Author: William Boyd

Cites

• Marcel Proust (1)
  • IN: Restless (2006) Fiction, Historical Fiction, British
    EPIGRAPH: “We may, indeed, say that the hour of death is uncertain, but when we say so we represent that hour to ourselves as situated in a vague and remote expanse of time, it never occurs to us that it can have any connexion with the day that has already dawned, or may signify that death — or its first assault and partial possession of us, after which it will never leave hold of us again — may occur this very afternoon, so far from uncertain, this afternoon every hour of which has already been allotted to some occupation. You make a point of taking your drive every day so that in a month’s time you will have had the full benefit of the fresh air; you have hesitated over which cloak you will take, which cabman to call, you are in the cab, the whole day lies before you, short because you have to be at home early, as a friend is coming to see you; you hope that it will be as fine again to-morrow; and you have no suspicion that death, which has been making its way towards you along another plane, shrouded in an impenetrable darkness, has chosen precisely this day of all days to make its appearance, in a few minutes’ time...
    FROM: The Guermantes Way, (1920), Novel, France
• Ernest Hemingway (2)
  • IN: Waiting for Surprise (2012) Fiction, British
    EPIGRAPH: A thing is true at first light and a lie by noon.
    FROM: True at First Sight, (1999), Book, US
  • IN: Waiting for Sunrise (2012) Fiction, British
    EPIGRAPH: A thing is true at first light and a lie by noon.
    FROM: epigraph of Truth at First Light, (1999), Book, US
• Sophocles (2)
  • IN: Waiting for Surprise (2012) Fiction, British
    EPIGRAPH: Truly, to tell lies is not honourable; but when the truth entails trememdous ruin, to speak dishonourably is pardonable.
    FROM: NULL, (None), NULL, Greece
  • IN: Waiting for Sunrise (2012) Fiction, British
    EPIGRAPH: Truly, to tell lies is not honourable; but when the truth entails tremendous ruin, to speak dishonourably is pardonable.
    FROM: Creusa, (None), Play, Greece
• William Wordsworth (1)
  • IN: Solo (2013) Fiction, British
    EPIGRAPH: Not for these I raise The song of thanks and praise; But for those obstinate questionings Of sense and outward things, Fallings from us, vanishings; Blank misgivings of a Creature Moving about in worlds no realised...
    FROM: Intimations of Immortality, (1807), Poem, UK
• Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau (2)
  • IN: Sweet Caress (2015) Fiction, British
    EPIGRAPH: Quelle que soit la duree de votre sejour sur cette petite planete, et quoi qu'il vous advienne, le plus important c'est que vous puissiez - de temps en temps - sentir la caresse exquise de la vie. (However long your stay on this small planet lasts, and whatever happens during it, the most important thing is that - from time to time - you feel life's sweet caress.)
    FROM: Avis de passage, (1957), NULL, US/Cananda
• Henry James (1)
  • IN: Any Human Heart (2002) Fiction, British
    EPIGRAPH: Never say you know the last word about any human heart.
    FROM: NULL, (None), NULL, US/England
• Rudyard Kipling (1)
  • IN: An Ice-Cream War (1982) Fiction, British
    EPIGRAPH: ...he hurried desperately, and the islands slipped and slid under his feet, the straits yawned and widened, till he found himself utterly lost in the world's fourth dimension with no hope of return. Yet only a little distance away he could see the old world with the rivers and mountain chains marked according to the Sandhurst rules of map-making.
    FROM: The Brushwood Boy, (1907), Novel, UK
• W. V. Quine (1)
  • IN: Armadillo (1998) Fiction, British
    EPIGRAPH: We and other animals notice what goes on around us. This helps us by suggesting what we might expect and even how to prevent it, and thus fosters survival. However, the expedient works only imperfectly. There are surprises, and they are unsettling. How can we tell when we are right? We are faced with the problem of error.
    FROM: From Stimulus to Science, (1992), Book, US
• NULL (1)
  • IN: Armadillo (1998) Fiction, British
    EPIGRAPH: Armadillo. (ārmadi-lo). 1577 [-Sp. armadillo, dim of armado armed man, so lit. 'little armed man': -L. armatus, pa. pple. of armare ARM v.]
    FROM: NULL, (None), Definition, NULL
• Wallace Stevens (1)
  • IN: The Blue Afternoon (1993) Fiction, British
    EPIGRAPH: He brushed away the thunder, then the clouds, Then the colossal illusion of heaven. Yet still The sky was blue. He wanted imperceptible air. He wanted to see. He wanted the eye to see And not be touched by blue... ... Had he been better able to suppose: He might sit on a sofa on a balcony Above the Mediterranean, emerald Becoming emeralds. He might watch the palms Flap green ears in the heat. He might observe A yellow wine and follow a steamer's track And say, "The thing I hum appears to be The rhythm of this celestial pantomime."
    FROM: "Landscape with Boat", (1942), Poem, US
• Socrates (1)
  • IN: Brazzaville Beach (1990) Fiction, British
    EPIGRAPH: The unexamined life is not worth living.
    FROM: Apology by Plato, (-399), Book, Greece
• L. D. Sax and W. S. Dutton (1)
  • IN: Ordinary Thunderstorms (2009) Fiction, British
    EPIGRAPH: Ordinary thunderstorms have the capacity to transform themselves into multi-cell storms of ever growing complexity. Such multi-cell storms display a marked increase in severity and their lifetime can be extended by a factor of ten or more. The grandfathr of all thunderstorms, however, is the super-cell thunderstorm. It should be noted that even ordinary thunderstorms are capable of mutating into super-cell storms. These storms subside very slowly.
    FROM: Storm Dynamics and Hail Cascades, (2009), Fictional, NULL