And I don't like books which are full of name dropping. Daphne du Maurier More Quotes by Daphne du Maurier More Quotes From Daphne du Maurier When the leaves rustle, they sound very much like the stealthy movement of a woman in evening dress, and when they shiver suddenly, and fall, and scatter away along the ground, they might be the patter of a woman’s hurrying footsteps, and the mark in the gravel the imprint of a high-heeled shoe. Daphne du Maurier shoessoundfall Writers should be read, but neither seen nor heard. Daphne du Maurier beliefshouldwriting I suppose sooner or later in the life of everyone comes a moment of trial. We all of us have our particular devil who rides us and torments us, and we must give battle in the end. Daphne du Maurier adversitygrowthgiving The road to Manderley lay ahead. There was no moon. The sky above our heads was inky black. But the sky on the horizon was not dark at all. It was shot with crimson, like a splash of blood. And the ashes blew towards us with the salt wind from the sea. Daphne du Maurier moondarkblood They are not brave, the days when we are twenty-one. They are full of little cowardices, little fears without foundation, and one is so easily bruised, so swiftly wounded, one falls to the first barbed word. To-day, wrapped in the complacent armour of approaching middle age, the infinitesimal pricks of day by day brush one but lightly and are soon forgotten, but then—how a careless word would linger, becoming a fiery stigma, and how a look, a glance over a shoulder, branded themselves as things eternal. Daphne du Maurier braveagefall ...as the slow sea sucked at the shore and then withdrew, leaving the strip of seaweed bare and the shingle churned, the sea birds raced and ran upon the beaches. Then that same impulse to flight seized upon them too. Crying, whistling, calling, they skimmed the placid sea and left the shore. Make haste, make speed, hurry and begone; yet where, and to what purpose? The restless urge of autumn, unsatisfying, sad, had put a spell upon them and they must flock, and wheel, and cry; they must spill themselves of motion before winter came. Daphne du Maurier autumnwinterbeach I had build up false pictures in my mind and sat before them. I had never had the courage to demand the truth. Daphne du Maurier satdemandmind no person will ever get into my blood as a place can ... People and things pass away, but not places. Daphne du Maurier passing-awaybloodpeople Come and see us if you feel like it,' she said. 'I always expect people to ask themselves. Life is too short to send out invitations. Daphne du Maurier life-is-too-shortsaidpeople Sometimes it’s a sort of indulgence to think the worst of ourselves. We say, ‘Now I have reached the bottom of the pit, now I can fall no further,’ and it is almost a pleasure to wallow in the darkness. The trouble is, it’s not true. There is no end to the evil in ourselves, just as there is no end to the good. It’s a matter of choice. We struggle to climb, or we struggle to fall. The thing is to discover which way we’re going. Daphne du Maurier strugglefallthinking This house sheltered us, we spoke, we loved within those walls. That was yesterday. To-day we pass on, we see it no more, and we are different, changed in some infinitesimal way. We can never be quite the same again. Daphne du Maurier wallyesterdayhouse Time will mellow it, make it a moment for laughter. But now it was not funny, now I did not laugh. It was not the future, it was the present. It was too vivid and too real. Daphne du Maurier laughterreallaughing Happiness happens when you fit with your life, when you fit so harmoniously that whatsoever you are doing is your joy. Happiness is not a possession to be prized, it is a quality of thought, a state of mind. Daphne du Maurier qualitymindjoy Living as we do in an age of noise and bluster, success is now measured accordingly. We must all be seen, and heard, and on the air. Daphne du Maurier ageairnoise A familiar name on its own, however, does not carry its bearer far unless the talent is there, and the will to work. Daphne du Maurier talentnamesdoe Every moment was a precious thing, having in it the essence of finality. Daphne du Maurier precious-thingsmomentsessence The trouble is, walking in Venice becomes compulsive once you start. Just over the next bridge, you say, and then the next one beckons. Daphne du Maurier venicenextbridges Boredom is a pleasing antidote for fear Daphne du Maurier antidoteboredom We can never go back again, that much is certain. The past is still close to us. The things we have tried to forget and put behind us would stir again, and that sense of fear, of furtive unrest, struggling at length to blind unreasoning panic - now mercifully stilled, thank God - might in some manner unforeseen become a living companion as it had before. Daphne du Maurier thank-godstrugglepast So you see, when war comes to one’s village, one’s doorstep, it isn’t tragic and impersonal any longer. It is just an excuse to vomit private hatred. That is why I am not a great patriot. Daphne du Maurier villagehatredwar
