The Woman Who Borrowed Memories Quotes

“People carry their loved ones with them. They are forever present, and life is full of easily grasped opportunities to show them one’s affection. It costs so little and achieves so much.”
― Tove Jansson, The Woman Who Borrowed Memories: Selected Stories

“Passion. As you can see, I've lived quite a long time, which is to say I've been working for quite a long time, which is the same thing. And you know what? In the whole silly business, the only thing that really matters is passion. It comes and it goes. At first it just comes to you free of charge, and you don't understand, and you waste it. And then it becomes a thing to nurture.”
― Tove Jansson, The Woman Who Borrowed Memories: Selected Stories

“Alexander was in the grip of a passion for perfection. He was not aware of how closely, how perilously, perfectionism and fanaticism are related.”
― Tove Jansson, The Woman Who Borrowed Memories: Selected Stories

“It's the unexpressed that interests me, he thought. I've been drawing too explicitly; it's a mistake to clarify everything.”
― Tove Jansson, The Woman Who Borrowed Memories: Selected Stories

“But I was held down to earth by being constantly reminded that the world expects much of the gifted and that having talent is never an excuse for not using it.”
― Tove Jansson, The Woman Who Borrowed Memories: Selected Stories

“There's something special about a bar, don't you think? A place for chance happenings, for possibilities to become reality, a refuge on the awkward route from should to must. (Traveling Light)”
― Tove Jansson, The Woman Who Borrowed Memories: Selected Stories

“He said, "It was burning a hole in my pocket. I had to get rid of it, as quickly as possible. I had to buy the most important think I could think of."
And he went out and bought a dreadfully tiny bottle of attar of roses.
I think he did exactly the right thing.
Some people say Uncle Einar is a snob, and I sincerely hope I can develop along the same lines.”
― Tove Jansson, The Woman Who Borrowed Memories: Selected Stories

“Grandma thinks of herself as so broadminded and easygoing, but in fact she's forever burdening the family with modest requests which, in all their simplicity, can be a real pain. (Eightieth Birthday)”
― Tove Jansson, The Woman Who Borrowed Memories: Selected Stories

“But in fact he didn't care about reading as much as he once had. Perhaps books had tantalized him only as a stolen luxury in the middle of a working day.”
― Tove Jansson; Sophie Hannah;, The Woman Who Borrowed Memories: Selected Stories