Quotes from Hawaii

“No man leaves where he is and seeks a distant place unless he is in some respect a failure.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii

“This is the greatest evil that grows out of a wrong act. Somebody always remembers it … in an evil way.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii

“Why is it, Reverend Hale, that we must always laugh at our book, but always revere yours?”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii

“The chance emergence of the was nothing. Remember this. But its persistence and patient accumulation of stature were everything. Only by relentless effort did it establish its right to exist.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii

“wherever a human being goes, there is a challenge. Be the best man you can, and your gods will look with favor upon you.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii

“Therefore, men of Polynesia and Boston and China and Mount Fuji and the barrios of the Philippines, do not come to these islands empty-handed, or craven in spirit, or afraid to starve. There is no food here. In these islands there is no certainty. Bring your own food, your own gods, your own flowers and fruits and concepts. For if you come without resources to these islands you will perish... On these harsh terms the islands waited.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii

“I live for the few minutes I can talk with a sensible human being, but every time I do, I feel worse than before.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii

“how small he was and how wormy in manner,”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii

“Only a mind steeped in true love can write irony. The others write satire.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii

“If you try it,” Whip said, “you’ll be thrown out on your inalienable ass.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii

“Sometimes when the Japanese maids, in crisp white uniforms, had withdrawn, a Roosevelt appointee would ask timorously, “These Japanese, can they be trusted?” And The Fort invariably replied, “We’ve had Sumiko for eighteen years, and we’ve never known a better or more loyal maid.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii

“in 1954 it looked as if a deep schism had been driven down the middle of our community, pitting Japanese against haole, but the Sakagawa boys had the courage to back away from that tempting, perilous course. They reconciled haole and Japanese, and it is to their credit that they did so.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii

“the fundamental fact that law directs the ongoing of society. It is rooted in the past, determines the present, and protects the future.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii

“John Whipple did not allow his anger at such treatment to obscure his judgment. In years of trading around the Pacific he had often met obstinate men and the cruel situations which they produce, and he had learned that in such confrontations his only chance of winning lay in doing exactly what in conscience ought to be done. It was by reliance upon this conviction that he had quietly made his way in such disparate jungles as Valparaiso, Batavia, Singapore and Honolulu.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii

“When you are a citizen, the earth feels different.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii

“during the forthcoming even emptier years, she would still be there, a haunting vision of the other half of life, the womanliness, the caretaking symbol, the majestic, lovely, receptive other half.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii

“Patriotism is not a matter of the skin’s color. It is a matter of the heart.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii

“when the moderates were driven out, the radicals moved in,”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii

“The opening sentence alone contained thirty-six words—monstrous”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii

“there were many ways to judge the acts of an institution, and the pragmatic way was not the worst, by any means.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii

“Because a boy who could read would sooner or later come upon some book that would give him an idea, and a boy with an idea could accomplish almost anything.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii

“You will have to live among Americans, and they despise most freedoms, so conform.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii

“he could look at the evidence planted in the universe and from it derive a new concept, and a greater thing than this no mind can accomplish”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii

“but she possessed what was better than beauty: an absolutely realistic evaluation of life.”
― James A. Michener, quote from Hawaii

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Popular quotes

“And of course she had studied the civilization that had immediately preceded her own - the civilization that had mistaken the functions of the system, and had used it for bringing people to things, instead of for bringing things to people. Those funny old days, when men went for change of air instead of changing the air in their rooms!”
― E.M. Forster, quote from The Machine Stops

“If this is the last piece of heaven I get before I'm dragged down to hell, then I'll gladly take it.”
― Mia Sheridan, quote from Becoming Calder

“Setne’s dangerous,’ Annabeth said. ‘We can’t just go charging in. We need a plan.’

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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.