Quotes from Cane

Jean Toomer ·  144 pages

Rating: (6.8K votes)


“Men are apt to idolize or fear that which they cannot understand, especially if it be a woman.”
― Jean Toomer, quote from Cane


“Her Lips Are Copper Wire”

whisper of yellow globes
gleaming on lamp posts that sway
like bootleg licker drinkers in the fog

and let your breath be moist against me
like bright beads on yellow globes

telephone the power-house
that the main wires are insulate

(her words play up and down
dewy corridors of billboards)

then with your tongue remove the tape
and press your lips to mine
till they are incandescent”
― Jean Toomer, quote from Cane


“Call them from their houses, and teach them to dream.”
― Jean Toomer, quote from Cane


“If you have heard a Jewish cantor sing, if he has touched you and made your own sorrow seem trivial when compared with his, you will know my feeling when I follow the curves of her profile, like mobile rivers, to their common delta.”
― Jean Toomer, quote from Cane


“It takes a well-spent lifetime, and perhaps more, to crystalize in us that for which we exist.”
― Jean Toomer, quote from Cane



“Happy, Muriel? No, not happy. Your aim is wrong. There is no such thing as happiness. Life bends joy and pain, beauty and ugliness, in such a way that no one may isolate them. No one should want to. Perfect joy, or perfect pain, with no contrasting element to define them, would mean a monotony of consciousness, would mean death.”
― Jean Toomer, quote from Cane


“Whats beauty anyway but ugliness if it hurts you?”
― Jean Toomer, quote from Cane


“You are the most sleepiest man I ever seed.”
― Jean Toomer, quote from Cane


“Night winds in Georgia are vagrant poets, whispering.”
― Jean Toomer, quote from Cane


“Men had always wanted her, this Karintha, even as a child, Karintha carrying beauty, perfect as dusk when the sun goes down.”
― Jean Toomer, quote from Cane



“But words is like th spots on dice: no matter how y fumbles em,
there's times when they jes wont
come.”
― Jean Toomer, quote from Cane


“But words is like th spots on dice: no matter how y fumbles em, there's times when they jes wont come.”
― Jean Toomer, quote from Cane


“Her dress was of some fine, costly stuff. I suggested the park, and then added that the grass might stain her skirt. Let it get stained, she said, for where it came from there are others.”
― Jean Toomer, quote from Cane


“Men had always wanted her, this Karintha, even as a child, Karintha carrying beauty, perfect as dusk when the sun goes down.”
― Jean Toomer, quote from Cane


About the author

Jean Toomer
Born place: in Washington, D.C., The United States
Born date December 26, 1894
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“The truth was, it was myself I couldn't trust, my eyes from betraying my heart.”
― Elizabeth Chandler, quote from The Back Door of Midnight


“Boudicca MacDaede was not the most striking of women, but she had a wryness in character and heartiness in form that recommended her to the rough demands of a farmer’s daughter and a soldier’s sufferance." ~ First two lines of book 1 in the Haanta Series”
― Michelle Franklin, quote from The Commander And The Den Asaan Rautu


“And I don't just mean that they change you. A lot of people can change you—the first kid who called you a name, the first teacher who said you were smart, the first person who crowned you best friend. It's the change you remember, the firsts and what they meant, not really the people.”
― Sara Zarr, quote from Sweethearts


“No. Caia’s heart thumped angrily. They were not going to treat Lucien like some C-list recruit, whilst they pandered to her, just because they wanted something from her. And she needed Lucien close by. This was all so weird, so fast; she needed his strength beside her.
“Yeah, well, while you’re at it, ask Madam to arrange a guest suite for Lucien in close location to mine.”
He frowned. “Together you mean?”
Caia flushed. “No, not together. Next to one another.”
Lucien was beginning to look seriously, uncomfortably, pissed off. “Caia you don’t-”
“It’s not for you, it’s for me, so swallow it or choke on it.”
― Samantha Young, quote from River Cast


“When you say things like that to me, I call it a Kardashian. Know why? Because I'm looking for the but.”
― Richard Castle, quote from Heat Rises


Interesting books

The White Rose
(1K)
The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea
(9.2K)
The Go-Giver: A Litt...
by Bob Burg
Yes Man
(7.9K)
Yes Man
by Danny Wallace
In a Strange Room
(2.8K)
In a Strange Room
by Damon Galgut
Crazy Horse and Custer
(4.7K)
Crazy Horse and Cust...
by Stephen E. Ambrose
Angel Falls
(22.5K)
Angel Falls
by Kristin Hannah

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.