"Good travel books are novels at heart."

--

Source : Recalled by Christopher Lehmann-Haupt in the NewYorkTimes, 26 Jan1987, reviewing Raban's novel Coasting (1986).

Jonathan Raban

#Book Quotes #Heart Quotes #Novel Quotes

“All is well with me. The rain doesn't reach me, my room is well heated, what more can one ask for? There's no shortage of work, either...”
“I don't think anything is unrealistic if you believe you can do it.”
“One should never lose hope. Homosexuality can strike any straight man at any age.”
“Americans are not a perfect people, but we are called to a perfect mission.”
“In our relationship with children and young people, we are not dealing with mechanical devices that can be quickly repaired, but with living beings who are impressionable, volatile, sensitive, afraid, affectionate; and to deal with them we have to have great understanding, the strength of patience and love.”
“A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many bad measures.”
“Mixing oil and testosterone can be dangerous.”
“Sometimes our thoughts turn back toward a corner in a forest, or the end of a bank, or an orchard powdered with flowers, seen but a single time on some happy day, yet remaining in our hearts and leaving in soul and body an unappeased desire which is not to be forgotten, a feeling that we have just rubbed elbows with happiness.”

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