“كأن أحدهم بعث بإشارة سرية تخبرهم أن الحياة ببساطة ليست قواعد ومحظورات وقيود، بل مشاعر أقل عقلانية وأقل رشداً وأكثر حرية مما ظلوا يعتقدونه حتى هذه اللحظة”
― Sándor Márai, quote from Casanova in Bolzano
“لا شئ أخطر من رجل لا يخضع للطاغية”
― Sándor Márai, quote from Casanova in Bolzano
“لحظة واحدة مكتملة قد تحوي أكثر إلي ما لا نهاية مما سبقها من سنوات وعقود غير مكتملة”
― Sándor Márai, quote from Casanova in Bolzano
“على المرء أن يتقبل الأحداث ويدعها تأخذ مسارها فحسب”
― Sándor Márai, quote from Casanova in Bolzano
“إن كل شئ يذهب، ما نفعله، وما نرغب فيه، وما نحبه، وما نقوله، النساء والعلاقات ، يتراكم تراب الزمن علي كل ما فعلناه، كل ما أثارنا ذات مرة .. لكن الكلمات وحدها تبقي”
― Sándor Márai, quote from Casanova in Bolzano
“لم أكتفِ بعد من الضحك علي الحماقة البشرية”
― Sándor Márai, quote from Casanova in Bolzano
“أن تعيش يعني أحياناً أن تنتظر”
― Sándor Márai, quote from Casanova in Bolzano
“يريد الناس الحب مجاناً، وبدون التزامات إن أمكن”
― Sándor Márai, quote from Casanova in Bolzano
“ألا تظن أيها الغريب أن ثمة نوعاً من الرجال تكمن كل قوة جاذبيته، كل مميزاته وكل سحره، في عجزه عن أن يكون سعيداً؟”
― Sándor Márai, quote from Casanova in Bolzano
“الحاضر ليس سوى استمرار لمحادثة بدأت منذ زمن طويل”
― Sándor Márai, quote from Casanova in Bolzano
“After the endless disappointing cups of Nescafé, served as though the tasteless dissolving granules of instant coffee were a delicacy, Alexis felt no cup of coffee had ever tasted as powerful and delicious as this.
It seemed that nobody had the heart to tell the Greeks that Nescafé was no longer a novelty – it was this old-fashioned thick and treacly fluid that everyone, including her, craved.”
― Victoria Hislop, quote from The Island
“hey its Uberunicorn here, im uploading my accountant for the first time! :D yay! im only uploading the books ive read in a short time: jan-dec, so i might not have so many books online j8st yet... - Uberunicorn, this one called cherub the recruit! Y X 3!!!”
― Robert Muchamore, quote from The Recruit
“What do you seek--God? you ask with a smile.
I hesitate to answer, since all other Americans have settled the matter for themselves and to give such an answer would amount to setting myself a goal which everyone else has reached--and therefore raising a question in which no one has the slightest interest. Who wants to be dead last among one hundred and eighty million Americans? For, as everyone knows, the polls report that 98% of Americans believe in God and the remaining 2% are atheists and agnostics--which leaves not a single percentage point for a seeker. For myself, I enjoy answering polls as much as anyone and take pleasure in giving intelligent replies to all questions.
Truthfully, it is the fear of exposing my own ignorance which constrains me from mentioning the object of my search. For, to begin with, I cannot even answer this, the simplest and most basic of all questions: Am I, in my search, a hundred miles ahead of my fellow Americans or a hundred miles behind them? That is to say: Have 98% of Americans already found what I seek or are they so sunk in everydayness that not even the possibility of a search has occurred to them?
On my honor, I do not know the answer.”
― Walker Percy, quote from The Moviegoer
“Whether this propensity be one of those original principles in human nature of which no further account can be given; or whether, as seems more probable, it be the necessary consequence of the faculties of reason and speech, it belongs not to our present subject to inquire. It is common to all men, and to be found in no other race of animals, which seem to know neither this nor any other species of contracts. Two greyhounds, in running down the same hare, have sometimes the appearance of acting in some sort of concert. Each turns her towards his companion, or endeavours to intercept her when his companion turns her towards himself. This, however, is not the effect of any contract, but of the accidental concurrence of their passions in the same object at that particular time. Nobody ever saw a dog make a fair and deliberate exchange of one bone for another with another dog. Nobody ever saw one animal by its gestures and natural cries signify to another, this is mine, that yours; I am willing to give this for that. When an animal wants to obtain something either of a man or of another animal, it has no other means of persuasion but to gain the favour of those whose service it requires. A puppy fawns upon its dam, and a spaniel endeavours by a thousand attractions to engage the attention of its master who is at dinner, when it wants to be fed by him. Man sometimes uses the same arts with his brethren, and when he has no other means of engaging them to act according to his inclinations, endeavours by every servile and fawning attention to obtain their good will. He has not time, however, to do this upon every occasion. In civilised society he stands at all times in need of the cooperation and assistance of great multitudes, while his whole life is scarce sufficient to gain the friendship of a few persons. In almost every other race of animals each individual, when it is grown up to maturity, is entirely independent, and in its natural state has occasion for the assistance of no other living creature. But man has almost constant occasion for the help of his brethren, and it is in vain for him to expect it from their benevolence only. He will be more likely to prevail if he can interest their self-love in his favour, and show them that it is for their own advantage to do for him what he requires of them. Whoever offers to another a bargain of any kind, proposes to do this. Give me that which I want, and you shall have this which you want, is the meaning of every such offer; and it is in this manner that we obtain from one another the far greater part of those good offices which we stand in need of. It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages. Nobody but a beggar chooses to depend chiefly upon the benevolence of his fellow-citizens. Even a beggar does not depend upon it entirely. The charity of well-disposed people, indeed, supplies him with the whole fund of his subsistence. But though this principle ultimately provides him with all the necessaries of life which he has occasion for, it neither does nor can provide him with them as he has occasion for them. The greater part of his occasional wants are supplied in the same manner as those of other people, by treaty, by barter, and by purchase. With the money which one man gives him he purchases food. The old clothes which another bestows upon him he exchanges for other old clothes which suit him better, or for lodging, or for food, or for money, with which he can buy either food, clothes, or lodging, as he has occasion.”
― Adam Smith, quote from The Wealth of Nations
“Ik lag op mijn arm tot er geen gevoel meer in zat en toen tilde ik hem op (met mijn nietgevoelloze arm) en legde hem op mijn borsten. Ik wilde weten hoe het voelde om een vreemde hand op je borsten te hebben. Het was wel aangenaam, maar wat weet ik er nou van? Ik zit vol rare verlangens om helder te kunnen denken. Moet ik mijn beha aan naar het feest?”
― Louise Rennison, quote from Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging
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.
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