Home / Authors / Thomas Keneally

Thomas Keneally

Thomas Keneally Quotes

Novelist

Thomas Keneally, born on October 7, 1935, is an acclaimed Australian novelist known for his historical fiction. His works, such as 'The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith' and 'Schindler's Ark', have gained international recognition.

Filter quotes by topic

All Australia Schindler Art Español Knows Spanish Church Found Men Schindler's List

Famous Thomas Keneally Quotes

“In times like these, he said, it must be hard for the churches to go on telling people that their Heavenly Father cared about the death of even a single sparrow.”

War Religion Hope Peace

Book:Schindler's List

Source: Schindler's List

“Paradox is beloved of novelists. The despised savior, the humane whore, the selfish man suddenly munificent, the wise fool, and the cowardly hero. Most writers spend their lives writing about unexpected malice in the supposedly virtuous, and unexpected virtue in the supposedly sinful.”

Writing Paradox

Book:Searching for Schindler: A Memoir

Source: Searching for Schindler: A Memoir

“Quien salva una sola vida, salva al mundo entero.”

Español Spanish Schindler

Book:Schindler’s List

Source: Schindler’s List

“El problema es que se recuerda esta lista con una intensidad tal que su mismo ardor confunde los hechos. La lista era un bien absoluto. La lista era la vida. Más allá de sus márgenes se abría el abismo.”

Español Spanish Schindler

Book:Schindler’s List

Source: Schindler’s List

“No olvidamos las penurias de Egipto, no olvidamos a Haman, no olvidamos a Hitler. Así como no olvidamos a los injustos, no olvidamos a los justos. Recordemos pues a Oskar Schindler.”

Español Spanish Schindler

Book:Schindler’s List

Source: Schindler’s List

“Oskar cumplía treinta y siete años, y acababa de abrir una botella de coñac. Sobre su escritorio había un telegrama de una planta de montaje de armamentos situada cerca de Brno. Decía que las granadas antitanques de Oskar estaban tan mal hechas que no soportaban uno solo de los controles de calidad. Estaban mal calibradas, y estallaban durante los ensayos porque no habían sido templadas a la temperatura adecuada. Oskar parecía extasiado con el telegrama. Lo empujó hacia Stern y Pemper para que lo leyeran. Pemper recuerda que dijo una de sus extravagancias: —Es el mejor regalo de cumpleaños que podía haber recibido. Ahora sé que mis productos no pueden matar a ningún pobre infortunado.”

Español Spanish Schindler

Book:Schindler’s List

Source: Schindler’s List

“The taste one gets of death in dreams I find more penetrating and atmospheric than the ordinary fear one might suffer while awake.”

Book:Searching for Schindler: A Memoir

Source: Searching for Schindler: A Memoir

“Fatal human malice is the staple of narrators, original sin the mother-fluid of historians. But it is a risky enterprise to have to write of virtue.”

Writing Humans Mother Sin Virtue Originals Enterprise Historian Malice Fluid Original Sin Staples Narrators

Book:Schindler's List

Source: Schindler's List

“The list is an absolute good. The list is life. All round its cramped margins lies the gulf.”

Lying Absolutes Rounds Lists Margins

Author:Thomas Keneally

“It was so like old times that Henry found himself smiling down at Olek and Mance, playing to her, capable of ignoring the rest. It did seem for those seconds that the earth had at last been pacified by music.”

Seems Earth Lasts Found Peace Capable Seconds Old Time

Book:Schindler's List

Source: Schindler's List

“Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire.”

World Save The World Schindler's List

Author:Thomas Keneally

“Power is when we have every justification to kill, and we don't.”

Justification Schindler's List

Author:Thomas Keneally

“He was one of those men who, even in the years of peace, would have advised his congregation that while God may well be honored by the inflexibility of the pious, he might also be honored by the flexibility of the sensible.”

Men Years Wells May Might Sensible Honored Flexibility Pious Congregation

Book:Schindler's List

Source: Schindler's List

“The principle was, death should not be entered like some snug harbor. It should be an unambiguous refusal to surrender.”

Should Principles Surrender Harbors Refusal

Book:Schindler's List

Source: Schindler's List

“The List is Life.”

Lists Schindler Schindler's List

Author:Thomas Keneally

“I thought I'd definitely be a writer, whatever I did.”

Author:Thomas Keneally

“I must apologise because I know all writers have memories of being on the outer because it's the children on the side of the playground who become the dangerous writers.”

Knows Children Art Wisdom Sides Memories Dangerous Playgrounds Good Memories

Author:Thomas Keneally

“Though, as he was torn into a pink upper air, she was a good craft to ride in, for her belly was firm and her breasts enabled a flying man good hold and emotions of heady safety. . . . Steering her peasant tits he bounded off stars.”

Men Stars Emotion Air Safety Flying Flight Crafts Firm Breasts Aviation Torn Belly Peasants Steering Lying Men

Author:Thomas Keneally

“Personal finances are like people’s personal health, crucial and tragic to the sufferer but tedious to the listener.”

