Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Jean Rhys

Quote by Jean Rhys

“Once,' she said, 'I used to sleep with a piece of wood by my side so that I could defend myself if I were attacked. That's how afraid I was.' 'Afraid of what?' She shook her head. 'Of nothing, of everything.”

Quote by Jean Rhys

Book:Wide Sargasso Sea
Create image

Work

Wide Sargasso Sea

Wide Sargasso Sea is a novel that provides insight into the life of Antoinette Cosway, a character from Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. The story is set in the Caribbean and delves into the complex social and personal issues faced by Antoinette, offering a critical perspective on colonialism and the impact it had on her life. more

Author

Jean Rhys
Jean Rhys

Jean Rhys, a British novelist born on August 24, 1890, in the Dominican Republic, and died on May 14, 1979. Her works are known for their profound psychological descriptions and exploration of the female condition, with notable titles such as 'Wide Sargasso Sea'. more

You May Also Like

“He could not believe that any of them might actually hit somebody. If one did, what a nowhere way to go: killed by accident; slain not as an individual but by sheer statistical probability, by the calculated chance of searching fire, even as he himself might be at any moment. Mathematics! Mathematics! Algebra! Geometry! When 1st and 3d Squads came diving and tumbling back over the tiny crest, Bell was content to throw himself prone, press his cheek to the earth, shut his eyes, and lie there. God, oh, God! Why am I here? Why am I here? After a moment's thought, he decided he better change it to: why are we here. That way, no agency of retribution could exact payment from him for being selfish.”

DeathFearMathematicsSelfishnessStatisticsWarfareProbabilityPaymentGeometryRetributionAlgebraMachine GunsBell
Book:The Thin Red Line
Create image

“...we, and I mean humans, are meaning makers. We do not discover the meanings of mysterious things, we invent them. We make meanings because meaninglessness terrifies us above all things. More than snakes, even. More than falling, or the dark. We trick ourselves into seeing meanings in things, when in fact all we are doing is grafting our meanings onto the universe to comfort ourselves. We gild the chaos of the universe with our symbols. To admit that something is meaningless is just like falling backward into darkness." (p184)”

FearMeaning
Book:The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore
Create image