“Many many heartfelt thanks for your letter of September 25. Though it filled me with shame and remorse, I was grateful for the Christian impulse which moved you to stretch out a hand to me in my wretchedness. You say "We become that with which we busy our mind." Too true! Alas, too true! I recall that as a boy the school chaplain said to my class, "If you tell dirty jokes you will grow to look like a dirty joke!" This is been my hapless destiny…. Would you do me a favour? Will you send me a photograph of yourself, so that I may behold a countenance suffused with Christian love, and perhaps even repent?”

To a woman in Manitoba, who sent a letter reproaching Davies for writing "barnyard pornography" in The Rebel Angels (1981), quoted in For Your Eye Alone : Letters 1976-1995 (1999).

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 "Many many heartfelt thanks for your letter of September 25. Though it filled me with shame and remorse, I was grateful …" by Robertson Davies?
Robertson Davies photo
Robertson Davies 282
Canadian journalist, playwright, professor, critic, and nov… 1913–1995

Related quotes

Stevie Wonder photo
Roman Polanski photo

“I don't know that you can speak of shock … Nothing is too shocking for me. I don't really know what is shocking. When you tell the story of a man who is beheaded, you have to show how they cut off his head. If you don't, it's like telling a dirty joke and leaving out the punch line.”

Roman Polanski (1933) Polish-French film director, producer, writer, actor, and rapist

As quoted in Atlas magazine, Vol. 20 (1971), p. 56, and The Book of Hollywood Quotes (1979) by Gary Herman, p. 26

Bryan Adams photo

“Look into my eyes, you will see
What you mean to me.
Search your heart, search your soul.
And when you find me there,
You’ll search no more.Don’t tell me it’s not worth trying for.
You can’t tell me it’s not worth dying for.
You know it’s true,
Everything I do, I do it for you.”

Bryan Adams (1959) Canadian singer-songwriter

(Everything I Do) I Do It for You, written by Bryan Adams, Mutt Lange, and Michael Kamen
Song lyrics, Waking Up the Neighbours (1991)

Giorgio de Chirico photo

“Dear Mr. Rosenberg [art-dealer in Paris, then], - Many thanks for your good letters which are a great encouragement to me. I assure you that you are the man who has encouraged me the most so far. Please excuse the tone of declaration. I will also show my gratitude when I am in Paris by doing a good life-size portrait of you, or of a member of your family if you prefer, and I would like you to accept it as a gift. I intend to be in Paris around 15 November. My mother and my brother send their best wishes.”

Giorgio de Chirico (1888–1978) Italian artist

Mr. Rosenberg, please accept my devotion, esteem and gratitude.
Quote from De Chirico's letter to Mr. Rosenberg, Rome, 13 Oct. 1925; from LETTERS BY GIORGIO DE CHIRICO TO LÉONCE ROSENBERG, 1925-1939 http://www.fondazionedechirico.org/wp-content/uploads/309-338-Rosenberg_Metaphysical_Art_ENG.pdf, p. 317
1920s and later

Estelle Getty photo

“Too many of you, my friends, are dying. Now it's time for me to do my part and help you.”

Estelle Getty (1923–2008) actress

Estelle Getty, ‘Golden Girls’ Matriarch, Dies at 84, New York Times, July 23, 2008

Rick Riordan photo

“Leo,” Jason said, “you’re weird.”
“Yeah, you tell me that a lot.” Leo grinned. “But if you don’t remember me, that means I can reuse all my old jokes…!”

Variant: Leo. Jason said, you're wierd. Yeah, you tell me that a lot. Leo grinned. But if you don't remember me, that means I can reuse all my old jokes. Come on!
Source: The Lost Hero

Alison Goodman photo
Wesley Clark photo

“… they said, "Sir, we want to tell you a joke." I said, "You don't have time to tell me a joke." They said, "Oh, you gotta hear this one." So I came in, they shut the door, and they said, "Here's"— I said, "What's the joke?" I said, "What's the joke?" They said, "9/11. Saddam Hussein. If he didn't do it, too bad. He should've! Because we're gonna get him anyway." I said, "But that's not funny." I said, "That's not very funny." They said, "It sure isn't."”

Wesley Clark (1944) American general and former Democratic Party presidential candidate

Recalling a conversation with unidentified generals at the Pentagon "about ten days after 9/11" (circa September 21, 2001).
Real Time with Bill Maher [2.22] (episode 42), October 29, 2004; panel discussion with Maher, Kevin Costner, and Richard Belzer.

Ernest Hemingway photo

Related topics