of the world about me.”

PeopleWorldWayStillsReasonHelpingMightUnderstandingInterestingBandCuriosityInsightMy WayRevelationsHelp MeCommonplaceImpartSkeletonsDeviationHermaphrodites
Author:Robertson Davies
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“Speakers' nerves affect them in various ways. Some tremble, some become frenzied. I lose all confidence, and suffer from a leaden oppression that makes me wonder why I ever agreed to speak at all; the Tomb and the Conqueror Worm seem preferable to delivering the stupid and piffling speech I have so carefully prepared.”

WaySeemsSufferingSpeakLosesWonderStupidSpeechPreparedVariousOppressionNervesSpeakersWormsTombsConquerorDelivering
Book:Selected works on the art of writing
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“We tend to think human knowledge as progressive; because we know more and more, our parents and grandparents are back numbers. But a contrary theory is possible - that we simply recognize different things at different times and in different ways.”

ThinkingKnowsWayHumansDifferentParentNumbersTheoryContraryDifferent WaysDifferent ThingsProgressiveGrandparentDifferent TimesHuman KnowledgeParents And Grandparents
Book:The Cornish Trilogy
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“The women we really love are the women who complete us, who have the qualities we can borrow and so become something nearer to whole men. Just as we complete them, of course; it’s not a one-way thing. Leola and I, when romance was stripped away, were too much alike; our strengths and weaknesses were too nearly the same. Together we would have doubled our gains and our losses, but that isn’t what love is.”

MenWayWholeTogetherRomanceCoursesLossLove IsQualityToo MuchWeaknessGainsOne WayStrength And Weakness
Author:Robertson Davies
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“Pessimism is a very easy way out because it is a short view of life. If you look at what is happening around us today, you can't help but feel that life is a terrible complexity of problems. But if you look back a few thousand years, you realize that we have advanced fantastically. If you take a long view, I do not see how you can be pessimistic about the future of mankind.”

IfsWayLifeFeelsYearsLooksLongHelpingProblemTodayLife IsEasyRealizingViewsMankindTerribleFutureThousandHappeningsComplexityPessimismThousand YearsPessimisticEasy WayFuture Of Mankind
Author:Robertson Davies
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