“Nor had I any illusions about Algernon Charles Swinburne, who often used to stop my perambulator when he met it on Nurses’ Walk, at the edge of Wimbledon Common, and pat me on the head and kiss me: he was an inveterate pram-stopper and patter and kisser.”
― Robert Graves, quote from Goodbye to All That
“About this business of being a gentleman: I paid so heavily for the fourteen years of my gentleman’s education that I feel entitled, now and then, to get some sort of return.”
― Robert Graves, quote from Goodbye to All That
“Cuinchy bred rats. They came up from the canal, fed on the plentiful corpses, and multiplied exceedingly. While I stayed here with the Welsh, a new officer joined the company... When he turned in that night, he heard a scuffling, shone his torch on the bed, and found two rats on his blanket tussling for the possession of a severed hand.”
― Robert Graves, quote from Goodbye to All That
“Swinburne, by the way, when a very young man, had gone to Walter Savage Landor, then a very old man, and been given the poet’s blessing he asked for; and Landor when a child had been patted on the head by Dr Samuel Johnson; and Johnson when a child had been taken to London to be touched by Queen Anne for scrofula, the King’s evil; and Queen Anne when a child...”
― Robert Graves, quote from Goodbye to All That
“This is a story of what I was, not what I am.”
― Robert Graves, quote from Goodbye to All That
“England looked strange to us returned soldiers. We could not understand the war-madness that ran wild everywhere, looking for a pseudo-military outlet. The civilians talked a foreign language. I found serious conversation with my parents all but impossible.”
― Robert Graves, quote from Goodbye to All That
“...but [I] had sworn on the very day of my demobilization never to be under anyone’s orders for the rest of my life. Somehow I must live by writing.”
― Robert Graves, quote from Goodbye to All That
Robert Graves
Born place: in Wimbledon, The United Kingdom
Born date July 24, 1895
See more on GoodReads
“There were no whys in a person's life, and very few hows. In the end, in search of useful wisdom, you could only come back to the most hackneyed concepts, like kindness, forbearance, infinite self patience.”
― Chad Harbach, quote from The Art of Fielding
“We were left with nothing because of a love like acid that ate its way through our entire family.”
― quote from The Elephant Tree
“You’re not just any girl. You’re my girl.”
― Samantha Towle, quote from The Mighty Storm
“Live steady. Don't fuck around. Give anything weird a wide berth--including people. It's not worth it. I learned this the hard way, through brutal overindulgence.”
― Hunter S. Thompson, quote from Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72
“Egyikre sem felelt. Keserűen mosolygott, és simogatta a vizes kabátját. De akkor elébe állt Geréb, széthúzta vigyorogva a száját, és kevélyes fejbólintással ezt kérdezte tőle:
- Jó volt?
Nemecsek ráemelte nagy kék szemét, és felelt.
- Jó volt - mondta csöndesen, és hozzátette: - Jó volt, sokkal jobb volt, mint a parton állni, és kinevetni engem. Inkább újesztendeig a vízben ülök nyakig, mint hogy összeszűrjem a levet a barátaim ellenségeivel. Én nem bánom, hogy a vízbe nyomtatok. A múltkor magamtól pottyantam a vízbe, akkor is láttalak a szigeten az idegenek közt. De engem meghívhattok magatok közé, hízeleghettek nekem, adhattok ajándékot, amennyit csak akartok, semmi közöm hozzátok. És ha még egyszer a vízbe nyomtok, és még százszor és ezerszer a vízbe nyomtok, akkor is eljövök ide holnap is meg holnapután is! Majd csak megbújok valahol, ahol nem vesztek észre. Nem félek én egyikőtöktől sem. És ha eljöttök hozzánk a Pál utcába, elvenni a földünket, hát majd mi is ott leszünk! És meg fogom nektek mutatni, hogy ahol mi is tízen vagyunk, ott másképpen fognak veletek beszélni, mint ahogy én most itt beszélek. Könnyű volt velem elbánni! Aki erősebb, az győz. A Pásztorok ellopták a golyóimat a Múzeum-kertben, mert ők voltak az erősebbek! Könnyű tíznek egy ellen! De én nem bánom. Engem meg is verhettek, ha úgy tetszik. Hiszen ha akartam volna, nem kellett volna a vízbe mennem. De én nem csaptam fel közétek. Inkább fojtsatok vízbe, és verjetek agyon, de én ugyan nem leszek áruló, mint valaki, aki ott áll, ni... ott...
Kinyújtotta a karját, és Gerébre mutatott, akinek most a torkán akadt a nevetés. A lámpa fénye ráesett a Nemecsek szép szőke kis fejére, víztől fényes ruhájára. Bátran, büszkén, tiszta szívvel nézett a Geréb szemébe, s Geréb ezt a nézést úgy érezte, mintha valami súly szállott volna a lelkére. Elkomolyodott, és lehorgasztotta a fejét. És ebben a pillanatban úgy hallgatott mindenki, olyan nagy volt a csönd, mintha templomban lettek volna a fiúk, s tisztán lehetett hallani, amint Nemecsek ruhájáról a kemény földre csöpögött a víz...”
― Ferenc Molnár, quote from The Paul Street Boys
The Mind Parasites
The History of the S...
Demon Thief
Carry on, Jeeves
The Secret YearBookQuoters 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.
