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Ruth Park

Ruth Park Quotes

Author

Ruth Park, born on August 24, 1917, was an esteemed Australian author known for her insightful portrayals of Australian social life and cultural changes. Her works, such as 'The Harp in the South', are celebrated for their authenticity and emotional depth.

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All Humour Marriage Writing Alcohol Aotearoa Babies Beau Brilliant Can Do Cat

Famous Ruth Park Quotes

“What has being a girl to do with anything if a person in properly qualified?' ... 'It's what you call prejudice,' she said.”

Author:Ruth Park

“Experience soon taught me never to write about anything important to me - the Māoris, animals, the unemployed men, the empty boarded-up houses that frightened me. The subsequent trampling of my sensibilities would have destroyed me. Soon everything I wrote came only from my imagination.”

Imagination Creativity Sensitivity Aotearoa

Book:A Fence Around the Cuckoo

Source: A Fence Around the Cuckoo

“Sweeties were a breakfast cereal. They did not snap,crackle or pop, or do anything the more talented cereals did.”

Poverty Humour Sydney

Book:A Power of Roses

Source: A Power of Roses

“Then she said, with piteous defiance, "If I could love her, the Good Lord could, and he won't be too hard on an old lady who didn't have an easy life.”

Love Grief Compassion

Book:The Harp in the South

Source: The Harp in the South

“[a]nd the Pig Man came in from Waitomo and swore that if Louisa didn't marry him he'd damn well vote Labour at the next election. "And I don't care if the country does go to rack and ruin," he said.”

Humor Marriage Humour Stress

Book:Dear Hearts and Gentle People

Source: Dear Hearts and Gentle People

“Rory had a much better start in life than Anne had had. He was not only healthy and sociable, but so well-dressed that his father addressed him as Bub Brummell.”

Book:Fishing in the Styx

Source: Fishing in the Styx

“Elva had said nothing to anyone. She prayed earnestly that she was "all right", explaining over and over again to God what the doctor had said, and how she couldn't properly look after the children she already had. Elva liked to pray in front of a statue similar to the one in her mother's living-room. She was not praying to the statue, but it was a kind of magical doll that kept her thoughts focussed on the Being to whom she prayed.”

Religion Faith Prayers Unwanted Pregnancy

Book:Serpent's Delight

Source: Serpent's Delight

“And when he got home he started on Mumma. He hated her then, because in her fatness and untidiness and drabness she reminded him of what he himself was when he was sober.”

Hate Relationships Family Marriage Alcohol Drunk Sober

Book:The Harp in the South

Source: The Harp in the South

“Writing is a passion I have never understood, yet a storyteller is all I have ever wanted to be.”

Writing Wanted Passion Understood Storyteller Firefighter

Author:Ruth Park

“The world is full of novels in which characters simply say and do. There are certainly legitimate genres in which this is sufficient. But in real and lasting writing the character is.”

World Writing Real Character Novel Genre Sufficient Lasting Lasting Love

Author:Ruth Park

“In a still hot morning, the tide went out and didn't come back in. This was not a spectacular event. The sea did not roll up like a scroll, like the sky in Revelations. It quietly withdrew.”

Stills Morning Sea Sky Events Hot Revelations Tides Spectacular Tidy

Author:Ruth Park

“He who climbs a cliff may die on the cliff, so what? Always a risk-taker by nature, now I became one by intent.”

May Dies Risk Climbs Cliffs

Author:Ruth Park

“"You know, Mouse," Tabby said, "a brilliant cat like me should have smart friends; people who can count to more than four." "I can count to more than four," answered Mouse, very offended. "And I can do hard sums, and I know geography and history, and I can knit and ..."”

People Knows Should Said I Can Hard Can Do Four Smart Cat Should Have Mathematics Brilliant Like Me Mice Offended Geography Geography And History

Author:Ruth Park

About the Author

Born: August 24, 1917
Died: December 16, 2010
Known for: Author
Quotes: 13

Related Topics

Humour Marriage Writing Alcohol Aotearoa Babies Beau Brilliant Can Do Cat

Popular Topics

People Ifs Thinking Knows Men World Way Want Love Life Inspirational Needs Giving Feels Should Writing Trying Years Mind Firsts

Books & Sources

The Harp in the SouthRelated source material

A Fence Around the CuckooRelated source material

A Power of RosesRelated source material

Dear Hearts and Gentle PeopleRelated source material

Fishing in the StyxRelated source material

Serpent's DelightRelated source material

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