Colleen McCullough > Quotes

“There is a legend about a bird which sings just once in its life, more sweetly than any other creature on the face of the earth. From the moment it leaves the nest it searches for a thorn tree, and does not rest until it has found one. Then, singing among the savage branches, it impales itself upon the longest, sharpest spine. And, dying, it rises above its own agony to outcarol the lark and the nightingale. One superlative song, existence the price. But the whole world stills to listen, and God in His heaven smiles. For the best is only bought at the cost of great pain… Or so says the legend.”
― Colleen McCullough, The Thorn Birds

“There are no ambitions noble enough to justify breaking someone's heart. ”
― Colleen McCullough, The Thorn Birds

“When we press the thorn to our chest we know, we understand, and still we do it.”
― Colleen McCullough, The Thorn Birds

“There is a legend about a bird which sings only once in it's life, more beautifully than any other creature on the face of the earth. From the moment it leaves it's nest, it searches for a thorn tree, and does not rest until it has found one. Then, it impales it's breast on the longest, sharpest thorn. But as it is dying, it rises above it's own agony to outsing the Lark and the Nightingale. The Thornbird pays it's life for that one song, and the whole world stills to listen, and God in his heaven smiles, as it's best is brought only at the cost of great pain; Driven to the thorn with no knowledge of the dying to come. But when we press the thorn to our breast, we know, we understand.... and still, we do it." ~ Colleen McCullough”
― Colleen McCullough, The Thorn Birds

“Belief doesn't rest on proof or existence...it rests on faith...without faith there is nothing.”
― Colleen McCullough, The Thorn Birds

“Each of us has something within us which won't be denied, even if it makes us scream aloud to die. We are what we are, that's all. Like the old Celtic legend of the bird with the thorn in its breast, singing its heart out and dying. Because it has to, its self-knowledge can't affect or change the outcome, can it? Everyone singing his own little song, convinced it's the most wonderful song the world has ever heard. Don't you see? We create our own thorns, and never stop to count the cost. All we can do is suffer the pain, and tell ourselves it was well worth it.”
― Colleen McCullough, The Thorn Birds

“What was sleep? A blessing, a respite from life, an echo of death, a demanding nuisance? ”
― Colleen McCullough, The Thorn Birds

“...she looked like the sort of woman most men would want to get to know because they weren't sure what went on inside.”
― Colleen McCullough, The Ladies of Missalonghi

“Love and hate are cruel, only liking is kind”
― Colleen McCullough, Caesar's Women

“If you love people, they kill you. If you need people, they kill you. They do I tell you!”
― Colleen McCullough, The Thorn Birds

“The best thing about being 40 is that you can appreciate 25-year-old men more.”
― Colleen McCullough

“..the best is only bought at the cost of great pain...or so says the legend”
― Colleen McCullough, The Thorn Birds

“There was some justice in his pain”
― Colleen McCullough, The Thorn Birds

“Truly God was good, to make man so blind.”
― Colleen McCullough, The Thorn Birds

“Казваш, че ме обичаш, но нямаш представа какво е любов; само редиш думи, които си научил наизуст, защото ти се струва, че звучат добре”
― Colleen McCullough, The Thorn Birds

“Best of all she liked his eyes, such a translucent golden brown, and so laughing.”
― Colleen McCullough, The Ladies of Missalonghi

“For the best is only bought at the cost of great pain.”
― Colleen McCullough, The Thorn Birds

“It's not worth getting upset about, Mrs. Dominic. Down in the city they don't know how the other half lives, and they can afford the luxury of doting on their animals as if they were children. Out here it's different. You'll never see man, woman or child in need of help go ignored out here, yet in the city those same people who dote on their pets will completely ignore a cry of help from a human being. ”
― Colleen McCullough, The Thorn Birds

“Всеки от нас носи в себе си нещо, от което не може да се отрече, дори то да ни кара да вием от болка и да призоваваме смъртта.
Такива сме си и това е!”
― Colleen McCullough, The Thorn Birds

“Às vezes a distância não conta, pensou, às vezes reduz-se ao silêncio breve que espaça as batidas de um coração.”
― Colleen McCullough, Tim

“The bird with the thorn in its breast, it follows an immutable law; it is driven by it knows not what to impale itself, and die singing. At the very instant the thorn enters there is no awareness in it of the dying to come; it simply sings and sings until there is not the life left to utter another note. But we, when we put the thorns in our breasts, we know. We understand. And still we do it. Still we do it.”
― Colleen McCullough, The Thorn Birds

“Suddenly the thought that the end of her life was imminent shocked him; it was one thing to pity someone he didn't know, quite another to face the same dilemma with someone he knew intimately. That was the trouble with beds. They turned strangers into intimates more quickly than ten years of polite teas in parlours.”
― Colleen McCullough, The Ladies of Missalonghi

“The lioness in Rome is quiet. I will not wake her to seek more money.”
― Colleen McCullough, Caesar's Women

“Cada um de nós tem dentro de si alguma coisa que não pode ser negada, ainda que nos faça grita, gritar, até ao fim. Somos o que somos, e pronto. Como a velha lenda celta do pássaro com o espinho no peito que canta até morrer, porque precisa de fazê-lo, porque é levado a isso. Podemos saber que vamos errar até antes de cometermos o erro, mas o conhecimento de nós mesmos não afecta nem altera o resultado. Cada qual entoa o seu cântico, convencido de que é o mais maravilhoso que o mundo já ouviu. Não vês? Criámos os nossos espinhos e nunca nos detivemos para avaliar o custo. A única coisa que podemos fazer é sofrer a dor e dizer intimamente que valeu a pena.”
― Colleen McCullough

“The law should not be a huge and weighty slab which falls upon a man and squashes him into a uniform shape, for men are not uniform.
The First Man in Rome”
― Colleen McCullough

“You just hang onto the thought that every dog has its day, even the bitches”
― Colleen McCullough, The Ladies of Missalonghi

“As separações são o que mais custa, Tim! É muito difícil aceitá-las, principalmente quando gostávamos dessa pessoa. A separação significa que depois disso nunca mais somos os mesmos, que perdemos qualquer coisa, uma parte de nós mesmo que nunca mais reencontramos nem pode ser substituída. Mas temos de passar por muitas separações, Tim, porque fazem parte da vida, tal e qual como conhecer pessoas novas.”
― Colleen McCullough, Tim

“But we, when we put the thorns in our breasts, we know. We understand. And still we do it. Still we do it.”
― Colleen McCullough, The Thorn Birds

“All that appearance business is crap, and I'm not even going to be bothered arguing with you about it.”
― Colleen McCullough, Tim

“Age brought wisdom, but it also brought a genuine gratitude for the happiness of sharing life with someone as much liked as loved.”
― Colleen McCullough, Too Many Murders