Amor Towles

“Tis a funny thing, reflected the Count as he stood ready to abandon his suite. From the earliest age, we must learn…

— Amor Towles

“FRONTA NULLA FIDES. Place”

— Amor Towles

“a parent’s responsibility could not be more simple: To bring a child safely into adulthood so that she could have a chance…

— Amor Towles

“From the very first words of her speech, the audience can tell that here was no idler. For her voice was that…

— Amor Towles

“But correspondents are a wily bunch. Having stashed their typewriters, crossed the border, changed their clothes, and counted to ten, they began…

— Amor Towles

“But oftentimes, Sofia, our best course of action appears objectionable at the first step. In fact, it almost always does.”

— Amor Towles

“As we age, we are bound to find comfort from the notion that it takes generations for a way of life to…

— Amor Towles

“Really. Is there anything nice to be said about other people's vacations? I balled up the letter and threw it in the…

— Amor Towles

“Surely, the span of time between the placing of an order and the arrival of appetizers is one of the most perilous…

— Amor Towles

“referencing that self-imposed simplicity favored by New England Protestants who respect everything about wealth other than its uses.”

— Amor Towles

“He had that certain confidence in his bearing, that democratic interest in his surroundings, and that understated presumption of friendliness that are…

— Amor Towles

“The stamps on the envelope were English. One was the head of a statesman engraved in purple and the others were motorcars…

— Amor Towles

“Rather than tucking in blankets and buttoning up coats, we must have faith in them to tuck and button on their own.…

— Amor Towles

“When one turns seventeen and begins to experience that first period of real independence, one's senses are so alert, one's sentiments so…

— Amor Towles

“I've come to realize that however blue my circumstances, if after finishing a chapter of a Dickens novel I feel a miss-my-stop-on-the-train…

— Amor Towles

“But at forty? They had enough appetite to eat well, enough temperance to drink in moderation, and enough wisdom to celebrate the…

— Amor Towles

In 1989, I had a fellowship to teach for Yale in China for two years. I came back from California to New…

— Amor Towles

“Learning dance steps was the sorry Saturday night pursuit of every boardinghouse girl in America”

— Amor Towles

“And the waiters? Like those of a Parisian café, the Piazza’s waiters could best be complimented as “efficient.” Accustomed”

— Amor Towles

“Alas, Tis true that words are queer And yet my son, you need not fear. For in this volume can be seen…

— Amor Towles

“Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov stirred at half past eight to the sound of rain on the eaves. With a half-opened eye, he…

— Amor Towles

“Uncompromising purpose and the search for eternal truth have an unquestionable sex appeal for the young and high-minded; but when a person…

— Amor Towles

Say I lived until 80 and read a book a month seriously, that means I was looking at 480 books left in…

— Amor Towles

“Alexander Rostov was neither scientist nor sage; but at the age of sixty-four he was wise enough to know that life does…

— Amor Towles

I prefer to put myself in an environment that's further afield and look through the eyes of someone who differs from me…

— Amor Towles