Quotes from Five Weeks in a Balloon

“As for difficulties," replied Ferguson, in a serious tone, "they were made to be overcome.”
― Jules Verne, quote from Five Weeks in a Balloon

“Besides," said Kennedy, "the time when industry gets a grip of everything and uses it to its own advantage may not be particularly amusing. If men go on inventing machinery they'll end up by being swallowed by their own machines. I've always thought that the last day will be brought about by some colossal boiler heated to three thousand atmospheres blowing up the world."
"And I bet the Yankees will have had a hand in it," said Joe.”
― Jules Verne, quote from Five Weeks in a Balloon

“Huzza for the Queen! Huzza for Old England!”
― Jules Verne, quote from Five Weeks in a Balloon

“The man who was born to be hung will never be drowned!”
― Jules Verne, quote from Five Weeks in a Balloon

“If savages had the ways of gentlemen, where would be the difference?”
― Jules Verne, quote from Five Weeks in a Balloon

“Now, if the question were to destroy a lion, a tiger, a cat, a hyena, I could understand it; but to deprive an antelope or a gazelle of life, to no other purpose than the gratification of your instincts as a sportsman, seems hardly worth the trouble.”
― Jules Verne, quote from Five Weeks in a Balloon

“Poh! doctor, one has only just to follow things along as they happen, and he can always work his way out of a scrape! The safest plan, you see, is to take matters as they come.”
― Jules Verne, quote from Five Weeks in a Balloon

“la detinée les éloigna parfois, mais la sympathie les réunit toujours”
― Jules Verne, quote from Five Weeks in a Balloon

“là ou l'on ne peut passer au milieu, il faut passer à coté ou passer dessus !”
― Jules Verne, quote from Five Weeks in a Balloon

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Popular quotes

“told him the four sentences that lead to wisdom. He’d said them only once, never repeating them. But once had been enough for Gamache. I’m sorry. I was wrong. I need help. I don’t know.”
― Louise Penny, quote from Bury Your Dead

“Schon war der gestreifte, heruntergelassene Schlagbaum zu erkennen, der pilzförmige Unterstand daneben und weiter rechts Stacheldraht, weiße Isolatorenzapfen, vergitterte Wachtürme mit Scheinwerfern. Der Lastwagen hielt an. Alle betrachteten den Grenzer, der mit gekreuzten Beinen, den Karabiner umgehängt, im Unterstand döste. Zwischen seinen Lippen stak eine erloschene Zigarette, und der Boden war mit Zigarettenkippen übersät. Neben dem Schlagbaum ragte ein Pfahl empor mit aufgenagelten Warnschildern: "ACHTUNG! WALD!" " AUSWEISE AUFGESCHLAGEN VORWEISEN!" "KEINE SEUCHEN EINSCHLEPPEN!". Der Fahrer hupte diskret. Der Grenzer öffnete die Augen und starrte trübsinnig vor sich hin. Dann kam er aus dem Unterstand hervor und ging um das Auto herum.
"Ein bißchen viele seid ihr", sagte er heiser. "Holt ihr euer Geld ab?"
"Genau das", sagte der ehemalige Vorsitzende diensteifrig.
"Das lobe ich mir. Recht so", sagte der Grenzer. Er kam um den Lastwagen herum, stellte sich auf das Trittbrett und blickte auf die Ladefläche.
"Mensch, seid ihr viel", sagte er vorwurfsvoll. "Und die Hände? Habt ihr die sauber?"
"Jawoll!", sagten die Mitarbeiter im Chor. Einige zeigten ihre Handflächen.
"Sind sie alle sauber?"
"Jawoll!"
"Gut", sagte der Grenzer und beugte sich mit seinem ganzen Oberkörper ins Fahrerhaus. Von dort ertönte es: "Wer ist der Dienstälteste? Sie? Wieviele fährst du denn? Aha... Lügst du nicht? Wie ist dein Zuname? Kim? Passen Sie auf, Kim, ich schreibe mir deinen Familiennamen auf... Respekt, Woldemar! Du fährst immer noch?... Und ich bewache noch immer die Grenze. Zeig mal die Bestätigung... Na-na, jetzt mach keinen Krach, komm, her damit... In Ordnung... sonst hätte ich dich... Wie kommst du dazu, auf die Bestätigung Telefonnummern zu schreiben? Wart mal... Was für eine Charlotte ist das? Ah ja, ich erinnere mich. Warte, das muß ich mir aufschreiben. Gut, danke. Fahrt los. Ihr könnt fahren."
Er sprang vom Trittbrett, und seine Stiefel wirbelten eine Staubwolke auf. Er ging zum Schlagbaum und ließ sich auf das Gegengewicht fallen. Der Schlagbaum hob sich langsam, die auf ihm aufgehängten Unterhosen fielen in den Staub. Der Lastwagen fuhr an.”
― Arkady Strugatsky, quote from The Snail on the Slope

“He HAD seen the world. It had been scary at times, but also exhilarating. Who could have imagined it would be such a complicated, interesting place?...When you saw different parts of the world, you saw different parts of yourself. And when you stayed home, where it was safe, those parts of yourself also stayed hidden. ”
― Elise Broach, quote from Masterpiece

“People think librarians are unromantic, unimaginative. This is not true. We are people whose dreams run in particular ways. Ask a mountain climber what he feels when he sees a mountain; a lion tamer what goes through his mind when he meets a new lion; a doctor confronted with a beautiful malfunctioning body. The idea of a library full of books, the books full of knowledge, fills me with fear and love and courage and endless wonder.”
― Elizabeth McCracken, quote from The Giant's House

“The art of life lies in a constant readjustment to our surroundings.”
― Kakuzō Okakura, quote from The Book of Tea

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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.