But there were too many points at which the other self could invade the self he wanted to preserve, and there were too many forms of invasion: certain words, sounds, lights, actions his hands or feet performed, and if he did nothing at all, heard and saw nothing, the shouting of some triumphant inner voice that shocked him and cowed him.
actions inner-voice inner-voicery invasion life lights mind patricia-highsmith self shocked shouting sounds strangers strangers-on-a-train train voice words

About This Quote

About Patricia Highsmith

Patricia Highsmith was a 20th-century American novelist and short story writer. Patricia Highsmith was an American novelist and short story writer widely known for her psychological thrillers, including her series of five novels featuring the character Tom Ripley. She wrote 22 novels and numerous short stories in a career spanning nearly five decades, and her work has led to more than two dozen film adaptations. Read more on Wikipedia →

Themes

  • Life — Reflections on the meaning, challenges, and beauty of life

More quotes by Patricia Highsmith

“I read, write and create. I must lose myself in work, so that there is no space for the other/anything else.”
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“Fantasy, an unflagging optimism is necessary for a writer at all stages of this rough game. A kind of madness is therefore necessary, when there is every logical reason for a state of depression an...”
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“I do not understand people who like to make noise; consequently I fear them, and since I fear them, I hate them.”
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“I know you have it in you, Guy," Anne said suddenly at the end of a silence, "the capacity to be terribly happy.”
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“I have a definite psychosis in being with people. I cannot bear it very long.”
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autism bear people psychosis

“Life is a long failure of understanding, a long, mistaken shutting of the heart.”
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failure heart life mistaken
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