Smells Quotes
Quotes tagged as "smells"
Showing 1-30 of 110

“It smells terrible in here.'
Well, what do you expect? The human body, when confined, produces certain odors which we tend to forget in this age of deodorants and other perversions. Actually, I find the atmosphere of this room rather comforting. Schiller needed the scent of apples rotting in his desk in order to write. I, too, have my needs. You may remember that Mark Twain preferred to lie supinely in bed while composing those rather dated and boring efforts which contemporary scholars try to prove meaningful. Veneration of Mark Twain is one of the roots of our current intellectual stalemate.”
― A Confederacy of Dunces
Well, what do you expect? The human body, when confined, produces certain odors which we tend to forget in this age of deodorants and other perversions. Actually, I find the atmosphere of this room rather comforting. Schiller needed the scent of apples rotting in his desk in order to write. I, too, have my needs. You may remember that Mark Twain preferred to lie supinely in bed while composing those rather dated and boring efforts which contemporary scholars try to prove meaningful. Veneration of Mark Twain is one of the roots of our current intellectual stalemate.”
― A Confederacy of Dunces

“Wild honey smells of freedom
The dust - of sunlight
The mouth of a young girl, like a violet
But gold - smells of nothing.”
― Selected Poems
The dust - of sunlight
The mouth of a young girl, like a violet
But gold - smells of nothing.”
― Selected Poems

“The fragrance of white tea is the feeling of existing in the mists that float over waters; the scent of peony is the scent of the absence of negativity: a lack of confusion, doubt, and darkness; to smell a rose is to teach your soul to skip; a nut and a wood together is a walk over fallen Autumn leaves; the touch of jasmine is a night's dream under the nomad's moon.”
―
―

“My mother, who would always buy her books new, hated it the vintage hardcovers with their cracked spines and threadbare cloth covers. True you couldn't go in there and buy the latest best seller, but when you held one of those volumes in your hands, you were leafing through another person'a life. Someone else had once loved that story, too. Someone else had carried that book in a backpack, devoured it over breakfast, mopped up that coffee stain at a Paris caf茅, cried herself to sleep after that last chapter. The scent was distinctive: a slight damp mildew, a punch of dust. To me, it was the smell of history.”
― The Storyteller
― The Storyteller

“We humans will never know how meadows or mountains smell, but deer and horses and pigs do. Bando sniffs deeply and shakes his head. We were left out when it comes to smelling things, he says. I would love to be able to smell a mountain and follow my nose to it.”
― On the Far Side of the Mountain
― On the Far Side of the Mountain

“Endless love and voluptuous appetite pervaded this stifling nave in which settled the ardent sap of the tropics. Ren茅e was wrapped in the powerful bridals of the earth that gave birth to these dark growths, these colossal stamina; and the acrid birth-throes of this hotbed, of this forest growth, of this mass of vegetation aglow with the entrails that nourished it, surrounded her with disturbing odours. At her feet was the steaming tank, its tepid water thickened by the sap from the floating roots, enveloping her shoulders with a mantle of heavy vapours, forming a mist that warmed her skin like the touch of a hand moist with desire. Overhead she could smell the palm trees, whose tall leaves shook down their aroma. And more than the stifling heat, more than the brilliant light, more than the great dazzling flowers, like faces laughing or grimacing between the leaves, it was the odours that overwhelmed her. An indescribable perfume, potent, exciting, composed of a thousand different perfumes, hung about her; human exudation, the breath of women, the scent of hair; and breezes sweet and swooningly faint were blended with breezes coarse and pestilential, laden with poison. But amid this strange music of odours, the dominant melody that constantly returned, stifling the sweetness of the vanilla and the orchids' pungency, was the penetrating, sensual smell of flesh, the smell of lovemaking escaping in the early morning from the bedroom of newlyweds.”
― La Cur茅e
― La Cur茅e

“I still dream in pictures and color, always the world of my childhood. I see the purple Judas trees at Easter lighting up the roadsides and terraces of the town. Ochre cliffs made of cinnamon powder. Autumn clouds rolling along the ground of the hills, and the patchwork of wet oak leaves on the grass. The shape of a rose petal. And my parents' faces, which will never grow any older.
"But it is strange how scent brings it all back too. I only have to smell certain aromas, and I am back in a certain place with a certain feeling."
The comforting past smelled of heliotrope and cherry and sweet almond biscuits: close-up smells, flowers you had to put your nose to as the sight faded from your eyes. The scents of that childhood past had already begun to slip away: Maman's apron with blotches of game stew; linen pressed with faded lavender; the sheep in the barn. The present, or what had so very recently been the present, was orange blossom infused with hope.”
― The Sea Garden
"But it is strange how scent brings it all back too. I only have to smell certain aromas, and I am back in a certain place with a certain feeling."
The comforting past smelled of heliotrope and cherry and sweet almond biscuits: close-up smells, flowers you had to put your nose to as the sight faded from your eyes. The scents of that childhood past had already begun to slip away: Maman's apron with blotches of game stew; linen pressed with faded lavender; the sheep in the barn. The present, or what had so very recently been the present, was orange blossom infused with hope.”
― The Sea Garden

