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Quote by Shirley Hazzard

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The Bay of Noon

This novel, set in the 1940s, delves into the lives of its characters in a coastal town. It intertwines romantic relationships with the broader social fabric of the community, offering a nuanced portrayal of personal and collective experiences during that era. more

Author

Shirley Hazzard
Shirley Hazzard

Shirley Hazzard was a distinguished American author of New Zealand birth, known for her nuanced psychological portraits and profound historical settings. Her works often explore the relationship between individuals and history, as well as the impact of war and conflict on the human psyche. Hazzard's literary career began in the 1950s, with her short story collection 'The Bay of Noon' published in 1954. more

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“How good it feels to be completely alone! To be able to talk to ourselves out loud, to walk around without being looked at, to lean back in an undisturbed reverie! Every house becomes an open field, every room has the breadth of a farm. The usual sounds are all strange, as if they belonged to a nearby but independent universe. We are kings at last. This is what we all truly long to be, and the most plebeian among us perhaps more ardently than those full of false gold. For a moment we are the universe’s pensioners, recipients of a steady income, with no needs and no worries.”

SolitudePrivacyRoyaltyBeing AloneTalking To OurselvesReveries
Book:The Book of Disquiet
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“And in this we must for the most part entertain ourselves with ourselves, and so privately that no exotic knowledge or communication be admitted there; there to laugh and to talk, as if without wife, children, goods, train, or attendance, to the end that when it shall so fall out that we must lose any or all of these, it may be no new thing to be without them. We have a mind pliable in itself; that will be company; that has wherewithal to attack and to defend, to receive and to give: let us not then fear in this solitude to languish under an uncomfortable vacuity.”

InspirationalSolitude
Author:Michel de Montaigne
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“Solitude Happy the man, whose wish and care A few paternal acres bound, Content to breathe his native air In his own ground. Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread, Whose flocks supply him with attire; Whose trees in summer yield him shade, In winter fire. Blest, who can unconcern’dly find Hours, days, and years, slide soft away In health of body, peace of mind, Quiet by day. Sound sleep by night; study and ease Together mix’d, sweet recreation, And innocence, which most does please With meditation. Thus let me live, unseen, unknown; Thus unlamented let me die; Steal from the world, and not a stone Tell where I lie.”

PoetrySolitude
Author:Alexander Pope
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