Lawrence Durrell Quotes

A collection of quotes by Lawrence Durrell.

Lawrence Durrell (1912-1990) was a renowned British writer, poet, and novelist. He is best known for his series of novels set in the Mediterranean region, collectively known as "The Alexandria Quartet." Durrell was born in Jalandhar, India, and spent his early years there before moving to England for his education.

Durrell's literary career took off in the 1930s when he published his debut novel, "Pied Piper of Lovers." However, it was "The Alexandria Quartet" that brought him international acclaim. This tetralogy, consisting of "Justine," "Balthazar," "Mountolive," and "Clea," was highly innovative in structure and bold in its exploration of love, desire, and the complexities of human relationships.

Throughout his life, Durrell traveled extensively and lived in various countries, including France, Cyprus, Egypt, and Greece. His experiences of different cultures and landscapes heavily influenced his writing. Durrell was known for his lush and evocative prose, characterized by vivid descriptions and lyrical imagery.

Apart from his novels, Durrell also wrote poems, plays, travel literature, and essays. Some of his notable works include "The Black Book," "Prospero's Cell," and "The Revolt of Aphrodite." Durrell's contributions to literature earned him numerous awards and accolades, including the Order of the British Empire.

Lawrence Durrell's works continue to captivate readers with their intricate storytelling, vivid settings, and profound exploration of human emotions. His literary legacy firmly establishes him as one of the most influential British writers of the 20th century.

For us artists there waits the joyous compromise through art

For us artists there waits the joyous compromise through art with all that wounded or defeated us in daily life in this way, not to evade destiny, as the ordinary people try to do, but to fulfil it in its true potential - the imagination.

Lawrence Durrell


I think often, and never without a certain fear of Nessim's

I think often, and never without a certain fear of Nessim's love for Justine. It coloured his unhappiness with a kind of ecstasy Yet one touch of humour would have saved him from such dreadful comprehensive suffering.

Lawrence Durrell

Love

Perhaps our only sickness is to desire a truth which we cann

Perhaps our only sickness is to desire a truth which we cannot bear rather than to rest content with the fictions we manufacture out of each other.

Lawrence Durrell

Truth Rest Content

People only see in us the contemptible skirt-fever which rul

People only see in us the contemptible skirt-fever which rules our actions but completely miss the beauty-hunger underlying it.

Lawrence Durrell

Beauty

I had become, with the approach of night, once more aware of

I had become, with the approach of night, once more aware of loneliness and time - those two companions without whom no journey can yield us anything.

Lawrence Durrell

Time

A city becomes a world when one loves one of it's inhabitant

A city becomes a world when one loves one of it's inhabitants.

Lawrence Durrell

Love

History is an endless repetition of the wrong way of living.

History is an endless repetition of the wrong way of living.

Lawrence Durrell

History

There are only three things to be done with a woman. You can

There are only three things to be done with a woman. You can love her, suffer for her, or turn her into literature.

Lawrence Durrell

Women

Truth disappears with the telling of it.

Truth disappears with the telling of it.

Lawrence Durrell

Truth

I'm trying to die correctly, but it's very difficult, you kn

I'm trying to die correctly, but it's very difficult, you know.

Lawrence Durrell

Death

It's only with great vulgarity that you can achieve real ref

It's only with great vulgarity that you can achieve real refinement, only out of bawdy that you can get tenderness.

Lawrence Durrell

Profanity Vulgarity

Travel can be one of the most rewarding forms of introspecti

Travel can be one of the most rewarding forms of introspection.

Lawrence Durrell

Travel

Everyone loathes his own country and countrymen if he is any

Everyone loathes his own country and countrymen if he is any sort of artist.

Lawrence Durrell

Patriotism

For us artists there waits the joyous compromise through art

For us artists there waits the joyous compromise through art with all that wounded or defeated us in daily life; in this way, not to evade destiny, as the ordinary people try to do, but to fulfil it in its true potential --the imagination.

Lawrence Durrell

Art

No one can go on being a rebel too long without turning into

No one can go on being a rebel too long without turning into an autocrat.

Lawrence Durrell

Revolution

Journeys, like artists, are born and not made. A thousand di

Journeys, like artists, are born and not made. A thousand differing circumstances contribute to them, few of them willed or determined by the will --whatever we may think.

Lawrence Durrell

Travel

Music is only love looking for words.

Music is only love looking for words.

Lawrence Durrell

Music

Music was invented to confirm human loneliness.

Music was invented to confirm human loneliness.

Lawrence Durrell

Music

The appalling thing is the degree of charity women are capab

The appalling thing is the degree of charity women are capable of. You see it all the time... love lavished on absolute fools. Love's a charity ward, you know.

Lawrence Durrell

Charity

Now stiff on a pillar with a phallic air nelson stylites in

Now stiff on a pillar with a phallic air nelson stylites in Trafalgar square reminds the British what once they were.

Lawrence Durrell

Heroes/heroism