14 Quotes by J.L. Carr

Most country people had a deep-rooted disinclination to sleep away from home and a belief that, like as not, to sojourn amongst strangers was to fall among thieves. It was the way they always had lived and, like their forefathers, they travelled no further than a horse or their own legs could carry them there and back in a day.

That was the missed moment. I should have put out a hand and taken her arm and said, “Here I am. Ask me. Now. The real question! Tell me. While I’m here. Ask me before it’s too late.

But that goes for most of us, doesn’t it? We look blankly at each other. Here I am, here you are. What are we doing here? What do you suppose it’s all about? Let’s dream on. Yes, that’s my Dad and Mum over there on the piano top. My eldest boy is on the mantel piece... I go to work at eight and come home at five-thirty. When I retire they will give me a clock – with my name engraved on the back. Now you know all about me. Go away: I’ve forgotten you already.

Deep red hollyhocks pressed against the limestone wall and velvet butterflies flopped lazily from flower to flower. It was Tennyson weather, drowsy, warm, unnaturally still.

And, at such a time, for a few of us there will always be a tugging at the heart – knowing a precious moment had gone and we not there.