Quotes from Homeland and Other Stories

“Sometimes the strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws.”
― Barbara Kingsolver, quote from Homeland and Other Stories

“As I looked at her there among the pumpkins I was overcome with the color and the intesity of my life. In these moments we are driven to try and hoard happiness by taking photographs, but I know better. The improtant thing was what the colors stood for, the taste of hard apples and the existence of Lena and the exact quality of the sun on the last warm day in October. A photograph would have flattened the scene into a happy moment, whereas what I felt was rapture. The fleeting certainty that I deserved this space I'd been taking up on this earth, and all the air I had breathed.”
― Barbara Kingsolver, quote from Homeland and Other Stories

“Children can be your heartache. But that doesn't matter, you have to go on and have them . . . it works out.”
― Barbara Kingsolver, quote from Homeland and Other Stories

“It's frightening, she thinks, how when the going gets rough you fall back on whatever awful think you grew up with.”
― Barbara Kingsolver, quote from Homeland and Other Stories

“Parenting is something that happens mostly while you’re thinking of something else.”
― Barbara Kingsolver, quote from Homeland and Other Stories

“She is too absorbed in the difficulties of being seventeen to want to hear the confusions of forty-four.”
― Barbara Kingsolver, quote from Homeland and Other Stories

“Sometimes that happens. Children can be your heartache. But that doesn’t matter, you have to go on and have them,” she said. “It works out.”
― Barbara Kingsolver, quote from Homeland and Other Stories

“It's a relief to share the uncomplicated affection that has passed between people and their dogs for thousands of years.”
― Barbara Kingsolver, quote from Homeland and Other Stories

“Over the phone, her laughter sounded like a warm bath.”
― Barbara Kingsolver, quote from Homeland and Other Stories

“I loved the time spent with him, but felt in some other chamber of my heart that it was time wasted. That I ought to be doing something else while there was time.”
― Barbara Kingsolver, quote from Homeland and Other Stories

“I don't know," Magda says, "Seems like that's just how it is with you and me. We're like islands on the moon.”
― Barbara Kingsolver, quote from Homeland and Other Stories

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Popular quotes

“Take my advice, though, and don’t back down. Fight for what you want. Even if it’s not important.”
― Teyla Branton, quote from The Change

“— ¡Capitán…! ¡Capitán…! ¿Qué broma es ésta? ¿Dónde se han metido?
Una sombra oscura nació de entre las sombras de la cocina. Era un targuí alto, muy delgado, con un oscuro "lithan" cubriéndole el rostro, un fusil en una mano y una larga espada en la otra.
Se detuvo bajo el porche.
— Están muertos -dijo.
Le observó incrédulo.
— ¿Muertos…? -repitió estúpidamente-. ¿Todos…?
— Todos.
— ¿Quién los mató?
— Yo.
Se aproximó sin dar crédito a lo que estaba oyendo.
— ¿Tú…? -inquirió agitando la cabeza como para desechar la idea-.
¿Pretendes decirme que tú, sin ayuda de nadie, has matado a doce soldados, un sargento y un oficial…?
Asintió con naturalidad:
— Dormían.
Abdul-el-Kebir, que había visto morir a miles de personas, que había ordenado ejecutar a muchas, y que aborrecía a todos y cada uno de sus carceleros, experimentó sin embargo una insoportable sensación de angustia y vacío en la boca del estómago, y se apoyó levemente en el poste de madera que soportaba el porche para no perder el equilibrio.
— ¿Los has asesinado mientras dormían? -inquirió-. ¿Por qué?
— Porque ellos asesinaron a mi 1huésped. -Hizo una pausa-. Y porque eran demasiados. Si uno daba la voz de alarma, hubieras muerto de viejo entre estas cuatro paredes…
Abdul-el-Kebir le observó en silencio y agitó la cabeza afirmativamente, como si comprendiese algo que se le antojó oscuro en un principio.
— Ahora te recuerdo… -admitió-.
Eres el targuí que nos dio hospitalidad… Te vi cuando me llevaban.
— Sí -asintió. Soy Gacel Sayah, eras mi huésped, y tengo la obligación de llevarte al otro lado de la frontera.
— ¿Por qué?
Le miró sin comprender. Por último, señaló:
— Es la costumbre… Pediste mi protección y debo protegerte.
— Matar a catorce hombres por protegerme resulta excesivo, ¿no crees…?
El targuí no se dignó responder y echó a andar en dirección a la abierta puerta.
— Traeré los camellos… -dijo-.
Prepárate para un largo viaje.
Le observó mientras se alejaba, perdiéndose de vista”
― Alberto Vázquez-Figueroa, quote from Tuareg

“In my whole life, I have known no wise people (over a board subject matter area) who didn't read all the time - none, zero. You'd be amazed how much Warren reads - and at how much I read. My children laugh at me. They think I'm a book with a couple of legs sticking out.”
― Charles T. Munger, quote from Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger

“The principal wasn’t using his normal office because I’d blown it up by firing a mortar round into it. (It was an accident.)”
― Stuart Gibbs, quote from Spy Ski School

“Everyone’s nice,” I say, and think of Paul. “Well, maybe not everyone, but I like everybody else. How about that?” I prod her with my elbow. “I like people.” “You know what’s happening? You’re having corrective emotional experiences. That’s where—” I groan. “No, we are not having a Psychoanalyze Sylvie session on the roof. We’re making fun of Paul and possibly shopping, not discussing correctional emotions or whatever.”
― Sarah Lyons Fleming, quote from Mordacious

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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.