People Finance Tragic Crucial Listeners Tedious Sufferers Personal Finance Personal Health

Book:Searching for Schindler

Source: Searching for Schindler

“But re-reading Voss also demonstrates again that although White wasn't 'a nice man', and indeed was—perhaps rightly—scathingly dismissive of my and other Australian writers' work and origins unless they were his friends, he was a genius, and Voss one of the finest works of the modernist era and of the past century.”

Men Past Reading White Nice Century Genius Eras Finest Australian Nice Man

Author:Thomas Keneally

“Coitus is random, children are definite.”

Children Definite

Author:Thomas Keneally

“I was never any good at cricket thought I love it as a, as a sort of mystery.”

Art Mystery Cricket

Author:Thomas Keneally

“And I think my sexuality was heavily repressed by the church, by the, you know, the design of the mortal sins.”

Thinking Knows Church Sin Design Sexuality Mortals Demise Repressed Mortal Sin

Author:Thomas Keneally

“And it is a folly to try to craft a novel for the screen, to write a novel with a screen contract in mind.”

Writing Trying Mind Novel Screens Crafts Folly Contracts

Author:Thomas Keneally

“You know, so I was a weird eccentric kid but I did believe in the power of the word and of the word being made flesh I suppose, which again I suppose came from my temperament as well as my upbringing.”

Knows Believe Wells Made Kids Flesh Temperament Upbringing Eccentric

Author:Thomas Keneally

“In a way Australia is like Catholicism. The company is sometimes questionable and the landscape is grotesque. But you always come back.”

Way Sometimes Company Catholic Landscape Australia Catholicism Grotesque Questionable

Author:Thomas Keneally

“And I liked pluralist Australia. I got a taste for pluralist Australia. I like, I like Australians and I can't believe that they're going to go to hell because they tell a good dirty joke, you know.”

Knows Believe I Can Hell Taste Jokes Dirty Australia Go To Hell Dirty Jokes

Author:Thomas Keneally

“And I found both literature and the church very dramatic presences in the world of the 1950s.”

World Found Literature Church Dramatic

Author:Thomas Keneally

“And I definitely wanted to be a writer, but I felt a duty now, having used up those educational resources, I felt a duty to the church and my parents to become a priest.”

Wanted Used Felt Parent Church Duty Resources Educational Priests Being A Parent

Author:Thomas Keneally

“But I was also a brat. I used to belong to a gang that went looking for fights with other gangs.”

Used Fighting Gang Brat

Author:Thomas Keneally

“Australia integrated the - brought on the ships and unleashed in the society the dogs of sectarianism, which had existed in other places - in Glasgow, in Liverpool and of course in Ireland, north and south.”

Courses Dog South Ships Australia Ireland Integrated Liverpool Sectarianism Unleashed Glasgow North And South

Author:Thomas Keneally

“But in practice Australia - the pluralism of Australia - sorry the sectarianism to an extent stopped at the time you took your uniform off after coming home from school.”

Home School Practice Sorry Australia Coming Home Uniforms Sectarianism I Am Sorry Am Sorry Pluralism

Author:Thomas Keneally

“It's only when you abandon your ambitions that they become possible.”

Art Ambition Abandon

Author:Thomas Keneally

“It is not too fantastic to say that he desired them with some of the absolute passion that characterised the exposed and flaming heart of Jesus which hung on Emilie's wall. Since this narrative has tried to avoid the canonisation of the Herr Direktor, the idea of the sensual Oskar as the desirer of souls has to be proved.”

Heart Ideas Soul Passion Jesus Wall Absolutes Sensual Fantastic Narrative Exposed Hung

Book:Schindler's List

Source: Schindler's List

“Thomas was my true name but everyone knew me as Mick, except my mother, who knew me as definitely Michael.”

Author:Thomas Keneally

“Um, what I found though about the Christian Brothers is this: that they were certainly muscular.”

Christian Found Brother Christian Brothers

Author:Thomas Keneally

“So I was very close to ordination. I was delighted to be ordained a deacon, which is the last step between, before becoming a priest. But then it all fell apart.”

Lasts Steps Becoming Priests Delighted Ordination Deacons

Author:Thomas Keneally

“So nonetheless given the importance that was placed on sport in Australia, I wanted to be part of that scene, particularly since I had felt very strongly in my early schooling being marginalised even in the Catholic school.”

Wanted School Given Felt Sports Scene Importance Catholic Australia Very Strong Schooling Catholic School

Author:Thomas Keneally

About the Author

Born: October 7, 1935
Known for: Novelist
Quotes: 38

Related Topics

Australia Schindler Art Español Knows Spanish Church Found Men Schindler's List

Popular Topics

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

Books & Sources

Schindler's ListRelated source material

Schindler’s ListRelated source material

Searching for Schindler: A MemoirRelated source material

Searching for SchindlerRelated source material

Similar Authors

Errol FlynnBrowse related quotes
Breaker MorantBrowse related quotes
Jim LakerBrowse related quotes
Kevin RuddBrowse related quotes
Emilie SchindlerBrowse related quotes
Richard GloverBrowse related quotes
Andrew StraussBrowse related quotes
Brett KennyBrowse related quotes
Ned KellyBrowse related quotes
Oskar SchindlerBrowse related quotes