Quotes by Australian Authors - Page 38

Wil ate without enthusiasm. His bacon tasted like nothing. Like a dead animal, fried. His eggs, aborted chickens.
Max Barry
He closed the pages and stuffed them back into his jacket. Keeping his eyes cast downwards as he sipped his wine, he pulled out and lit a cigarette – almost a post-coital gesture. from The Willow Lake Group by Kelly Proudfoot
Kelly Proudfoot
Instead of going out on Saturday night as planned, I decided to stay in with a few of my closest friends from the complex carbohydrate family. Well actually, like most of my friends, they're not that complex.
Angela Pippos
[Lunch] was composed of one of the fish she had caught, evidently rescued from Mogget. This had been grilled with ginger, pepper, and some spice she didn't know, set atop a salad of grains and greenleaf, accompanied by a lightly sparkling clear wine she had to admit was delicious and refreshing.
Garth Nix
. . . every society that grows extensive lawns could produce all its food on the same area, using the same resources, and . . . world famine could be totally relieved if we devoted the same resources of lawn culture to food culture in poor areas. These facts are before us. Thus, we can look at lawns, like double garages and large guard dogs, [and Humvees and SUVs] as a badge of willful waste, conspicuous consumption, and lack of care for the earth or its people.Most lawns are purely cosmetic in function. Thus, affluent societies have, all unnoticed, developed an agriculture which produces a polluted waste product, in the presence of famine and erosion elsewhere, and the threat of water shortages at home.The lawn has become the curse of modern town landscapes as sugar cane is the curse of the lowland coastal tropics, and cattle the curse of the semi-arid and arid rangelands.It is past time to tax lawns (or any wasteful consumption), and to devote that tax to third world relief. I would suggest a tax of $5 per square metre for both public and private lawns, updated annually, until all but useful lawns are eliminated.
Bill Mollison
A little chocolate a day keeps the doctor at bay
Marcia Carrington
The trouble with eating Italian is that 5 or 6 days later, you're hungry again.
George Miller
But if you're gonna dine with them cannibalsSooner or later, darling, you're gonna get eaten . . .
Nick Cave
But tales like this must not be taken as truth. You must remind yourself that it is hard to tell where truth ends and a lie begins. So listen all you like, but disbelieve all you hear...You are in the city of lies.
Arlene J. Chai
Tomorrow I'll suggest the liar lies against himselfSo our condition makes escape impossible? -- we breatheand it's moving air that causes stars to twinkle
Rodney Hall
Ophelia was surprised by how easily she lied. She had two stolen keys in her pocket, and the lies were sliding off her tongue. Soon, she'd probably be shoplifting. She expected that was how it started.
Karen Foxlee
You never feel good when you lie. It doesn't matter how much you want something, if you lie to somebody you love, and they actually, sincerely believe you, you feel like a cockroach that needs some serious Raid action.
Randa Abdel-Fattah
It feels nice to emerge from the lies.
Markus Zusak
Next minute you’ll be telling me there’s nothing wrong,’ he said softly. ‘One of the all time favourite lies women employ when they’re hiding huge grievances.
Lindsay Armstrong
What are you suggesting I do Ralph?’‘I’m suggesting you tell the bloody truth whatever it is. The only place lying leads is trouble.’“Sometimes that’s the only place telling the truth get you, too.
M.L Stedman
Having two women—one who can’t know about the other, and one who must be trusted not to destroy his life—is clearly difficult for him.
Jennifer Harrison
Mostly, it is lies that will destroy a relationship. Deceit is a barrier to intimacy. André Chevalier
Nikki Sex
The simplest falsehoods are the strongest.
Kate Morton
You must not let me out,' it warned him gently, as it saw his eyes rest on the lock.'If you release me now that I know my nature, I could not help but unmake the enchantment of the mirrors. You see, they are tame now and they show only what people want and need to see in them. The wildness of them is bound up in my form, though I did not know it for a long time. If I were uncaged, I could not help but tear at the enchantment until I was unnamed. Then I would fly into all of the mirrors and windows and into shining footpaths after rain. The mirrors would become wild and they would be absolutely, utterly truthful. Everything would be seen for what it truly was. My laughter would greet every lie and every pretense. It would rumble like a volcano under the smooth surface of everything. You can imagine the chaos it would cause here, for those who dwell in the greylands do so because the mirrors are tamed. If I were free, people would come to be afraid of them. They would cease to believe in their reflections and eventually they would no longer believe in themselves. No, laughter must remain caged here.
