"There is something I keep wanting to say about reading short stories. I am doing it now, because I many never have another occasion. Stories are not chapters of novels. They should not be read one after another, as if they were meant to follow along. Read one. Shut the book. Read something else. Come back later. Stories can wait."

--

Source : Mavis Gallant (2016). “The Collected Stories”, p.66, Everyman's Library

Mavis Gallant

#Book Quotes #Reading Quotes #Waiting Quotes

“Using the stratagem of defining character by what changes and what remains the same, the one constant always seems to be regret. We are defined by the objects of our regret.”
“You won't even take your bow? Are you planning to throttle a moose with your bare hands, then?" "I've a knife in my boot," she said, and then wondered, for a moment, if she could throttle a moose with her bare hands.”
“Life is a great experience. Dignity is a treasure.”
“I have a very healthy dose of self-loathing. But I think we all have a past of being whatever our story was, of feeling not good enough. It can propel you to work harder and do more, but it can also be a tremendous trap, and you cant see beyond it.”
“I have always hated war and am by nature and philosophy a pacifist, but it is the English who are forcing war on us, and the first principle of war is to kill the enemy.”
“Almost everything that gets called "universal truth" or "common sense" is actually cultural. And too easily twisted into justifications for all kinds of behavior.”
“You describe your reality in the highest resolution even when itâ€™s a nightmare and in doing so, you live your own life, not a cliche others have formulated for you.”

Source : "David Grossman: 'I cannot afford the luxury of despair'". Interview with Rachel Cooke, www.theguardian.com. August 28, 2010.
“If you live for peopleâ€™s acceptance you will die from their rejection”

You may also like:

Alice Munro
Author
Alistair MacLeod
Author
Hugh MacLennan
Author
Jane Urquhart
Novelist
Jhumpa Lahiri
Author
Karen Russell
Novelist
Margaret Laurence
Novelist
Mordecai Richler
Author
Russell Banks
Writer