Quotes from Airborn

Kenneth Oppel ·  501 pages

Rating: (21.2K votes)


“You two were in a cave together?’ said Miss Simpkins in horror.
‘Yes,’ said Kate, ‘and it was very, very dark.”
― Kenneth Oppel, quote from Airborn


“Why do you need to fly so much?” she asked.
“If I don’t, it’ll catch up with me.” The words just came out.
“What will?”
I took my hands from my face, panting. I stared out at the storm.
“Unhappiness.”
― Kenneth Oppel, quote from Airborn


“The sky pulsed with stars. Some people say it makes them lonesome when they stare up at the night sky. I can't imagine why. There's no shortage of company. By now there's not a constellation I can't name. Orion. Lupus. Serpens. Hercules. Draco. My father taught me all of their stories. So when I look up I see a galaxy of adventures and heroes and villains, all jostling together and trying to outdo one another, and I sometimes want to tell them to hush up and not distract me with their chatter. I've glimpsed all the stars ever discovered by astronomers, and plenty that haven't been.”
― Kenneth Oppel, quote from Airborn


“Is there anything you can't do, Mr. Cruse?" she said.
"I can't sing," I said.”
― Kenneth Oppel, quote from Airborn


“Never climb a tree in a long dress," Kate panted, coming up behind me.

"I'll remember that," I said.”
― Kenneth Oppel, quote from Airborn



“There's fancy math to explain all this, of course. (...) But when you saw the Aurora, saw her floating and rising, you forget all about the match and just stared.”
― Kenneth Oppel, quote from Airborn


“I'm glad being shipwrecked appeals to you."

"Captain Walken made a point of avoiding that word."

"Well, he was trying to keep everyone jolly, wasn't he. It's no good having everyone running around screaming and eating each other."

"I wouldn't run around screaming," she said. "I can see eating someone in a pinch, though. If it really came down to it, I mean."

"I don't doubt it."

"Come on, Matt Cruse, don't you find it just a bit exciting, being here?"

"No."

She looked at me as if I'd suggested we stop breathing for a few hours.”
― Kenneth Oppel, quote from Airborn


“I whirled to see the snake springing up from the ferns and bouncing towards us, fast. This time we turned and ran. Every time I looked around, the snake was still there. I wanted to laugh and scream at the same time. The little creature was ridiculous. It was terrifying, and it was also gaining on us.”
― Kenneth Oppel, quote from Airborn


“I couldn't imagine such men at rest, their faces smooth and innocent despite the wickedness of their hearts.”
― Kenneth Oppel, quote from Airborn


“They’re eating liked starved apes,” Baz muttered as he swished past me with more food. “Haven’t they had enough yet?” he wondered a minute later when we passed again. “Keep your hands well clear of their forks,” he warned me as we pirouetted round each other at the dumbwaiter. “I was nearly stabbed clean through. They’ll be eating the cutlery soon!” “And us if we’re not quick enough,” I added. Baz guffawed then coughed to cover it up.”
― Kenneth Oppel, quote from Airborn



“I tried to lure sleep to me, but she slowly shook her raven tresses and would not come back.”
― Kenneth Oppel, quote from Airborn


Video

About the author

Kenneth Oppel
Born place: Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“Academe, n.: An ancient school where morality and philosophy were taught. Academy, n.: A modern school where football is taught.”
― Ambrose Bierce, quote from The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary


“I never saw a sky so blue. Rhett, it's worth living a man's whole life, if, just once, just one time, he gets to see a sky that blue.”
― Donald McCaig, quote from Rhett Butler's People


“There is a means to every end. A root to any cause. Sometimes the root is more evil than any cause, though it's the cause that is usually most vilified.”
― Michael Connelly, quote from The Poet


“Truth walks toward us on the paths of our questions...as soon as you think you have the answer, you have closed the path and may miss vital new information. Wait awhile in the stillness, and do not rush to conclusions, no matter how uncomfortable the unknowing.”
― Jacqueline Winspear, quote from Maisie Dobbs


“I shouted for no reason other than trying to shout out a bad feeling I had. A certain kind of lonely feeling. A feeling that embarrassed me”
― Ron McLarty, quote from The Memory of Running


Interesting books

Into the Gauntlet
(54.1K)
Into the Gauntlet
by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Bring Up the Bodies
(54.5K)
Bring Up the Bodies
by Hilary Mantel
A House for Mr Biswas
(15.3K)
A House for Mr Biswa...
by V.S. Naipaul
Agnes Grey
(41.6K)
Agnes Grey
by Anne Brontë
The Reckoning
(7.4K)
The Reckoning
by Sharon Kay Penman
When the Wind Blows
(42.8K)
When the Wind Blows
by James Patterson

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.