“You do not want a war.
You have known violence, you have suffered loss, but you have seen nothing of war. War is not just the business of death; it is the anti-thesis of life. Hope, tortured and flayed, reason, dismembered, grinning at its limbs in its lap. Decency, raped to death...
You will be a murderer and more.”
― Joss Whedon, quote from Fray
“I'm not a leader now. I'm a whole damn army.”
― Joss Whedon, quote from Fray
“Nobody ever called me any OH MY GOD you mean that guy that one that set himself on FIRE!"
"As I said, fanatics."
"But he set himself on fire!"
"Centuries of useless, obsessive waiting. Makes a human-"
"HE SET HIMSELF ON FIRE!
"Maybe he was cold.”
― Joss Whedon, quote from Fray
“They'll all be waiting. Waiting for me to fall.
So, come on , guys. I'm just one girl. No big hero, no protector of justice, not even a bona fide one-hundred-percent slayer. So what are you waiting for?
Take me on.
Hurt my world.
I dare you.”
― Joss Whedon, quote from Fray
“So, what's first?"
"Dexterity. I throw things at you. You avoid them."
"You're not a complicated person, are you? Let's do it."
20 seconds later
"You hib me wib a girder!"
"How many claws am I holding up?"
"You hib my face wib a whole girder!"
"You were meant to duck."
"Can we skip degsteriby?”
― Joss Whedon, quote from Fray
“They come. Sooner than I'd thought, more than I'd even begun to fear. They come looking for death.
And Death is psyched to see 'em.”
― Joss Whedon, quote from Fray
“I'm pissed like this rutting beast can't conceive - I'm a lifetime of pissed, of strong, of muscle built over bruise, I'm slick with power and feel the fight as it changes...
As it flows...
...Everything into place, perfect, and I finally do what I was born to do.
I slay.”
― Joss Whedon, quote from Fray
“We are not saying that Evolution can't exist, only that it is guided by His Noodly Appendage.”
― quote from The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster
“Why should caring for others begin with the self? There is an abundance of rather vague ideas about this issue, which I am sure neuroscience will one day resolve. Let me offer my own “hand waving” explanation by saying that advanced empathy requires both mental mirroring and mental separation. The mirroring allows the sight of another person in a particular emotional state to induce a similar state in us. We literally feel their pain, loss, delight, disgust, etc., through so-called shared representations. Neuroimaging shows that our brains are similarly activated as those of people we identify with. This is an ancient mechanism: It is automatic, starts early in life, and probably characterizes all mammals. But we go beyond this, and this is where mental separation comes in. We parse our own state from the other’s. Otherwise, we would be like the toddler who cries when she hears another cry but fails to distinguish her own distress from the other’s. How could she care for the other if she can’t even tell where her feelings are coming from? In the words of psychologist Daniel Goleman, “Self-absorption kills empathy.” The child needs to disentangle herself from the other so as to pinpoint the actual source of her feelings.”
― Frans de Waal, quote from The Age of Empathy: Nature's Lessons for a Kinder Society
“I told you I’d make you caramel sauce one day.” And I told you I’d love you forever if you did, I don’t say back. I’m sure he doesn’t remember.”
― Sarah Lyons Fleming, quote from All the Stars in the Sky
“When someone who's starved of love is shown something that looks like sincere affection, is it any wonder that she jumps at it and clings to it?”
― quote from Autobiography of a Geisha
“After all, a person is herself, and others. Relationships chisel the final shape of one’s being.”
― N.K. Jemisin, quote from The Obelisk Gate
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.