“The point of life was to press on, to do the best you can, to make the world a better place.”
― Tom Clancy, quote from Clear and Present Danger
“I understand why we do that now. It’s a help, not a threat. It’s something to remind you how important words are. Ideas are important. Principles are important. Words are important. Your word is the most important of all. Your word is who you are.”
― Tom Clancy, quote from Clear and Present Danger
“The only real difference between a wise man and a fool, Moore knew, was that the wise man tended to make more serious mistakes—and only because no one trusted a fool with really crucial decisions; only the wise had the opportunity to lose battles, or nations.”
― Tom Clancy, quote from Clear and Present Danger
“Jack looked out the window as they passed the Mormon temple, just outside the beltway near Connecticut Avenue. A decidedly odd-looking building, it had grandeur with its marble columns and gilt spires. The beliefs represented by that impressive structure seemed curious to Ryan, a lifelong Catholic, but the people who held them were honest and hardworking, and fiercely loyal to their country, because they believed in what America stood for.”
― Tom Clancy, quote from Clear and Present Danger
“Privacy and loneliness were the traditional luxuries accorded to a skipper.”
― Tom Clancy, quote from Clear and Present Danger
“The arts and soldiering took time to acquire – time and discipline and desire. No, he was up against bullies. And bullies were cowards. These were mercenaries who acted for money. Shot as, on the other hand, took great pride that he performed his DUTIES for love of country and, though he didn't quite think of it in those terms, for love of his fellow soldiers.”
― Tom Clancy, quote from Clear and Present Danger
“Poor people have poor options. Chavez found the Army almost by accident, and had found it a true open of security and opportunity and fellowship and respect.”
― Tom Clancy, quote from Clear and Present Danger
“Politicians are more concerned with “issues” than “principles,” but talked as though the two nouns had the same meaning.”
― Tom Clancy, quote from Clear and Present Danger
“The President was trapped – and with nearly every president, it had come about from his own words. Presidential promises and statements… The people had this annoying way of remembering them. And even if they didn't, there were journalists and political rivals never passed on a chance to make the necessary reminders.”
― Tom Clancy, quote from Clear and Present Danger
“The mark of a good officer, Wegener repeatedly told his youngsters, was willingness to admit he had something yet to learn.”
― Tom Clancy, quote from Clear and Present Danger
“There is no seamen in the world who prefers a slow ship to a fast one. The painters painted better, the cooks took a little more time with the meals, and the technicians tightened the bolts just a little more. Their ship was no longer a cripple, and pride broke out in the crew like a rainbow after a summer shower.”
― Tom Clancy, quote from Clear and Present Danger
“The first step in accomplishing any goal was deciding that it was possible.”
― Tom Clancy, quote from Clear and Present Danger
“Under the circumstances, washing without soap wasn’t even as good as kissing your sister.”
― Tom Clancy, quote from Clear and Present Danger
“The Rule of Three is simply getting the other guy to agree to the same thing three times in the same conversation. It’s tripling the strength of whatever dynamic you’re trying to drill into at the moment. In doing so, it uncovers problems before they happen. It’s really hard to repeatedly lie or fake conviction.”
― Chris Voss, quote from Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It
“in this dangerous time when shadows cast shadows of their own, when darkness often passed for light, the just and the unjust wore the same face. Weaving”
― Dean Koontz, quote from The Silent Corner
“My high numbers were test scores, the low numbers and zeros: homework. Because my brain stores random unimportant bits of information like the stellar news that the capital of Sri Lanka is Colombo, but it doesn’t seem to have room for the knowledge of what homework assignment is due. The brain wants what it wants.”
― Laura Creedle, quote from The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily
“When it came time for me to give my talk on the subject, I started off by drawing an outline of the cat and began to name the various muscles.
The other students in the class interrupt me: "We *know* all that!"
"Oh," I say, "you *do*? Then no *wonder* I can catch up with you so fast after you've had four years of biology." They had wasted all their time memorizing stuff like that, when it could be looked up in fifteen minutes.”
― Richard Feynman, quote from Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!
“One can press a man as far as one likes—but with a woman one must not press too far. For a woman has at heart a great desire to speak the truth. How many husbands who have deceived their wives go comfortably to their graves, carrying their secret with them! How many wives who have deceived their husbands wreck their lives by throwing the fact in those same husbands’ teeth! They have been pressed too far. In a reckless moment (which they will afterwards regret, bien entendu) they fling safety to the winds and turn at bay, proclaiming the truth with great momentary satisfaction to themselves.”
― Agatha Christie, quote from El asesinato de Roger Ackroyd
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.