Quotes from Ender in Exile

“My needs are simple and few, thought Valentine. Food. Clothing. A comfortable place to sleep. And no idiots.

But of course a world with no idiots would be lonely. If she herself were even allowed there.”
― Orson Scott Card, quote from Ender in Exile

“If desire did not dim the brain, nobody would ever get married, drunk, or fat.”
― Orson Scott Card, quote from Ender in Exile

“One bachelor is an irritation. Ten thousand bachelors are a war.”
― Orson Scott Card, quote from Ender in Exile

“So from then on, he looked at all his choices and said, What would a good person do, and then did it. But he has now learned something very important about human nature. If you spend your whole life pretending to be good, then you are indistinguishable from a good person. Relentless hypocrisy eventually becomes the truth.”
― Orson Scott Card, quote from Ender in Exile

“It is easy to say that you can adopt the whole human race as your children, but it is not the same as living in a home with a child and shaping all you do to help him learn to be happy and whole and good. Don't live your life without ever holding a child in your arms, on your lap, in your home, and feeling a child's arms around you and hearing his voice in your ear and seeing his smile, given to you because you put it into your heart.”
― Orson Scott Card, quote from Ender in Exile

“Oh, Val," said Father. "All you have to do is live your life, and everyone around you will be happier."

"No greatness, then."

"Val," said Mother, "goodness trumps greatness any day."

"Not in the history books," said Valentine.

"Then the wrong people are writing history, aren't they?" said Father.”
― Orson Scott Card, quote from Ender in Exile

“It's easy to manipulate your children when they're absolutely sure you're stupid.”
― Orson Scott Card, quote from Ender in Exile

“In philosophy class I think we finally decided that 'good' is an infinitely recursive term - it can't be defined except in terms of itself. Good is good because it's better than bad, though why it's better to be good than bad depends on how you define good, and on and on.”
― Orson Scott Card, quote from Ender in Exile

“A man without a wife and babies is a menace to civilization... One bachelor is an irritation. Ten thousand bachelors are a war.”
― Orson Scott Card, quote from Ender in Exile

“Nonsense," said Graff. "Ender always has plans within plans.”
― Orson Scott Card, quote from Ender in Exile

“Oh, I'll live Ender's life, too. It's so much more interesting than my own."
~Val”
― Orson Scott Card, quote from Ender in Exile

“As history shows us, when colonization is voluntary, people will self-select better than any testing system. It’s like those foolish attempts to control immigration to American based on the traits that were deemed desirable, when in fact the only trait that defines Americans historically is “descended from somebody willing to give up everything to live there.”
Willingness is the single most important test.”
― Orson Scott Card, quote from Ender in Exile

“In the real world irrational things happened, impossible coincidences happened, because probability required that coincidences rarely, but not never, occur.”
― Orson Scott Card, quote from Ender in Exile

“It's about me, or people wouldn't be so anxious to keep me from knowing about it. The absence of information is information. ~ Ender”
― Orson Scott Card, quote from Ender in Exile

“Val," said Mother, "goodness trumps greatness any day."
"Not in the history books," said Valentine.
"Then the wrong people are writing history, aren't they?" said Father.”
― Orson Scott Card, quote from Ender in Exile

“There was some enthusiasm for a Caliban village, but it quickly dissipated when people contemplated a future village school and what the mascot might look like.”
― Orson Scott Card, quote from Ender in Exile

“And what? What's the other choice? To passively let things happen and then say: "Tut-tut, what at botch that was"? Don't we all manipulate people? Even if we openly ask them to make a choice, don't we try to frame it so they'll chose as we think they should?”
― Orson Scott Card, quote from Ender in Exile

“There is no harder job than parenting. There is no human relationship with such potential for great achievement and awful destructiveness, and despite all the experts who write about it, no one has the slightest idea whether any decision will be right or best or even not-horrible for any particular child. It is a job that simply cannot be done right.”
― Orson Scott Card, quote from Ender in Exile

“I am a Gordian knot. Don't unravel, just slice.”
― Orson Scott Card, quote from Ender in Exile

“There are rules to
everything, even if nobody made them up, even if nobody calls it a game. And if you want things to
work out well, it's best to know the rules and only break them if you're playing a different game and
following those rules.”
― Orson Scott Card, quote from Ender in Exile

“Don't judge me until you understand me. You can't understand me if you've already judged me.”
― Orson Scott Card, quote from Ender in Exile