“evening harmony
behold the times when trembling on their stems
the flowers evaporate like thuribles
the sounds and scents turn in the evening cool;
sad waltz, languid intoxication!
the flowers evaporate like thuribles
the viol quivers like a heart that's torn
sad waltz, languid intoxication!
the sky is sad like some memorial.
the viol quivers like a heart that's torn
a heart that hates the void perpetual!
the sky is sad like some memorial
the sun has drowned in it's vermillion
a heart that hates the void perpetual
recalls each glowing moment of times gone!
the sun has drowned in it's vermillion;
your memory shines my monstrance personal”
―
behold the times when trembling on their stems
the flowers evaporate like thuribles
the sounds and scents turn in the evening cool;
sad waltz, languid intoxication!
the flowers evaporate like thuribles
the viol quivers like a heart that's torn
sad waltz, languid intoxication!
the sky is sad like some memorial.
the viol quivers like a heart that's torn
a heart that hates the void perpetual!
the sky is sad like some memorial
the sun has drowned in it's vermillion
a heart that hates the void perpetual
recalls each glowing moment of times gone!
the sun has drowned in it's vermillion;
your memory shines my monstrance personal”
―

“It was six hours to Hosannah Beach and he didn't glance at the silver coin that Dad had given him, not even once. All the way he clutched it tight in the palm of his hand and fel the bevelled edge bite into his skin. [...] Waiting in the car while Yvonne unlocked the house, he brought his hand up to his face and opened it. His sweat had the bitter smell of hot metal, hot and bitter, this was what leaving home would always smell like.”
― The Five Gates of Hell
― The Five Gates of Hell

“The sight of my mother's handwriting on the slips of paper and in the margins of the book causes me to inhale sharply, and for a moment I smell licorice, as if the mere sight of her heavily styled penmanship has produced an olfactory hallucination. It's a delicate smell, more like anise or fresh tarragon than the sugary smell of a licorice pastille.
Smell, I remember my mother once telling me, is the most powerful of the senses. Without it, there is no taste. Long ago I lost the memory of her face, the sound of her voice, the touch of her fingers. But I can still remember her smell, in the aroma of a sherry reduction, the perfume, delicate and faint, that lingers on your hands after you've run them through a hedge of rosemary, the pungent assault of a Gauloises cigarette. Any of a thousand smells are enough to conjure her memory.”
― Aftertaste: A Novel in Five Courses
Smell, I remember my mother once telling me, is the most powerful of the senses. Without it, there is no taste. Long ago I lost the memory of her face, the sound of her voice, the touch of her fingers. But I can still remember her smell, in the aroma of a sherry reduction, the perfume, delicate and faint, that lingers on your hands after you've run them through a hedge of rosemary, the pungent assault of a Gauloises cigarette. Any of a thousand smells are enough to conjure her memory.”
― Aftertaste: A Novel in Five Courses

“I could describe the way the smells of brine and sun have permeated every stone of every street, or the way the tide callers stand at their watchtowers and cry out the hour for their Cities. I could tell you of the many-shaped ships that crisscross the seas with careful writing stitched on their sails praying for good fortune and fair winds. I could tell you of the squid-ink tattoos that adorn the hands of every husband and wife, and of the lesser word-workers who prick words into flesh.”
― The Ten Thousand Doors of January
― The Ten Thousand Doors of January

“If you have a patient with a condition that's not understood why not ascribe it to a disorder that is also not understood? Autism occurs in males more than it does in females. So does higher order mathematical intuition. We think: What is this about? Dont know. What is at the heart of it? Dont know. All I can tell you is that I like numbers. I like their shapes and their colors and their smells and the way they taste. And I dont like to take people's word for things.”
― Stella Maris
― Stella Maris

“It rained in Hampshire yesterday, a soft autumn storm that brought down hardly any leaves. The dahlias are no longer in stem, and frost has withered the chrysanthemums, but the air smells divine, like old leaves and wet bark, and ripe apples. Have you ever noticed that each month has its own smell? May and October are the nicest-smelling months, in my opinion.”
― Love in the Afternoon
― Love in the Afternoon

“And yet there were things that I loved greatly: Paris, certain smells, books, love and my present life.”
― Bonjour Tristesse / A Certain Smile
― Bonjour Tristesse / A Certain Smile

“Suddenly a little wind stirred the trees: it shivered the fringed fingers of the yews where goldfinches were perching and pecking: then it smacked against the half-open window and the old loose frames muttered in their grooves. A current of air swept through the bedroom, cool from under a grey sky, almost cold. It was refreshing and smelt of freedom. If rocks were alive and breathed, they would exhale just that air, smelling of moss and running water. My bedside book seemed redundant suddenly; the morning's paper even more so. I banished the printed word, lay back and remembered . . .”
― A Countryman鈥檚 Summer Notebook
― A Countryman鈥檚 Summer Notebook

