I Wish Someone Were Waiting For Me Somewhere Quotes
"But what do you expect? … I’m not sure any of this would’ve happened to me on Boulevard de Clichy or in some other part of Paris. That’s just the way it is. C’est la vie."
"I keep walking, still smiling, and think of Baudelaire’s To a Passerby."
"A self-respecting Parisian woman watches the stream of cars and steps out, fully aware of the risk she’s taking."
"One good reason. There: Say yes so I’ll have a reason to shave. … You know, I think I look a lot better when I’ve shaved."
"I don’t want to be the first one there. It wouldn’t be right. In fact, I decide to go a little late. Better to make him want me a little."
"I’ll wait two more days and I’ll do the test."
"You think that she’s crossing the street or that she’s working or even that she’s talking to you. Wrong. She’s thinking about her baby."
"The sound of the Vincennes night race playing in the background … some builders in stained overalls, putting off the hour of solitude or the old ball and chain … and the old regulars, with yellowed fingers, annoying everyone with their rents that have been fixed since ’48."
"The famous rue Eugène-Gonon in Melun. Oh, come on! You know, Melun … the place with the prison, the brie – its brie deserves to be better known – and the train crashes."
"The whole Gulf War, gone. Never saw it. Never heard about it. A whole year that’s now useless to me."
"I need to write it all down for the sake of the two seconds that could be so important if I can just pull it off."
"People up there are like all rustics – once an idea gets ingrained … And a woman for the animals – that can’t be good."
"They hurt me really badly. Put like that, it doesn’t mean much, but I’ll say it again for those who might not have got it the first time: they hurt me really badly."
"I grafted his balls just above his Adam’s apple."
"You can pay to have a lot of things these days, but for the particle – those two little letters that mean your ancestors were nobles – no way."
"I thought she’d come back. I really believed she would."
"I’m calling you because I want to see your face again. That’s all."
"You never know what’s going to happen – how things are going to unfold."
"To show nothing for fear of appearing weak – I could never understand that."
"‘Your criticisms roll off me like water off a duck’s back,’ he always said, smiling, before leaving the room."
"‘Me?’ I said thoughtfully. ‘I think that Pierre doesn’t live among us, I mean not really. He’s a kind of Martian lost in the Dippel family …’"
"What does ‘to live’ mean, anyway? What does it really mean?"
"How long does it take to forget the smell of someone who loved you? How long until you stop loving?"
"You make decisions, take out loans, sign agreements, and even take a few risks. You buy houses, put the children in rooms all painted pink, and sleep entwined every night. You marvel at this … What is it called? This intimacy."
"Anyway, you think everything that’s nice is ugly."
"That’s what everyone keeps saying. Just think about something else. Life goes on. Think of your daughters. You can’t just let yourself go. Get a grip."
"The trap lies in thinking that we have the right to be happy."
"‘But why don’t you ask for a divorce?’ I finally blurted out, exasperated, ‘I’ll take all the blame. All of it, you hear?’"
"You’re talking nonsense. You know that, don’t you? You know that you’re talking nonsense?"
"When you saw me earlier, I was in a sort of disguise. I dress that way when I work with old-school Chinese types. I figured out that the old-fashioned look pleased them, reassured them … I don’t know … They feel more confident … I dress up like a maiden aunt and I become harmless."
"I don’t think that you are any less dangerous in your little plaid skirt. I don’t think so at all, not in the least little bit."
"She owned nothing, just memories. And friends."
"I wanted the world to stop turning, for the night to never end. I didn’t want to leave her. Not ever."
"I loved this woman. I loved this Mathilde. I loved the sound of her voice, her spirit, her laugh, her take on the world."
"I’ve always compared myself to a workhorse. Bit, reins, blinkers, plough, yoke, cart, and furrow … the whole thing."
"I felt as though I had been born a second time, as though it had all started again, in her arms."
"I loved her laugh, her curiosity, her discretion, her spinal column, her slightly bulging hips, her silences, her tenderness, and … all the rest. Everything … Everything."
"I prayed that she wouldn’t be able to live without me."
"We hedge, we make arrangements, we keep our cowardice close to us, like a pet."
"I wanted to tell her I loved her, but I couldn’t seem to open my mouth."
"I got what I wanted. I couldn’t bring myself to leave you. I can’t spend my life waiting for you, but I … Nothing. I needed to hear those two words."
"She was so beautiful. I tried to act naturally. I was a bit awkward, a bit stupid, a bit too playful."
"Wouldn’t that stubborn little girl have preferred living with a father who was happier?"