God gets the great stories. Novelists must make do with more mundane fictions. Richard Flanagan More Quotes by Richard Flanagan More Quotes From Richard Flanagan A good book ... leaves you wanting to reread the book. A great book compels you to reread your own soul. Richard Flanagan good-book soul book A happy man has no past, while an unhappy man has nothing else. Richard Flanagan unhappy men past The idea of the past is as useless as the idea of the future. Both could be invoked by anybody about anything. There is never any more beauty than there is now. There is no more joy or wonder or sorrow than there is now, nor perfection, nor any more evil nor any more good than there is now. Richard Flanagan evil past ideas There are words and words and none mean anything. And then one sentence means everything. Richard Flanagan one-sentence sentences mean We have a very foolish notion in Western countries that progress delivers freedom. But progress doesn't necessarily bring moral virtue. Richard Flanagan progress moral country Writing about sex at length is a bit like describing mastication at length. It's the causes and the consequences and the meaning of it that are interesting, not the anatomical descriptions. Richard Flanagan writing sex interesting The journey is long, the road is dark and frightening, but together we can reach our destination: the Tasmania of which we all dream, where all are welcome and all prosper, made no longer of lies but truth, built not of rich men's hate but our love for our island and for each other. Richard Flanagan hate dream lying Love is a glimpse of hope. To love is to hope. When we abandon hope, we cease to exist. Richard Flanagan abandon glimpse love-is What reality was ever made by realists? Richard Flanagan realist made reality I do not share the pessimism of the age about the novel. They are one of our greatest spiritual, aesthetic and intellectual inventions. As a species it is story that distinguishes us, and one of the supreme expressions of story is the novel. Novels are not content. Nor are they are a mirror to life or an explanation of life or a guide to life. Novels are life, or they are nothing. Richard Flanagan mirrors expression spiritual Murder and hate are as deeply buried in the human heart as love, perhaps more so, and in truth they're rather entwined, and if you tried to separate them, you'd be missing something important and human. Richard Flanagan hate missing heart I think empathy's a terrible danger for a writer. Richard Flanagan empathy danger thinking It's a sin for a writer to go looking for camels to put into his or her pages. I only want details that are the story. Richard Flanagan camels details stories The enslavement, humiliation, torture, and ultimate destruction of thousands upon thousands of human beings for a project for which there was ultimately no purpose is a horror that's very hard to imagine, far less understand. Richard Flanagan horror imagine purpose Literary prizes serve a purpose if they allow for discussion of books. Richard Flanagan discussion purpose book Is it easier for a man to live his life again as a fish, than to accept the wonder of being human? So alone, so frightened, so wanting for what we are afraid to give tongue to. Richard Flanagan giving men art Writing is not lying, nor is it theft. It is a journey and search for transparency between one’s words and one’s soul. Richard Flanagan writing lying art The monsters demand less of you as a writer because they're probably closer to who you are. Richard Flanagan who-you-are I'm afraid a lot of people have lost a lot of money over the years betting on me. Richard Flanagan lost people years I think it's always wrong of writers to make too much of the pains of their labors, because most people have much worse jobs and suffer such indignities and hardships. Richard Flanagan pain jobs thinking
