I just am a Canadian. It is not a thing which you can escape from. It is like having blue eyes Robertson Davies More Quotes by Robertson Davies More Quotes From Robertson Davies Several children present me with scraps of paper for autographs: obviously don't know who I am and don't care. I sign "Jackie Collins" and they go away quite content. Robertson Davies going-awaywho-i-amchildren The art of the quoter is to know when to stop. Robertson Davies knowsart I came at last to a recognition of myself as, in part, a Tom Sawyer who wanted everything done according to the rules of romantic fiction, and complicated simple solutions with his absurd adolescent, book-born nonsense. Robertson Davies simplebookfiction Like it or not, to reach middle age with less money or less prestige than our father had is somewhat to lose face. Stupid of course, when put like that, but who is prepared to argue that we are not stupid in several important ways? Robertson Davies importantstupidfather Great drama, drama that may reach the alchemical level, must have dimension and its relevance will take care of itself. Writing about AIDS rather than the cocktail set, or possibly the fairy kingdom, will not guarantee importance. . . . The old comment that all periods of time are at an equal distance from eternity says much, and pondering on it will lead to alchemical theatre while relevance becomes old hat. Robertson Davies distancewritingdrama You would not serve junk food at a banquet, and your book must be a banquet. Get your language from Swift, not from Shopsy's. Robertson Davies junklanguagebook After all, we are human beings, and not creatures of infinite possibilities. Robertson Davies possibilityinfinitehumans People are not saints just because they haven't got much money or education. Robertson Davies sainthavenspeople Happiness is a by-product. It is not a primary product of life. It is a thing which you suddenly realize you have because you're so delighted to be doing something which perhaps has nothing whatever to do with happiness. Robertson Davies delightedprimariesrealizing Clarity is not a characteristic of the human spirit. Robertson Davies claritycharacteristicsspirit It is lost, lovely child, somewhere in the ragbag that I laughingly refer to as my memory. Robertson Davies lost-lovememorieschildren Sometimes there was a serious article on a hot topic, and I especially remember one by a bishop headed "Is Nudity Salacious?" The bishop thought it need not be, if encountered in the proper spirit, but he gave a lot of enlightening examples of conditions under which it might be, in his word, "inflammatory." There wasn't much nudity in our neck of the woods, and I enjoyed that article tremendously. Robertson Davies bishopswoodsmight The truth is that art does not teach; it makes you feel, and any teaching that may arise from the feeling is an extra, and must not be stressed too much. In the modern world, and in Canada as much as anywhere, we are obsessed with the notion that to think is the highest achievement of mankind, but we neglect the fact that thought untouched by feeling is thin, delusive, treacherous stuff. Robertson Davies teachingartthinking Women always think that if they tell a man not to be pompous that will shut him up, but I am an old hand at that game. I know that if a man bides his time his moment will come. Robertson Davies gamesmenthinking There can be no doubt that Samuel Marchbanks is one of the choice and master spirits of this age. If there were such a volume as Who Really Ought To Be Who his entry would require several pages. Robertson Davies choicesagedoubt Comparatively few people know what a million dollars actually is. To the majority it is a gaseous concept, swelling or decreasing as the occasion suggests. Robertson Davies majoritydollarspeople Let people alone. Let them find their way. Let them find their level and you may sometimes be delighted and astonished at the extraordinary high level to which they'll rise if they're let alone. Robertson Davies levelsmaypeople A Library goes on as far as thought can reach. Robertson Davies librarygoes-on The Victorians have been immoderately praised, and immoderately blamed, and surely it is time we formed some reasonable picture of them? There was their courageous, intellectually adventurous side, their greedy and inhuman side, their superbly poetic side, their morally pretentious side, their tea and buttered toast side, and their champagne and Skittles side. Much like ourselves, in fact, though rather dirtier. Robertson Davies sidesteafacts I still have trouble identifying grammatical structures by name, though I know them as matters of usage. Robertson Davies troublematternames
