Steven Galloway Quotes

• If you don't allow yourself the possibility of writing something very, very bad, it would be hard to write something very good.

  Steven Galloway

  Writing, Would Be, Possibility

  45 Copy quote

• A weapon does not decide whether or not to kill. A weapon is a manifestation of a decision that has already been made.

  Steven Galloway

  Decision, Doe, Weapons

  Steven Galloway (2009). “The Cellist of Sarajevo”, p.60, Atlantic Books Ltd

  16 Copy quote

• Do you know the difference between an optimist and a pessimist? A pessimist says ‘Oh dear, things can’t possibly get any worse.’ And an optimist says, ‘Don’t be so sad. Things can always get worse.

  Steven Galloway

  Differences, Pessimist, Optimist

  Steven Galloway (2009). “The Cellist of Sarajevo”, p.53, Atlantic Books Ltd

  9 Copy quote

• Because civilization isn't a thing that you build and then there it is, you have it forever. It needs to be built constantly, recreated daily. It vanishes far more quickly than he ever would have thought possible. And if he wishes to live, he must do what he can to prevent the world he wants to live in from fading away. As long as there's war, life is a preventative measure.

  Steven Galloway

  War, Civilization, Long

  Steven Galloway (2009). “The Cellist of Sarajevo”, p.248, Vintage Canada

  9 Copy quote

• You don't choose what to believe. Belief chooses you.

  Steven Galloway

  Believe, Belief

  Steven Galloway (2009). “The Cellist of Sarajevo”, p.16, Atlantic Books Ltd

  5 Copy quote

• This is how....life happens. One small thing at a time. A series of inconsequential junctions, any or none of which can lead to salvation or disaster. There are no grand moments where a person does or does not perform the act that defines their humanity. There are only moments that appear, briefly, to be this way.

  Steven Galloway

  Humanity, Doe, Way

  4 Copy quote

• Do they hate the idea of her, because she's different from them, and that in this difference there might be some sort of inferiority or superiority that is hers or theirs, that in the end threatens the potential happiness of everyone?

  Steven Galloway

  Hate, Ideas, Differences

  Steven Galloway (2009). “The Cellist of Sarajevo”, p.90, Atlantic Books Ltd

  4 Copy quote

• If this city is to die, it won't be because of the men on the hills, it will be because of the people in the valley. When they're content to live with death, to become what the men on the hills want them to be, then Sarajevo will die.

  Steven Galloway

  Men, Cities, People

  Steven Galloway (2009). “The Cellist of Sarajevo”, p.136, Atlantic Books Ltd

  6 Copy quote

• Most argument, and in fact most conflict, has nothing to do with the present. It's always about the past or the future. People can't agree on the details of what has happened or is going to happen. But we rarely know what has happened, and we never know what is going to happen. What is really at dispute is how we will deal with not knowing.

  Steven Galloway

  Past, Knowing, People

  Steven Galloway (2014). “The Confabulist: A Novel”, p.115, Penguin

  7 Copy quote

• She felt an enveloping happiness to be alive, a joy made stronger by the certainty that someday it would all come to an end. Afterward she felt a little foolish, and never spoke to anyone about it. Now, however, she knows she wasn't being foolish. She realizes that for no particular reason she stumbled into the core of what it is to be human. It's a rare gift to under stand that you life is wondrous, and that it won't last forever.

  Steven Galloway

  Joy, Forever, Stronger

  4 Copy quote

• The fingers on his flesh told him he was loved, that he had always been loved, and that the world was a place where above all else things that were good would find a way to burrow into you.

  Steven Galloway

  Way, World, Flesh

  Steven Galloway (2009). “The Cellist of Sarajevo”, p.12, Atlantic Books Ltd

  7 Copy quote

• It's a rare gift to understand that your life is wondrous, and that it won't last forever.

  Steven Galloway

  Forever, Lasts, Life Is

  Steven Galloway (2009). “The Cellist of Sarajevo”, p.15, Atlantic Books Ltd

  7 Copy quote

• By the time the last few notes fade, his hope will be restored, but each time he's force to resort to the Adagio it becomes harder, and he knows its effect is finite. There are only a certain number of Adagios left in him, and he will not recklessly spend this precious currency.

  Steven Galloway

  Numbers, Lasts, Currency

  4 Copy quote

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