The Summer Book Quotes
"Everything is complete, and everyone has his obstinate, sure, and self-sufficient place."
"The point is, nothing in this world is like anything else anywhere—everything in this world is exactly what it is."
"For such writers revelation is a form of dare, a challenge, an act of defiance."
"The ground was dark, but the sky had a faint, gray light."
"Nothing is easy when you might come apart in the middle at any moment."
"Soon. But that is not the least concern of yours."
"You can see for yourself that life is hard enough without being punished for it afterwards."
"Cow pies are free, Tra-la-la, But don’t throw them at me."
"The sea was as smooth as oil, and so pale you could hardly tell it was blue."
"Sometimes when everything’s fine, I think it’s just a bloody bore."
"In all the years I’ve sailed around in these islands, I don’t think it’s ever been this calm before."
"Children have a lot of ape in them: they’re good climbers and never fall unless they’re startled."
"It’s funny about love. The more you love someone, the less he likes you back."
"You go on loving. You love harder and harder."
"Nothing in the world seemed to interest this cat but food and sleep."
"I wish Moppy had never been born. Or else that I’d never been born. That would have been better."
"It is so sudden. The cave is narrow and smells of rot, the walls are black and damp, and at the far end, there is a natural altar covered with green moss as fine and dense as plush."
"Everything was salvaged, some by the right hands and some by the wrong, but nothing was simply lost."
"The sea is always subject to unusual events; things drift in or run aground or shift in the night when the wind changes, and keeping track of all this takes experience, imagination, and unflagging watchfulness."
"But a person can also find solitude with others, though it is more difficult."
"Smell is important. It reminds a person of all the things he’s been through; it is a sheath of memories and security."
"I don’t care about His old family! I hate families!"
"Every day when the sun went down, Sophia would climb up the ladder, poke her nose through the trapdoor, and peer into the attic."
"It may not really have been her fault, but one day they ran out of bread and butter."
"The danger dwelt in a fold deep down inside. It moved about at times and then crept back. When frightened, it showed its teeth, and it was far more dangerous than death."
"Once you get to the village, it always takes a long time at the store."
"There’s no need to feel sorry for the flowers, Grandmother said."
"Spring rewarded Papa’s labors with great gentleness."
"Sophia knew that very small islands in the ocean have turf instead of soil."
"I think they looked at each other, and thought they looked awful, and then crawled away from each other as fast as they could."
"Small animals are a great problem. I wish God had never created small animals, or else that He had made them so they could talk, or else that He’d given them better faces."
"It feels like a thunderstorm, Grandmother said. And the well stinks worse than ever."
"Dear God, let something happen. God, if You love me. I’m bored to death. Amen."
"It’s never easy to take up a net alone, and in the wind it is nearly impossible."
"Everything that had settled down to rot and turn to soil in a hundred years rose up and whirled out over the shore and into the storming sea."
"Do you like it? It’s my storm! Say you’re having fun!"
"It’s funny about me, I always feel like such a nice girl whenever there’s a storm."
"Papa broke the padlock on the door with a big stone. He did it to save his family."
"God and you, Grandmother repeated angrily. Why should He listen to you, especially, when maybe ten other people prayed for nice weather?"
"Every year, the bright Scandinavian summer nights fade away without anyone’s noticing."
"It was still summer, but the summer is no longer alive."
"Now was the time for the traces of habitation to disappear, and, as far as possible, for the island to return to its original condition."
"All the same, she said to herself, I know perfectly well what everything looks like. I don’t have to see it."