“It's easy to hate and point out everything that is wrong with the world; it is the hardest and most important work in one's life to free oneself from the bonds of fear and attachment.”
― Noah Levine, quote from Dharma Punx: A Memoir
“The truth is, going against the internal stream of ignorance is way more rebellious than trying to start some sort of cultural revolution.”
― Noah Levine, quote from Dharma Punx: A Memoir
“The inner revolution will not be televised or sold on the Internet. It must take place within one's own mind and heart.”
― Noah Levine, quote from Dharma Punx: A Memoir
“...I didn't feel like there was anything incompatible with my love of gangster rap and my spiritual aspirations.”
― Noah Levine, quote from Dharma Punx: A Memoir
“The body breathes by itself. The mind thinks by itself. Awareness simply observes the process without getting lost in the content.”
― Noah Levine, quote from Dharma Punx: A Memoir
“The practice of celibacy alone was opening me up to a deeper sense of the way the mind-body connection works. I saw over and over that my mind and body could be filled with desire and that no matter how intense the craving was it would always pass. I didn't have to satisfy every desire that arose in my mind. I began to understand impermanence through direct experience rather than just intellectual theory.”
― Noah Levine, quote from Dharma Punx: A Memoir
“The more I practiced kindness and humility, the more the world seemed to appear friendly and manageable.”
― Noah Levine, quote from Dharma Punx: A Memoir
“The more my mind began to quiet, the more I found myself wanting to be surrounded by natural beauty.”
― Noah Levine, quote from Dharma Punx: A Memoir
“We agreed that at least to some extent the whole punk movement is based on the Buddha's 1st noble truth of suffering & the dissatisfactory nature of the material world. The punks see through the lies of society & the oppressive dictates of modern consumer culture. Very few punks though seem to take it further & attempt to understand the causes & conditions of the suffering & falsehoods, unfortunately punks rarely come around to seeing that there is actually a solution & a path to personal freedom. My own life's experience w/ both Dharma practice & punk rock inspired me to try to bridge the gap between the two. I've tried to help point out the similarities, while also acknowledging the differences, & to show those of my generation who are interested that they can practice meditation & find there the freedom we have been seeking in our rebellion against the system.”
― Noah Levine, quote from Dharma Punx: A Memoir
“Actually a solution & a path to personal freedom. My own life's experience w/ both Dharma practice & punk rock inspired me to try to bridge the gap between the two. I've tried to help point out the similarities, while also acknowledging the differences, & to show those of my generation who are interested that they can practice meditation & find there the freedom we have been seeking in our rebellion against the system.”
― Noah Levine, quote from Dharma Punx: A Memoir
“Narcissus is gorgeous. Like, imagine if someone could look exactly like bacon tastes and you have a pretty good picture of Narcissus (unless you're a vegetarian).”
― Cory O'Brien, quote from Zeus Grants Stupid Wishes: A No-Bullshit Guide to World Mythology
“I know this sounds ridiculous," he spoke solemnly, lacing his fingers in my hair. "But sometimes I feel like I'm caught in your gravity. And no matter where I am, anywhere in the world, if I wrote 'I love you' on a note, and made a paper airplane, and threw it into the breeze...it would still find you. My words couldn't escape you, any more than I can." (Ryan)”
― Dan Skinner, quote from Memorizing You
“Each type of magic corresponds to a different color glyph—white for air, orange for fire, green for earth, and blue for water.”
― Steve McHugh, quote from Crimes Against Magic
“Dwell in the past, worry about the future and find misery in the present.”
― Wayne Gerard Trotman, quote from Veterans of the Psychic Wars
“Je puis me persuader d'avoir été fait tel par la nature que je puisse aisément me tromper même dans les choses que je crois comprendre avec le plus d'évidence et de certitude.”
― René Descartes, quote from Meditations on First Philosophy
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.