Quotes from As She Climbed Across the Table

“My inner chemistry had been hijacked by a mad scientist, who poured the fizzy, volatile contents of my heart from a test tube marked SOBER REALITY into another labeled SUNNY DELUSION, and back again, faster and faster, until the floor of my life was slick with spillage.”
― Jonathan Lethem, quote from As She Climbed Across the Table

“My heart, to put it more simply, got nostalgic for the present. Always a bad sign.”
― Jonathan Lethem, quote from As She Climbed Across the Table

“My heart and the elevator, a plummet inside a plummet.”
― Jonathan Lethem, quote from As She Climbed Across the Table

“I'm learning to hate the sound of my own voice.”
― Jonathan Lethem, quote from As She Climbed Across the Table

“The speaker was stringy and angular, his blond hair pulled back in a ponytail, his plaid workman's shirtsleeves rolled up around his pale biceps. Journalism major, I guessed.”
― Jonathan Lethem, quote from As She Climbed Across the Table

“I am relaxed. It's just buried under layers of incredulity and panic. But underneath those I'm very relaxed.”
― Jonathan Lethem, quote from As She Climbed Across the Table

“This kiss would be with me, invisible badge or scar, when I went back to the apartment.”
― Jonathan Lethem, quote from As She Climbed Across the Table

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Popular quotes

“Your enjoyment of the chosen options will be diminished by your regret over what you had to give up. In fact, the sum total of the regret over all the “lost” options may end up being greater than your joy over your chosen options, leaving you less satisfied than you would have been if you had had less choice to begin with.”
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― Holly Bourne, quote from Soulmates

“Walker covers the mouthpiece of the phone and holds it out for me. “John, uh, I have the president on the line for you.”
I stare at her. “What? Seriously?”
Walker nods. “He’s apparently . . . um, changed his opinion on fully supporting the Loric. He wants you in Washington right away to discuss strategy.”
[...]
I’m about to talk to the president. I shake my head, eyeing Walker. “This isn’t some kind of trick, is it?”
“No,” Walker says, shaking the phone at me. “He’s for real. It sounds nuts but, apparently, his older daughter just experienced some kind of . . . vision? Where you gave a speech?”
Sam can’t hold back the laughter. “Get out!”
― Pittacus Lore, quote from The Fate of Ten

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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.