“Overriding everything else, the Titanic also marked the end of a general feeling of confidence.”
― Walter Lord, quote from A Night to Remember
“The night was a magnificent confirmation of "women and children first," yet somehow the loss rate was higher for Third Class children than First Class men.”
― Walter Lord, quote from A Night to Remember
“The Titanic woke them up. Never again would they be quite so sure of themselves. In technology especially, the disaster was a terrible blow. Here was the "unsinkable ship" -- perhaps man's greatest engineering achievement -- going down the first time it sailed.
But it went beyond that. If this supreme achievement was so terribly fragile, what about everything else? If wealth mean so little on this cold April night, did it mean so much the rest of the year?”
― Walter Lord, quote from A Night to Remember
“The clock in the wireless shack said 12:45 A.M. when the Titanic sent the first SOS call in history.”
― Walter Lord, quote from A Night to Remember
“This was the era when gentlemen formally offered their services to "unprotected ladies" at the start of an Atlantic voyage.”
― Walter Lord, quote from A Night to Remember
“Before the Titanic, all was quiet. Afterward all was tumult. That is why, to anybody who lived at the time, the Titanic more than any other single event marks the end of the old days, and the beginning of a new, uneasy era.”
― Walter Lord, quote from A Night to Remember
“Robertson called his ship the Titan; the White Star Line called its ship the Titanic. This is the story of her last night.”
― Walter Lord, quote from A Night to Remember
“Suddenly he was amazed to see a lifeboat floating near the starboard side. He phoned the bridge—did they know there was a boat afloat? An incredulous voice asked who he was. Rowe explained, and the bridge then realized he had been overlooked. They told him to come to the bridge right away and bring some rockets with him.”
― Walter Lord, quote from A Night to Remember
“Try and get off with Major Butt”
― Walter Lord, quote from A Night to Remember
“Mrs. George Widener was met not by automobile but by a special train—consisting of a private Pullman, another car for ballast, and a locomotive.”
― Walter Lord, quote from A Night to Remember
“It is a rash man indeed who would set himself up as final arbiter on all that happened the incredible night the Titanic went down.”
― Walter Lord, quote from A Night to Remember
“If wealth meant so little on this cold April night, did it mean so much the rest of the year?”
― Walter Lord, quote from A Night to Remember
“Possession of the ice didn’t remain a Third Class monopoly for long.”
― Walter Lord, quote from A Night to Remember
“But legends are part of great events, and if they help keep alive the memory of gallant self-sacrifice, they serve their purpose.”
― Walter Lord, quote from A Night to Remember
“Seen and unseen, the great and the unknown tumbled together in a writhing heap as the bow plunged deeper and the stern rose higher.”
― Walter Lord, quote from A Night to Remember
“Now we’ll get back home,’ he said. ‘I’m a bit tired of this land. Come on, Bears, help me to get the cottage back safely!’ He didn’t do the same magic as before. He drew a circle on the floor in blue chalk and the Three Bears stood inside, holding paws. Moon-Face”
― Enid Blyton, quote from The Faraway Tree Stories
“Competition is enjoyable only when it is a means to perfect one’s skills; when it becomes an end in itself, it ceases to be fun.”
― Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, quote from Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
“The first cut is always the deepest, but not every cut leaves a scar,” she said. “If you spend your whole life worrying about getting hurt, then you aren’t really living. You don’t want to shield yourself so much from the bad stuff that nothing good gets to you, either.”
― Chris Colfer, quote from A Grimm Warning
“Facets, Matthew. Each facet catches the light in its own way. It glints and sparkles and flashes uniquely. It would almost be possible to believe that the facet was the jewel; not just a tiny part of it. But, then, as we move the jewel another facet catches the light."
"So? What's your point?"
"My point? I have no point, Matthew. Save for the jewel, and the facets, and the light. We see an aspect of the whole. But the facet is not the jewel....”
― Neil Gaiman, quote from The Kindly Ones
“She had prayed for someone else, anyone else but Den. She'd been hoping for a nice, quiet man like Papa. Instead, the gods had sent her the man who'd scorched the world.”
― C.L. Wilson, quote from Lord of the Fading Lands
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.