“Men kill for many reasons, they steal but for one-greed.”
― Sharon Kay Penman, quote from Falls the Shadow
“In my life, I've been both the besieged and the besieged, and I know damned well which I prefer!”
― Sharon Kay Penman, quote from Falls the Shadow
“Troubles may ofttimes be so dire that they cannot get better. But they are never so dire that they still cannot get worse.”
― Sharon Kay Penman, quote from Falls the Shadow
“His was a lonely, unorthodox conviction that war was man's ultimate failure.”
― Sharon Kay Penman, quote from Falls the Shadow
“He was too astute a politician, too ambitious a Prince, to confuse friendship with statecraft.”
― Sharon Kay Penman, quote from Falls the Shadow
“But in all honesty, I do not find it so peculiar a notion, that a Welshman should rule Wales.”
― Sharon Kay Penman, quote from Falls the Shadow
“Simon said nothing, thinking of all the good men who’d died because this inept, faithless fool had been born a King’s son.”
― Sharon Kay Penman, quote from Falls the Shadow
“You must try to understand, my dearest one. It was not treason, was but a dream bred before its time, that the King should not be accountable only to God. No mortal man ought to be entrusted with power such as that, for any king’s son may be born a fool.”
― Sharon Kay Penman, quote from Falls the Shadow
“for each age interprets the past in the light of its own biases.”
― Sharon Kay Penman, quote from Falls the Shadow
“An intimate enemy, death, capricious and cruel, ultimately invincible.”
― Sharon Kay Penman, quote from Falls the Shadow
“What is a thing worth, if it comes with no risk?”
― Sharon Kay Penman, quote from Falls the Shadow
“I asked Simon if he’d ever feared that all our struggles, all our suffering might be in vain. Not a priest’s question, and he shamed me by his answer, by the shining certainty of his faith. He said no, my lady, and then he told me of a cave he’d found whilst in the Holy Land. It was said to have magical powers; a man could shout and long after it had died away, it echoed back as if from the very bowels of the earth. Simon had so marveled at it that he’d never forgotten it. And that night in Hereford Castle, he said that whilst it might seem as if we were but shouting into the wind, our echoes, too, would come back in time, echoes to hearten the godly and haunt kings. He laughed then, but he believed it, my lady, and I found I believed, too.”
― Sharon Kay Penman, quote from Falls the Shadow
“He could not change his nature, could not help being cautious, deliberate, introspective, not traits to be scorned by any means, but traits that seemed dull, bland—even to him—when compared with Davydd’s hell-for-leather dazzle.”
― Sharon Kay Penman, quote from Falls the Shadow
“That may be infidel wisdom, but it is wisdom all the same.”
― Sharon Kay Penman, quote from Falls the Shadow
“Henry did not lack for physical courage; his was a moral cowardice.”
― Sharon Kay Penman, quote from Falls the Shadow
“A man just realizing the fatal extent of his own folly was not likely to be all that rational.”
― Sharon Kay Penman, quote from Falls the Shadow
“Mayhap not, but a king ought to be far-sighted enough to realize that if reforms are inevitable, better he be the one to carry them out.”
― Sharon Kay Penman, quote from Falls the Shadow
“But such was her faith in Simon that it colored her faith in God; unable to conceive of defeat, she never doubted that the Lord, too, willed Simon to win, and falling asleep in Simon’s arms, she did not dread the morrow, so secure was she in the strength of her yesterdays.”
― Sharon Kay Penman, quote from Falls the Shadow
“If, like the Romans, he must make a desert and call it peace, so be it.”
― Sharon Kay Penman, quote from Falls the Shadow
“Edward Plantagenet is no man to hold cheaply. Far better to take him at his own inflated estimation!”
― Sharon Kay Penman, quote from Falls the Shadow
“I don’t!” I said. “I don’t care what she thinks!” “Of course you do. Why else would you be angry?” I couldn’t think of a good answer. “Shall I tell you why?” she said. I nodded. “Because you didn’t know you had a choice.” “What choice?” “To be angry or not.” It was the silliest thing I’d ever heard. “That’s not a choice.” “Yes,” she said. “It is.” She waited patiently for me to understand. “How could that be a choice? When someone insults me, it makes me angry.” “If that’s true, then your feelings will always be at the mercy of others.”
― Catherine M. Wilson, quote from The Warrior's Path
“Oh, this beast? It's...perspicacious loris. 'Perspicacious' meaning 'wise or canny'."
"Get stuffed," Bovril said, then giggled.
"And it insults people," Telsa said. "How peculiar.”
― Scott Westerfeld, quote from Goliath
“James Potter moved slowly along the narrow aisles of the train, peering as nonchalantly as he could into each compartment. To those inside, he probably looked as if he was searching for someone, some friend or group of confidantes with whom to pass the time during the trip, and this was intentional. The last thing that James wanted anyone to notice was that, despite the bravado he had so recently displayed with his younger brother Albus on the platform, he was nervous. His stomach knotted and churned as if he’d had half a bite of one of Uncles Ron and George’s Puking Pastilles. He opened the folding door at the end of the passenger car and stepped carefully through the passage into the next one. The first compartment was full of girls. They were talking animatedly to one another, already apparently the best of friends despite the fact that, most likely, they had only just met. One of them glanced up and saw him staring. He quickly looked away, pretending to peer out the window behind them, toward the station which still sat bustling with activity. Feeling his cheeks go a little red, he continued down the corridor. If only Rose was a year older she’d be here with him. She was a girl, but she was his cousin and they’d grown up together. It would’ve been nice to have at least one familiar face along with him.”
― G. Norman Lippert, quote from James Potter and the Hall of Elders' Crossing
“It is a great deal to ask of a kitten, to defend a man against the armies of the dead.”
― Ursula K. Le Guin, quote from The Other Wind
“La plus belle des ruses du diable est de vous persuader qu'il n'existe pas."
("The devil's finest trick is to persuade you that he does not exist.")”
― Charles Baudelaire, quote from Paris Spleen
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.