8 Quotes by Ethel Wilson

What a land. What power these rivers were already yielding, far beyond her sight. Even a map of this country--lines arranged in an arbitrary way on a long rectangular piece of paper-- stirs the imagination beyond imagination, she thought, looking at the map, as other lines differently arranged in relation to each other have not the power to stir. Each name on the map says "We reached this point, by broken trail and mountains and water; and when we reached it, thus and thus we named it.

A first meeting. A meeting in the desert, a meeting at sea, meeting in the city, meeting at night, meeting at a grave, meeting in the sunshine beside the forest, beside water. Human beings meet, yet the meetings are not the same. Meeting partakes in its very essence not only of the persons but of the place of meeting. And that essence of place remains, and colours, faintly, the association, perhaps forever.Ethel Wilson, Swamp Angel. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1990 (page 95).

The formidable power of geography determines the character and performance of a people.

What a land. What power these rivers were already yielding, far beyond her sight. Even a map of this country – lines arranged in an arbitrary way on a long rectangular piece of paper – stirs the imagination beyond imagination, she thought, looking at the map, as other lines differently arranged in relation to each other have not the power to stir. Each name on the map says “We reached this point, by broken trail and mountains and water; and when we reached it, thus and thus we named it.

A writer’s mind seems to be situated partly in the solar plexus and partly in the head.

Dullness is a misdemeanour.

Your power comes from the songs.

The business of writing is one of the four or five most private things in the world.