favorite quotes 1 and 2

I think I'm going to make a regular thing out of posting some favorite quotes from film and books. Feign excitement, someone. Lol. Whatever, it's mah blog.

"They looked and saw each other, saw each other entirely. It was a mere moment of deep understanding, but it was enough to keep them happy together for a decade or so. He was just a selfish man; she was a selfish woman..."  

-Eileen Chang, Love in a Fallen City

I was in love with those words when I read them two years ago, asking myself if, when it comes to relationships with other people, perhaps that's all we get? Just a few rare moments of lucidity. The rest of the time we don't see each other, or we don't really see each other, but we coexist. And it can be a happy coexistence, no doubt but...

One quick flicker of clairvoyance. But that moment fades and you skate by on the shadow of it for as long as you can.

And as far as selfish people seeing eye to eye, it makes me think of Rhett and Scarlett, before it all turned sour. Now, I'm a selfish girl, and I know it, but if I'm lucky enough to find a Rhett to love me, I would make sure that he didn't go all "frankly, I don't give a damn" on me, no sir.

Somehow, in a similar vein, that brings me to quote numéro deux.

"He died, in the mud in France. A good, solid man. You would call him dull, no doubt, but he smiled whenever he saw me and we could've built a life on that."

-Miss Pettigrew, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day


If I could find love, and in that love just one moment of true understanding, followed by a lifetime of smiles, yes, it would be enough. It would be more than enough.