Quotes by Elena Ferrante

64 quotes found

Pseudonymous Italian writer · Italian

Pseudonymous Italian writer

Wikipedia

Common Themes

“Thus she returned to the theme of ‘before,’ but in a different way than she had at first. She said that we didn’t know anything, either as children or now, that we were therefore not in a position ...”

— Elena Ferrante

awakening before heritage history

“Perhaps Lila was right: my book—even though it was having so much success—really was bad, and this was because it was well organized, because it was written with obsessive care, because I hadn’t be...”

— Elena Ferrante

banality chaos existentialism reality

“What’s got into me? Do I want children? Do I want to be a mamma, nursing and singing lullabies? Marriage plus pregnancy? And if my mother should emerge from my stomach just now when I think I’m safe?”

— Elena Ferrante

motherhood

“Literary truth is not the truth of the biographer or the reporter, it’s not a police report or a sentence handed down by a court. It’s not even the plausibility of a well-constructed narrative. Lit...”

— Elena Ferrante

cliché writing writing-craft writing-process