William Nicholson quotes

Experience is a brutal teacher, but you learn fast. (William Nicholson)
Self-sufficiency is the enemy of salvation. If you are self-sufficient, you have no need of God. If you have no need of God, you do not seek Him. If you do not seek Him, you will not find Him. View quote
William Nicholson
The English seem to think drinking wine is like committing adultery, something you do rarely and abroad. View quote
William Nicholson
We read to know we're not alone. View quote
William Nicholson
To put it another way, pain is God's megaphone to rouse a deaf world. Why must it be pain? Why can't he rouse us more gently, with violins or laughter? Because the dream from which we must be wakened, is the dream that all is well. View quote
William Nicholson
That's where we have to go," said Kestrel, looking at the mountain. "Into the fire. View quote
William Nicholson
Everyone deserves to be the hero of a novel. View quote
William Nicholson
When I began to write seriously, 40 years ago now, my chosen form was the novel. View quote
William Nicholson
There are dozens of great American writers who write about the family. View quote
William Nicholson
A well-off plastic surgeon can suffer just as much as an Irish lad who has been abused or whatever. View quote
William Nicholson
I will give them something they have never seen before. (William Nicholson)
God creates us free, free to be selfish, but He adds a mechanism that will penetrate our selfishness and wake us up to the presence of others in this world, and that mechanism is called suffering. View quote
William Nicholson
I am as I am. The world is as it is. Whether I am content with that has very little to do with it. View quote
William Nicholson
Brothers, what we do in life, echoes in eternity. View quote
William Nicholson
If everything you do is in order to do something else, when do you ever get to the end of it all? View quote
William Nicholson
The song of the wind singer will set you free. View quote
William Nicholson
She had gone so far now, she had broken so many rules and said such wicked things, that she knew she would suffer the most severe punishment; and since what was done could not be undone, she was free to be as bad as she wanted to be. View quote
William Nicholson
Today begins my walk with you." They spoke together, their voices sounding softly in the cold air. "Where you go, I go. Where you stay, I stay. When you sleep, I will sleep. When you rise, I will rise. I will pass my days within the sound of your voice, and my nights within the reach of your hand. And none shall come between us. View quote
William Nicholson
"I wish there were no more exams ever," said Kestrel. "I wish nothing bad happens to Kess," said Bowman. "I wish my darling children to be safe and happy for ever," said their mother. She always wished like that when she was worried. "I wish the wind singer would sing again," said their father. View quote
William Nicholson
She slapped Kestrel's face. Without thinking twice, Kestrel slapped her back, as hard as she could. The young woman burst into tears. The servant saw this, aghast. "Baby!" she exclaimed. "Oh, my poor baby!" "You've been kind to me," said Kestrel, "and you're very beautiful, but if you hit me again I'll kill you." View quote
William Nicholson
I don't want to do any of those things you said. I want – I want – to make things right.' 'Then so you shall.' 'Is it so easy?' 'Not easy. Not easy at all. Think how much is wanting to make things wrong. All the fear in the world, and the violence that comes from the fear, and the hatred that comes from the violence, and the loneliness that comes from the hatred. All the unhappiness, all the cruelty, it gathers like clouds in the air, and grows dark and cold and heavy, and falls like grey snow in thick layers over the land. Then the world is all muffled and numb, and no one can hear each other or feel each other. Think how sad and lonely that must be. (William Nicholson)
I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time- waking and sleeping. It doesn't change God- it changes me. View quote
William Nicholson
Madly, futilely, I wrote novel after novel, eight in all, that failed to find a publisher. I persisted because for me the novel was the supreme literary form: not just one among many, not a relic of the past, but the way we communicate to one another the subtlest truths about this business of living. View quote
William Nicholson
My study is a converted garage which is largely lined with bookshelves and cardboard boxes filled with manuscripts of my film scripts, plays and books. View quote
William Nicholson
Why should I be honored? Don't I have enough attention, comfort and power already? View quote
William Nicholson