What is interesting about self-analysis is that it leads nowhere – it is an art form in itself. Anita Brookner
All good fortune is a gift of the gods, and…you don’t win the favor of the ancient gods by being good, but by being bold. Anita Brookner
You have no idea how promising the world begins to look once you have decided to have it all for yourself. And how much healthier your decisions are once they become entirely selfish. Anita Brookner
Real love is a pilgrimage. It happens when there is no strategy, but it is very rare because most people are strategists. Anita Brookner
A complete woman is probably not a very admirable creature. She is manipulative, uses other people to get her own way, and works within whatever system she is in. Anita Brookner
Great writers are the saints for the godless. Anita Brookner
The lessons taught in great books are misleading. The commerce in life is rarely so simple and never so just. Anita Brookner
There are moments when you feel free, moments when you have energy, moments when you have hope, but you can’t rely on any of these things to see you through. Circumstances do that. Anita Brookner
No blame should attach to telling the truth. But it does, it does. Anita Brookner
Good women always think it is their fault when someone else is being offensive. Bad women never take the blame for anything. Anita Brookner
Existentialism is about being a saint without God; being your own hero, without all the sanction and support of religion or society. Anita Brookner
The essence of romantic love is that wonderful beginning, after which sadness and impossibility may become the rule. Anita Brookner