Black Narcissus Quotes

“He had always disliked what he could easily have; he had a passion for the untouched.”
― Rumer Godden, Black Narcissus

“You have to be very strong to live close to God or a mountain, or you'll turn a little mad.”
― Rumer Godden, Black Narcissus

“Towards four o'clock the dew fell, and she smelled a gust of sweetness from the roses and a paleness showed in the sky to the East. It was cold; the wetness was cold on her hands and she felt her skirt dragging around her ankles... the light spread, there were long lines of cloud in the sky and presently above them the outline of the snow peaks appeared, cold and hard as if they were made of iron; they turned from black to grey to white while the hills were still in darkness.
Then the forest came, mysteriously out of the darkness, and the light moved down, turning the trees dark blue and green, and the terrace was full of a swimming light that was colourless and confusing... Then she looked up and saw that the Himalayas were showing in their full range, and were coloured in ash and orange and precious Chinese pink, deeper in the east, paler in the west.
The people called it 'the flowering of the snows”
― Rumer Godden, Black Narcissus

“I think there are only two ways to live in this place,’ said Sister Philippa, ‘you must either live like Mr Dean or like the Sunnyasi; either ignore it completely or give yourself up to it.”
― Rumer Godden, Black Narcissus

“There are several ways," he said shyly, "in which I'm trying to improve myself. I have a great many books and records and now I'm learning to play golf. Do you know golf, Sister? The English think it's a very serious game. I was going to learn a much more serious game called cricket, but you need twenty two people...”
― Rumer Godden, Black Narcissus

“I don't expect you to understand me any more than I can understand you; but I respect you and that's the difference between us.”
― Rumer Godden, Black Narcissus

“Sometimes it seemed to him that the house had a bad wild life of its own; the impression of its evil lingered, in its name, in its atmosphere...”
― Rumer Godden, Black Narcissus

“To step into the house was to step into stillness, into warmth even when it was damp and unlit; but after a moment a coldness crept about your shins.”
― Rumer Godden, Black Narcissus

“In those first days they were happy.”
― Rumer Godden, Black Narcissus

“Her work in the garden was almost at a standstill now; the January and February days were all alike, they went like a procession of the nuns themselves, unrelieved by any colour, there seemed to be no life or movement in the earth but the wind tearing at the trees and bamboos.”
― Rumer Godden, Black Narcissus

“Ayah,' said Sister Clodagh, 'you're not to say a word of this to the other servants.'
'Oh, no,' said Ayah, 'I'll keep it absolutely secret, and anyhow they all know.”
― Rumer Godden, Black Narcissus

“pointing to Father”
― Rumer Godden, Black Narcissus