“In short: I felt my existence was tainted, in some subtle but essential way.”
Donna Tartt book The Secret History
Source: The Secret History
Quotes from bookThe Secret History
The Secret History is the first novel by Donna Tartt, published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1992. Set in New England, it tells the story of a closely knit group of six classics students at Hampden College, a small, elite Vermont college based upon Bennington College, where Tartt was a student between 1982 and 1986.
“though I can digress with the best of them, I am nothing in my soul if not obsessive.”
Donna Tartt book The Secret History
Source: The Secret History
“Not quite what one expected, but once it happened one realized it couldn't be any other way.”
Donna Tartt book The Secret History
Source: The Secret History
“Love doesn't conquer everything. And whoever thinks it does is a fool.”
Donna Tartt book The Secret History
Source: The Secret History
“Forgive me, for all the things I did but mostly for the ones that I did not.”
Donna Tartt book The Secret History
Source: The Secret History
“Anything is grand if it's done on a large enough scale.”
Donna Tartt book The Secret History
Source: The Secret History
“How quickly he fell; how soon it was over.”
Donna Tartt book The Secret History
Source: The Secret History
“Death is the mother of beauty,” said Henry. “And what is beauty?” “Terror.”
Donna Tartt book The Secret History
Source: The Secret History
“Beauty is terror. Whatever we call beautiful, we quiver before it.”
Donna Tartt book The Secret History
Variant: It's a very Greek idea, and a very profound one. Beauty is terror. Whatever we call beautiful, we quiver before it.
Source: The Secret History
“After all, the appeal to stop being yourself, even for a little while, is very great.”
Donna Tartt book The Secret History
Source: The Secret History
