“Do not be afraid; our fate
Cannot be taken from us; it is a gift.”
― Dante Alighieri, quote from Inferno
“In the middle of the journey of our life I found myself within a dark woods where the straight way was lost.”
― Dante Alighieri, quote from Inferno
“Amor, ch'al cor gentile ratto s'apprende
prese costui de la bella persona
che mi fu tolta; e 'l modo ancor m'offende.
Amor, che a nullo amato amar perdona,
Mi prese del costui piacer sì forte,
Che, come vedi, ancor non m'abbandona..."
"Love, which quickly arrests the gentle heart,
Seized him with my beautiful form
That was taken from me, in a manner which still grieves me.
Love, which pardons no beloved from loving,
took me so strongly with delight in him
That, as you see, it still abandons me not...”
― Dante Alighieri, quote from Inferno
“They yearn for what they fear for.”
― Dante Alighieri, quote from Inferno
“There is no greater sorrow then to recall our times of joy in wretchedness.”
― Dante Alighieri, quote from Inferno
“Through me you go into a city of weeping; through me you go into eternal pain; through me you go amongst the lost people”
― Dante Alighieri, quote from Inferno
“From there we came outside and saw the stars”
― Dante Alighieri, quote from Inferno
“And I — my head oppressed by horror — said:
"Master, what is it that I hear? Who are
those people so defeated by their pain?"
And he to me: "This miserable way
is taken by the sorry souls of those
who lived without disgrace and without praise.
They now commingle with the coward angels,
the company of those who were not rebels
nor faithful to their God, but stood apart.
The heavens, that their beauty not be lessened,
have cast them out, nor will deep Hell receive them —
even the wicked cannot glory in them.”
― Dante Alighieri, quote from Inferno
“Because your question searches for deep meaning,
I shall explain in simple words”
― Dante Alighieri, quote from Inferno
“But the stars that marked our starting fall away.
We must go deeper into greater pain,
for it is not permitted that we stay.”
― Dante Alighieri, quote from Inferno
“As little flowers, which the chill of night has bent and huddled, when the white sun strikes, grow straight and open fully on their stems, so did I, too, with my exhausted force.”
― Dante Alighieri, quote from Inferno
“Hope not ever to see Heaven. I have come to lead you to the
other shore; into eternal darkness; into fire and into ice.”
― Dante Alighieri, quote from Inferno
“It was the hour of morning,
when the sun mounts with those stars
that shone with it when God's own love
first set in motion those fair things”
― Dante Alighieri, quote from Inferno
“I am the way into the city of woe,
I am the way into eternal pain,
I am the way to go among the lost.
Justice caused my high architect to move,
Divine omnipotence created me,
The highest wisdom, and the primal love.
Before me there were no created things
But those that last forever—as do I.
Abandon all hope you who enter here.”
― Dante Alighieri, quote from Inferno
“He is, most of all, l'amor che move il sole e l'altre stelle.”
― Dante Alighieri, quote from Inferno
“One ought to be afraid of nothing other then things possessed of power to do us harm, but things innoucuous need not be feared.”
― Dante Alighieri, quote from Inferno
“At grief so deep the tongue must wag in vain; the language of our sense and memory lacks the vocabulary of such pain.”
― Dante Alighieri, quote from Inferno
“To get back up to the shining world from there
My guide and I went into that hidden tunnel,
And Following its path, we took no care
To rest, but climbed: he first, then I-so far,
through a round aperture I saw appear
Some of the beautiful things that Heaven bears,
Where we came forth, and once more saw the stars.”
― Dante Alighieri, quote from Inferno
“Thence we came forth to rebehold the stars.”
― Dante Alighieri, quote from Inferno
“As phantoms frighten beasts when shadows fall.”
― Dante Alighieri, quote from Inferno
“So that the Universe felt love,
by which, as somebelieve,
the world has many times been turned to chaos.
And at that moment this ancient rock,
here and elsewhere, fell broken into pieces.”
― Dante Alighieri, quote from Inferno
“Love, which absolves no one beloved from loving,
seized me so strongly with his charm that,
as you see, it has not left me yet.
Love brought us to one death.”
― Dante Alighieri, quote from Inferno
“Here pity only lives when it is dead - Virgil”
― Dante Alighieri, quote from Inferno
“The poets leave hell and again behold the stars.”
― Dante Alighieri, quote from Inferno
“We were men once, though we've become trees”
― Dante Alighieri, quote from Inferno
“Soon you will be where your own eyes will see the source and cause and give you their own answer to the mystery.”
― Dante Alighieri, quote from Inferno
“And following its path, we took no care
To rest, but climbed: he first, then I-- so far,
Through a round aperture I saw appear
Some of the beautiful things that Heaven bears,
Where we came forth, and once more saw the stars.”
― Dante Alighieri, quote from Inferno
“Through me is the way to the city of woe.
Through me is the way to sorrow eternal.
Through me is the way to the lost below. Justice moved my architect supernal.
I was constructed by divine power,
supreme wisdom, and love primordial.
Before me no created things were.
Save those eternal, and eternal I abide.
Abandon all hope, you who enter.”
― Dante Alighieri, quote from Inferno
“That which had pleased me once, troubled by spirit.”
― Dante Alighieri, quote from Inferno
“I suppose it's too bad people can't be a little more consistent. But if they were, maybe they would stop being people.”
― Budd Schulberg, quote from What Makes Sammy Run?
“He had grown fat on solitude, he thought, and had learned to expect nothing from the day but at best a dull contentment. Sometimes the dullness came to the fore with a strange and insistent ache which he would entertain briefly, but learn to keep at bay. Mostly, however, it was the contentment he entertained; the slow ease and the silence could, once night had fallen, fill him with a happiness that nothing, no society nor the company of any individual, no glamour or glitter, could equal.”
― Colm Tóibín, quote from The Master
“But the woman came to her them. The woman with hair of red like roses, hair of white like snowfall. She was young and old. She was blind and could see everything. She spoke softly, in whispers, but her voice carried across the mountain ranges like sleeping giants, the cities lit like fairies and the oceans-undulating mermaids. She laughed at her own sorrow and wept pearls at weddings. Her fingers were branches and her eyes were little blue planets. She said, You cannot hide forever, though you may try. I've seen you in the kitchen, in the garden. I've seen the things you have sewn -curtains of dawn, twilight blankets and dresses for the sisters like a garden of stars. I have heard the stories you tell. You are the one who transforms, who creates. You will go out into the world and show others. They will feel less alone because of you, they will feel understood, unburdened by you, awakened by you, freed of guilt and shame and sorrow. But to share with them you must wear shoes, you must go out you must not hide, you must dance and it will be harder, you must face jealousy and sometimes rage and desire and love which can hurt most of all because of what can then be taken away.”
― Francesca Lia Block, quote from The Rose and the Beast: Fairy Tales Retold
“shoulder tells me it’d like to rest. When archery lessons are over, I ask Mark if I can practice”
― Sarah Lyons Fleming, quote from And After
“I vow to you I'll never be with another. I love you, Josie."
She sucked in a breath. "I love you too. Even when you're a dickwad.”
― Kresley Cole, quote from Sweet Ruin
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.