“There are times when you can't do the sensible thing, when you can't act like a responsible adult at all; you just have to do whatever insane thing comes into your head. When bad people do it they end up murderers, when good people do it they end up heroes, and when the rest of do it we end up looking like total idiots. But when's that ever stopped us?”
― Iain Banks, quote from Espedair Street
“The sunset was really over, but a thunderously deep stain of red still lay across the furthest limit of the western sky. I looked out to it for a moment. Skye was somewhere out there, more felt than seen.”
― Iain Banks, quote from Espedair Street
“... as fur sneak nuclear attacks on anithir country, there was only wan state in history had ever done that, an it wiznae the fuckin Soviet Union.' - McCann”
― Iain Banks, quote from Espedair Street
“He was one of those men ... who know in their hearts that for all their edgy, belligerent hardness they are just unhappy kids, emotional retards.”
― Iain Banks, quote from Espedair Street
“There's this sloth in the jungle walking from one tree to another, and it's mugged by a gang of snails, and when the police ask the sloth if it could identify any of its attackers, it says, 'I don't know; it all happened so quickly...”
― Iain Banks, quote from Espedair Street
“And even a small amount of talent can go an appallingly long way, these days.”
― Iain Banks, quote from Espedair Street
“Aye,’ McCann said ruefully, ‘if yer rich yer just eccentric; if yer poor yer a nutcase an they stick ye in the bin.”
― Iain Banks, quote from Espedair Street
“Peddle one of the least harmful drugs humanity's ever discovered, and you get twenty years. Peddle something that kills a hundred thousand a year... and you get a knighthood.”
― Iain Banks, quote from Espedair Street
“I still don't understand fashion. Why do people dress up in new styles in the first place if they're only going to act all embarrassed and ashamed about them later?”
― Iain Banks, quote from Espedair Street
Iain Banks
Born place: in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland
Born date February 16, 1954
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“And this urge to run away from what I love is a sort of sadism I no longer pretend to understand.”
― Martha Gellhorn, quote from Selected Letters
“zoegirl: on the phone, angela kept saying, “is it cuz tonnie’s prettier than me? IS it?” i feel so bad for her. mad maddie: did she say anything to rob when she saw him? and did he see her? zoegirl: he saw her, all right. angela said he stared at her for like ten seconds, and then he turned to tonnie and started talking really animatedly, even though a blush had spread from his neck all the way up his face. zoegirl: angela grabbed chrissy and her mom and jerked them out the door, and then she burst into tears. mad maddie: that asshole”
― Lauren Myracle, quote from ttyl
“In 1852, of the 11,794 Chinese in California, only seven were women.”
― Ronald Takaki, quote from A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America
“Suffering is the greatest treasure on earth; it purifies the soul. In suffering, we learn who our true friend is.”
― Maria Faustina Kowalska, quote from Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul
“When you read the phrase “selling your product or service,” don’t just think in terms of the product or service your company sells, but also your individual and intangible personal product or service—you. And understand that you need to sell you and your ideas in order to advance your career, gain more respect, and increase your success, influence, and income. And”
― quote from Getting Everything You Can Out of All You've Got: 21 Ways You Can Out-Think, Out-Perform, and Out-Earn the Competition
The Chill
The Fuck-Up
Civil Disobedience a...
Shardik
Bronx Masquerade
Collected Works: Wis...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.