“Ah, Vitaly, we all come from Eros."
~Sel Menach”
― Orson Scott Card, quote from Ender in Exile

“Nobody has control of anything. We're all beggars at the throne of fate. But sometimes he has mercy!”
― Orson Scott Card, quote from Ender in Exile

“Oh, Val,” said Father. “All you have to do is live your life, and everyone around you will be happier.” “No greatness, then.” “Val,” said Mother, “goodness trumps greatness any day.” “Not in the history books,” said Valentine. “Then the wrong people are writing history, aren’t they?” said Father.”
― Orson Scott Card, quote from Ender in Exile

“No," said Ender. "I don't know about souls. I just know that while we're alive, in these bodies, we can only do what our body can do. My parents believe in souls. I've known people who were absolutely sure. Smart people. Good people. So just because I don't understand it doesn't mean I'm sure it can't be true.”
― Orson Scott Card, quote from Ender in Exile

“If you spend your whole life pretending to be good, then you are indistinguishable from a good person. Relentless hypocrisy eventually becomes the truth.”
― Orson Scott Card, quote from Ender in Exile

“You are the least-alone person I have ever known. Your heart has always included within it everyone who let you love them, and many who did not.”
― Orson Scott Card, quote from Ender in Exile

“We are only human when we are part of a community. ... I tried to isolate you, but it could not be done. I surrounded you with hostility; you took most of your enemies and rivals and made friends of them. ... You were a part of them; they carried you inside them all their lives.”
― Orson Scott Card, quote from Ender in Exile

“What I understand now is this: There is no harder job than parenting. There is no human relationship with such potential for great achievement and awful destructiveness, and despite all the experts who write about it, no one has the slightest idea whether any decision will be right or best or even not-horrible for any particular child. It is a job that simply cannot be done right.”
― Orson Scott Card, quote from Ender in Exile

“My needs are simple and few, thought Valentine. Food. Clothing. A comfortable place to sleep. And no idiots.”
― Orson Scott Card, quote from Ender in Exile

Video

About the author

Popular quotes

“I abhour the dull routine of existence" - Sherlock Holmes”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, quote from The Sign of Four

“Past and future were out of her hands. One was finished and couldn't be undone. The other was beyond imagining.”
― Francine Rivers, quote from An Echo in the Darkness

“It is said that whomsoever the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad. In fact, whomsoever the gods wish to destroy, they first hand the equivalent of a stick with a fizzing fuse and Acme Dynamite Company written on the side. It's more interesting, and doesn't take so long.”
― Terry Pratchett, quote from Soul Music

“When I reached him, I anchored my hands on my hips and glared. "Do not get into anymore fights on my behalf." I didn't want him suspended-or worse. "Now give me your keys."
He gently flicked the end of my nose. "Haven't you heard? I do what I want, when I want, and there's nothing anyone can do to stop me."
I could knee him between the legs and simply steal his keys, proving otherwise, but all I said was, "Believe me, I've witnessed that firsthand," and held out my hands. "Now be a good boy and do what I want you to do."
He lifted the sunglasses and I saw a bright gleam in those violet eyes. "And what is it, exactly, that Little Ali wants?"
Little Ali. Ugh. "I said give me your keys." No reason to play nice. He certainly wasn't. "And if you call me Little Ali again, I'll smash your trachea the way I hear you like to to others."
Suddenly suspicious, he snapped out a quick "Why?"
"Because I hate it."
"Not the name. The keys."
"Hello. Because I want to stab you with them, why else?"
"Why?"He insisted.
Fine. "Because I need to practice my driving, and I promised my grandparents I would."
"You're telling me..." The glasses slid back into place as he cupped the back of my neck and dragged me closer to him, peering down at me sternly. "That you Don't know how to drive?"
"Of course I know how to drive. Now, if you ask me if I know how to drive well, the answer will be different."
He choked out a laugh, but backed away and tossed me the keys. "Just wait until the parking lot is empty before putting my precious life in danger.”
― Gena Showalter, quote from Alice in Zombieland

“I confess to not having listened to a word of the Declaration of Independence. At the time I barely knew the name of the author of this sublime document. I do remember hearing someone comment that since Mr. Jefferson had seen fit to pledge so eloquently our lives to the cause of independence, he might at least join us in the army. But wise Tom preferred the safety of Virginia and the excitement of local politics to the discomforts and dangers of war.”
― Gore Vidal, quote from Burr

Interesting books

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.