Quotes from A Yellow Raft in Blue Water

Michael Dorris ·  372 pages

Rating: (15.7K votes)


“Don't ask so many questions and they will all be answered.”
― Michael Dorris, quote from A Yellow Raft in Blue Water


“How long does it last?" Said the other customer, a man wearing a tan shirt with little straps that buttoned on top of the shoulders. He looked as if he were comparing all the pros and cons before shelling out $.99. You could see he thought he was pretty shrewd.
"It lasts for as long as you live," the manager said slowly. There was a second of silence while we all thought about that. The man in the tan shirt drew his head back, tucking his chin into his neck. His mind was working like a house on fire
"What about other people?" He asked. "The wife? The kids?"
"They can use your membership as long as you're alive," the manager said, making the distinction clear.
"Then what?" The man asked, louder. He was the type who said things like "you get what you pay for" and "there's one born every minute" and was considering every angle. He didn't want to get taken for a ride by his own death.
"That's all," the manager said, waving his hands, palms down, like a football referee ruling an extra point no good. "Then they'd have to join for themselves or forfeit the privileges."
"Well then, it makes sense," the man said, on top of the situation now, "for the youngest one to join. The one that's likely to live the longest."
"I can't argue with that," said the manager.
The man chewed his lip while he mentally reviewed his family. Who would go first. Who would survive the longest. He cast his eyes around to all the cassettes as if he'd see one that would answer his question. The woman had not gone away. She had brought along her signed agreement, the one that she paid $25 for.
"What is this accident waiver clause?" She asked the manager.
"Look," he said, now exhibiting his hands to show they were empty, nothing up his sleeve, "I live in the real world. I'm a small businessman, right? I have to protect my investment, don't I? What would happen if, and I'm not suggesting you'd do this, all right, but some people might, what would happen if you decided to watch one of my movies in the bathtub and a VCR you rented from me fell into the water?"
The woman retreated a step. This thought had clearly not occurred to her before.”
― Michael Dorris, quote from A Yellow Raft in Blue Water


“These boots were made for dancing"(260)”
― Michael Dorris, quote from A Yellow Raft in Blue Water


“I'm not what they expect. About once a year I get discovered, get called a diamond in the rough.”
― Michael Dorris, quote from A Yellow Raft in Blue Water


“She'd have the two of them eating out of her shoe. I've watched her in action, but I could never get away with it. And, I console myself, being cute hasn't made her all that happy.”
― Michael Dorris, quote from A Yellow Raft in Blue Water



About the author

Michael Dorris
Born place: in Louisville, KY, The United States
Born date January 30, 1945
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“The fear of getting close to someone in case they leave me”
― Giovanna Fletcher, quote from Billy and Me


“For one little boy, this summer was going to be really exciting! He and his whole family were going out to do some camping!   This little boy is five years old, and big trees he loved to climb!”
― Tali Carmi, quote from Terry Treetop and the Lost Egg


“I thought helping someone else might take me out of my own head for a while.”
― Cammie McGovern, quote from Say What You Will


“Luís Bernardo deixou-se ficar até ao fim, sozinho, mais sozinho do que nunca, como se toda a ilha se tivesse despovoado de repente e, por entre os sinais de abandono e de solidão, ele buscasse os sinais da passagem de Ann para não morrer de loucura.”
― Miguel Sousa Tavares, quote from Equador


“Knowledge is often a responsibility nobody wants”
― Cecelia Ahern, quote from Flawed


Interesting books

Congo: The Epic History of a People
(3.4K)
Congo: The Epic Hist...
by David Van Reybrouck
#16thingsithoughtweretrue
(2.3K)
#16thingsithoughtwer...
by Janet Gurtler
Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis
(873)
Socialism: An Econom...
by Ludwig von Mises
Initiation
(74)
Initiation
by Young
Doctor Who: Dead of Winter
(1.4K)
Doctor Who: Dead of...
by James Goss
Forgiving Lies
(11.7K)
Forgiving Lies
by Molly McAdams

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.