Any authentic work of art must start an argument between the artist and his audience.

— Rebecca West

Art covers not even a corner of life, only a knot or two here and there, far apart and without relation to the pattern. How could we hope that it would ever bring order and beauty to the whole of that vast and intractable fabric, that sail flapping in the contrary winds of the universe?

— Rebecca West

Art is not a plaything, but a necessity, and its essence, form, is not a decorative adjustment, but a cup into which life can be poured and lifted to the lips and be tasted. If one’s own existence has no form, if its events do not come handily to mind and disclose their significance, we feel about ourselves as if we were reading a bad book.

— Rebecca West

Before a war military science seems a real science, like astronomy; but after a war it seems more like astrology.

— Rebecca West

For the sake of my country, and perhaps a little for the sake of my soul, I have given up the deep peace of being in opposition.

— Rebecca West

I had come to Yugoslavia to see what history meant in flesh and blood.

— Rebecca West

I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat.

— Rebecca West

I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat, or a prostitute.

— Rebecca West

Indeed, grief is not the clear melancholy the young believe it. It is like a siege in a tropical city. The skin dries and the throat parches as though one were living in the heat of the desert; water and wine taste warm in the mouth, and food is of the substance of the sand; one snarls at one's company; thoughts prick one through sleep like mosquitoes.

— Rebecca West

I take it as a prime cause of the present confusion of society that it is too sickly and too doubtful to use pleasure as a test of value.

— Rebecca West