Anthony Powell

“This revelation of Duport's musical leanings showed how, as ever, people can always produce something unexpected about themselves.”

— Anthony Powell

“The mere phrase ‘artificial manure’ told the whole story.”

— Anthony Powell

“He suddenly began to look wretched, much as I had seen him look as a schoolboy: lonely: awkward: unpopular: odd; no longer…

— Anthony Powell

“A liability suddenly presented itself, bringing such musings sharply to a close, demanding rapid decisions.”

— Anthony Powell

“The huge liquid eyes seemed to look deep down into my soul, and far, far beyond towards nameless, unexplored vistas of the…

— Anthony Powell

“Matilda, looking decidedly smart in a dress of blue and black stripes, was standing beside her husband, talking with the Portuguese Ambassador.”

— Anthony Powell

“Women can be immensely obtuse about all kinds of things,’ Barnby was fond of saying, ‘but where the emotions are concerned their…

— Anthony Powell

“I had not expected him to be in the least senile, but the sharpness of his manner may have been amplified by…

— Anthony Powell

“Simple-lifers, Utopian socialists, spiritualists, occultists, theosophists, quietists, pacifists, futurists, cubists, zealots of all sorts in their approach to life and art, later…

— Anthony Powell

“She scarcely spoke at all and might have been one of those huge dolls which, when inclined backwards, say "Ma-ma" or "Pa-pa":…

— Anthony Powell

“To those familiar with the rhythm of living there are few surprises in this world.”

— Anthony Powell

“Everything alters, yet does remain the same. It might even improve matters.”

— Anthony Powell

“   Susan poured herself out some more wine. She said: "You're nice. You must come and see me some time. I live miles…

— Anthony Powell

“At the same time, the notion that he was entirely actuated by ‘rational’ motives was also no doubt far from the truth.…

— Anthony Powell

“Moreland could never get used to the fact that most people—in this particular case, Templer—lead lives in which the arts play no…

— Anthony Powell

“Changing the subject, she turned to me and said: ‘I think poor Mr. Le Bas must be so glad that Charles has…

— Anthony Powell

“It was realisation, in a moment of time, not only of her own possibilities, far from inconsiderable ones, but also of other…

— Anthony Powell

“the sombre demands of the past becoming at times almost suffocating in their insistence.”

— Anthony Powell

“Albert’s shutters may have kept out the suffragettes: they did not effectively exclude the Furies.”

— Anthony Powell

“I felt little interest in possible danger of their being run over: only a great relief that the bus must in any…

— Anthony Powell

“Since Quiggin’s books remained purely hypothetical entities, it seemed reasonable enough that their publisher should exist hypotheticaliy too. I was tempted to…

— Anthony Powell

“I used to imagine life divided into separate compartments, consisting, for example, of such dual abstractions as pleasure and pain, love and…

— Anthony Powell

One of the worst things about life is not how nasty the nasty people are. You know that already. It is how…

— Anthony Powell

“For my own part, I always enjoy hearing the details of other people’s lives, whether imaginary or not, so that I found…

— Anthony Powell

“not required to stay late in the Whitehall area, I used, as a general routine, to come straight back from duty to…

— Anthony Powell