“He's scattered, his sentences trail off, he sighs frequently, as though he's so intelligent he's always frustrated by the formulaic nature of speech (each sentence a ride you can't get off once the attendant buckles you into the car).”

Portland and Seattle (p. 80).
States of Desire: Travels in Gay America (1980)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "He's scattered, his sentences trail off, he sighs frequently, as though he's so intelligent he's always frustrated by t…" by Edmund White?

Edmund White28

American novelist and LGBT essayist 1940

Related quotes

““He’ll get a life sentence for the illegal trafficking alone and probably a death sentence for the people he killed along the way.” He sighed slightly. “I always did fancy happy endings.””

Robert Lynn Asprin (1946–2008) American science fiction and fantasy author

Source: Wagers of Sin (1996), Chapter 21 (p. 430)

“The next day, Greg is so large that he cannot even ride the car to school because he can't fit in the car. His parents believe this to have been caused by a food allergy and resolve to take him to the doctor later.”

R.L. Stine book Say Cheese and Die!

Source: Say Cheese and Die!

“He’ll get a life sentence for the illegal trafficking alone and probably a death sentence for the people he killed along the way.”

Robert Lynn Asprin (1946–2008) American science fiction and fantasy author

He sighed slightly. “I always did fancy happy endings.”
Source: Wagers of Sin (1996), Chapter 21 (p. 430)

“And he said "God, make it a dream!"
as he rode his last ride down.
And he sideswiped nineteen neat parked cars,
clipped off thirteen telephone poles,
hit two houses, bruised eight trees,
and Blue-Crossed seven people.
it was then he lost his head,
not to mention an arm or two before he stopped.”

Harry Chapin (1942–1981) American musician

30,000 Pounds of Bananas
Song lyrics, Verities & Balderdash (1974)

“His speech is clumsy, with a toadlike indolence, long winded, pedantic, choppy. The words tumble from his mouth in sentence fragments, which he holds back as much as possible, as if they were earning interest. It takes forever and a day for him to push out a clump of hardened brain snot. Then he writhes in painful ecstasy, as if he had sugar on his rotten teeth. A very slow blab machine. An obsolete model with a non-working switch — it can't be turned off unless you cut off the electric power altogether. So I'd have to smash him in the kisser. No, I'd have to knock him unconscious. But even if he were unconscious he'd keep talking. Even if his vocal cords were sliced through, he'd keep talking like a ventriloquist. Even if his throat were cut and his head were chopped off, speech balloons would still dangle from his mouth like gases emitted by internal decay.”

Klaus Kinski (1926–1991) German actor

On Werner Herzog, p. 213
Kinski Uncut : The Autobiography of Klaus Kinski (1996)

“Dill?"
Mm?"
Why do you reckon Boo Radleys never run off?"
Dill sighed a long sigh and turned away from me.
Maybe he doesn't have anywhere to run off to”

Harper Lee book To Kill a Mockingbird

Source: To Kill a Mockingbird

“A painter must compensate the natural deficiencies of his art. He has but one sentence to utter, but one moment to exhibit. He cannot, like the poet or historian, expatiate.”

Joshua Reynolds (1723–1792) English painter, specialising in portraits

Discourses on Art

“Say it,” she said, and he said, “I love you. I’ll always love you. Forever. It’s a life sentence. Now put the damn ring on.”

Jennifer Crusie book Welcome to Temptation

Source: Welcome to Temptation

“He formed his sentences hesitantly and then threw them at me with such force that I felt as if I were receiving a present each time”

Simone de Beauvoir book The Mandarins

Source: The Mandarins

“I trailed off and he didn't push me to finish. I was finding that I liked that.”

Sarah Dessen book Along for the Ride

Source: Along for the Ride

“He's scattered, his sentences trail off, he sighs frequently, as though he's so intelligent he's always frustrated by the formulaic nature of speech (each sentence a ride you can't get off once the attendant buckles you into the car).”

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Edmund White28

Related quotes

Related topics