“These are quite obviously the books that nobody reads,’ said Rocky, st...” — Barbara Pym Quote

“These are quite obviously the books that nobody reads,’ said Rocky, studying their titles. ‘But it’s a comfort to know that they are here if you ever should want to read them. I’m sure I should find them more entertaining than the more up-to-date ones. Wild Beasts and their Ways; Five Years with the Congo Cannibals; With Camera and Pen in Northern Nigeria; Sunshine and Storm in Rhodesia. I wish people still wrote books with titles like that. Nowadays I believe it simply isn’t done to show a photograph of “The Author with his Pygmy Friends”—we have become too depressingly scientific.”

“She knew exactly how she ought to feel, for she was well read in our greater and lesser English poets, but the unfortunate fact was that she did not really like being kissed at all.”

“Also, it was the morning and it seemed a little odd to be thinking about poetry before luncheon.”

“But at least it made one realize that life still held infinite possibilities for change.”

“How absurd and delicious it is to be in love with somebody younger than yourself. Everybody should try it.”

“... nothing in Nature is black or white, few solutions are clean and clear; rather, reality, and especially our models of it, possess shades of gray throughout.”

“First, we recognize that thoughts are options, not commands. Our heart pumps blood throughout the body, like how thoughts arise in relation to our brain activity. It is easy to be swayed by the illusion that you are just the content of your thoughts, but you are also the process that can transcend and guide them. They are options, just information to be considered, not who you are.”

“People today have forgotten they're really just a part of nature. Yet, they destroy the nature on which our lives depend. They always think they can make something better. Especially scientists. They may be smart, but most don't understand the heart of nature. They only invent things that, in the end, make people unhappy. Yet they're so proud of their inventions. What's worse, most people are, too. They view them as if they were miracles. They worship them. They don't know it, but they're losing nature. They don't see that they're going to perish. The most important things for human beings are clean air and clean water.”

“Much public thinking follows a rut. The same thing is true in science. People get stuck and don't look in other directions.”

“The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.”