“A failure is not always a mistake, it may simply be the best one can do under the circumstances. The real mistake is to stop trying.”
― Mary Frame, quote from Imperfect Chemistry
“is not the absence of fear but rather the judgment that something is more important than fear. The brave may not live forever but the cautious do not live at all.”
― Mary Frame, quote from Imperfect Chemistry
“Words can be sweetly encouraging or downright dirty, but they are almost always a powerful aphrodisiac. –Dr. Ruth”
― Mary Frame, quote from Imperfect Chemistry
“Ask the question. Always ask the question, never assume.”
― Mary Frame, quote from Imperfect Chemistry
“Nearly everyone who sees you complains,” he says. “Nearly? There are some people who don’t complain?” I ask. “I was being nice. Everyone who sees you complains,” he says. That can’t be true.”
― Mary Frame, quote from Imperfect Chemistry
“A failure is not always a mistake, it may simply be the best one can do under the circumstances. The real mistake is to stop trying. –B.F. Skinner”
― Mary Frame, quote from Imperfect Chemistry
“I shut the door firmly behind me. I shut it on Jensen, but I can’t shut it on myself and on the strange and foreign feelings churning inside.”
― Mary Frame, quote from Imperfect Chemistry
“I believe that a scientist looking at nonscientific problems is just as dumb as the next guy. –Richard Feynman”
― Mary Frame, quote from Imperfect Chemistry
“He laughs. “Why does she do that?” “The world may never know.”
― Mary Frame, quote from Imperfect Chemistry
“Mi abuela tenía una teoría muy interesante; decía que todos nacemos con una caja de fósforos adentro, pero que no podemos encenderlos solos... necesitamos la ayuda del oxígeno y una vela. En este caso el oxígeno, por ejemplo, vendría del aliento de la persona que amamos; la vela podría ser cualquier tipo de comida, música, caricia, palabra o sonido que engendre la explosión que encenderá uno de los fósforos. Por un momento, nos deslumbra una emoción intensa. Una tibieza placentera crece dentro de nosotros, desvaneciéndose a medida que pasa el tiempo, hasta que llega una nueva explosión a revivirla. Cada persona tiene que descubrir qué disparará esas explosiones para poder vivir, puesto que la combustión que ocurre cuando uno de los fósforos se enciende es lo que nutre al alma. Ese fuego, en resumen, es su alimento. Si uno no averigua a tiempo qué cosa inicia esas explosiones, la caja de fósforos se humedece y ni uno solo de los fósforos se encenderá nunca.”
― Laura Esquivel, quote from Like Water for Chocolate
“I want to tell you something today, something that I have known for a long while, and you know it too; but perhaps you have never said it to yourself. I am going to tell you now what it is that I know about you and me and our fate. You, Harry, have been an artist and a thinker, a man full of joy and faith, always on the track of what is great and eternal, never content with the trivial and petty. But the more life has awakened you and brought you back to yourself, the greater has you need been and the deeper the sufferings and dread and despair that have overtaken you, till you were up to your neck in them. And all that you once knew and loved and revered as beautiful and sacred, all the belief you once had in mankind and our high destiny, has been of no avail and has lost its worth and gone to pieces. Your faith found no more air to breathe. And suffocation is a hard death. Is that true, Harry? Is that your fate?”
― Hermann Hesse, quote from Steppenwolf
“No,' he said, 'memory's a poor thing to have. It's your own real hair and mouth and arms and eyes and hands I want. I didn't know I could ever love anything so much...”
― Philip Pullman, quote from The Amber Spyglass
“we don't belong to each other: he's an independent, and so am I.”
― Truman Capote, quote from Breakfast at Tiffany's
“I smil'd to my self at the sight of this money, O drug! said I aloud, what art thou good for? Thou art not worth to me, no not the taking off of the ground, one of those knives is worth all this heap, I have no manner of use for thee, e'en remain where thou art, and go to the bottom as a creature whose life is not worth saving. However, upon second thoughts, I took it away...”
― Daniel Defoe, quote from Robinson Crusoe
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.