Elizabeth Bowen Quotes

A collection of quotes by Elizabeth Bowen.

Elizabeth Bowen (1899-1973) was an esteemed Irish-British novelist, short story writer, and critic. Known for her elegant prose and keen exploration of human emotions, she penned several highly acclaimed works throughout her career. Bowen's novels, such as "The Death of the Heart" and "The Heat of the Day," often dealt with themes of love, loss, and the impact of war on ordinary lives. With her intricate storytelling, psychological depth, and keen observation of social dynamics, she established herself as one of the prominent voices of the 20th-century literature.

No object is mysterious. The mystery is your eye.

No object is mysterious. The mystery is your eye.

Elizabeth Bowen


Pity the selfishness of lovers: it is brief, a forlorn hope;

Pity the selfishness of lovers: it is brief, a forlorn hope; it is impossible.

Elizabeth Bowen


Never to lie is to have no lock to your door, you are never

Never to lie is to have no lock to your door, you are never wholly alone.

Elizabeth Bowen


Fantasy is toxic: the private cruelty and the world war both

Fantasy is toxic: the private cruelty and the world war both have their start in the heated brain.

Elizabeth Bowen

War

Education is not so important as people think.

Education is not so important as people think.

Elizabeth Bowen

Education

The charm, one might say the genius of memory, is that it is

The charm, one might say the genius of memory, is that it is choosy, chancy, and temperamental: it rejects the edifying cathedral and indelibly photographs the small boy outside, chewing a hunk of melon in the dust.

Elizabeth Bowen

Memory

When you love someone all your saved-up wishes start coming

When you love someone all your saved-up wishes start coming out.

Elizabeth Bowen

Love

Nobody can be kinder than the narcissist while you react to

Nobody can be kinder than the narcissist while you react to life in his own terms.

Elizabeth Bowen

Vanity

The heart may think it knows better: the senses know that ab

The heart may think it knows better: the senses know that absence blots people out. We really have no absent friends. The friend becomes a traitor by breaking, however unwillingly or sadly, out of our own zone: a hard judgment is passed on him, for all the pleas of the heart.

Elizabeth Bowen

Absence

Only in a house where one has learnt to be lonely does one h

Only in a house where one has learnt to be lonely does one have this solicitude for things. One's relation to them, the daily seeing or touching, begins to become love, and to lay one open to pain.

Elizabeth Bowen

Loneliness

All your youth you want to have your greatness taken for gra

All your youth you want to have your greatness taken for granted; when you find it taken for granted, you are unnerved.

Elizabeth Bowen

Greatness & Great Things

Intimacies between women go backwards, beginning with revela

Intimacies between women go backwards, beginning with revelations and ending up in small talk without loss of esteem.

Elizabeth Bowen

Men & Women

Fate is not an eagle, it creeps like a rat.

Fate is not an eagle, it creeps like a rat.

Elizabeth Bowen

Fate & Destiny

It is not our exalted feelings, it is our sentiments that bu

It is not our exalted feelings, it is our sentiments that build the necessary home.

Elizabeth Bowen

Emotions

Jealousy is no more than feeling alone against smiling enemi

Jealousy is no more than feeling alone against smiling enemies.

Elizabeth Bowen

Envy / Jealousy

Some people are molded by their admirations, others by their

Some people are molded by their admirations, others by their hostilities.

Elizabeth Bowen

Growth

Art is the only thing that can go on mattering, once it has

Art is the only thing that can go on mattering, once it has stopped hurting.

Elizabeth Bowen

Art

Nobody speaks the truth when there's something they must hav

Nobody speaks the truth when there's something they must have.

Elizabeth Bowen

Deception/lying

There is no end to the violations committed by children on c

There is no end to the violations committed by children on children, quietly talking alone.

Elizabeth Bowen

Alone

When you love someone all your saved up wishes start coming

When you love someone all your saved up wishes start coming out.

Elizabeth Bowen

Love