“Anyone else feel like that? Like your life's a big act. Like you're trying to be a man when you're just a scared kid, trying to keep under control when you really want to scream, cry, maybe hit someone. Ever feel like you're breathing underwater, and you have to stop because you're gulping in too much fluid?”
― Alex Flinn, quote from Breathing Underwater
“It's easier to fake it. When you fake it for sixteen years, it becomes part of you, something you don't think about.”
― Alex Flinn, quote from Breathing Underwater
“What happened December 12?” Polyester asks.
I look at the wall, my attention suddenly riveted by a palmetto bug, feelers writhing. I could kill it if I wanted.
He hit me.”
The bug slides to the floor.”
― Alex Flinn, quote from Breathing Underwater
“Funny how you can know something and yet not believe it's possible.”
― Alex Flinn, quote from Breathing Underwater
“I remember, now, how to cry.”
― Alex Flinn, quote from Breathing Underwater
“I can't go on like this”
― Alex Flinn, quote from Breathing Underwater
“We accept without question that we–human beings– are the center of the universe. Talk about hubris. But when a woman says, 'I love you', that won't go through our skulls.”
― Alex Flinn, quote from Breathing Underwater
“You can't respect yourself if you're letting someone beat you up–inside or out.”
― Alex Flinn, quote from Breathing Underwater
“It's about doing the right thing even if you don't want to do it. About taking responsibility for your actions...it's about letting go when you really, really want to hold on so bad.”
― Alex Flinn, quote from Breathing Underwater
“Somewhere down the road...I hope you find [that girls] don't all have the same thing between their ears. The good ones don't put up with macho mind games.”
― Alex Flinn, quote from Breathing Underwater
“Control is part of faking it”
― Alex Flinn, quote from Breathing Underwater
“And Caitlin smiled. I Wanted to put her smile in my pocket to look at over and over”
― Alex Flinn, quote from Breathing Underwater
“Having screwed around the last hour trying to decide whether to write in the style of Isaac Asimov (that version featured Caitlin as a Venusian chick with one eye and three breasts) or Dr. Seuss (“I am Nick/Nick is sick/Nick tells Debbie to…” well, you get the idea),”
― Alex Flinn, quote from Breathing Underwater
“My lords.” She curtsied but came up frowning at Westhaven. “Forgive me if I note you rise slowly. Are you well?” The earl glanced at his brother repressively. “My brother is not in good health?” Val asked, grinning. “Do tell.” “I merely suffered a little bump on the head,” the earl said, “and Mrs. Seaton spared me the attentions of the physicians.” Mrs. Seaton was still frowning, but the earl went on, forestalling her reply. “You may tend to your flowers, Mrs. Seaton, and I echo my brother’s compliments: Tea is most pleasant.”
― Grace Burrowes, quote from The Heir
“But when the thing that is scaring you is already Jesus, who are you supposed to pray to?”
― Lynda Barry, quote from Cruddy
“You have to eliminate the low-hanging targets first, on the off chance you were dealing with morons.”
― John Scalzi, quote from The Android's Dream
“One walks along a street and strays unknowingly from one's path; one then looks up and suddenly for those familiar landmarks of orientation, and, seeing none, one feels lost. Panic drapes the look of the world in a strangeness, and the more one stares blankly at the world, the stranger it looks, the more hideously frightening it seems. There is then born in one a wild, hot wish to project out upon the alien world the world that one is seeking. This wish is a hunger for power, to be in command of one's self.”
― Richard Wright, quote from The Outsider
“Belief as such always has doubt at the bottom. It's knowing that makes wizardry work. Only knowing can banish doubt.”
― Diane Duane, quote from Deep Wizardry
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.