“You build your world around someone, and then what happens when he disappears? Where do you go- into pieces, into atoms, into the arms of another man? You go shopping, you cook dinner, you work odd hours, you make love to someone else on June nights. But you're not really there, you're someplace else where there is blue sky and a road you don't recognize. If you squint your eyes, you think you see him, in the shadows, beyond the trees. You always imagine that you see him, but he's never there. It's only his spirit, that's what's there beneath the bed when you kiss your husband, there when you send your daughter off to school. It's in your coffee cup, your bathwater, your tears. Unfinished business always comes back to haunt you, and a man who swears he'll love you forever isn't finished with you until he's done.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from Here on Earth
“When all is said and done, the weather and love are the two elements about which one can never be sure.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from Here on Earth
“The sky is already purple; the first few stars have appeared, suddenly, as if someone had thrown a handful of silver across the edge of the world.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from Here on Earth
“When the cold comes to New England it arrives in sheets of sleet and ice. In December, the wind wraps itself around bare trees and twists in between husbands and wives asleep in their beds. It shakes the shingles from the roofs and sifts through cracks in the plaster. The only green things left are the holly bushes and the old boxwood hedges in the village, and these are often painted white with snow. Chipmunks and weasels come to nest in basements and barns; owls find their way into attics. At night,the dark is blue and bluer still, as sapphire of night.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from Here on Earth
“She can feel his blood, just beneath his skin; when he breathes, the air fills with smoke. He's like a dragon, ancient and fearless.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from Here on Earth
“It's not the lie that's the problem; it's the distance the lie forges between you.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from Here on Earth
“That is how you know you've left childhood behind-when you wish for time to go backward.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from Here on Earth
“Unfinished business always comes back to haunt you, and a man who swears he'll love you forever isn't finished with you until he's done.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from Here on Earth
“Among men and women, those in love do not always announce themselves with declarations and vows. But they are the ones who weep when you’re gone. Who miss you every single night, especially when the sky is so deep and beautiful, and the ground so very cold.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from Here on Earth
“This day is going to be awful. It's the sort of day you wouldn't mind losing completely, even if it meant your life would be twenty-four hours shorter.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from Here on Earth
“Young people believe that regret is something you will never feel if you simply do as you please, but sometimes it is a matter of degree.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from Here on Earth
“Do what you want, do what you will, do what you have to, do what you think you cannot.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from Here on Earth
“...early on Monday evening, when the sky was the color of a velvet ribbon falling over the hills.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from Here on Earth
“...and so many orchards circled the village that on some crisp October afternoons the whole wold smelled like pie.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from Here on Earth
“She truly believed that she carried her own fate in the palm of her hand, as if destiny was nothing more than a green marble or a robin's egg, a trinket any silly girl could scoop up and keep. She believed that all you wanted, you would eventually receive, and that fate was a force which worked with you, not against you.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from Here on Earth
“History is personal, Gwen understands that now. All you are seeing is what's before you, the rest is guesswork.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from Here on Earth
“Mrs. Dale was a good woman, Hollis will grant her that. A busybody and a pain in the neck, but she never judged what she didn't understand and that Hollis knows, is rare. Unlike Alan and the boys in the village, she treated him fairly, but that doesn't mean he has to moan and bellyache down at the funeral parlor. Ashes to ashes, that's all there is. If you can't change a fact of life, then be smart enough to walk away from it.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from Here on Earth
“Children would beg for a peppermint drop each time he walked into town, and they'd follow behind, asking for a second and a third. When he died suddenly, while working late at his office, every boy and girl in the village reported smelling mint in the night air, as if somehing sweet had passed them right by.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from Here on Earth
“...It's pure vanity to presume that love exists only on our terms. A red lead may be the universe for the tortoise beetle or the ladybird. A single touch the ecstasy of a lifetime. (180)”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from Here on Earth
“Some people know the exact moment when they've lost everything. They can look back and see it plain as day and for the life of them they can't understand why they didn't spot the situation as it was happening.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from Here on Earth
“That is how you know you've left childhood behind - when you wish for time to go backward.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from Here on Earth
“...he wants to be completely in control. In a way, it's a relief. ...[she] doesn't have to think when she's with him, or make a decision, or state a preference.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from Here on Earth
“Love has made him surprise himself. He would never have believed it possible, but it's turned out that he is a man who can walk up to a closed door on a murky November day, wearing his one good suit, and knock without hesitation, waiting while the rain comes down around him, even though he's not wanted. He can do this and not think twice, just the way he can spend hours watching a wounded cedar beetle and weep over its rare beauty, as well as its agony.
