Paris Stories Quotes

“Stories are not chapters of novels. They should not be read one after another, as if they were meant to follow along. Read one. Shut the book. Read something else. Come back later. Stories can wait.”
― Mavis Gallant, Paris Stories

“All immigration is based on misapprehension.”
― Mavis Gallant, Paris Stories

“A woman can always get some practical use from a torn-up life . . . She likes mending and patching it, making sure the edges are straight. She spreads the last shred out and takes its measure: 'What can I do with this remnant? How long does it need to last?

A man puts on his life ready-made. If it doesn't fit, he will try to exchange it for another. Only a fool of a man will try to adjust the sleeves or move the buttons; he doesn't know how.”
― Mavis Gallant, Paris Stories

“Like his father, like Jules Renard, he had been carried along the slow, steady swindle of history and experience.”
― Mavis Gallant, Paris Stories

“There is a term for people caught on a street crossing after the light has changed: "pedestrian-traffic residue".”
― Mavis Gallant, Paris Stories