I thought if I told no one it might not be true.

— Jean Rhys

It's funny, he said, have you ever thought that a girl's clothes cost more than the girl inside them?

— Jean Rhys

It was like letting go and falling back into water and seeing yourself grinning up through the water, your face like a mask, and seeing the bubbles coming up as if you were trying to speak from under the water. And how do you know what it's like to try to speak from underwater when you're drowned?

— Jean Rhys

I've had enough of these streets that sweat a cold, yellow slime, of hostile people, of crying myself to sleep every night. I've had enough of thinking, enough of remembering.

— Jean Rhys

I want more of this feeling - fire and wings.

— Jean Rhys

Justice. I've heard that word. I tried it out. Furthermore, I wrote it down. Furthermore, I wrote it down several times, and always it looked like a damn cold lie to me. There is no justice.

— Jean Rhys

Left alone, Miss Verna felt so old, lonely and helpless that she began to cry. No builder would tackle that shed, not for any price she could afford. But crying relieved her, and she soon felt quite cheerful again. It was ridiculous to brood, she told herself.

— Jean Rhys

Lies are never forgotten, they go on and they grow

— Jean Rhys

May you tear each other to bits, you damned hyenas, and the quicker, the better. Let it be destroyed. Let it happen. Let it end, this cold insanity.

— Jean Rhys

No past to make us sentimental, no future to embarrass us...a difficult moment when you are out of practice - a moment that makes you go cold, cold and wary.

— Jean Rhys