Quotes from In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer

Irene Gut Opdyke ·  304 pages

Rating: (10.8K votes)


“In my fantasies, I was always caught up in heroic struggles, and I saw myself saving lives, sacrificing myself for others. I had far loftier ambitions than mere romance.”
― Irene Gut Opdyke, quote from In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer


“If we were stopped and questioned, I always smiled at the officers, and they always smiled back. In my heart, I was seeing them dead. But on my face, I was an open invitation. If you are only a girl, this is how you destroy your enemies.”
― Irene Gut Opdyke, quote from In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer


“Every day now, I found a chance to slip outside and leave food under the fence. I knew it was a drop in the ocean, but I could not do nothing.”
― Irene Gut Opdyke, quote from In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer


“If you are only a girl, this is how you destroy your enemies.”
― Irene Gut Opdyke, quote from In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer


“Bazen Polonya'daki nefret miktarını düşündüğümde çimenlerin hala yeşil kalabilmelerine, ağaçların hala dallarını gökyüzüne uzatabilmelerine şaşırıyordum.
Ama uzatıyorlardı. Savaşla ilgili en büyük ironilerden biri de bu, insanın inana sırt çevirdiği yerde bile doğa başkaldırmıyordu. Çok güzel bahar günlerinde geçen kabuslar yaşıyordum: Kuşlar daldan dala atlayıp böcekleri avlarken, diğer kuşlarla cilveleşirken diğer tarafta yerde, çamur içinde küçük çocuklar ölü yatıyorlardı.”
― Irene Gut Opdyke, quote from In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer



About the author

Irene Gut Opdyke
Born place: in Poland
Born date May 5, 1922
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“After searching for a space, I parked behind the tattoo parlor in front of a sign that said NO PARKING. Since it didn't specify to whom it was referring, I figured it couldn't possibly be talking to me.”
― Darynda Jones, quote from Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet


“Life is better without the walls, everyone agrees. Still, sometimes I'm afraid of the outside world, and every so often in my private thoughts I wish the walls were still there to protect me. It feels like growing up, as if the safety of the childhood has been stripped away, and I've woken up on the edge of something dangerous. The walls are gone and I can do as I please. It's a freedom I'm not so sure I'm ready for.”
― Patrick Carman, quote from The Dark Hills Divide


“From her handbag she takes a round gilt compact with violets on the cover. She opens it, unclosing her other self, and runs her fingertip around the corners of her mouth, left one, right one; then she unswivels a pink stick and dots her cheeks and blends them, changing her shape, performing the only magic left to her.

Rump on a packsack, harem cushion, pink on the cheeks and black discreetly around the eyes, as red as blood as black as ebony, a seamed and folded imitation of a magazine picture that is itself an imitation of a woman who is also an imitation, the original nowhere, hairless lobed angel in the same heaven where God is a circle, captive princess in someone's head. She is locked in, she isn't allowed to eat or shit or cry or give birth, nothing goes in, nothing comes out. She takes her clothes off or puts them on, paper doll wardrobe, she copulates under strobe lights with the man's torso while his brain watches from its glassed-in control cubicle at the other end of the room, her face twists into poses of exultation and total abandonment, that is all. She is not bored, she has no other interests.”
― Margaret Atwood, quote from Surfacing


“Beware of thinking all your own that you possess, and of living accordingly. It is a mistake that many people who have credit fall into.”
― Max Weber, quote from The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism


“Przez rok cierpiałem na jakąś chorobę mózgową, a zdawało mi się, że jestem zakochany.”
― Bolesław Prus, quote from The Doll


Interesting books

The Gods Themselves
(42.9K)
The Gods Themselves
by Isaac Asimov
Remember Me?
(192.8K)
Remember Me?
by Sophie Kinsella
Wolf Brother
(19.1K)
Wolf Brother
by Michelle Paver
The Swiss Family Robinson
(87.8K)
The Swiss Family Rob...
by Johann David Wyss
A Swiftly Tilting Planet
(88.4K)
A Swiftly Tilting Pl...
by Madeleine L'Engle
Night School
(13.8K)
Night School
by C.J. Daugherty

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.