“There must have been a billion leaves on the land; he waded in them, a dry river smelling of hot cloves and warm dust. And the other smells! There was a smell like a cut potato from all the land, raw and cold and white from having the moon on it most of the night. There was a smell like pickles from a bottle and a smell like parsley on the table at home. There was a faint yellow odour like mustard from a jar. There was a smell like carnations from the yard next door. He put down his hand and felt a weed rise up like a child brushing him. His fingers smelled of liquorice. He stood breathing, and the more he breathed the land in the more he was filled up with all the details of the land. He was not empty. There was more than enough here to fill him. There would always be more than enough.”
― Fahrenheit 451
― Fahrenheit 451

“There was a smell like a cut potato from all the land, raw and cold and white from having the moon on it most of the night.”
― Fahrenheit 451
― Fahrenheit 451

“I took a deep breath and recalled every smell of my childhood: the cinnamon that dominated not only winter baking, but many of the tomato-based Italian dishes Mom loved; vanilla, always used as an undertone to her egg-based savories; and rosemary. When did she not use rosemary?”
― Lizzy and Jane
― Lizzy and Jane

“For me, who has been so much alone, it feels like drowning in a deluge of sights and sounds and smells.”
― The Stolen Heir
― The Stolen Heir

“He lived in one room on the top floor of a shabby house. It was dirty and untidy, and it was filled with a pungent odour made up of many different stinks.”
― Of Human Bondage
― Of Human Bondage

“Mail call. Someone throws a box on his bed. Curling, feminine handwriting addressed to Bobby. Cinnamon and chocolate wafts from the paper. Bobby鈥檚 fingers trace the letters of his own name, trace the grease spots starting to shine through the brown wrapping paper. You鈥檒l see, Adam had said. Someday. Bobby鈥檚 hands shred the paper and reach for a fistful of cookies, shoving them against his lips. Someday, Adam said. Someday.”
― The Price of Cookies
― The Price of Cookies

“There鈥檚 this smell that only exists in
Milwaukee in October. The thin smoky jet of laundry after the rain. Wet leaves half-drying, half getting wet again. Open PBR cans,
cigarettes, leather. A mix of youth and nostalgia, of losing something
as you鈥檙e living it. The feeling, both terrifying and comforting, that life would always
be exactly like this.”
―
Milwaukee in October. The thin smoky jet of laundry after the rain. Wet leaves half-drying, half getting wet again. Open PBR cans,
cigarettes, leather. A mix of youth and nostalgia, of losing something
as you鈥檙e living it. The feeling, both terrifying and comforting, that life would always
be exactly like this.”
―

“The whole place smells like roasted peppers, cilantro, and lime-- a welcome scent to her hunger.”
― The Ingredients of Us
― The Ingredients of Us

“Sometimes. I've dated a few girls in the past, but I never liked how they smelled."
"You're not serious." I gawked at him.
Wolfgang, on the other hand, laughed. "Nah, he's so serious."
"But, but. You mean they smelled bad or something?”
― SSS: Year One
"You're not serious." I gawked at him.
Wolfgang, on the other hand, laughed. "Nah, he's so serious."
"But, but. You mean they smelled bad or something?”
― SSS: Year One

“The hospital corridor stretched out in front of me, endless and blank, but the smells told me everything 鈥� blood and love and fear, and covering it all, the sharp, fake odor of bleach and cleansers, a mask that kept slipping.”
― The Scent Keeper
― The Scent Keeper

“In the enclosed space of the car, I could smell Andrew. He smelled like a library, like books and dust and photocopies and hand sanitizer. I was so grateful for him just then. It was so obvious that his excitement for me was genuine. He actually believed in me, apparently more than I believed in myself.”
― Lawn Boy
― Lawn Boy

“The smells of spices and coconut and sounds of searing meat and pots of seafood gumbo rolling to a boil always met me at the door--- that is, unless I arrived before the cooking began, and that was rare.”
― Bitter and Sweet
― Bitter and Sweet
All Quotes
|
My Quotes
|
Add A Quote
Browse By Tag
- Love Quotes 99k
- Life Quotes 78k
- Inspirational Quotes 74.5k
- Humor Quotes 43.5k
- Philosophy Quotes 30.5k
- Inspirational Quotes Quotes 28k
- God Quotes 26.5k
- Truth Quotes 24k
- Wisdom Quotes 24k
- Romance Quotes 24k
- Poetry Quotes 22.5k
- Life Lessons Quotes 21.5k
- Death Quotes 20.5k
- Quotes Quotes 19.5k
- Happiness Quotes 19k
- Hope Quotes 18k
- Faith Quotes 18k
- Inspiration Quotes 17k
- Spirituality Quotes 15.5k
- Religion Quotes 15k
- Motivational Quotes 15k
- Relationships Quotes 15k
- Life Quotes Quotes 15k
- Writing Quotes 15k
- Love Quotes Quotes 14.5k
- Success Quotes 13.5k
- Motivation Quotes 13k
- Time Quotes 12.5k
- Science Quotes 12k
- Motivational Quotes Quotes 11.5k