Naomi Novik Quotes

“You’ve been inexpressibly lucky,” he said finally. “And inexpressibly mad, although in your case the two seem to be the same thing”

“...for poets, at least, experiencing something inexpressible does not mean silence. It's precisely the inexpressible something that poetry is meant to help us see or feel. If it were merely expressible - if there were nothing ineffable about it - there would be no need for a poem. But everywhere in the Bible we meet reality that exceeds our expectations.”

“The joy of knowing a foreign language is inexpressible. I find it really difficult to express such joy in my mother tongue.”

“Feelings and emotions as well as thoughts and opinions are evanescent; they change over time because they reflect our transient being. Feelings and emotions are judgments that spring from the hidden source of the unconscious mind, and only take on power whenever the conscious mind acknowledges them, and then chooses to convey an idea in some format that shares the rhythm of a person’s own being with another person. Unuttered thoughts and inexpressible feelings experience a short half-life. Without proper nourishment, voiceless thoughts wither and indefinable feelings wane. Lucid thoughts and inexpressible feelings form imperceptible currents that propel us along in our inimitable journey exploring the tributaries of the stream of life.”

“The mystery of the gospel is inexpressible.”

“The mediator of the inexpressible is the work of art.”

“... novels contained something inexpressibly delicious.”

“After silence that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.”

“After silence that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.”

“You will only find the profoundly inexpressible in profound silence.”