Literature Quotes Quotes

“My feelings are too loud for words and too shy for the world.”
― Dejan Stojanovic

“To hide feelings when you are near crying is the secret of dignity.”
― Dejan Stojanovic

“I am the shore and the ocean, awaiting myself on both sides.”
― Dejan Stojanovic, The Shape

“It is beautiful to express love and even more beautiful to feel it.”
― Dejan Stojanovic

“Use the wings of the flying Universe,
Dream with open eyes;
See in darkness.”
― Dejan Stojanovic

“The most complicated skill is to be simple.”
― Dejan Stojanovic

“There is another alphabet, whispering from every leaf, singing from every river, shimmering from every sky.”
― Dejan Stojanovic

“I visited many places,
Some of them quite
Exotic and far away,
But I always returned to myself.”
― Dejan Stojanovic

“Wherever I go, I meet myself.”
― Dejan Stojanovic, The Shape

“You can’t save anyone who wouldn’t save themselves without you. It’s the hardest lesson to learn in life, take it from me.
- p. 47, The Brothers Silver”
― Marc Jampole, The Brothers Silver

“Even if you are alone you wage war with yourself.”
― Dejan Stojanovic, The Sun Watches the Sun

“To risk life to save a smile on a face of a woman or a child is the secret of chivalry.”
― Dejan Stojanovic

“A breeze, a forgotten summer, a smile, all can fit into a storefront window.”
― Dejan Stojanovic, The Sun Watches the Sun

“You are not what you are;
You are darkness
Looking for light within.”
― Dejan Stojanovic, Circling: 1978-1987

“Since there is no real silence,
Silence will contain all the sounds,
All the words, all the languages,
All knowledge, all memory.”
― Dejan Stojanovic

“we must bring
our own light
to the
darkness.”
― Charles Bukowski

“One hand I extend into myself, the other toward others.”
― Dejan Stojanovic, The Shape

“There was an inevitability about the road towards each other which encouraged meandering along the route.”
― Zadie Smith, NW

“They blossomed, they did not talk about blossoming.”
― Dejan Stojanovic, The Sun Watches the Sun

“Busy with the ugliness of the expensive success
We forget the easiness of free beauty
Lying sad right around the corner,
Only an instant removed,
Unnoticed and squandered.”
― Dejan Stojanovic

“Knighthood lies above eternity; it doesn’t live off fame, but rather deeds.”
― Dejan Stojanovic, The Sun Watches the Sun

“To come to nothing through something is the way to outside from both sides.”
― Dejan Stojanovic, The Sign and Its Children

“I ran across an excerpt today (in English translation) of some dialogue/narration from the modern popular writer, Paulo Coelho in his book: Aleph.(Note: bracketed text is mine.)... 'I spoke to three scholars,' [the character says 'at last.'] ...two of them said that, after death, the [sic (misprint, fault of the publisher)] just go to Paradise. The third one, though, told me to consult some verses from the Koran. [end quote]' ...I can see that he's excited. [narrator]' ...Now I have many positive things to say about Coelho: He is respectable, inspiring as a man, a truth-seeker, and an appealing writer; but one should hesitate to call him a 'literary' writer based on this quote. A 'literary' author knows that a character's excitement should be 'shown' in his or her dialogue and not in the narrator's commentary on it. Advice for Coelho: Remove the 'I can see that he's excited' sentence and show his excitement in the phrasing of his quote.(Now, in defense of Coelho, I am firmly of the opinion, having myself written plenty of prose that is flawed, that a novelist should be forgiven for slipping here and there.)Lastly, it appears that a belief in reincarnation is of great interest to Mr. Coelho ... Just think! He is a man who has achieved, (as Leonard Cohen would call it), 'a remote human possibility.' He has won lots of fame and tons of money. And yet, how his preoccupation with reincarnation—none other than an interest in being born again as somebody else—suggests that he is not happy!”
― Roman Payne

“History teaches us that the greatest authors are those who wrote silently without hope of praise or REWARD.
They wrote to defend principles and win people's hearts, and not to please a Prize committee or win a literary AWARD.”
― Mouloud Benzadi

“Even great men bow before the Sun; it melts hubris into humility.”
― Dejan Stojanovic

“In trying to be perfect,
He perfected the art of anonymity,
Became imperceptible
And arrived nowhere from nowhere.”
― Dejan Stojanovic

“Books, including those written by famous authors, may sit unread on forgotten shelves, attracting dust rather than readers’ attention.”
― Mouloud Benzadi

“One of the disadvantages of literary awards is the fact that authors are writing to please a book award committee, rather than to spread the message of love, tolerance, peace, and serve humanity.”
― Mouloud Benzadi

“How can 5 judges decide the best book of the year without reading every book of the year? While some lucky authors can enter the contest, others may never get the chance to do so due to the tough nomination and selection processes. And how can the judges’ decision be right when we know that submitting the same books to different panels will result in different winners?”
― Mouloud Benzadi

“Literary prizes have always sparked controversy. Their validity has always been questioned as the criteria to determine books merits are subjective.”
― Mouloud Benzadi