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Books Quote by Robertson Davies

“Our appetite for destruction grew with feeding. I started gingerly, pulling some books out of a case, but soon was tearing out pages by the handfuls and throwing them around. Jerry got a knife and ripped the stuffing out of the mattresses. He threw feathers from the sofa cushions. McQuilly, driven…” quote by Robertson Davies
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““Our appetite for destruction grew with feeding. I started gingerly, pulling some books out of a case, but soon was tearing out pages by the handfuls and throwing them around. Jerry got a knife and ripped the stuffing out of the mattresses. He threw feathers from the sofa cushions. McQuilly, driven by some dark Scottish urge, found a crowbar and reduced wooden things to splinters. And Bill was like a fury, smashing, overturning, and tearing. But I noticed he kept back some things and put them in a neat heap on the dining-room table, which he forbade us to break. They were photographs. The old people must have had a large family, and there were pictures of young people and wedding groups and what were clearly grandchildren everywhere. When at last we had done as much damage as we could, the pile on the table was a large one. "Now for the finishing touch," said Bill. "And this is going to be all mine." He jumped up on the table, stripped down his trousers, and squatted over the photographs. Clearly he meant to defecate on them, but such things cannot always be commanded, and so for several minutes we stood and stared at him as he grunted and swore and strained and at last managed what he wanted, right on the family photographs.””

Robertson Davies

About This Quote

Source Novel: Fifth Business, 1970, by Robertson Davies

Destruction reveals hidden reverence; even in chaos, people protect what they value most.

In simple terms: People protect cherished things even while destroying others.

Key Takeaway

Identify and respect what truly matters.

Themes

destruction memory human nature

Mood

dark intense

Type

literary psychological

When to use this quote

  • family dynamics
  • war trauma
  • group behavior

Key Concepts

Psychology symbolism

Questions to Reflect On

  • What does the act of defecating on photos symbolize?
  • How do we balance chaos and reverence?
A Different Perspective

Destruction can be a coping mechanism for grief.

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