The Beach Quotes

“Though I walk through the valley of death I will fear no evil, for I am the evilest motherfucker in the valley”
― Alex Garland

“I carry a lot of scars. I like the way that sounds. I carry a lot of scars.”
― Alex Garland

“Sand lines my soul which is filled with the breath of the ocean.”
― A.D. Posey

“Normally, small talk is enough for me to form an opinion of someone. I make quick judgments, often completely wrong, and then stick by them rigidly. ”
― Alex Garland

“Of course witnessing poverty was the first to be ticked off the list. Then I had to graduate to the more obscure stuff. Being in a riot was something I pursued with a truly obsessive zeal, along with being tear-gassed and hearing gunshots fired in anger.”
― Alex Garland

“Moshe was an Israeli with an ear-slitting laugh. He used it in the same way as a madman uses a gun, spraying it around with bewildering randomness.”
― Alex Garland, The Beach

“On that trip I learnt something very important. Escape through travel works. Almost from the moment I boarded my flight, life in England became meaningless. Seat-belt signs lit up, problems switched off. Broken armrests took precedence over broken hearts. By the time the plane was airborne I'd forgotten England even existed." (The Beach)”
― Alex Garland

“Ah yes, now you’re beginning to feel it. It’s so satisfying to see my best efforts coming to fruition. Undoubtedly one of the most gratifying rewards of my profession. It would warm my heart—if I had one.”
― Jaye Frances, The Beach

“So this was the reverse of dazzling Nauset.
The flip of the coin - the flip of an ocean fallen
Dream-face down. And here, at my feet, in the suds,
The other face, the real, staring upwards.”
― Ted Hughes, Birthday Letters

“There was nothing strange about it. Jed and i were on a covert mission. We had dinoculars, jungle, a quarry, a threat, the hidden presence of AK-47s and slanted eyes. The only missing element was a Doors soundtrack.”
― Alex Garland, The Beach

“The child tells me her grandmother
showed her how to cure sadness
by sucking the juice of an orange,
while standing on a beach.

Toss the peels onto a wave.
Watch the sadness float away.”
― Margarita Engle, The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom

“I paused. "...I'm not dreaming."
"True."
"Then I'm going insane."
"Do you want an honest answer?"
"Yes."
He shrugged. "I'd only query the tense. But I'm not a professional, so, you know, seek out a second opinion.”
― Alex Garland, The Beach

“Oh, what the ocean did to a man. How unmatched it was. One could competitively build a giant castle made of sand or even hire architects to construct a true castle by the shore made of rocks and furnish its enormous insides with crystals. Yet plop him closer to the sea and within seconds, he will yield and feel as dumb as any other measly man lost at land.”
― Karl Kristian Flores, A Happy Ghost

“The waves thundered still onto the beach the next morning and Davy spent a good hour watching them pound the sand. It was therapeutic. He didn't know which he identified with more - the surf, raging against immovable stone outcroppings, or the rocks, taking enormous punishment without being able to strike back”
― Stephen Charles Gould

“Andrei’s bruised mouth loosened and inhaled the saltwater scent of his water planet. And as easy as it was to breathe, tears rolled down his tender cheeks. This was no less than the transaction between nature and man. Beauty is known to pull out fluids from humans that surrender to it.”
― Karl Kristian Flores, A Happy Ghost

“The sea soaks my ankles and then recedes, it soaks my knees, then my thighs; it wraps its tender arm around my waist and caresses my breasts; it embraces my neck and presses against my shoulders. I immerse myself in the sea, fully. I give myself over to its steady force, its gentle possession, holding nothing back”
― Juan Rulfo, Pedro Páramo