Isobelle Carmody
You know,' she begins, 'you fellas ought to be looking after each other.' Her comment makes me realise that through the lies, the greatest irony is that we are looking out for each other. It's just that in the end, we're letting her down. That's what injures us.
Markus Zusak
When someone you loved was depending on your lie, it was perfectly easy.
Liane Moriarty
What is certain is that he [the baby] has too much attention from the one person who is entirely at his disposal. The intimacy between mother and child is not sustaining and healthy. The child learns to exploit his mother's accessibility, badgering her with questions and demands which are not of any real consequence to him, embarrassing her in public, blackmailing her into buying sweets and carrying him.
Germaine Greer
Simplification establishes an unspoken emphasis on relationship.
Kim John Payne
What better reminder do we have than our kids of our own best selves, our less stressed and more carefree selves? In their silliness we see the echo of the way we used to be: when we were kids, yes, but also before we had kids, or even two weeks ago, before all of the stress of these year-end corporate meetings. Their joy, their infectious enthusiasm, their sense of "mission" as the poor dog is dressed in boxer shorts, cannot help but cajole you, and beckon you, to lighten up.
Kim John Payne
Consistency also teaches us that some things do not change, though we may wish they would. Not everything bends to our personal preferences.
Kim John Payne
Helicopter parents. Before I started at Pirriwee Public, I thought it was an exaggeration, this thing about parents being overly involved with their kids. I mean, my mum and dad loved me, they were, like, interested in me when I was growing up in the nineties, but they weren't, like, obsessed with me.
Liane Moriarty
If parents had children who were good sleepers, they assumed this was due to their good parenting, not good luck. They followed the rules, and the rules had been proven to work. Celeste must therefore not be following the rules. And you could never prove it to them! They would die smug in their beds.
Liane Moriarty
On occasions the person may appear ill-mannered; for example, one young man with Asperger's Syndrome wanted to attract his mother;s attention while she was talking to a group of her friends, and loudly said, 'Hey, you!', apparently unaware of the more appropriate means of addressing his mother in public. The child, being impulsive and not aware of the consequences, says the first thing that comes into their mind. Strangers may consider the child to be rude, inconsiderate or spoilt, giving the parents a withering look and assuming the unusual social behavior is a result of parental incompetence. They may comment, 'Well, if I had him for two weeks he would be a different child.' The parents' reaction may be that they would gladly let them have the child, as they need a rest, and to prove a point.
Tony Attwood
You don't need to be primary caregiver of your children to be of primary influence in their lives. What you do for them behind the scenes in your own unique way is what makes the true difference in the long run.
Miya Yamanouchi
We have a dilemma, then,” Finnikin said fiercely. “Because I prayed that you would grow old and hold my children in your arms as you held me. My prayers have not been answered yet, Trevanion. So whose prayer is more worthy? Yours or mine?
Melina Marchetta
The only thing we can do is love that little girl as much as she deserves. And never, never hurt her!
M.L Stedman
Children need time to become themselves--through play and social interaction. If you overwhelm a child with stuff--with choices and pseudochoices--before they are ready, they will only know one emotional gesture: More!
Kim John Payne
I’m now ‘Doctor’ to the patients and I have to cover my ignorance by waving my arms and looking grave.
Howard Florey
Your blindness to my downfall,Has gone too far to be a joke,As I stand ablaze before you,And you tell me you smell smoke.
Erin Hanson
The best way to trick yourself into actually feeling these positive feelings, even if you are not feeling too good is to use your memories, fantasies, dreams and desires judiciously.
Malti Bhojwani
True honesty is what you are willing to admit to yourself without judgement!
Pollyanna Darling
I have learned that if you fake your life it will kill you slowly, terribly and cause the most pain for everyone. You try to do the right thing, not hurt anyone, conform to what love is supposed to be and what it is supposed to look like, but in the end it destroys you. It eats away at your heart and soul like acid. You slowly destroy those around you that you say you love, and you slowly destroy yourself.
Mark D'Arbanville
Honesty can be a dirty gift. It can muddy a sparkling stream of memories.
Colin Cotterill
You don't have to pretend with me, you know.' He reaches out and tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear. His expression is so open and honest I feel it like a sucker punch. 'I used to pretend, all the time, so I can spot it a mile away. If you're feeling shit, then just say so. I don't need to know the reason, it might be none of my business—' 'I'm feeling shit.
