The Lessons Quotes

“There is no safety that does not also restrict us. And many needless restrictions feel safe and comfortable. It is so hard to know, at any moment, the distinction between being safe and being caged. It is hard to know when it is better to choose freedom and fear, and when it is simply foolhardy. I have often, I think, too often erred on the side of caution.”
― Naomi Alderman, The Lessons

“For this is the heart of the matter: disasters occur where accidents meet character.”
― Naomi Alderman, The Lessons

“All you ever are is a reflection of other people. With Jess you were loyal, with me you’re dissolute. What are you really? Nothing. You’re all shadows and mirrors. All you’ve got is the power to ingratiate yourself with whoever you’re around, to make them like you.”
― Naomi Alderman, The Lessons

“Mark said to me once, "She's like God to you: she inexplicably calms inexplicable fears.”
― Naomi Alderman, The Lessons

“I began to appreciate what money can provide: a waterproof imperviousness to the demands of others.”
― Naomi Alderman, The Lessons

“I found I was a little overwhelmed by having been told that a single answer of mine was good.”
― Naomi Alderman, The Lessons

“«James,» ha cominciato, sedendosi e lisciandosi i pantaloni con la mano tesa, un suo gesto tipico, «devi dirmi tutte le tue novità».

Novità, ho pensato, novità. Che concetto curioso. Certo, le vite delle altre persone progrediscono in questo modo. C'erano le novità – promozioni, matrimoni e bambini, nuovi acquisti frutto di faticosi risparmi, vacanze programmate, avventure commerciali, sogni prossimi alla realizzazione o abbandonati. Quasi tutte le "novità" in effetti riguardano il denaro. Ottenerlo, spenderlo, accumularlo e accrescerlo. Una volta che si è ottenuto tutto il denaro possibile, che fine fanno le novità? Restano solo gli amori, la procreazione e gli entusiasmi passeggeri, che prendono il posto che ha il lavoro per le altre persone.”
― Naomi Alderman, The Lessons

“No wonder we spend our adult lives feeling we’re simply pretending to know what we’re doing. After sixteen years spent doing exams, where the lessons we’ve received perfectly fit the challenges we’re faced with, our preparation for the unpredictable events of normal life will always seem shoddy and haphazard.”
― Naomi Alderman, The Lessons

“patches of light opening up and closing again, the places where leaf over leaf produces a rich saturation of colour, or where the sunshine creates translucency. Like the layered frills of a petticoat or the delicate fanned ceiling of Christ Church Cathedral, so much of what we make in art is an attempt to recreate the simple beauty of a tree.”
― Naomi Alderman, The Lessons

“Oxford is beautiful; its beauty is its plumage, its method of procreation. The beauty of the dream of Oxford, of spires and quiet learning, of the life of the mind, of effortless superiority, all these had beguiled me.”
― Naomi Alderman, The Lessons

“At last I see. It’s not about the visible suffering. Greater suffering than this can of course be imagined. It is about the celebration. Even the perfect life of God on earth culminates in suffering. We don’t have to clothe ourselves in imaginary woe. Each of us, if we live long enough, will have material for our own suit of sorrow. And when we do, it is this God who is waiting for us: who has known all along that life is nothing but pain.”
― Naomi Alderman, The Lessons