239 Quotes by Carson McCullers

He mentioned Beethoven. She had read in the library about that musician – his name was pronounced with an a and spelled with a double e. He was a German fellow like Mozart. When he was living he spoke in a foreign language and lived in a foreign place – like she wanted to do.

A person’s got to fight for every single thing they get,′ she said slowly. ‘And I’ve noticed a lot of times that the farther down a kid comes in the family the better the kid really is.

The loneliness in him was so keen that he was filled with terror. Usually he had a pint of bootleg white lightning. He drank the raw liquor and by daylight he was warm and relaxed.

It is for this reason that most of us would rather love than be loved. Almost everyone wants to be the lover. And the curt truth is that, in a deep secret way, the state of being be loved is intolerable to many. The beloved fears and hates the lover, and with the best of reasons. For the lover is forever trying to strip bare his beloved. The lover craves any possible relation with the beloved, even if this experience can cause him only pain.

German lieder is creepy music. That’s why I specialize in it.

When a person knows and can’t make the others understand, what does he do?

They are all very busy people. In fact they are so busy that it will be hard for you to picture them. I do not mean that they work at their jobs all day and night but that they have much business in their minds always that does not let them rest.

Us going to have a cup of coffee. Then maybe it all won’t seem so bad.

The mutual distrust between the men who were just awakened and those who were ending a long night gave everyone a feeling of estrangement.