Susanna Clarke Quotes

“Do trees exist?”

“The House is valuable because it is the House. It is enough in and of Itself. It is not the means to an end.”

“Piranesi. It is what he calls me. Which is strange because as far as I remember it is not my name.”

“I visit all the Dead, but particularly the Folded-Up Child. I bring them food, water and water lilies from the Drowned Halls. I speak to them, telling them what I have been doing and I describe any Wonders that I have seen in the House. In this way they know that they are not alone.”

“I write down what I observe in my notebooks. I do this for two reasons. The first is that Writing inculcates habits of precision and carefulness. The second is to preserve whatever knowledge I possess for you, the Sixteenth Person.”

“It is my belief that the World (or, if you will, the House, since the two are for all practical purposes identical) wishes an inhabitant for Itself to be a witness to its Beauty and the recipient of its Mercies.”

“They were all enamoured with the idea of progress and believed that whatever was new must be superior to what was old.”

“The Beauty of the House is immeasurable; its Kindness infinite.”

“It is my belief that the House itself loves and blesses equally everything that it has created. Should I try to do the same?”

“Yet, at the same time, I can see that it is in the nature of men to prefer one thing to another, to find one thing more meaningful than another.”