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Colm Toibin Quotes

You create a world away from home and make new rooms for yourself. But when you arrive back home in your old rooms, the world you’ve made for yourself ceases to be real. Everything seems to crumble. Anyone who’s been sent away to boarding school can understand that Picture Quote #1

Suffering is too strong a word, but writing is serious work. I pull the stuff up from me - it’s not as if it’s a pleasure Picture Quote #1

I live in words. I like looking at things, but I don’t have a strong visual imagination Picture Quote #1

I did think of becoming a priest quite late on, when other boys were thinking of knocking over fences and going out with girls. I would have made a very good bishop: nice housekeeper, nice clothes - God, the clothes Picture Quote #1

I never listen to music when I am writing. It would be impossible. I listen to Bach in the mornings, mostly choral music; also some Handel, mostly songs and arias; I like Schubert’s and Beethoven’s chamber music and Sibelius’ symphonies; for opera, I listen to Mozart and in recent years Wagner Picture Quote #1

I said that when I looked at photographs of the firefighters who went into the Twin Towers, their faces looked to me like Irish faces. I hadn’t yet learnt how careful outsiders have to be when talking about race in America, and I’d put my foot in it. Someone stood up and said aggressively, ‘What do you mean by Irish faces?’ Picture Quote #1

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I was first in Sydney in 1993, and have been a few times since then. For someone who didn’t know Australia, it came as a shock how intelligent, interesting and funny the people were. If I lived there I might see it differently, but as a visitor it was a lot of fun Picture Quote #1

I went to live in Barcelona in 1975, when I was twenty. Even before I went there, I knew more about the Spanish Civil War than I did about the Irish Civil War. I liked Barcelona, and then I grew to like a place in the Catalan Pyrenees called the Pillars, especially an area between the village of Flavors and the high mountains around it Picture Quote #1

I’ve never put Northern Ireland into a novel because it’s not my territory. I come from the South, so my imaginative territory is very much the Republic of Ireland rather than the North. Even though, if I wrote a novel about the North, it might sell more Picture Quote #1

The problem is once you’ve written the opening paragraph and worked out how the rest of the story will go in your head, there’s nothing in it for you. I write in longhand using disposable fountain pens on the right-hand side of the notebook for the first draft, then I rewrite some of the sentences and paragraphs on the left-hand side Picture Quote #1

The old Victorian laws against homosexuality were still on the statute books until the early 1990s. As a gay man living in Ireland, I and people like me found it easy to feel less than citizens Picture Quote #1

If you have to read to cheer yourself up, read biographies of writers who went insane Picture Quote #1

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When I was 19, I thought I wanted to be an English civil servant. It was the most exotic thing at the time - can you imagine, in the middle of the IRA bombing campaigns? I saw an ad inviting Irish applicants for an induction course, so I signed up Picture Quote #1

Solitude is good in the evening. Dublin is a quiet city when you get to a certain age, when your friends settle down and have kids. Nothing much happens here Picture Quote #1

Everyone who’s in America spends the first few years not experiencing it. The person is frightened by the newness of the place and doesn’t see things. Her emotional universe becomes the entire universe. And then when she thinks of home, her distance in space can seem like a distance in time Picture Quote #1

I’m slightly influenced by sport in that I like the idea of trying, like an athlete, to keep absolutely ready. That’s an emotional thing, almost. I don’t mean physically, although I play tennis. But you try to keep yourself ready Picture Quote #1

Look at Austen. In her novels, you get a dance, followed by an encounter, followed by a letter, then a period of solitude. No flashbacks and no backstory. Let’s have no more back story! Picture Quote #1

While historians may go on attempting grand, sweeping and defining narratives, they work in a time when readers know that another narrative always lies in wait, and that the more intelligent an historian is, the more tentative and self-scrutinizing the tone Picture Quote #1

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I still have a stammer that I can control by not opening a sentence with a hard consonant, or by concentrating for a moment, breathing softly down. Growing up, the ‘Our Father’ was lovely, made for me, the ‘Hail Mary’ was gorgeous, and ‘Glory Be to the Father’ was an absolute nightmare Picture Quote #1

Writer’s block! It doesn’t exist. You just long for ideas to go away so you have an idea of peace Picture Quote #1

Life has a funny way of becoming ordinary as soon as it can Picture Quote #1

In skies of deepening blue the moon, heaven’s queen was now afloat Picture Quote #1

The sentences I write have their roots in song and poetry, and take their bearings from music and painting, as much as from the need to impart mere information, or mirror anything. I am not a realist writer, even if I seem like one Picture Quote #1

Writer’s block! It doesn’t exist. You just long for ideas to go away so you have an idea of peace Picture Quote #1

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All writing is a form of manipulation, of course, but you realize that a plain sentence can actually do so much Picture Quote #1

Between the ages of 8 and 12 it was difficult to know what my father was saying, and he moved very slowly, and then he died Picture Quote #1

I have to write a first draft with a fountain pen before I type it up as a second Picture Quote #1

I suppose one should have an integrated personality, but I’ve never really seen the point Picture Quote #1

I think fiction lends itself to messiness rather than the ideal, and plays well with the ironies surrounding what happens versus what should happen Picture Quote #1

I think you can get a sort of intensity and an edginess offering nine stories in a book. Competing versions of things Picture Quote #1

