Quotes from Independent Study

“Because sometimes the best leaders are the ones who have no interest in leading. Those are often the ones who are most interested in doing what is right, not what is popular.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from Independent Study

“It takes a lot of courage to choose to do nothing when you aren’t certain of the outcome.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from Independent Study

“Everyone at some point is afraid of making the wrong choice.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from Independent Study

“A cage that cannot be seen is no less there than if the walls were made of steel.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from Independent Study

“Almost all the United Commonwealth presidents have been female. It has been argued that women are less aggressive, more maternal, and thus more focused on the well-being of the country's people. Less focused on politics or power.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from Independent Study

“In mythology, lightning represents either the loss of ignorance or punishment for those who overstep their bounds. I used two bolts since we intend to do both.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from Independent Study

“Thinking something is true doesn’t make it so. Perception is almost as important as reality.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from Independent Study

“Government isn’t always just, and it isn’t always fair. But it should be.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from Independent Study

“Worrying about the past won’t help. I can only deal with the present.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from Independent Study

“Even where the soil was most corrupt, the willow found a way to survive.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from Independent Study

“Yes, lives were saved, but what about the lives taken? History says that progress often requires sacrifice, but what kind of progress can we claim when it is built on the lives of the citizens it is supposed to aid?”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from Independent Study

“History shows that it takes only a spark to start a fire that cannot be easily checked. The Seven Stages of War started with the outrage of one leader.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from Independent Study

“Dad always said the best way to keep the mind healthy is to make sure the body is strong.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from Independent Study

“Just make sure you put the books back where you found them when you’re done, or your fellow students will get testy.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from Independent Study

“Revitalizing the earth is an important job. One I admire. I might even be happy to consider it, if I didn’t kill every plant I touched.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from Independent Study

“Thinking something is true doesn’t make it so. Perception is almost as important as reality. The”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from Independent Study

“the best leaders are the ones who have no interest in leading. Those are often the ones who are most interested in doing what is right, not what is popular.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from Independent Study

“My desire to help upgrade the communications system from our country’s limited use of pulse radios to a sophisticated network that would be available to every citizen. My excitement about new energy sources that would better power our lights and other devices. My absolute belief that I can make a difference in the technological future of the United Commonwealth.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from Independent Study

“But every year, there are a few from the less influential neighborhoods. They can be the most dangerous. They fought hard to get where they are. They won’t be pushed aside without a fight. More important, don’t show anyone if you are afraid. Government professors value students who can push aside their fear. Everyone at some point is afraid of making the wrong choice”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from Independent Study

“Because sometimes the best leaders are the ones
who have no interest in leading. Those are often the ones who are most interested in doing what is right, not what is popular.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from Independent Study

“History shows that it takes only a spark to start a fire that cannot be easily checked.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from Independent Study

“Those who depend fully on another person’s knowledge to decide what is possible are easily manipulated. The most effective leaders utilize experts from all fields, but rely on none when it comes to making a decision.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from Independent Study

“No matter how smart our leaders are, there are problems they cannot solve. This is one of them.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from Independent Study

“It takes a lot of courage to choose to do nothing when you aren’t certain of the outcome. We believe this is an important lesson to impart to all University students and one many students find almost impossible to accept. I’m happy to learn that most on this team are more . . . open-minded.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from Independent Study

“This tragedy demonstrates better than any classroom lesson that leaders can never let their emotions get the better of them. Cool heads and calm logic must always prevail if we are to succeed in restoring our country to what it was before the Seven Stages of War.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from Independent Study

“More important, wearing your symbol demonstrates that you have accepted the future it represents.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from Independent Study

“The president wants me to learn that just because something is created by people in power doesn’t mean it is to be trusted.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from Independent Study

“The larger the population, the less our leaders feel personally accountable to each citizen under their care.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from Independent Study

“How easy it would be to let the emptiness swallow me. To find release from sadness at the bottom. To be welcomed by those I have lost and turn away from the problems I face now. But”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from Independent Study

“Perhaps he has gotten this far based on people confusing bullying for strength of personality.”
― Joelle Charbonneau, quote from Independent Study

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Popular quotes

“It's as if our girls don't understand that they can be recognized for other things--their goals, their brains. Not just their bodies.”
― Siobhan Vivian, quote from Not That Kind of Girl

