“No man can see himself unless he borrows the eyes of a friend”
― Colin Higgins, quote from Harold and Maude
“I heard a story once in the Orient about two architects who went to see the Buddha. They had run out of money on their projects and hoped the Buddha could do something about it. 'Well, I'll do what I can,' said the Buddha, and he went off to see their work. The first architect was building a bridge, and the Buddha was very impressed. 'That's a very good bridge,' he said, and he began to pray. Suddenly a great white bull appeared, carrying on its back enough gold to finish construction. 'Take it,' said the Buddha, 'and build even more bridges.' And so the first architect went away very happy. The second architect was building a wall, and when the Buddha saw it he was equally impressed. 'That's a very good wall,' he said solemnly, and began to pray. Suddenly the sacred bull appeared, walked over to the second architect, and sat on him.”
― Colin Higgins, quote from Harold and Maude
“How the world so dearly loves a cage.”
― Colin Higgins, quote from Harold and Maude
“The zoos are full and the prisons overflowing. My, my. How the world so dearly loves a cage.” She”
― Colin Higgins, quote from Harold and Maude
“It’s best not to be too moral. You cheat yourself out of too much life. Aim above morality.”
― Colin Higgins, quote from Harold and Maude
“well', he said. 'most people aren't like you. They're locked up in themselves. They live in their castles - all alone. They're like me.'
'Well, everyone lives in his own castle', said Maude. 'But that's no reason not to lower the drawbridge and go out on visits.”
― Colin Higgins, quote from Harold and Maude
“I am not a pest," Ramona Quimby told her big sister Beezus.”
― Beverly Cleary, quote from Ramona the Pest
“Practice at hunger makes the fast easier.”
― Julie Orringer, quote from The Invisible Bridge
“Why should we isolate people who are brave enough to try to become like us--who want to help people? Why should we treat them as if they're less than us, until they prove their worthiness or die? I won't do it.”
― Cassandra Clare, quote from Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy
“All our senses feed the brain, and if it diets mainly on cruelty and suffering, how can it remain healthy? Change that diet, on purpose, train mentally to refocus the mind, and one nourishes the brain.”
― Diane Ackerman, quote from The Zookeeper's Wife
“Dante's Hell is part of our world as much as part of the underworld, and shouldn't be avoided, Lowell said, but rather confronted. We sound the depths of Hell very often in this life.”
― Matthew Pearl, quote from The Dante Club
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.