"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

"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

"So there you have it: two things & I can't bring them together & they are wrenching me apart. These two feelings, this knowledge of a world so awful, this sense of a life so extraordinary - how am I to resolve them? "
— Richard Flanagan