All good fortune is a gift of the gods, and you don't win the favor of the ancient gods by being good, but by being bold.
Anita Brookner

No blame should attach to telling the truth. But it does, it does.
Anita Brookner

Good women always think it is their fault when someone else is being offensive. Bad women never take the blame for anything.
Anita Brookner

You have no idea how promising the world begins to look once you have decided to have it all for yourself. And how much healthier your decisions are once they become entirely selfish.
Anita Brookner

In real life, it is the hare who wins. Every time. Look around you. And in any case it is my contention that Aesop was writing for the tortoise market. Hares have no time to read. They are too busy winning the game.
Anita Brookner

Life... is not simply a series of exciting new ventures. The future is not always a whole new ball game. There tends to be unfinished business. One trails all sorts of things around with one, things that simply won't be got rid of.
Anita Brookner

Like many rich men, he thought in anecdotes; like many simple women, she thought in terms of biography.
Anita Brookner