Find the perfect quote to float your boat. Shmoop breaks down key quotations from The Chairs.
Philosophical Viewpoints: The Absurd Quotes
Old Man: "Ah! This house, this island, I can't get used to it. Water all around us...water under the windows, stretching as far as the horizon." (10)
Versions of Reality Quotes
Old Man: "I want to see – the boats on the water making blots in the sunlight." Old Woman: "You can't see them, there's no sunlight, it's nighttime, my darling." (5-6)
Language and Communication Quotes
Old Man: "Then at last we arrived, we laughed till we cried, the story was so idiotic...the idiot arrived full speed, bare-bellied, the idiot was pot-bellied...he arrived with a trunk chock full of...
Art and Culture Quotes
Old Man: "I have a message, that's God's truth. I struggle, a mission, I have something to say, a message to communicate to humanity, to mankind..." (89)
Dreams, Hopes, and Plans Quotes
Old Woman: "You are very gifted, my darling. You could have been head president, head king or even head doctor, or general, if you had wanted to, if only you'd had a little ambition in life..." (16)
Isolation Quotes
Old Man: "Ah! This house, this island, I can't get used to it. Water all around us...water under the windows, stretching as far as the horizon." (10)
Time Quotes
Old Woman: "Come my darling, close the window. There's a bad smell from that stagnant water, and besides the mosquitoes are coming in." (2)
Mortality Quotes
Old Man: "Where is she? My mamma." Old Woman: "In heavenly paradise...she hears you, she sees you, among the flowers." Old Man: "That's not even true-ue...she can't see me..." (85-87)