Quotes from Patrick Melrose:
"And the sun shone, having no alternative." Well, it's time to seize the fucking day!
[quote from Samuel Beckett 's Novel "Murphy"]
Ironic that my father's remains were so hard to find, when I have no trouble discovering them in myself.
Goodbye. And goodbye. And goodbye, heroin, my old friend.
Well, I've realized I've given up everything
I half expected him to sit upright in the coffin like a vampire at sunset. "Call this a coffin? The service here is intolerable!"
- "They fuck you up, your mum and dad. They may not mean to, but they do." [quote from Philip Larkin "This Be The Verse"]
- Who says they don't mean to?
Life's not just a bag of shit, but a leaky one. You can't help being touched by it.
Now that's a meaningful life. Just like a Red Indian or something. Getting up with the sun...Living off the land, connected to the earth. And if you want a chicken, you have to go out, and strangle it yourself.
And if I'm going to break out into the world not just this, but the real world, to learn something, make a contribution, live rather than just survive, then I am going to have to say these things out loud.
I thought, "If I can somehow put myself inside...then I might be able to get through this."
"If you have a talent, use it. Or you'll be miserable all your life." It was just about the only non-hostile remark he ever made.
You know what frightens me the most is how much I loathe her! When I read the letter, I tried to loosen my collar so I could breathe and I realized it wasn't my collar, it was actually a noose tightening around my neck a noose of loathing!
She's not going to change now. She's a frightened woman...What do I loathe, then? I loathe...the poison dripping down from generation to generation. And I'd rather die than inflict the same thing on our children.
You spend so much time guarding them against decay and depression that you end up decayed and depressed.
Whatever happened in the past, at least we had somewhere we all felt at home. And now all those little concessions to family feeling are being tossed away to be replaced by the trademark family malice and spite.
An orphan at last! It's what I always dreamed of. After all this time, I feel complete.
This is not grief or mourning. This is rage, my heart is racing with it. She knew! She must have known. Surely she must have, even subconsciously. She knew what he was like and yet she failed to do the one thing she was obliged to do, to protect her son! Christ knows, I've been a fucking useless father and a useless husband. But if I thought someone was gonna harm our children, I would fight. Even I would do whatever it takes because if you love someone, you protect them. But my mother?
Christ, no wonder he stuck with her! All those children around and a son thrown into the bargain. He couldn't believe his fucking luck! Years and years and years of it, doing whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. Nobody should do that to anybody else.
- Tu regrettes qu'il soit mort?
- I regret he lived.
- How did he die?
- I forgot to ask, I was too dizzy with glee. I'm sorry, I mean, dazed with grief.
Quotes from Nicolas Pratt:
First summer there, we were all sitting on the terrace and she complained about the dreadful waste of figs that fell from the tree onto the ground and rotted there, while there were people starving in the world. And David did this amazing thing. He told Eleanor to get down on all fours and eat every fig off the ground...
Sometimes I think I should be done with it and settle down with a well-bred, well-educated, well-informed woman whose conversation I can bear. And then I remember I've...divorced two of them already.
Well, I refuse to apologize for an uneventful childhood, or to relish the suffering over the happiness.
What I find with beautiful women is that after one's waited around for ages, they all arrive at once, like buses are supposed to do. Not that I've ever waited around for a bus.
Quotes from others:
Julia: Well, you're bored and lonely. I'm bored and lonely. Maybe they'll cancel each other out, like electrical charges.
Julia: Squalor is not an aphrodisiac, not at our age. I can't come here again.
Victor: In the end one must oppose cruelty, even if only by refusing to take part.
David Melrose: Never let other people make important decisions for you.
David Melrose: One should only go to an enemy's memorial service. There's the pleasure of outliving them, but also the opportunity for a truce.
Anne: I fail to see what's so glamorous about lost promise."Distinguished" for what?For doing nothing for a long time in the same place?
Anne: The only one I like is the boy. At least he still has a little life in him.
Chilly: It's a miracle we don't melt in the bath like a piece of soap.
