“The plane blew up.”
“I wonder what happened to all the other people?”
As soon as I’d spoken, I wished I hadn’t said that. I decided shy people shouldn’t try to make conversation, not even in an emergency. If I manage to talk to strangers at all, nervousness always makes me say the wrong thing.”
― Ann Halam, quote from Dr. Franklin's Island
“But I suppose I’m a typical nerd, good at the details, not very smart at seeing the larger picture. I’d gone in for the competition because I liked my science teacher, and it had been like doing any interesting piece of homework. I had not thought it through. I had never sat myself down and said to myself, hold on, Semirah, what if you win? You are shy. How are you going to survive for three weeks surrounded by total strangers?”
― Ann Halam, quote from Dr. Franklin's Island
“I walked all the way around the zoo, and then came back to a girl with a round face and fluffy hair, who looked like a baby owl. I like owls. I was about to say hello when along came Very Cool Girl, with her beautiful hair swinging. She smiled at me, and so did the baby owl. But oh no…My throat closed up. I simply could not speak. I can’t talk to strangers! I swerved off, and pretended I’d been headed for a nearby drinks machine.”
― Ann Halam, quote from Dr. Franklin's Island
“I’d given up on the animal identities, so I didn’t try to think of one; but I decided I’d sit down, not next to him but a couple of seats away, to drink my can of Coke. I would try to look casually inviting, and maybe we could strike up a conversation. I sat down, giving a sigh that might have been a sort of noncommittal half-hello. He looked up from the game he was playing on his GameBoy and stared at me, narrow-eyed. His expression said very clearly, I’ve got your number, Unpopular Girl. Stay away from me.”
― Ann Halam, quote from Dr. Franklin's Island
“Good morning,” I said awkwardly.
Being shipwrecked doesn’t make shyness any easier.”
― Ann Halam, quote from Dr. Franklin's Island
“We came across a rucksack, wedged in among the coral. It was fastened up, but it seemed to have been invaded by some weird fluffy white sea creature that was trying to get out.
“What’s that?” said Arnie, poking it.
Miranda and I took a second look, and started to giggle. “It’s tampons,” I said. “Expanding widthways when wet—”
“Yecch!”
― Ann Halam, quote from Dr. Franklin's Island
Ann Halam
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“A political system devoted to decline instinctively does much to speed up that process. —Jean-Paul Sartre”
― quote from Blitzed: Drugs in Nazi Germany
“يولد الله . الآخرون يفنون. كلمة الحق
لم تأت ولم تذهب : وما تغيّر
هو الخطأ. لدينا أبدية جديدة،
وفي الأخير يكون ما ولى هو الأحسن.
العِلم الأعمى، ما يحرث هذه الأرض اليباب.
الإيمان الأحمق، يحيا بالحلم عن عبادته.
الرب الجديد محض كلمة جديدة أخرى.
لا تبحثْ ولا تؤمنْ : الظلام يغطي كل شيء.”
― Fernando Pessoa, quote from Poems of Fernando Pessoa
“And we wouldn't live happily ever after, because I don't believe in such nonsense, but we both had a long, bold adventure ahead of us, and a great deal to look forward to at last.”
― Margaret Rogerson, quote from An Enchantment of Ravens
“By having less and doing more, we will be happier, healthier, richer, in every sense: less clutter, less regret, less anxiety, more meaning, more flow, more intrinsic enjoyment, better conversations, more connections, a healthier take on status, and a stronger sense of belonging.”
― James Wallman, quote from Stuffocation: Living More with Less
“Our mother might've said this: that immigrants are the strongest, that we leave our homes behind and rebuild. Everywhere we go, we rebuild.”
― Mira T. Lee, quote from Everything Here Is Beautiful
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Do You Come Here Oft...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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