Riddley Walker Quotes

“The worl is ful of things waiting to happen. Thats the meat and boan of it right there. You myt think you can jus go here and there doing nothing. Happening nothing. You cant tho you bleeding cant. You put your self on any road and some thing wil show its self to you. Wanting to happen. Waiting to happen. You myt say, 'I dont want to know.' But 1ce its showt its self to you you wil know wont you. You cant not know no mor. There it is and working in you. You myt try to put a farness be twean you and it only you cant becaws youre carrying it inside you. The waiting to happen aint out there where it ben no more its inside you.”
― Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker

“O yes youwl want to think on that you dont want your mouf to walk you where your feet dont want to go.”
― Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker

“Trubba not.”
― Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker

“Ready to cry ready to dy ready for any thing is how I come to it now. In fear and tremmering only not running a way. In emtyness and ready to be fult. Not to lern no body nothing I cant even lern my oan self all I can do is try not to get in front of whats coming. Jus try to keap out of the way of it.”
― Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker

“I cud feal some thing growing in me it wer like a grean sea surging in me it wer saying, LOSE IT. Saying, LET GO. Saying, THE ONLYES POWER IS NO POWER

The ruins of Canterbury Castle

”
― Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker

“Its some kynd of thing it aint us but yet its in us. Its looking out thru our eye hoals. May be you dont take no noatis of it only some times. Say you get woak up suddn in the middl of the nite. 1 minim youre a sleap and the nex youre on your feet with a spear in your han. Wel it werent you put that spear in your han it wer that other thing whats looking out thru your eye hoals. It aint you nor it dont even know your name. Its in us lorn and loan and sheltering how it can.”
― Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker

“O what we ben! And what we come to!”
― Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker

“Every body knows Aunty. Stoan boans and iron tits and teef be twean her legs plus she has a iron willy for the ladys it gets red hot. When your time comes you have to do the juicy with her like it or not. She rides a girt big rat with red eyes it can see in the dark and it can smel whos ready for Aunty. Even if they dont know it ther selfs the rat can smel if theyre ready.”
― Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker

“Looking at them words going down on this paper right this minim I know there aint no such thing there aint no only my self you all ways have every 1 and every thing on your back.”
― Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker

“Iyther you dont know nothing or you know too much it dont seam like theres any thing in be twean.”
― Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker

“I said, 'Yes theres a lot to look a head to. Like croaking iron at Widders Dump. We do the croaking and they get the iron.'
He said, 'Riddley theres other things to do as wel.'
I said, 'Yes and they all smel of cow shit dont they?”
― Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker

“Wel you know 1ce the kids start singing at you thats a cern kynd of track youre on nor there aint too much you can do about it. Making the kids stop singing wont help its too late by then youve jus got to clinch your teef and get on with it.”
― Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker

“Our woal life is a idear we dint think of nor we dont know what it is.”
― Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker

“Stoans want to be lissent to. Them big brown stoans in the formers feal they want to stan up and talk like men. Some times youwl see them lying on the groun with ther humps and hollers theywl say to you, Sit a wyl and res easy why dont you. Then when youre sitting on them theywl talk and theywl tel if you lissen. Theywl tel whats in them but you wont hear nothing what theyre saying without you go as fas as the stoan. You myt think a stoan is slow thats becaws you wont see it moving. Wont see it walking a roun. That dont mean its slow tho. There are the many cools of Addom which they are the party cools of stoan. Moving in ther millyings which is the girt dants of the every thing its the fastes thing there is it keaps the stilness going. Reason you wont see it move its so far a way in to the stoan. If you cud fly way way up like a saddelite bird over the sea and you lookit down you wunt see the waves moving youwd see them change 1 way to a nother only you wunt see them moving youwd be too far a way. You wunt see nothing only a changing stilness. Its the same with a stoan.”
― Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker

“Raining agen it wer nex morning. Theres rains and rains. This 1 wer coming down in a way as took the hart and hoap out of you there wer a kynd of brilyants in the grey it wer too hard it wer too else it made you feal like all the tracks in the worl wer out paths nor not a 1 to bring you back. Wel of coarse they are but it dont all ways feal that way. It wer that kynd of morning when peopl wernt jus falling in to what they done naturel they had to work ther selfs in to it. Seamt like a lot of tea got spilt at breakfas nor the talk wernt the userel hummeling and mummeling there wer some thing else in it. Like when you see litening behynt the clouds.”
― Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker

“Stil it takes you strange walking in your old foot steps like that. Putting your groan up foot where your chyld foot run nor dint know nothing what wer coming.”
― Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker

“Mark you that and noat you wel.”
― Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker

“I said, “That souns like the end of the song. What about the beginning?”

He said, “Thats jus it you see thats why he wer too late he never come in to it at the beginning.”

I said, “You never sung no beginning if youd sung it he cudve come in to it.”

He said, “I never sung no beginning becaws you wont never fynd no beginning its long gone and far pas. What ever youre after youwl never fynd the beginning of it thats why youwl all ways be too late. Onlyes thing youwl ever fynd is the end of things. What ever happens itwl be what you dint want to happen. What ever dont happen thatwl be the thing you wantit. Take your choosing how you like youwl get what you dont want.”
― Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker

“Seeds blow in the wind and what is earf but a deadness with life growing out of it?”
― Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker

“Seed of the little
Seed of the wyld
Seed of the berning is
Hart of the chyld
. . .
Out goes the candl
Out goes the lite
Out goes my story
And so Good Nite”
― Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker

“People ask me how I got from St Eustace to Riddley Walker and all I can say is that it’s a matter of being friends with your head. Things come into the mind and wait to hook up with other things; there are places that can heighten your responses, and if you let your head go its own way it might, with luck, make interesting connections. On March 14th, 1974 I got lucky.”
― Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker

“Dont you know if you keap getting a head of your self youwl jus only fall over your self when you get to where youre going?”
― Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker

“The race of man haunted by the thought of what it used to be, ashamed of what they are, afraid of what they were.”
― Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker

“I stil aint qwite said how it wer. Not like a diffrent country. It wer mor like I wer behynt the back clof in a show. Thats how it wer. Thru the clof I cud see the other figgers moving I cud see the peopl watching only no 1 cud see me. If I wer a figger in a show what hand wer moving me then? I cudnt be bothert to think on that right then. Theres all ways some thingwl be moving you if it aint 1 thing its a nother you cant help that.”
― Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker

“Yes thats what I done you sorry sods I over the fents and off with the dogs...”
― Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker

“Eusa 13.

Eusa was angre he was in rayj & he kep pulin on the Littl Man the Addoms owt strecht arms. The Littl Man the Addom he begun tu cum a part he cryd, I wan tu go I wan tu stay. Eusa sed, tel mor. The Addom sed, I wan tu dark, I wan tu lyt, I wan tu day I wan tu nyt. Eusa sed, tel mor. The Addom sed, I wan tu woman, I wan tu man. Eusa sed, tel mor. The Addom sed, I wan tu plus I wan tu minus, I wan tu big, I wan tu littl, I wan tu aul, I wan tu nuthing.”
― Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker

“sharna pax and hed on a poal when the ardship of Cambry come out of his hoal”
― Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker

“If the way is diffrent the end is diffrent. Becaws the end aint nothing only part of the way its jus that part of the way where you come to a stop. The end cud be any part of the way its in every step of the way thats why you bes go ballsy.”
― Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker

“Wel realy there aint no stilness any where is there. Not 1ce you begin to take noatis.”
― Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker

“Evere thing blippin & bleapin & movin in the shiftin uv thay Nos. Sum tyms bytin sum tyms bit.”
― Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker