Davies, Robertson Filmography

• Purple Playhouse
  1973, role: actor , character name: Host

Famous quotes by Robertson Davies:

"The young are often accused of exaggerating their troubles; they do so, very often, in the hope of making some impression upon the inertia and the immovability of the selfish old."

"Well, allow me to introduce myself to you as an advocate of Ornamental Knowledge. You like the mind to be a neat machine, equipped to work efficiently, if narrowly, and with no extra bits or useless parts. I like the mind to be a dustbin of scraps of brilliant fabric, odd gems, worthless but fascinating curiosities, tinsel, quaint bits of carving, and a reasonable amount of healthy dirt. Shake the machine and it goes out of order; shake the dustbin and it adjusts itself beautifully to its new position."

"The people who fear humor - and there are many -are suspicious of its power to present things in unexpected lights to question received opinions and to suggest unforeseen possibilities"

"One of the most difficult tasks for the educated and sophisticated mind is to recognize that some clichés are also important truths"

"The love of truth lies at the root of much humor"

"The love that dare not speak its name has become the love that won't shut up"

"If we seek the pleasures of love, passion should be occasional and common sense continual."

"Only a fool expects to be happy all the time."

"Canada is not really a place where you are encouraged to have large spiritual adventures."

"Authors like cats because they are such quiet, lovable, wise creatures, and cats like authors for the same reasons"

"The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend."

"A Librettist is a mere drudge in the world of opera."

"I never heard of anyone who was really literate or who ever really loved books who wanted to suppress any of them."

"Every man is wise when attacked by a mad dog; fewer when pursued by a mad woman; only the wisest survive when attacked by a mad notion."

"Tristan and Isolde were lucky to die when they did. They'd have been sick of all that rubbish in a year."

"You never see what you want to see, forever playing to the gallery."

"May I make a suggestion, hoping it is not an impertinence? Write it down: write down what you feel. It is sometimes a wonderful help in misery."

"Authors like cats because they are such quiet, lovable, wise creatures, and cats like authors for the same reasons."

"A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity and once more in old age, as a fine building should be seen by morning light, at noon and by moonlight."

"Literary critics, however, frequently suffer from a curious belief that every author longs to extend the boundaries of literary art, wants to explore new dimensions of the human spirit, and if he doesn't, he should be ashamed of himself."