Richard is certain that other species fall in love - primates, of course, and canines - but he has wondered about his beetles. There are people who would surely get a chuckle out of the mere suggestion, but in Richard's opinion it's pure vanity to presume that love exists only on our terms. A red leaf may be the universe for the tortoise beetle or the ladybird. A single touch the ecstasy of a lifetime. And so, here he is, in love despite everything. It is he, stupider than any beetle, and far more obstinate, who has traveled three thousand miles, even though he fully expects to be turned away.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from Here on Earth
“History is personal . . . All that you are seeing is what's before you, the rest is guesswork.”
― Alice Hoffman, quote from Here on Earth
Alice Hoffman
Born place: in New York, New York, The United States
See more on GoodReads
“Lady Eliza.” As the voice washed over her, recognition set in and fury descended. “Who is that man?” Ben asked as he peered around her leg. “Why is he smiling at you?” “He’s an arrogant gentleman who is mistaken to think I welcome his smiles,” Eliza managed to get out. Ben suddenly tugged free from her hand and ran toward the man as fast as his short legs could carry him. Before Eliza had the presence of mind to react, Ben opened his mouth and clamped his teeth firmly onto the leg of Lawrence Moore, the Earl of Wrathshire. A howl of outrage escaped Lawrence’s lips. “Umm, Eliza, don’t you think it might be prudent to fetch Benjamin from that gentleman’s leg?” Agatha asked in alarm. “Give him another moment,” Eliza said even as she strode forward, her temper burning hot when she realized Lawrence was trying to shake Ben off his leg. “Don’t hurt him,” she snarled as she reached them and carefully pried Ben away from Lawrence. “He’s only a baby.” “With teeth like a shark,” Lawrence grouched, leaning down to rub his leg.”
― Jen Turano, quote from A Change of Fortune
“Liv,” he said, his voice rough with tenderness, “you don’t have to be afraid.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’ll slay monsters for you.”
― Nina Lane, quote from Arouse
“Terrorism” is a word that has become a plague on our vocabulary, the excuse and reason and moral permit for state-sponsored violence— our violence—which is now used on the innocent of the Middle East ever more outrageously and promiscuously. Terrorism, terrorism, terrorism. It has become a full stop, a punctuation mark, a phrase, a speech, a sermon, the be-all and end-all of everything that we must hate in order to ignore injustice and occupation and murder on a mass scale. Terror, terror, terror, terror. It is a sonata, a symphony, an orchestra tuned to every television and radio station and news agency report, the soap-opera of the Devil, served up on prime-time or distilled in wearyingly dull and mendacious form by the right-wing “commentators” of the American east coast or the Jerusalem Post or the intellectuals of Europe. Strike against Terror. Victory over Terror. War on Terror. Everlasting War on Terror. Rarely in history have soldiers and journalists and presidents and kings aligned themselves in such thoughtless, unquestioning ranks.”
― Robert Fisk, quote from The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East
“In life, there are no true beginnings or endings. Events flow into each other, and the more you try to isolate them in a container, the more they spill over the sides, like canal-water breaching its artificial banks. A related point is that the things we label 'beginnings' and 'endings' are often, in reality, indistinguishable. They are one and the same thing. This is one of the things the Death card symbolizes in tarot - an end that is also a new beginning.”
― Gavin Extence, quote from The Universe Versus Alex Woods
“She took a deep breath and forgot to exhale. She wondered what it would be like if she licked him up one side and down the other.
"What are you thinking?"
She suddenly felt kind of hot and dizzy and accidentally let Layla out.
"That I want to lick your tattoo," she whispered.”
― Rachel Gibson, quote from True Love and Other Disasters
The Prophets
Kitty Raises Hell
In Between
The Demon's Lexicon
MakersBookQuoters 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.