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Friendship Quotes

Motivational Quotes

Inspirational Quotes

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Text Quotes

You create a world away from home and make new rooms for yourself. But when you arrive back home in your old rooms, the world you’ve made for yourself ceases to be real. Everything seems to crumble. Anyone who’s been sent away to boarding school can understand that. (Colm Toibin Quotes) Suffering is too strong a word, but writing is serious work. I pull the stuff up from me - it’s not as if it’s a pleasure (Colm Toibin Quotes) I live in words. I like looking at things, but I don’t have a strong visual imagination (Colm Toibin Quotes) I did think of becoming a priest quite late on, when other boys were thinking of knocking over fences and going out with girls. I would have made a very good bishop: nice housekeeper, nice clothes - God, the clothes (Colm Toibin Quotes) I never listen to music when I am writing. It would be impossible. I listen to Bach in the mornings, mostly choral music; also some Handel, mostly songs and arias; I like Schubert’s and Beethoven’s chamber music and Sibelius’ symphonies; for opera, I listen to Mozart and in recent years Wagner (Colm Toibin Quotes) I said that when I looked at photographs of the firefighters who went into the Twin Towers, their faces looked to me like Irish faces. I hadn’t yet learnt how careful outsiders have to be when talking about race in America, and I’d put my foot in it. Someone stood up and said aggressively, ‘What do you mean by Irish faces?’ (Colm Toibin Quotes) I was first in Sydney in 1993, and have been a few times since then. For someone who didn’t know Australia, it came as a shock how intelligent, interesting and funny the people were. If I lived there I might see it differently, but as a visitor it was a lot of fun (Colm Toibin Quotes) I went to live in Barcelona in 1975, when I was twenty. Even before I went there, I knew more about the Spanish Civil War than I did about the Irish Civil War. I liked Barcelona, and then I grew to like a place in the Catalan Pyrenees called the Pillars, especially an area between the village of Flavors and the high mountains around it (Colm Toibin Quotes) I’ve never put Northern Ireland into a novel because it’s not my territory. I come from the South, so my imaginative territory is very much the Republic of Ireland rather than the North. Even though, if I wrote a novel about the North, it might sell more (Colm Toibin Quotes) The problem is once you’ve written the opening paragraph and worked out how the rest of the story will go in your head, there’s nothing in it for you. I write in longhand using disposable fountain pens on the right-hand side of the notebook for the first draft, then I rewrite some of the sentences and paragraphs on the left-hand side (Colm Toibin Quotes) The old Victorian laws against homosexuality were still on the statute books until the early 1990s. As a gay man living in Ireland, I and people like me found it easy to feel less than citizens (Colm Toibin Quotes) If you have to read to cheer yourself up, read biographies of writers who went insane (Colm Toibin Quotes) When I was 19, I thought I wanted to be an English civil servant. It was the most exotic thing at the time - can you imagine, in the middle of the IRA bombing campaigns? I saw an ad inviting Irish applicants for an induction course, so I signed up. (Colm Toibin Quotes) Solitude is good in the evening. Dublin is a quiet city when you get to a certain age, when your friends settle down and have kids. Nothing much happens here. (Colm Toibin Quotes) Everyone who’s in America spends the first few years not experiencing it. The person is frightened by the newness of the place and doesn’t see things. Her emotional universe becomes the entire universe. And then when she thinks of home, her distance in space can seem like a distance in time. (Colm Toibin Quotes) I’m slightly influenced by sport in that I like the idea of trying, like an athlete, to keep absolutely ready. That’s an emotional thing, almost. I don’t mean physically, although I play tennis. But you try to keep yourself ready. (Colm Toibin Quotes) Look at Austen. In her novels, you get a dance, followed by an encounter, followed by a letter, then a period of solitude. No flashbacks and no backstory. Let’s have no more back story! (Colm Toibin Quotes) While historians may go on attempting grand, sweeping and defining narratives, they work in a time when readers know that another narrative always lies in wait, and that the more intelligent an historian is, the more tentative and self-scrutinizing the tone. (Colm Toibin Quotes) I still have a stammer that I can control by not opening a sentence with a hard consonant, or by concentrating for a moment, breathing softly down. Growing up, the ‘Our Father’ was lovely, made for me, the ‘Hail Mary’ was gorgeous, and ‘Glory Be to the Father’ was an absolute nightmare. (Colm Toibin Quotes) Writer’s block! It doesn’t exist. You just long for ideas to go away so you have an idea of peace. (Colm Toibin Quotes) Life has a funny way of becoming ordinary as soon as it can (Colm Toibin Quotes) In skies of deepening blue the moon, heaven’s queen was now afloat (Colm Toibin Quotes) The sentences I write have their roots in song and poetry, and take their bearings from music and painting, as much as from the need to impart mere information, or mirror anything. I am not a realist writer, even if I seem like one (Colm Toibin Quotes) Writer’s block! It doesn’t exist. You just long for ideas to go away so you have an idea of peace (Colm Toibin Quotes) All writing is a form of manipulation, of course, but you realize that a plain sentence can actually do so much (Colm Toibin Quotes) Between the ages of 8 and 12 it was difficult to know what my father was saying, and he moved very slowly, and then he died (Colm Toibin Quotes) I have to write a first draft with a fountain pen before I type it up as a second (Colm Toibin Quotes) I suppose one should have an integrated personality, but I’ve never really seen the point (Colm Toibin Quotes) I think fiction lends itself to messiness rather than the ideal, and plays well with the ironies surrounding what happens versus what should happen (Colm Toibin Quotes) I think you can get a sort of intensity and an edginess offering nine stories in a book. Competing versions of things (Colm Toibin Quotes)

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