The Collected Stories of Mavis Gallant Quotes

“I still do not know what impels anyone sound of mind to leave dry land and spend a lifetime describing people who do not exist. If it is child's play, an extension of make believe - something one is frequently assured by people who write about writing - how to account for the overriding wish to do that, just that, only that, and consider it as rational an occupation as riding a bicycle over the Alps?”
― Mavis Gallant, The Selected Stories Of Mavis Gallant

“She and Marie were Montreal girls, not trained to accompany heroes, or to hold out for dreams, but just to be patient.”
― Mavis Gallant, The Collected Stories of Mavis Gallant