Tracy Chevalier Quotes

I find music distracting - it takes me out of my head. What I love so much about skiing is the peacefulness.

I feel like saying we need to all calm down a little. Let's take the time to breathe. I have no intention of allowing myself be distracted.

I think one reason people play golf is it allows them to obsess about something other than the daily crap. It takes your mind off that.

I think about work 24 hours a day. But when you fly a helicopter, for that hour or two you can't think about anything else.

'Rectify' is un-busy. It might soothe you, if not distract you, from all you got going on.

Sometimes I get too wound up in my chemistry, but if you play chamber music, it's impossible to think about chemistry.

I get in that zone, even if I'm relaxing or whatever, where I just zone out. I don't even hear anybody. You could ask me a question five times, and I don't even hear it.

The house was quiet and the world was calm. The reader became the book.

He would go somewhere no one knew him, and he would sit in a library all day and read books and listen to people breathing.

If you possess a library and a garden, you have everything you need. (translation from the French) Si vous possedez une bibliotheque et un jardin, vous avez tout ce qu'il vous faut.

You are about to begin reading Italo Calvino's new novel, If on a winter's night a traveler. Relax. Concentrate. Dispel every other thought. Let the world around you fade. Best to close the door; the TV is always on in the next room. Tell the others right away, "No, I don't want to watch TV!" Raise your voice -- they won't hear you otherwise -- "I'm reading! I don't want to be disturbed!" Maybe they haven't heard you, with all that racket; speak louder, yell: "I'm beginning to read Italo Calvino's new novel!" Or if you prefer, don't say anything: just hope they'll leave you alone.

The morning is the best time, there are no people around. My pleasant disposition likes the world with nobody in it.

Yes, I do enjoy walking at night. The world’s more to my liking then, not so loud, not so fast, not so crowded, and a good deal more mysterious.

One day in the country Is worth a month in town

I often paint tranquility. If you stop thinking and rest, then a little happiness comes into your mind. At perfect rest you are comfortable.

Ah, I could lay me down in this long grass And close my eyes, and let the quiet wind Blow over me

You have to block everything out and be extremely focused and be relaxed and mellow too.

Any fool can be fussy and rid himself of energy all over the place, but a man has to have something in him before he can settle down to do nothing.

The basketball court for me, during a game, is the most peaceful place I can imagine. On the basketball court, I worry about nothing. When I'm out there, no one can bother me.

In this job, there are some simple pleasures that really help you cope. One is books, I mean, books are a great escape. Books are a way to get your mind on something else.

Right now, though, I wanted not to think forward or backward, but only to lose myself in the words.

It helps me chill out and focus.

An old man drinks tea and reads the newspaper--forgetting age for a moment.

If I'm alone at home, I get increasingly restless, bothered by the idea that I'm missing some crucial encounter out there somewhere. But if I'm left by myself in someone else's place, I often find myself a nice sense of peace engulfing me. I love sinking into an unfamiliar sofa with whatever book happens to be lying nearby.