Quotes from Good Night, Mr. Tom

“I’d rather be happy and odd than miserable and ordinary,' she said, sticking her chin in the air.”
― Michelle Magorian, quote from Good Night, Mr. Tom

“It occurred to him that strength was quite different from toughness and that being vulnerable wasn't quite the same as being weak.”
― Michelle Magorian, quote from Good Night, Mr. Tom

“Miss Thorne said no more. Poor boy, she thought, away from his loving home and now dumped with an irritable old man. Tom”
― Michelle Magorian, quote from Good Night, Mr. Tom

“I expect you think I’m a bit forward,’ remarked Zach. ‘Wot?”
― Michelle Magorian, quote from Good Night, Mr. Tom

About the author

Popular quotes

“When Papa finished surveying the tools, he shut the shed as best he could and they headed toward the house. Ivy gasped when they reached the back door. Someone had painted the words: “Papa, that’s awful!” Papa sucked air through gritted teeth. “I do not like these words.” “Papa, the son’s feelings will be hurt if he sees this. He wouldn’t be pleased. We should paint over it.” “I’m glad you feel that way. That’s exactly what we should do. We need to look inside the house, too, but it will take some time to go through their things. Maybe Mama can do it next week.”
― Pam Muñoz Ryan, quote from Echo

“Bones informed dryly, watching him arrange his study tools just perfectly. You know there is a name for what you're doing. I believe it's called ... Bones tapped his temple. Something, something, disorder. "Very funny," Reginald muttered in a sing song tone. "You should try actually paying attention when I study. If you did, you'd know it's called obsessive compulsive disorder, or OCD, but that's not what I'm doing. This is simply me being exactly orderly." Right.”
― Lucian Bane, quote from Reginald Bones: Part One

“The cult of moral grayness is a revolt against moral values.”
― Ayn Rand, quote from The Virtue of Selfishness: A New Concept of Egoism

“As for Porthos, I believe him to be eternal, like God, although less patient.”
― Alexandre Dumas, quote from Twenty Years After

“What grief is not taken away by time? What passion will survive an unequal battle with it? I knew a man in the bloom of his still youthful powers, filled with true nobility and virtue, I knew him when he was in love, tenderly, passionately, furiously, boldly, modestly, and before me, almost before my eyes, the object of his passion - tender, beautiful as an angel - was struck down by insatiable death. I never saw such terrible fits of inner suffering, such furious scorching anguish, such devouring despair as shook the unfortunate lover. I never thought a man could create such a hell for himself, in which there would be no shadow, no image, nothing in the least resembling hope... They tried to keep an eye on him; they hid all instruments he might have used to take his own life. Two weeks later he suddenly mastered himself: he began to laugh, to joke; freedom was granted him, and the first thing he did was buy a pistol. One day his family was terribly frightened by the sudden sound of a shot. They ran into the room and saw him lying with his brains blown out. A doctor who happened to be there, whose skill was on everyone's lips, saw signs of life in him, found that the wound was not quite mortal, and the man, to everyone's amazement, was healed. The watch on him was increased still more. Even at the table they did not give him a knife to and tried to take away from him anything that he might strike himself with; but a short while later he found a new occasion and threw himself under the wheels of a passing carriage. His arms and legs were crushed; but again they saved him. A year later I saw him in a crowded room; he sat at the card table gaily saying 'Petite ouverte,' keeping one card turned down, and behind him, leaning on the back of his chair, stood his young wife, who was sorting through his chips.”
― Nikolai Gogol, quote from The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol

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.