“According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha Gotama is not merely one unique individual who puts in an unprecedented appearance on the stage of human history and then bows out forever. He is, rather, the fulfillment of a primordial archetype, the most recent member of a cosmic “dynasty” of Buddhas constituted by numberless Perfectly Enlightened Ones of the past and sustained by Perfectly Enlightened Ones continuing indefinitely onward into the future. Early Buddhism, even in the archaic root texts of the Nikāyas, already recognizes a plurality of Buddhas who all conform to certain fixed patterns of behavior, the broad outlines of which are described in the opening sections of the Mahāpadāna Sutta (Dīgha Nikāya 14, not represented in the present anthology). The word “Tathāgata,” which the texts use as an epithet for a Buddha, points to this fulfillment of a primordial archetype. The word means both “the one who has come thus” (tath̄ ̄gata), that is, who has come into our midst in the same way that the Buddhas of the past have come; and “the one who has gone thus” (tath̄ gata), that is, who has gone to the ultimate peace, Nibbāna, in the same way that the Buddhas of the past have gone.”
― Bhikkhu Bodhi, quote from In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon

“per hour. Handbrake knew that he could keep up with the best of them. Ambassadors might look old-fashioned and slow, but the latest models had Japanese engines. But he soon learned to keep it under seventy. Time and again, as his competitors raced up behind him and made their impatience known by the use of their horns and flashing high beams, he grudgingly gave way, pulling into the slow lane among the trucks, tractors and bullock carts. Soon, the lush mustard and sugarcane fields of Haryana gave way to the scrub and desert of Rajasthan. Four hours later, they reached the rocky hills surrounding the Pink City, passing in the shadow of the Amber Fort with its soaring ramparts and towering gatehouse. The road led past the Jal Mahal palace, beached on a sandy lake bed, into Jaipur’s ancient quarter. It was almost noon and the bazaars along the city’s crenellated walls were stirring into life. Beneath faded, dusty awnings, cobblers crouched, sewing sequins and gold thread onto leather slippers with curled-up toes. Spice merchants sat surrounded by heaps of lal mirch, haldi and ground jeera, their colours as clean and sharp as new watercolor paints. Sweets sellers lit the gas under blackened woks of oil and prepared sticky jalebis. Lassi vendors chipped away at great blocks of ice delivered by camel cart. In front of a few of the shops, small boys, who by law should have been at school, swept the pavements, sprinkling them with water to keep down the dust. One dragged a doormat into the road where the wheels of passing vehicles ran over it, doing the job of carpet beaters. Handbrake honked his way through the light traffic as they neared the Ajmeri Gate, watching the faces that passed by his window: skinny bicycle rickshaw drivers, straining against the weight of fat aunties; wild-eyed Rajasthani men with long handlebar moustaches and sun-baked faces almost as bright as their turbans; sinewy peasant women wearing gold nose rings and red glass bangles on their arms; a couple of pink-faced goras straining under their backpacks; a naked sadhu, his body half covered in ash like a caveman. Handbrake turned into the old British Civil Lines, where the roads were wide and straight and the houses and gardens were set well apart. Ajay Kasliwal’s residence was number”
― Tarquin Hall, quote from The Case of the Missing Servant

“When we look back, it becomes clear that the acts and accomplishments of human beings are the signatures of history. Human signatures have created an enormous chasm between the joyeous light of the age of the Renaissance to the dark shadow of September 11, 2001. Those of us living on that fateful day experienced the lower depths of mankind. As an author, avid reader, world traveler, and person of enormous curiosity, my life experiences have taught me that discord often erupts from a lack of knowledge and education. To discourage future dark moments, I believe we must nourish the minds of our young with learning that creates understanding between ethnic and religious groups. Perhaps understanding will lead to a marvelous day when we take a last fleeting look at violence so harmful to so many. I sincerely believe that nothing will further the cause of peace more than the education of our young. I would like for readers to know that a percentage of the profits from the sale of this book will be devoted to the cause of education.

May all roads lead to peace.”
― Jean Sasson, quote from Growing Up Bin Laden: Osama's Wife and Son Take Us Inside Their Secret World

“We will never have true civilization until we have learned to recognize the rights of others.”
― Thomas King, quote from The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America

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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.