“Out of all this struggle a good thing is going to grow. That makes it worthwhile.”
― John Steinbeck, quote from In Dubious Battle
“I want to see the whole picture - as nearly as I can. I don’t want to put on the blinders of ‘good’ and ‘bad’, and limit my vision. If I used the term ‘good’ on a thing I’d lose my license to inspect it, because there might be bad in it. Don’t you see? I want to be able to look at the whole thing.”
― John Steinbeck, quote from In Dubious Battle
“Sometimes I think you realists are the most sentimental people in the world.”
― John Steinbeck, quote from In Dubious Battle
“Mostly I’m too damn busy to know how I feel.”
― John Steinbeck, quote from In Dubious Battle
“I don’t mind getting smacked on the chin. I just don’t want to get nibbled to death. There’s a difference.”
― John Steinbeck, quote from In Dubious Battle
“Why, they're the dirtiest guys in any town. They're the same ones that burned the houses of old German people during the war. They're the same ones that lynch Negroes. They like to be cruel. They like to hurt people, and they always give it a nice name, patriotism or protecting the constitution.”
― John Steinbeck, quote from In Dubious Battle
“It’s funny how you want to do a thing and never do it.”
― John Steinbeck, quote from In Dubious Battle
“It seems to me that man has engaged in a blind and fearful struggle out of a past he can't remember, into a future he can't foresee nor understand. And man has met and defeated every obstacle, every enemy except one. He cannot win over himself. How mankind hates himself.”
― John Steinbeck, quote from In Dubious Battle
“The doctor said softly, “Sometimes I think you realists are the most sentimental people in the world.”
― John Steinbeck, quote from In Dubious Battle
“Yet nothing did he dread, but euer was ydrad.”
― Edmund Spenser, quote from The Faerie Queene
“[...] confusing time with its mathematical progression, as the old do, to whom all the past is not a diminishing road but, instead, a huge meadow which no winter ever touches.”
― William Faulkner, quote from A Rose for Emily and Other Stories
“It’s forty kilometers through hell, sir,” said the sergeant. Mitty finished one last brandy. “After all,” he said softly, “what isn’t?”
― James Thurber, quote from The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
“a man of knowledge has no honor, no dignity, no family, no name, no country, but only life to be lived, and under these circumstances his only tie to his fellow men is his controlled folly. Thus”
― Carlos Castaneda, quote from A Separate Reality
“I was thinking about stopping at a restaurant. Would you care to join me?”
She shifted in the car seat to face him, causing him to glance at her legs once again. “Are you asking me out?”
“No.”
“Will you purr if I tickle you behind the ears?”
“No.”
“Will you dance the samba for me in your hot pink sequined thong?”
“No.”
“Do you always say no?”
His mouth twitched. “No.”
― Kerrelyn Sparks, quote from Eat Prey Love
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.