Ellie Marney
That's the first rule of survival in enemy waters: volunteer nothing.
James Clavell
Sometimes you don't let us talk about how we're feeling. If we feel scared, you say, 'Nothing to worry about, guys,' but that doesn't make it go away. It makes it grow.
Melina Marchetta
Vulnerability brings honesty. We become most honest with ourselves when we are faced with real fear around a situation or an outcome. Yet many still stay in their comfort zone, listening to their own excuses and lies.
Tony Curl
I guess we speak pretty loosely, don't we, about looking forward to the Ashes and all that—and we are, but it's not with both eyes. We've got one eye on that and one eye on what we need to get in place to make sure we're the best team we can be for November.
Ricky Ponting
Gimme an honest frown over a false smile, any day.
Gregory David Roberts
You look like shit." Honesty is important in any relationship.
Gordon Andrews
Greatness rarely comes easy.
James Boag
I've reached a point, where I no longer believe I am unworthy of greatness, If the people I'm surrounded by; aren't Intune with my growth, I'm happy to let go, If the job I'm working, isn't bringing out the best in me, I'm happy to find something that will. If I complain about one thing, I must be grateful for 2 more. if I can't always have everything I want, I'll make damn sure I have everything I need. If life's Thunder hands me tears, I'll be sure to laugh through it. If I lose some, I trust it's because i am about to win more. If there is darkness, the light is almost in reach. Every obstacle, is the gateway to concious living and every heartache is the gateway to the most empowered love you could feel.
Nikki Rowe
She reminded me of the sea; the way she came dancing towards you, wild and beautiful, and just when she was almost close enough to touch she'd rush away again.
Glenda Millard
I am dying: it's a beautiful word. Like the long slow sigh of a cello: dying. But the sound of it is the only beautiful thing about it.
Sonya Hartnett
... I'll tell her about Tia. I'll tell her how beautiful she was and how brave. And I'll tell her the most important thing of all: that her mother loved her better than her life.
Glenda Millard
Stella scribbledin thick black textaacross half the pagesof my best storybook,filled with people who venturedwhere their hearts took them.Beautiful worlds beyond mine.
Emma Cameron
Fireworks made of glass. An explosion of dew. Crescendo. Diminuendo. Silence.There are drugs that work the same, and while I am not suggesting that our founder purchased the glassworks to get more drops, it is clear that she had the seed planted, not once, but twice, and knew already the lovely contradictory nature of glass and she did not have to be told, on the day she saw the works at Darling Harbour, that glass is a thing in disguise, an actor, is not solid at all, but a liquid, that an old sheet of glass will not only take on a royal and purplish tinge but will reveal its true liquid nature by having grown fatter at the bottom and thinner at the top, and that even while it is as frail as the ice on a Parramatta puddle, it is stronger under compression than Sydney sandstone, that it is invisible, solid, in short, a joyous and paradoxical thing, as good a material as any to build a life from.
Peter Carey
..."Are you okay?" he says, still looking at me, and I feel my smile slip, fade, and the silence that falls over us then is so total I can’t hear anything, not the rush-hiss of my heart pounding in my chest, not the sounds all around us; insects, wind, and the distant clatter of others’ lives in houses built close but not too close because when we look out our windows we all like to pretend that everything we see is ours. But Ryan is not mine.
Elizabeth Scott
This twisted cat and mouse game always starts the sameFirst we're both down to play and somehow you go astray
Iggy Azalea
Sometimes people are beautifulNot in looksNot in what they sayJust in what they are
Markus Zusak
She wasn't ordinary, I liked her that way. Mystery oozed from her pours as she walked so lightly I could have mistaken her for an angel.
Nikki Rowe
she will never grow old, her heart is too beautiful.
Nikki Rowe
She was a mystery, personal in her journey but social in her seek; you wouldn't believe the depth in her heart until the day you felt her essence, for the very first time.
Nikki Rowe
I can sit here and say I've survived heart break and all those nights I thought I couldn't bare to live without you, yeah I just want to thank them, because I did & now I couldn't imagine a life with you.
Nikki Rowe
I thought you wanted to catch a camel," you tried again."No.""I want to.""Well, you go then."You laughed. "I want your beautiful face where I can see it
Lucy Christopher