Quotes from work
The Alexandria Quartet

The Alexandria Quartet

The Alexandria Quartet is a tetralogy of novels by British writer Lawrence Durrell, published between 1957 and 1960. A critical and commercial success, the first three books present three perspectives on a single set of events and characters in Alexandria , before and during the Second World War. The fourth book is set six years later.


Lawrence Durrell photo

“Music was invented to confirm human loneliness.”

The Alexandria Quartet (1957–1960), Clea (1960)

Lawrence Durrell photo

“A woman's best love letters are always written to the man she is betraying.”

The Alexandria Quartet (1957–1960), Justine (1957)

Lawrence Durrell photo

“Art like life is an open secret.”

Source: The Alexandria Quartet

Lawrence Durrell photo
Lawrence Durrell photo

“Gamblers and lovers really play to lose.”

Source: The Alexandria Quartet

Lawrence Durrell photo
Lawrence Durrell photo
Lawrence Durrell photo
Lawrence Durrell photo
Lawrence Durrell photo
Lawrence Durrell photo
Lawrence Durrell photo
Lawrence Durrell photo

“No one can go on being a rebel too long without turning into an autocrat.”

The Alexandria Quartet (1957–1960), Balthazar (1958)

Lawrence Durrell photo

“the confluent smallpox - invented perhaps as the cruellest remedy for human vanity”

Source: The Alexandria Quartet (1957–1960), Mountolive (1958), II

Lawrence Durrell photo
Lawrence Durrell photo
Lawrence Durrell photo
Lawrence Durrell photo
Lawrence Durrell photo
Lawrence Durrell photo

“Like all young men I set out to be a genius, but mercifully laughter intervened.”

The Alexandria Quartet (1957–1960), Clea (1960)

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