Crossings Quotes

“Character is destiny, according to Shakespeare. And yet our bodies, above all our faces, are so bound up with how others perceive us, one might say that, especially for a woman, they are just as powerful an influence over our destinies. Our faces influence the perceptions others hold of us, and those perceptions influence, in turn, our character.”
― Alex Landragin, Crossings

“I was unexpectedly, reluctantly, wholly in love, not just any love but a consuming love, an unwanted love, an inconvenient love, the kind of love that a man wants to be cured of, that makes a man feel ashamed of himself, only the more he denies it the more entangled he becomes, like one of those nautical knots that tightens with every pull. It felt like an infection, a sudden illness, in which everything is at once the same as it was before and yet transformed. Being in love is a kind of hypnosis and, as any hypnotist will tell you, to be hypnotized one must secretly want to be hypnotized, so secretly that one doesn’t even know it. Falling in love is an act of involuntary will.”
― Alex Landragin, Crossings

“As long as I have a glimpse of sky, I can tolerate almost any hardship.”
― Alex Landragin, Crossings

“The Law’s greatest gift was the crossing. To look into the eyes of another, to sense the stirring of one’s soul, to be transported into the body of the other and dwell therein until the time came for the return crossing--this was the treasure the Law had bestowed upon us.”
― Alex Landragin, Crossings

“Fugitive beauty, in whose gaze I was suddenly reborn . . .’ ‘Will I see you again only in eternity?”
― Alex Landragin, Crossings

“The sunset was a glorious affair that made a mockery of human intrigue.”
― Alex Landragin, Crossings

“To be unable to trust one's own mind is a rare and unenviable terror.”
― Alex Landragin, Crossings

“Our passions seem unable to distinguish between the real and the imaginary.”
― Alex Landragin, Crossings

“A well-crafted, bespoke binding is the finest compliment a book can be paid.”
― Alex Landragin, Crossings

“Perhaps the spectrum of love is broader than we think and it is possible to fall in love with a story, or a song, or a film, or painting the way one falls in love with another person.”
― Alex Landragin, Crossings

“As long as I have a glimpse of the sky I can tolerate almost any hardship.”
― Alex Landragin, Crossings

“Ti ho amato nel modo in cui la conchiglia ama il mare: se qualcuno accostava l'orecchio alla mia bocca, ciò che sentiva era la tua canzone.
Ti ho amato nel modo in cui la sabbia ama l'acqua: sempre pronta ad accoglierti con un fremito muto.
Ti ho amato come il tuono che squarcia la notte, come la farfalla che accarezza il fiore, come la luna che insegue il sole.”
― Alex Landragin, Crossings

“L'anima [...] è più della somma di intelletto ed emozioni, più della somma delle esperienze anche se scorre attraverso tutti e tre come vene di metallo brillante. E' una facoltà interiore che riconosce i misteri che animano il mondo, perchè è fatta della stessa sostanza.”
― Alex Landragin, Crossings

“Here was a man who seemed to take amusement in the messiness of life--as close to a definition of happiness as I know.”
― Alex Landragin, Crossings

“The Albatross”.’ ‘The Poet is the prince of clouds, the storm-clouds haunting and the archer mocking . . .’ ‘But exiled on earth amid the crowds, his great wings prevent him from walking.”
― Alex Landragin, Crossings