I Capture The Castle Quotes
"I have found that sitting in a place where you have never sat before can be inspiring."
"I tell myself that all the rain we have had lately is good for nature, and that at any moment spring will surge on us."
"I am seventeen, look younger, feel older. I am no beauty but have a neatish face."
"Yet I love it. The house itself was built in the time of Charles II, but it was damaged by Cromwell."
"I am writing this journal partly to practise my newly acquired speed-writing and partly to teach myself how to write a novel."
"Father always said this got him an extra month."
"She is wearing her ancient orange tea-gown. Her pale, straight hair is flowing down her back to her waist."
"I feel quite unreasonably happy this minute, watching them both; knowing I can go and join them in the warmth, yet staying here in the cold."
"I am aware that this isn’t a fair portrait of him. I must capture him later."
"I have just asked her if she thinks Rose and I will ever have anything exciting happen to us, and I distinctly heard her say: ‘Well, I don’t know, ducks, but I do know that sister of yours would be a daisy if she ever got the chance!’"
"Noble deeds and hot baths are the best cures for depression."
"I have discovered that the first few minutes are the best and not to be wasted – my brain always seethes with ideas and life suddenly looks much better than it did."
"‘You’re a larger child than I realized,’ he said."
"‘That’s not a harp, it’s a lute,’ said the bearded man. ‘Now that really is amazing. A castle, a lute –’"
"For once Topaz had her lute in tune. And she was, most appropriately, playing ‘Greensleeves’."
"I would rather die than marry either of those quite nice men."
"There is something revolting about the way girls’ minds so often jump to marriage long before they jump to love."
"Simon Cotton said: ‘But – oh, this is a miracle! You must be the author of Jacob Wrestling.’"
"Neil said: ‘Yes, of course, he was splendid’ – by which I knew that he thought Jacob Wrestling was the name of a character in the book, instead of meaning Jacob wrestling with the angel, as it really does."
"I can’t think why I didn’t guess it at once, for I did know that the estate had passed to an American."
"I wonder if Rose is? I must certainly try to make her before she gets involved in anything."
"I could marry the Devil himself if he had some money."
"I must be desperately careful never to distract attention from Rose."
"Father says Simon’s accent is American and that there are as many different accents in America as there are in England – more, in fact."
"I know all about the facts of life. And I don’t think much of them."
"I am pretty sure she was remembering Simon Cotton’s shadow; but as she didn’t mention it, I didn’t."
"We ate in the drawing-room, which has been cleaned within an inch of its life."
"Rose thinks the beard is disgusting; but perhaps we can get it off."
"The younger son’s name is Neil, and the reason he sounds so different from his brother is that he was brought up in California."
"I was sure it was unlikely at that time of night, and they come very slowly."
"You can tell if men are drinking. We must be patient – it’s just that he’s a genius."
"It’s the rent – they’ve looked into that little matter."
She was terribly affected, she kept challenging him – if she’d had a fan she’d have tapped him with it and said, "Fie, fie!" And she fluttered her eyelids.
"I am not ignorant in such matters – no stepchild of Topaz’s could be."
"I do not reciprocate Stephen’s feelings."
"It is wonderful to wake up in the morning with things to look forward to!"
"I am thankful to be able to record that I have been brisk."
"Father looked very handsome in his evening clothes and he was kind and smiling but I could see he was nervous."
"I think of this journal as a story I am telling."
"People do nothing but use it for assignations – I met him there myself once, in the mummy room."
"Then bring me a goat. Oh, go to bed, go to bed."
"I've heard him make that sort of joke before and very silly I always think it is."
"He’s got a sheet of graph paper pinned to his desk."
"Fancy sitting up until three in the morning playing with graph paper and compasses!"
"This is a chance to teach myself the art of suspense."
"Does this delightful surprise mean you have any particular axe to grind with God?"
"The more one knows her, the more one likes her."
"I wonder if Thomas remembered the kippers…"
"This is ridiculous. And it is ridiculous that I should have this dull, heavy, not exactly unhappy but – well, no kind of feeling when I ought to be blissfully happy."
"Nothing in the world is single, all things by a law divine in one another's being mingle – why not I with thine?"
"You lose yourself in something beyond yourself and it’s a lovely rest."
"It is just that you are so young. I forget that sometimes, because you are so clever."
"I am a restlessness inside a stillness inside a restlessness."
"If only I could go away! But the one thing I live for is to see Simon again."
"I told him how glad you are to have a really lightweight wireless you can carry around – and that you’ll probably only use Simon’s for the phonograph."
"I have just decided what to do. Somehow I have got to find out the truth."
"It wasn’t any good. Nothing will ever be the same again between Rose and me."
"It’s odd how that dress changes you. I don’t know that I approve of you growing up. Oh, I shall get used to it."
"But she shouldn’t have said that about calf love. ‘How dare she!’ I thought. ‘Who’s she to decide that what I feel is calf love, which is funny – instead of first love, which is beautiful?’"
"The least I could have done would have been to talk things over quietly."
"The minute I woke up on Thursday morning I thought: ‘I can’t go through with it. It’s dangerous – something dreadful might happen.’"
"The only weapon has been silence – and sometimes a little sarcasm."
"Perhaps he’s really working all the time? Supposing he’s writing some wonderful, money-earning book – but you don’t find out until it’s too late to help you and Rose?"
"And then I remembered. You need pennies to telephone from a public call-box."
"He is a most shadowy person and yet there is something unforgettable about his dim elegance."
"It struck me that this was the first time I had ever been on my own in London. Normally, I should have enjoyed getting the ‘feel’ of it – you never quite do until you have been alone in a place."
"It's the essence of an enigma that one must solve it for oneself."
"Everything is already created, by the first cause – call it God, if you like; everything is already there to be found."
"Art could state very little – its whole business was to evoke responses."
"One knows the spirit of such houses can’t survive very much longer."
"There’s so much that just can’t be said plainly."