Quotes from A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True

“The stupid things you do in life are the most beautiful.”
― Brigid Pasulka, quote from A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True

“[The Pigeon had learned something about [women] from his eight sisters, and if over the years he had absorbed only this one thing, it would stand as vindication that a boy does not suffer needlessly from growing up in a house with eight sisters. That thing was that a woman's heart is not bought by the currency of a man's emotion for her. A woman's heart is won over by her own feelings for herself when he just happens to be around ...”
― Brigid Pasulka, quote from A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True

“If everyone knows so much about it, why do they need to make a documentary?”
― Brigid Pasulka, quote from A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True

“I press my back against the wall and feel the pressure of it against my whole body. I want to feel enclosed again, protected, safe as I was in the village. I wrap the blanket tightly around me, and I try to comfort myself by thinking about Tadeusz, but the loneliness that has opened up inside me is bigger than one person can fill.”
― Brigid Pasulka, quote from A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True

“It was just after the war. There was nothing left in Warsaw for me. He and his brother were coming to Krakow to make a fresh start. And he loved me so. He would have done anything for me.”
― Brigid Pasulka, quote from A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True

“I keep repeating the conversation with Taduesz in mind, reaching out to touch it to make sure it doesn't disappear.”
― Brigid Pasulka, quote from A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True

“Golden hands. It is said that all Poles have them, and that this is how you know your place in life, by the ease of your hands, that whether you are born to make cakes or butcher animals, cuddle children or paint pictures, drive nails or play jazz, your hands know it before you do. Long before birth, the movements are choreographed into the tendons as they're formed.”
― Brigid Pasulka, quote from A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True

“Over the weeks I am surprised to find that the more stories I record and the longer I carry them around, the lighter they become. I find out that the difference between knowing something and being able to talk about it is that there we many hands now, and we all share the burden”
― Brigid Pasulka, quote from A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True

“Normally I give permission to take my daughter for a walk after only the building of a wall and a stone pathway.' He smiled. 'For future reference.'

'But, Pan, I knew after the first week that a walk was not the only thing I would request,' the Pigeon said, smiling, 'and winter will be here soon.”
― Brigid Pasulka, quote from A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True

“That was before I found out that capitalists are just communists without the polyester.”
― Brigid Pasulka, quote from A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True

“When someone is telling you what to do all the time, anything you do of your own volition becomes a protest, doesn’t it?”
― Brigid Pasulka, quote from A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True

“But I thought you protested against the communists."
"Phooh. That was before I found our that capitalists are just communists without the polyester.”
― Brigid Pasulka, quote from A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True

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“Ella estaba sentada en la cumbre de una colina, contemplando Roma. El sol de la tarde volvía oro las estructuras de la ciudad.
-Jamás pensé que llegaríamos a este lugar-dijo ella.
-Y yo tuve fe en que lo haríamos.
Él tomó la mano de ella y le plantó un beso.
-¿Todo ha terminado?
-Por ahora-respondió él.”
― Kirsten Miller, quote from The Eternal Ones

“You seem like a strong-minded young woman. You’re very beautiful, too. I would have been proud to call you my daughter.”
― Jennifer Rush, quote from Altered

“You take yourself too seriously, " he said slowly. "You are too damn important in your own mind. That must be changed! You are so goddamn important that you feel justified to be annoyed with everything. You're so damn important that you can afford to leave if things don't go your way. I suppose you think that shows you have character. That's nonsense! You're weak, and conceited!" - Dom Juan”
― Carlos Castaneda, quote from Journey to Ixtlan

“She catches sight of herself in her video-feed, her face contorted with fury. Wiping spittle from the sides of her mouth, she reaches behind her to grab her lip gloss and reapplies it. “And don’t even start thinking about what a bitch I am,” she says. Her eyes are steady, the heat receding from her skin. “This is not my fault. I’m just doing what we have been trained to do. This is who we are, freida. This is who we were designed to be.”
― Louise O'Neill, quote from Only Ever Yours

“In the space of a single year, a crumbling rural village had sprouted an army town, like a great parasitical growth. The former peacetime aspect of the place was barely discernible. The village pond was where the dragoons watered their horses, infantry exercised in the orchards, soldiers lay in the meadows sunning themselves. All the peacetime institutions collapsed, only what was needed for war remained. Hedges and fences were broken or simply torn down for easier access, and everywhere there were large signs giving directions to military traffic. While roofs caved in, and furniture was gradually used up as firewood, telephone lines and electricity cables were installed. Cellars were extended outwards and downwards to make bomb shelters for the residents; the removed earth was dumped in the gardens. The village no longer knew any demarcations or distinctions between thine and mine.

pp. 36-37”
― Ernst Jünger, quote from Storm of Steel

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About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.