Rebecca West

“A strong hatred is the best lamp to bear in our hands as we go over the dark places of life, cutting away the dead things men tell us to revere.”

“International relationships are preordained to be clumsy gestures based on imperfect knowledge.”

“Life ought to be a struggle of desire toward adventures whose nobility will fertilize the soul.”

“It is sometimes very hard to tell the difference between history and the smell of skunk.”

“Writing has nothing to do with communication between person and person, only with communication between different parts of a person's mind.”

“There is no logical reason why the camel of great art should pass through the needle of mob intelligence.”