Natalia Ginzburg Quotes

In England, we have such good manners that if someone says something impolite, the police will get involved.

Madrid is not as big as London, but it is true when you are coming from a big city like Madrid, nothing is going to surprise you, and I am very happy to move to a city like London. It is a big city, and you can do everything you want with the respect that the English people always have.

When I came to England, everybody was indoors all the time, and nobody said hello to each other. That was weird.

People in England have a lot of respect. It is relaxed here.

When all is said, its atmosphere [England's] still contains fewer germs of aggression and brutality per cubic foot in a crowded bus, pub or queue than in any other country in which I have lived

On the Continent stray cats are judged individually on their merit-some are loved, some are only respected; in England they are universally worshipped as in ancient Egypt.

In London, people don't make eye contact; it's almost too provocative.

Looks is a matter of perception. At Cannes, Europeans think I am good looking, while in India, I am not.

I like to walk down the street in England and just be myself but I could never do that in Spain. In Manchester I can walk down Deansgate and not be troubled.

'Hanna' has grown up in mother nature's beautiful wilderness and that's what she knows. So for someone like me who has always had a life in the city, it was a chance to look beyond social conventions.

I've always felt that English women had to be approached in a sisterly manner, rather than an erotic manner.

The audiences certainly have declined. If I go to the theatre now I find people come there to eat and smoke and talk to one another. And look like scarecrows.

I want to sit with my legs wide open and laugh so loud that the whole damn restaurant turns and looks at me.

The American vice would be sometimes speaking too loudly. You can always hear American people on the trains!

Englishwomen's shoes look as if they had been made by someone who had often heard shoes described, but had never seen any.

O happy dogs of England, Bark well at errand boys, If you lived anywhere else, You would not be allowed to make such an infernal noise.

What can the England of 1940 have in common with the England of 1840? But then, what have you in common with the child of five whose photograph your mother keeps on the mantelpiece? Nothing, except that you happen to be the same person.

In England, nobody's your friend.

It was hard for an American to understand the contented acceptance by English men and women of permanent places in the lowest social rank.

Reformers have long observed city people loitering on busy corners, hanging around in candy stores and bars and drinking soda popon stoops, and have passed a judgment, the gist of which is: "This is deplorable! If these people had decent homes and a more private or bosky outdoor place, they wouldn't be on the street!" That judgment represents a profound misunderstanding of cities. It makes no more sense than to drop in at a testimonial banquet in a hotel and conclude that if these people had wives who could cook, they would give their parties at home.

Our neighbors shake their heads And take their valuables inside While my countrymen piss in the fountains To express their national pride.

The English delight in Silence more than any other European Nation, if the Remarks which are made on us by Foreigners are true.

Ronan merely invested a look with as much contempt as he could muster. A lady reached over the top of Noah to pat Matthew's head fondly before continuing down the aisle. She didn't seem to care that he was fifteen, which was all right, because he didn't, either. Both Ronan and Declan observed this interaction with the pleased expressions of parents watching their prodigy at work.

Americans do seem to say things which make the English notice England.

Most English talk is a quadrille in a sentry-box.